So... it will come as no surprise that I will tell you that on the eve of Earth Day... I am excited and patiently waiting to celebrate the gifts that the earth is springing forth to us. As I write this blog I can catch a scent of the beautiful flowers my wife has harvested and placed in a vase in our family room. In spite of allergies...the perfume scent is intoxicating. The birds have returned and are singing in their finest tune... Twitter... move over for the real deal!
Each year for the past couple now I have selected a song to post on Earth Day that I find meaningful to the continued need to bring focus to the natural gifts provided to us in this world... that for 354 days of the year many just take for granted. So this year.... I have selected a song from my youth... all the really good songs have already been written... right? And... to that point the ultimate statement to that is when a young and upcoming star finds it necessary to rip off the success of the past and create a "re-do" of the glories of the past. I find this somewhat disturbing... since most of the youth today have not idea that this musical "borrowing" from the past has actually taken place.
This year.... I want to share a blast from the past from non other than....
Yes... Joni Mitchell... Big Yellow Taxi... which I have always known as "Pave paradise, put up a parking lot...". The words ring true now today more than ever.... in light of the ever expanding desire to develop and expand into natural places.... deforestation and abandonment of used up urban spaces in the name of creating new places in the ever cheaper ring of suburbs. One upside of a terrible down economy of the past 5 years in Michigan has been the abrupt pause of this expansion... which gives us time to pause and reconsider how we will proceed in the next expansion. Will we go back into those places we have abandoned to "reuse, recycle, and reduce" OR will will continue to live in the bigger, better, more mentality of the past decade?
This year Greenfundraiserstore.com has been blessed with the gift of opportunity in the partnership with the Michigan Green Schools program AND the creation of the MGS Eco Tee. This iconic tee shirt is made of 100% organic cotton and uses a special non toxic imprinting technique to create a truly ecological tee shirt. This only makes sense since it has been produced by our sister company known as The Ecological Tee Shirt Company.
The real story behind the story on this project has to do with the original selected organic cotton tee. We selected the tee back in January and our supplier had shown it on their web site as available.... until we went to place the first wave of orders. The explanation we got was that the tee was unavailable until May... which is a full month until after our project was set to go... and so we started on a search for an alternative.
Many of the would be partners said... "We like the idea... but frankly we want to know where the tee was made... would really would prefer a tee made in the USA" . Now... as a relative new comer in the clothing market....I have found that the majority of clothing products are not made here and all you have to do is look through your closet to find out where they are being made. Pretty much.... anywhere in the world... but here in the USA... right?
Enter... Royal Apparel... Let me give you the highlights below...
So... without saying too much... which I usually do.... I will leave you with this link to Greenfundraiserstore.com and the partnership with Michigan Green Schools. We are providing 25% of the proceeds of this partnership to the schools who engage in ordering with us AND and additional 25% to the MGS at the administrative level. Last year we partnered with Oakland County and promoted the compost bucket and corn starch liner.
We were able to provide a check to the Oakland County MGS program for $250 to help them offset their costs for their program. This year with the encouragement from the Oakland County Coordinator Debby Dunn... we reached out to the leadership of the Michigan Green Schools program and proposed the concept for the expansion throughout the State of Michigan. With presistance, patience and the spirit of co-operation.... we received a nod of approval and the program spread to Macomb, Wayne, and Washtenaw Counties. Later... it has made it's way to all the coordinators throughout the State of Michigan.
This year's program is really giving us leg's AND allowing us a forum to showcase our capabilities. The real traction so far has been right here in Oakland County AND on Tuesday this coming week I will proudly provide a check to Debby Dunn for the over 250 Eco Tees we have sold so far in over 20 Oakland County Schools. Each partnering school will receive a check for their participation in the project... and we will have fulfilled our promise. It all comes full circle now back to the "small, yet significant" changes we can do to make a difference.... ;)
Last thing.... Thank you to those who nominated Greenfundraiserstore.com for the 101 Best and Brightest Sustainable Companies in Michigan Award. We were honored to take the stage with some of Michigans Very Best and Brightest... Herman Miller, Steelcase Furniture, The Grand Travese Resort... just to name a few. Please see the full list in this article link below:
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
The gift that keeps on giving... Flowers by my wife Lisa... they come up every year and each year it is a wonderful surprise and gift!
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