It’s 2012 - a new year and a new resolution. Mine for this year is to work smart AND hard for a better world.Since making “being the change” my personal goal since 2005, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that I don’t have to do this alone.So I’m thrilled to move the conversation to a new space on my company website where EarthPeople consultants, advisors, colleagues, and friends will contribute to a wider discussion about sustainability.

Our new blog EarthPeople Speak provides thought leadership across the spectrum, from green marketing and sustainable communications to clean technology and alternative energy.  We’ll dive deep into the world’s most pressing problems, as well as the many opportunities available to companies and people who address these challenges. 

Because adaptability is the essence of sustainability, most of our topics will relate to ways that people and organizations are preparing to compete and contribute in a rapidly changing world.  Of course, so much about “being the change” still depends on what people like you and me do on an individual basis.  How we consume, what we support with our dollars, how we interact in our communities, what we teach our children – these behaviors are still favorite topics of mine and will continue to play a central role in my writing. 

Historically I've found it difficult to be earth-friendly during the holidays. Despite my good intentions, something usually happens around December 18 that sends me running to Toys 'R Us. It's as if a switch goes off in my brain that says, "Must buy tons of toys for Christmas morning or the kids will cry their eyes out." This could stem from personal issues. My family still laughs over how I would sob after opening my last gift, devastated that I would have to wait another year before tearing into a pile of presents. But I digress. This article isn't about "confessions of a former material girl" but how we've changed our holiday habits for the greater good.

As the leader of the new green team for St. Bernard of Clairvaux school, I partnered with a national program for our first initiative of our academic year: a greener Halloween.  The Green Halloween® program is a non-profit community initiative to create healthier holidays, beginning with Halloween.

Why “green” and Halloween? It grew out of widespread concern about childhood obesity, the discovery of chemicals and lead in store-bought costumes, and enormous waste generated at Halloween for candy sales and décor. Our school already practices the basics of “reduce, reuse and recycle,” but a healthy planet doesn’t mean much without healthier kids to enjoy it. Here’s some spooky statistics: 

I meet people all the time who are searching for a way to make a difference in the world.  I’ve been there myself, but I’ve discovered that contributing to a sustainable future isn’t as much work as I've made it out to be. Change – whether in incremental steps as individuals or transformational leaps as a society - begins at home, one family at a time.

Environmental pressures from households are significant and their impacts will only intensify over the coming years. Already, residences account for nearly 20% of energy use and carbon emissions in the United States, and lifestyle decisions related to our homes and families reach far beyond that. On the positive side, we women have a great deal of spending power to wield for the greater good (and our own good, too).  We buy more than 85 percent of all purchases related to the household!  And as mothers, our influence extends into the next generation.  Here are ten ways that we women – and men! – can “work from home” to improve the world, beginning with our bank accounts:

By Nina Vikkula, Fintern for EarthPeople:

Now that I have spent a week and a half in Dallas, it is fair to say that I have had enough time to form some initial impressions on how green living is realised in America. In Europe, America is definitely more famous for Hollywood and consumerism than for its sustainability initiatives or willingness to contribute to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. Already before arriving here, I knew that this was not the whole truth, and now after my first weeks here I can easily confirm that there is more to the American way of life than just McDonald’s and Hollywood. Instead of going into the common Europe vs. America competition mode, I will now simply give you an overview of what I have been impressed by.

Attention!  There are some new and exciting things going on at EarthPeople.  

Nina Vikkula from Finland - our Fintern - is a master of science student in marketing and consumption in Gothenburg, Sweden.  She has now safely arrived to – at the moment of writing – quite snowy Dallas and is all set up to start working on groundbreaking research for her thesis while interning for our company. We have some 10 weeks of interesting work together ahead of us and we are happy to let you take part in this!

Jacqueline Kennedy once said, “ If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much.” This reality has given me fresh motivation for living sustainably.  While the ideal of restoring natural habitats got me started, being a mother of young kids is what propels me to make positive changes on a daily basis. As much as I know lies outside my control, I’m comforted that the choices I can control at home go far to ensuring my children’s health and wellbeing.

Priority number one is safety.  Ironically, keeping our children inside where it’s “safe” may do them more harm than good.  According to the EPA, pollutants in our indoor air are 2 to 5 times more concentrated than outside.  Opening your windows for five minutes a day improves your air quality, but to make a lasting difference, we need to be mindful of anything that touches our families via direct contact or inhalation. 

Is “green” dead?  The question continues to inspire commentary such as this from one San Francisco-based blogger: “Since any self-respecting ecological revolutionary wouldn’t be caught dead using the now defunct green, the new buzz word has become sustainability.”  The post then explains why “sustainability” is similarly doomed.  But if green is over, why is it so ubiquitous?  The answer is that green has gone mainstream, a sign of success that paradoxically annoys members of the counterculture that started it.

Every election carries the same hope for change - hope often dashed when election results don't go our way (or even when they do).  Those working to advance legislation supporting clean technology, renewable energy, and energy efficiency can look at Tuesday's outcome as a loss. Or we can take this setback for what it is: a setup for a comeback.  Just about the only thing that can break through the political gridlock is the pioneering spirit of ecoprepenurs and the citizen consumers who support them.  Activists can focus on local initiatives where it often matters most.  And all of us can beat the recession, saving thousands of dollars per year through common-sense sustainable living.  Check out Green, American Style for 85 ways to get started.

The student has become the teacher.  My buddy and fellow writer Kent Travis probably only got into “green” to be polite. We discovered a common experience as first-time authors and exchanged books in September – his on the Old Testament, mine on sustainable living.  Little did I know that my green gospel would land on fertile soil (indeed, the title of his book is Soil and Seed).   Now things have come full circle and Kent is teaching me how to green my Halloween.  Although I covered the broad strokes in How to give your kids a Green Halloween, Kent’s story is worth sharing because it’s funny and raises an excellent point about needless waste in costumes.