Don’t Destroy Your Green Message With a Chevy Ad!

What the f…? This is the third time I see an ad for the new 2009 Silverado Chevy Truck. Not in a car magazine. Not in People magazine. Not on TV. No, I saw it in three very respected green sites, out of all places.

This brings up an issue that’s faced by green bloggers all the time. If you are going to take advertising, how can you make sure that the ads do not go counter to your message? Green certified ad networks are still few and far between, and sometimes have requirements, like Natural Path Media, that preclude the smaller blogs. Of course, there is always the option of handling one’s own ads. But, who has that kind of time?

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WordPress, Include ‘Green’ In Your News Categories, Will You?

Based on my success with Technorati, I decided to continue my campaign with another major blogging platform, requesting that they make ‘Green‘ a more prominent category on their site. This time is WordPress‘s turn.

Here is a copy of the email, I just sent to Matt Mullenweg, the man at WordPress:

Hello Matt,

First thanks for WordPress, without which my blog would not be where it is today!

More importantly, as a green blogging queen, I am chagrined that WordPress does not have a dedicated Green category in its Featured Blogs. Hopefully this email will be as fruitful as the one I sent to Technorati last month, and that resulted in a personal comment back of Richard on my blog, along with Technorati listening and making change I suggested to have dedicated Green search.

I look forward to your response, hopefully with a promise of changes.

Thanks,

Marguerite

Let’s see what happens. I will keep you apprised.

I also encourage you to do the same with other Internet venues that you come in contact with. Little by little, you and I can help green the media landscape. 

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Who Should Blog? Assembling the Most Important Voices in Environmentalism Today

The following is a reprint from comment I left on Huffington Post this morning, in response to their call out to bloggers for some input on future of their Green section. By the way, thanks Nadine, and Ian at NRDC blog for your kind comments about La Marguerite blog.

Olivia,

There are three very important aspects of blogging that I would like to bring up in this discussion:

First, is blogging as a vehicle for the building of a vibrant community of passionate people. This has been the most rewarding part of my involvement with La Marguerite blog. In order for it to work, your team needs to play the role of moderators, responding to, and connecting all the folks that honor you with their visit. Most of the major green blogs follow the old model of blogging as just writing, and interact very little with their readers.

Second, is blogging as a channel for problem solving and activism. Sooner or later, just talking about things cease to be sufficient. One natural progression is for clusters of people to want to take it further, and start implementing solutions discussed in the blog. This is happening on my blog, where several groups of readers have spun off into offline discussions, leading to several green initiatives. What I would like to suggest, is that you incorporate a more formal structure for such initiatives.

Third, you may be interested in Mark Klein‘s Collaboratorium initiative at MIT, regarding new ways to structure blogging discussions, so that they become more productive. For more on this, I invite you to read post I wrote a while ago, including discussion with Mark Klein‘s comment towards end of the thread: https://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/mit-collaboratorium-wants-to-organize-the-climate-change-debate/

Marguerite
More on Environment
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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Technorati Came Through!

I am pleased to report that Technorati obliged my request for a section in their directory, specifically devoted to ‘Green’. Here is the link: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/green/

Now, green blog searches will be a breeze. . .

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Technorati’s Green Blog Search Soon To Be Much Easier

Technorati just responded to my earlier plea for a better search tool for Green Blogs. Here is their response. I hope you find it helpful:

Hi Marguerite,

I saw your post a few days ago and looked into your request. Technorati does indeed have a “Green” sub-channel already where readers can find posts covering sustainability and other environmental issues at http://technorati.com/lifestyle/green/.

Turns out the reason this may have been missed is because the “Directory” page isn’t quite synched up yet with all the channels Technorati tracks, so I apologize that the “Green” section is harder to find than it ought to be! The engineering team assures me it’s on their agenda.

And in the meantime, in addition to checking out the sub-channel, another really good way to find like-minded blogs on “green” topics is simply to search for a “green” topic, and click on “blogs.” Here’s an example search I ran on the term “sustainability“: http://technorati.com/blogs/tag/sustainability. I think it gives some good results on well-ranked blogs focusing on “green” topics, including some I didn’t expect like http://triplepundit.com, which focuses on sustainable business, and http://hippyshopper.com, which covers environmentally-friendly consumerism.

Thanks so much for your feedback!

Doreen Bloch
Technorati marketing/PR intern

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Are Green Bloggers Wasting Their Time?

Over the last months, some previously unthinkable changes have been taking place amongst the American people. SUVs have become objects of contempt. Summer travel is turning more and more, into a local adventure. Folks are cutting down on their trips to the mall. Gardens are sprouting all over my neighborhood. Even my car addicted teenage daughter has taken up walking, and is charging her friends for carpooling. 

What millions of green blog posts and green media mentions failed to accomplish in months, got taken care of, almost overnight, thanks to one magic number. The $4 a gallon effect is proving what behavioral psychologists have know for a long time. Talk and reasoning have little effect, consequences do. 

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Technorati, Will You Help Me Find Other Green Blogs?

Last week, The Huffington Post took the bold step of adding HuffoPost Green, a new section, entirely devoted to ‘Green‘, to its site. Kudos to Arianna, for granting further legitimacy to the green movement.

Along the same line, I just sent a request to Technorati, asking them to please add a ‘Green‘ topic to their Blog Directory.

I don’t know about you, fellow green bloggers, but having such a Green Blogs category sure would make it easier to connect with each other. It would also improve our chances of being found by the crowds. I will keep you posted on Technorati’s response.

While I was at it, I also checked Google Blog Search. There, no real categories to help find one’s way. Since they are in Beta, maybe something for them to consider? I also sent them a request. We will see if they respond.

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Green Moms Linking In

Two days ago I wrote about ‘Smart is the New Green‘. This morning, I find a ping from Nature Mom’s Blog linking back to my post with a response from Tiffany, ‘Is it Green or Just Smart?‘. Down in the comments on TIffany’s article, is a note from Sommer indicating in turn, her response to Tiffany with a post about ‘The Green Religion Debate‘ in Green and Clean Mom blog. And the chain goes on . . . 

This is what I love most about blogging. 

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Lots of Talk About Sustainability, Little Action

A year ago, when I started this blog, I remember having to look for material to write about. Now, I am inundated with all kinds of good stories. I could write nonstop if I wanted. I am having to make choices and some great pieces of news get left behind. Guest posts are being put on hold. This is not just me. The environment is a hot, hot topic. According to Nielsen Buzz Metrics, blog conversations about sustainability have grown more than 100% in the last 16 months.

That’s a lot of talking about becoming green. Contrast with the apparent status quo on the freeways and in the malls, and you’ve got an interesting contradiction.

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What Bloggers Are Saying About Sustainability

More details came out on the recent Nielsen Online report on, ‘Sustainability through the Eyes and Megaphones of the Blogosphere‘, leading to some important conclusions about the state of the conversations amongst consumers regarding all green things:

#1 The buzz around sustainability continues to increase -50% in 2007.

#2 The kind of topics bloggers are interested in, is shifting away from global environmental wellness to personal health and practical solutions:

#3 The top greenwashing sins from consumers’ perspective show a concern for consistency, authenticity, and transparency from companies:

This may give us some clues as to the media’s seeming lack of sustained interest in global warming and other global environmental issues. It may be that the conversation is continuing, but under a different form. People like to talk about tangible things, that they have a power on.

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