Focus:
La Marguerite offers a feminine perspective on sustainability and social media.
History:
Back in April 2007, I started this blog on a whim. I was getting annoyed by all the self-righteousness in the green media. And I wanted to offer a counterpoint, my reality as a less than perfect Green Girl Wannabe, who just couldn’t get her act together. One ulterior motive was to conduct a psychological experiment, using myself as a subject, to look for insights into the key attitudes and behaviors that shaped my interactions with the environment. Part of the experiment has been a careful examination of my daily actions, thoughts, family interactions, feelings, and urges, from an environmental perspective. The other part has been the validation and refinement of my insights, thanks to the comments from all the dedicated people who have followed this blog. La Marguerite is a work in progress, a living thing that keeps on surprising me. It is becoming a zen, activist, psychological, business, philosophical, practical, humble environmental blog.
Bio:
My name is Marguerite Manteau-Rao. I was born and raised in France, where I received a Master of Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Paris. I came to the U.S to pursue an MBA at the University of Chicago, and was persuaded to stay by one of my classmates . . . Along the way I have gathered multiple experiences, interests, and skills, as:
- a marketer and advertiser with years of CPG experience, last as VP with JWT ad agency,
- a licensed clinical social worker and Registered Art Therapist, with an MSW from Loyola University of Chicago, who led over 2,000 psychotherapy groups,
- an artist, with sculptures featured in art books and encyclopedia, and in numerous gallery and museum shows,
- an environmental activist, with La Marguerite blog, one of Top 10 Eco-Blogs for Earth Day, according to Times Online, and regular contributions to Huffington Post Green,
- a marketing and social media consultant to various Internet and green startups,
- a social media maven, and founding member of Green Moms, a group of moms, bloggers, and environmental activitists, winner of the 2008 Twitter Shorty Awards in Green category.
I cannot be put into a box, and I like it that way!
How to Participate:
Comments are always good. Do not just respond to me. You may also want to comment on other readers’ comments. This is what blogs are about, after all.
Green Girl,
I enjoyed your rant about guilty pleasures etc. It’s so true. You’ll enjoy this on the hypocrisy of greenies written by George Meyer of the Simpson’s, ” Are you a hypocrite? Because I certainly am. I’m an animal lover who wears leather shoes; a vegetarian who can’t resist smoked salmon. I badger my friends to see the Al Gore movie, but I also fly on fuel-gulping jets.
Great clouds of hypocrisy swirl around me.”
Here is the link to it on the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5237038.stm
Also, I write a green blog and have a widget that if you enjoy, you can put on your site for free. It’s called ‘My Green Conscience’. Check it out at http://www.frankejames.com
Nice to discover your blog. ~ Franke James, Artist and Writer
Thank you Franke, for your thougtful response and for connecting me with your universe of other green minded people. Lets keep the exchange flowing. I will visit your blog as well.
marguerite, Green Girl Wannabe
Your journey should be an enlighteing one, not a burden. If you have the time and money to explore green issues and ideas for your lifestyle then all the better. And of course, individuals are only a part of the equation. Business and government must do a lot more too!
Every little bit counts. I am glad you found my blog and happy to have been introduced to yours. If you haven’t found it already, please check out my best friend’s called greenasathistle.com. She is making one green change every day for a year and is on day around 130.
Healthycookie, I will be sure to pay a visit to your friend!
Hey Green Girl 🙂 We’re all SINNERS 🙂
Yeap!
It’s just a waste of energy (that we can’t offset) to worry about the sinning portion. We do what we can and if we remain present and conscious of our actions, even in hindsight, then we’re on the right path.
My sin: I still smoke.
I just started reading Sakyong Mipham’s “Turning the Mind Into an Ally“, and he’s able to verse my thoughts clearly, much better than I can ever possibly do. We need to train our mind, to take control of it, instead let it control our life. 🙂
Hey there,
Just came across your blog — I was also just in Palo Alto at a conference for journalists being held at Stanford.
Anyways, cool blog. Wondering if you would like to swap blogroll links?
All the best,
Kevin@desmogblog.com
We have started a local group affilitaed with California4Gore, we are an independent grassroots group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayarea4gore/
Join us!
RGJ/Dallas112263
just left a comment on your latest blog, want to smear just a small dose of flattery upon your humbling, and earnest talents.
Your intro is sympa, and encouraging as well.
from the belly of the beast, Greenest Midwest.
nadine, a lifelong French greenie
Merci Nadine. C’ est la premiere fois que je connecte avec une Francaise du Midwest sur ce blog! Je vais aller visiter ta ‘space’
Marguerite – as a former VP at JWT, you know that women dominate the consumer market and make the decisions. For that reason http://www.biggreenpurse.com has partnered with The Institute for the Market Transformation to Sustainability. Women are the will, corporations are the delivery mechanism and Sustainable Standards will keep everyone honest.
We have a special program put together for Certified Sustainable Products. I’ll talk to you about it offline if you are interested in learning more.
Yes, we were at Wal Mart’s Sustainability Summit on Oct. 10th.
Mary,
I would love to learn more about your program. Let’s talk further.
Hi Marguerite,
My name is Jon and I am co-founding a media company that is focused on positive impact. I’m interested in collaborating with you on some level. Can you please email me at your earliest convenience?
Thank you,
Jon
Jon,
I will be happy to correspond with you. Nice work you are doing.
lovely
Hello Marguerite,
Was fun hearing about your path from Louis le Grand to Green Blogger.
Meeting somebody who was at this illustrious if gloomy institution as the same time as I confirmed how small the word is… all paths lead to Silicon Valley.
Bonjour Marguerite. Nice to meet you. I’d like your opinion on whether or not a new media product (concept and patent) has potential in the marketplace. It’s a simple idea to help consumers while browsing, sharing, buying and working on the Internet; a product that incorporates recycled thinking and materials. If so, any thoughts on who might be interested in the concept and IP?
Here’s some info to consider and I’m happy to provide more information in email:
http://www.creatorbase.com/blog/innovation_ip/index.html
Sincerely,
Erick
[…] About La Marguerite […]
Happy to speak with you about Carbonrally any time. Thanks for the post. Jason
Hi,
The salient reason I like your blog is the emphasis on psycology. I’m not a psychologist. I’m a lawyer, and have made a career representing injured individuals and classes of individuals. Having struggled on behalf of my clients in the securities litigation context, I’ve gravitated toward representing consumers…particularly those who have been duped by unfair business practices. Cosmetics. Manufacturers sell those products based, in part, on psychology. And yet. While transparency is required in financial statements and expected by investors, the same should be true for consumers of non-financial, every day products.
In October I read a New York Times piece titled “The Everyman Who Exposed Tainted Toothpaste.” The article fascinated me. It discussed Eduardo Arias, a 51-year-old Kuna Indian, his reading the label on a 59 cent tube of toothpaste and discovery on the ingredient list of “diethylene glycol”, a sweet tasting, poisonous ingredient in antifreeze. Diethylene glycol had previously been mixed into cold syrup in Panama, killing or disabling at least 138 Panamanians during 2006, according to the article.
Just for the hell of it, I entered “diethylene glycol” into the sustainable casa search engine that I’ve been building (http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=003963123612850644658%3Aegoct7gvmxi) and narrowed my search to include the EWG/Skin Deep database. Guess what? EWG/Skin Deep show that Johnson & Johnson makes or made several products (depending on current formulations) containing diethylene glycol: Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation, Blushing Ivory; Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation, Classic Porcelain; Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation, Natural Buff; Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation, Rose Cream; Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation, True Beige; Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil-Free Compact Foundation (Rose Cream, Natural Buff, Golden Bisque, Classic Porcelain, Blushing Ivory); and Neutrogena SkinClearing Trio Salicylic Acid Blemish Treatments (Medium 03, Light 02, Fair 01). Yikes!!
Cosmetics and body care products are not things whose safety we can possibly take for granted. It’s up to consumers to stand up for transparency in cosmetic/body care products. If an ingredient in a product is harmful, the manufacturer should say so on the label. If an ingredient in a product has not been adequately determined to be safe, the manufacturer should say so on the label.
Let’s now take a look at baby products.
Rob
Rob,
Thanks for all the work you do, have done.
Hi Marguerite,
I evolved just as you did as a wannabe green reformer because it’s such an easy and enlightening concept to grasp. I have found in what I do, home remodeling, going green is the most fascinating evolution. Hit me up to say hello.
Dean
There are a lot of dodgy products out there and unfortunately ‘greenwashing’ is entering the marketing game too with wild claims about ‘green’ products and services.
Buyer beware!
Still, there are a growing number of good solutions out ther too;
http://www.environmentsolutions.co.uk
🙂
I am impressed by your “common sense” approach to going green presented by this blog. As an officer in the small, but now getting better known, Algalita Marine Research Foundation, I am always looking for those who will carry the message about “Drastic Plastic”, or the “Plastic Plague” forward. Algalita’s “Synthetic Sea” video has opened many eyes to the reality of plastic accumulation in the ocean, and the growing problem. I encourage all of your readers to review the most current information at http://www.algalita.org. There is a growing need for more research in this area. The ocean is so vast, the amount of information so small, that it is difficult to have exact information. However, the fact that billions of pounds of plastic are made every year, and that plastic lasts hundreds, if not thousands of years, tells me that we could eventually “carpet the world in plastic” if we don’t change our thinking…
Good Morning, and thanks for your efforts
Thanks Bill. You probably have seen the series of article I wrote on the ‘Synthetic Sea’ video, and the plastic problem in general. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to broadcast this important message.
[…] About La Marguerite […]
[…] About La Marguerite […]
Dear Marguerite,
I haven’t had a good chance to read through most of your site, but I wanted to say “hello” and offer appreciation for your concern for the environment and for your obviously energetic work regarding global warming.
I’ve seen many of your posts over at the other site, of course.
Also, I noticed that our backgrounds are very similar in many ways, i.e., engineering, business school, marketing and market research, and so forth. And, we seem to be both interested in Actively trying to move the needle on key environmental issues.
So, if you like, please consider sending me a message some time. Perhaps there are informal and productive ways to help accomplish common causes.
More regarding my interests and background can be found on my website. (The central purpose of my own little website involves a science-and-reason-based understanding of human morality, which also relates alot to sustainability, and it’s not as artistic, broad, or so forth as your site.)
Cheers,
Jeff Huggins
http://www.ObligationsOfReason.com
Thanks Jeff. I would love to connect and possibilities to join efforts on sustainability related projects. I just tried going on your website but could not access it for some reason.
Hi Marguerite,
Thanks for your post and thoughts. Yes, the server must have been down this AM, but the site is working now and usually works well, at least when the host server isn’t crashed. Although the site is not nearly as artistic as yours, and it’s mainly intended for a fairly specific audience (having mainly to do with an understanding of the science and philosophy of human morality, and the relation of all that to sustainability), it does have a deep blue homepage. In any case, until later, . . .
Best Wishes and Happy (Green) Holidays,
Jeff Huggins
http://www.ObligationsOfReason.com
Hello,
Great blog, with some refreshing and reasoned insights into green issues. This is what we need more of.
I have added you to my blogroll at http:/www.talkclimatechange.com
Regards,
Mark.
[…] About La Marguerite […]
Hello Marguerite,
As me and my husband were working on our computers doing research we found ourselves mailing a link to your blog simultaneously. So I guess we both liked it !
We are Belgians living in the South of France. I love your article on social life in France. Although things have changed here as well there are still some of the “old-fashioned-folks” around. Your view and approach to environment and “green” issues is inspiring and realistic. Thanks for sharing your ideas !
Love,
Karen
Thanks Karen,
Would love to learn more about your work.
Bonjour Marguerite:
Super ton blog.
Ton blog m’inspire.
J’habite sur la cote Est et j’ai decide d’ ouvrir
un blog on everything “green” in and around Philadelphia,
which is where I live.
Thank you so much
A bientot
Jacques
Tiens moi au courant, Jacques!
Hi Marguerite,
We, too, have gone from being semi-green to now wanting many more sustainable options from manufacturers and suppliers and doing our best to live a truly sustainable lifestyle. We use red worms and compost nearly all of our wet waste using their appetites, in return we get some of nature’s best plant food for our houseplants as well as our fruit trees and veggie garden. We have a few chickens, dogs and cats to clean up first though. For years we have been faithful supporters of Farmer’s Markets, Co-ops, and have used our reusable, cloth bags religiously. We are now ready to become more active and progressive in an attempt to set an example for our friends and families to look to. We believe that America is ready to make a change, but just can’t figure it out without being led by the hand. And if that’s how it has to be done, then we should all grab a hand and start leading. It looks like that movement is beginning with all of us here…. Please know that we support your ideas and are doing our best to make our little corner of the world better in any way we are able. The selfish, “me-first” attitude that has prevailed for so long here in the good old U.S. of A. is out of character with the new needs of not only our country, but the whole planet and must be replaced with a belief that we must all work together to make it, or else, I fear we won’t…. We are so fortunate to live on such a beautiful planet, taking care of it shouldn’t be so difficult. It’s just a no-brainer to want one’s environment to be clean, at least common sense would seem to dictate… Thanks for letting me rant!
Thank you so much, for all you are doing.
Hi
Very interesting especially as you’re an engineer. My recommendation would be to drop the word green. Get rid of it when applied to talking about sustainable planetary management.
In the early 80’s there was a really good party in the UK called the Ecology Party I thought it was great.
Then as part of some pan-European standardisation it changed to the Green Party. I had spent from the age of a toddler completely fascinated about how this planet works, how it ‘thinks’, it’s purpose. Whys, hows and whats. As an engineer it’s cybernetic control function, homeostatsis and response to change.
After 20 years everything I knew was suddenly branded ‘Green’. I found it a personal insult but most of all an insult to the Earth.
If the party was still called ecology, then people would ask what’s that. This would draw them in to the wonder and mystery of 4.5 billion years of planetary evolution and it’s place in another 10 billion years of cosmic evolution before that. The excitment and desire of the understanding and the love of being at one with the planet.
Green came long and destroyed it all. Green is a field of cabbages or a coat of paint. It is demeaning to the infinite and eternal process of creation and life. It is a barrier to the understanding of the intracacy and complex beauty of this Earth.
Green is like when children start to learn to define words. You have to stop them at first using the word they are defining in the definition. They can nolonger be lazy they have to think.
Green is an easy earned badge, that is a barrier to the understanding of the planet. That deep appreciation required to change human societies relationship with this planet for the better. Green does not require questioning. Without questioning there is not understanding. Without understanding there is not empathy.
Ban green from anything to do with the sustainable evolution of this Earth. Never ever use it. Never talk about it, never read anything about it. Ignore every single use of the word or concept of green.
You say you got interested in sustainable planetary evolution and the protection of the Earth’s ecological life support systems after watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. You may have read my work over at Talkclimate change.
When Al Gore said the British Government say climate change is greater threat than terrorism. He should have said Roger Jardine Thomas said…..The UK Government didn’t say it, reference the original source.
At present I am setting up the Celtic Lion project. So have to do the rounds of business advisors, consultants, lawyers, bank managers etc. I have take my portfolio of work. They are amazed and shocked at the things I have done. They know of them, but never knew who it was who did them, until they met me.
Many people in the world with an interest in the environment know the agenda for the 2005 G8 was climate change and Africa. Most do not know that was my recommendation to the UK Government.
Many people know the climate change/ terrorism risk assessment. Many world leaders and environmental organisations use it. It is now a 21st century cliche. Most do not know I wrote it.
Hardly anyone knows both were from the same submission. And the later was the justification for the former. One of the largest corporate law firms in the UK looked at my work. Their view was on just that one piece of work alone, if I was to be described as one of the most globally influential peope of the 21st century, it would be very difficult for anyone to challenge that.
If I hadn’t done what would have been the agenda of the 2005 G8. War on insurgents in the Middle East? Global trade tariffs? What would have Al Gore have said when and even if he got a Nobel. There would have been no climate change agenda at the G8. No Live 8, no Stern Report.
I knocked it out between talking the dogs for a walk and having my tea. No spell check, no WP. Wham bam ratta tat tat straight off and hit the send.
It still may be one of the globally influential works of the 21st century. But I never ever used that awful word Green. Not using it made people think. Take notice and act. The rest was history or the future.
Here it is. Not a green in sight. (The email has changed)
http://www.mp2.worldfriend.com/sustainable_development_forum.htm
Roger Jardine Thomas
Celtic Lion Ltd
Blairgowrie
Scotand
Hey,
Beautiful image header- I love daisies.
Dont be sad
Have you come across this guy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi-Fu_Tuan
Thanks Roger. No, I did not know about him. I will look into his work some more.
One of the most influencial books on modern Environmentalism was by Timothy O’Riodan, called that. Tuan was a oft quoted environmental psychologist. I have been learning my ecology since I was 18 months old and then worked as an engineer. So the psychology and perception was all new to me.
If you looking at the psychology side and your interest is generated from An Inconvenient Truth. Then Tuan might be very useful to you as a sort of a 30 year retrospective influence into environmentalism from psychology.
thanks
Roger
Celtic Lion
This is great info.
Apologies Timothy O’Riordan
missed the r, he is so totally and globally influencial over the last 30 years I don’t think Google would mind though.
thanks
only the best from Celtic Lion
If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve obviously never been stung by a bee…
🙂
Above: “It is becoming a zen, activist, psychological, business, philosophical, practical, humble environmental blog.”
You seem so fractured. Is it even possible for you to become one with everything? If your first duty is to attack those with an opposing point of view, how can you become whole?
Hi I found you from the GreenProfs Twitter page — I’m quite green but not a prof, instead an environmental photojournalist with a book out on global warming, which I hope you would take a look at sometime — the webstite for that is http://www.earthunderfire.com. My main global warming site is a fave of many teachers and NGOs. Although it is not a blog strictly speaking, I do post my own research and photos and reactions to environmental news — right now news of the polar bear listing and of the new important goal of 350 ppm (meaning much more than just a slow down in emissions but a very sharp reduction so that the concentration of CO2 in the air goes down from where it is today). Thanks and happy summer.
Hi again: That main global warming site I mentioned above is at http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org I welcome visitors and comments. Thanks,
Gary
Thank You, foe everything you have done and will do in the future for Green.
All is Good in Green
All is NOT the way the Green Experts would have you think?
and They believed a lie……?
Which one?
Follow the money?
Know His-Story?
The source point solutions will come from individuals
Not from corporate or educational elites whom are forced into the worlds oldest profession for Grant dollars.
It is everyone’s choice to believe the illusions or collect the facts where ever they may lead.
If anyone wants to know more about global warming, study the position of planet Earth in the Universe on its 6600-7000 year orbit of our galaxy, Solar flares and there effect on our atmosphere, HAARP, Aerosol sprays, collect the facts on volcano’s current activities, add in magnetic fields shifting, study the past earth shifting of tectonic plates, add in 70 years of corporate poisoning of all life forms through releasing Frankenstein chemical combinations (200,000+) that all life forms are an on going experiment of soilent green. ….or NOT…To much to say, not enough time
Bless, Rev G
Great concept. Wishing you continued success Marguerite!
Green Greetings Marguerite,
Through a ciruitous route of clicking(based on corporate sustainability and responsibility) i came upon your site and the recommendation for the BlogTrend- i love this- it shows how shallow we really are that we only listen to the loudest voice in the media and it is not always the good that prevails.
In any event thanks for that- a useful tool. Maybe you can help me- i need a blogger- writer who is passoinate about all things GREEN and Corporate Sustainability along with supporting local business and the people within the good ole USA- where we live and want to continue to live for generations to come in a place that fosters peace, harmony and opportunity for all not just a few. You can visit my site and see if it is something you weould like to collaborate on. I am a Pharmacist, Herbalist and Aromatherapist. I am passionate about the ingredients we put on and in our bodies and what “goes down the drain”. My company is 100% windpowered, a USDA certified organic manufacturing facility and oh yes- a certified minority Woman owned business. If you think you are frustrated that being green is not enough to get a response then we should talk! by the way, i really love what i do- helping people feel better with one sniff at a time! sharon
Marguerite,
I am so enjoying your blog, and agree that one step at a time is all anyone can do. But together our steps are more like huge heav-hos to dump out the bad, and step closer to the good. I wish you continued success!
Sara(MamaGoesGreen)
I start from the view people are important, above all else. All people are alive right now (perhaps I might say ..or will be within about 9 months…). I take the end of the world to mean the end of human life.
Why should I care to save the world beyond about 100 years (i.e. until all people are dead)? Of course it is likely there will be more people born in the next 100 years and they will still be alive. So they will perish if the world ends in 100 years. Imagine now the world lasts 200 years. What difference will it make? There will be more people born, between 100 years and 200 years hence. Anyone alive at the end of the world (200 years time)will perish. So the only difference between the two scenarios is the people born between 100 and 200 years. If the world ends in 100 years there will not be such people and someone who worries only about people will not worry about “them” (imaginary people who will never be realised).
The world will end one day (to believe otherwise would be crazy), so there will be people who enter the endgame and do not come out on the other side. Why is it better if that is in (say) 11 billion years (I think the sun burns up by then but it doesn’t matter if that is wrong; it will burn up one day) than in 100 years? If the world ends in 100 years there will be no people born in the following 10 billion etc. years. Perhaps religious people will disagree; they might even believe the world can last forever!
Regards
Rob
Hello,
Congratulations for your website. I just discover it today.
I really enjoy reading your articles and feel we have quite a lot in common : same kind of background and green passions.
I did launch a small french blog on RE in 2007 too, and just make a link to your site as a favourite one.
Wishing you continued success,
Nathalie Leroux (from France).
Could get you a space and help with logistics,if you wanted to do a lighting seminar, sell DVD’s. ,
Happy to have found your blog, so many great posts!
silicon valley is great because it houses some of the world’s best electronics firm ”
I wish more individuals would write blogs like this that are really enjoyable to read. With all of the fluff floating about on the internet, it is rare to read a blog like yours rather.
@saulegoode Join the conversation at #blether http://t.co/kCJPFBz5
It is acceptable time for it to form some methods for the longer term and additionally it’s time to be at liberty. I even have investigate this publish and after I might My partner and that i want to advocate a private some fascinating points or maybe suggestions. maybe you may compose next content discussing this short article. we wish to look at even a lot of aspects of the idea!
I just came across a post you made concerning tampons and the waste they pose for developing rural areas. We are trying to greenify this if possible with solutions, would love for your feedback if interested still! purelywomen
Hello;
Now i’m Juanita and I’ve already been reading through several of your site content for a while, but never actually used
your time to really state one thing reasonable, right up
until nowadays!
Loved all of your textes regarding cheap holiday deals and
i’ve used that expertise almost daily.
Many thanks
[…] April 12, 2008 by lamarguerite […]