Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

photo credit: waving at you

Compete to Conserve finished some improvements and opened its doors a little wider this week, as the prospect of greening the nation’s economy seemed to grow somewhat bleaker because of the current crisis.

Many religions and cultures throughout antiquity had a slightly different spin on the idea of self-renewal and self-regeneration, especially in desperate times.  We like to keep things simple, so let’s just say we’re looking  for some lemons to make lemonade.

The nation’s economy has seen better days.  Stuck in the middle of a mortgage crisis, an insurance crisis, a credit crisis, a stock market free fall, and an estimated 500,000 individuals joining the ranks of unemployed last month, most of us would embrace some good financial news.

Now is the ideal time for a greener economy to rise out of the ashes of the financial crisis, paving the road toward sustainability on all fronts.  Some argue that “biomimicry” — nature inspiring design — can offer an economic model to save our economy. Academia across the nation is calling for an entirely new economic model, and some argue “[t]he wreckage of an unsustainable financial system could turn out to be the best catalyst for a more sustainable alternative.”

Without arguing the cause or solution, it seems like financial recovery may take some time.  Well we have good news at Compete to Conserve, because we have some time.  We believe that you don’t have to be an environmentalist or an expert to conserve resources, and our website is designed to help you make small everyday changes that add up to create real impact.

Since our July 22 launch, we’ve been working hard to improve our website while staying the course, eco-wise. If you haven’t been around lately, please take a look.  Sign up if you like and we can, collectively, work on making a daily difference.  We can let that mythological bird make the statement.

As founder and CEO of Compete to Conserve, I’d like to welcome you to our new and improved beta site. We’re not quite done—like conservation efforts, there’s always room for improvement—but we hope you find our latest updates useful and fun.

We’ve made it easier to see when other Compete to Conserve members have posted and made it easier to connect with people in the community. We encourage you to try our improved features: follow interesting members to see what they’re up to, add a goal and post your thoughts or progress, and challenge others to do the same.

Make a Difference, Not a Statement

We believe that you don’t have to be an environmentalist or an expert to conserve resources. Compete to Conserve is designed so you can make small everyday changes that add up to create real impact.

In the fall of 2007, cofounder Tim Barkow and I hatched the idea for a nonpartisan online community that inspires changes in the way we consume natural resources. After countless hours of work and the addition of six more team members, we launched July 22, 2008.

Since then, all of us have made significant adjustments in our lives as a result of what we have learned from our community. We take a practical, realistic approach as leaders in our online community. We do not publicly endorse candidates, and if possible, we present “both sides” to an argument. We want to learn how much energy CFLs will save and how to clean them up if they accidentally break on the carpet at home. We struggle to understand the balance between the growth of the GDP in our nation and worldwide while still promoting conservation.

Jump Right In

We are very proud of what we have accomplished. Our community has grown, and we continue to emphasize our focus on people helping other people learn more and discover solutions to their consumer- and energy-related lives. We may argue about the impact, but few disagree that we create a lot of waste. So jump in and tell us what’s working for you and what’s not. To make things easy for you, here’s a link where you can provide some feedback. http://getsatisfaction.com/competetoconserve.  We’re ready to make a difference, not a statement.

–Craig Garner