Chocolate or Vanilla?

Unfortunately, or fortunately, most decisions in life are not simply about taste. When you decide what to put in your mouth, you are not only contemplating the flavor but also the nutritional value or the cost or the convenience... When you are making personal decisions you can decide what is best for you. Some people care about their weight, others care about energy level, others care about allergies and for some, it is merely about getting a morsel of food. When it comes to business, your decisions affect your brand.

When planning D2E we have to make decisions about what exhibitors we want to participate, what kind of sponsors we are looking for and of course the educational programming. Every decision we make will reflect upon us and send a message to the public. We can rationalize that a Hummer is green when it runs on vegetable oil. But is that the message we want to send to our kids?

Based on all that I have learned in my exploration to live a more sustainable life, I have come to realize that we need to re-think our American dream. This is not an easy task and I do not have the answer. But I am working to change my own habits, one at a time, and I am re-thinking my personal and professional goals.

Based on the previous blog entry, a friend contacted the Sierra Club to inquire about their criteria for endorsing products. Below is the response.

Thank you for contacting the Sierra Club.

We received a couple of emails about this and I got this reply from Carl Pope:
"The comments are accurate. My personal view is that no one needs an SUV -- if you need 4wd a Subaru will do, and if you are a serious rancher or plumber you need a pick-up. A mini-van will handle the soccer team more safely.

But there are no equivalent sized vehicles that get as good gas mileage, no hybrid subaru wagon or mini-van, so I think it was the best new car of this year."

Your support of the Sierra Club is greatly appreciated. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

"Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet."

Best Regards,

David Perry
Sierra Club Information

I wonder if The Sierra Club realizes the power of their endorsement. They are telling people that this is a great vehicle to purchase and you can feel good about it. I think, and I hope, that there is someone out there that really needs this huge SUV. My husband drives a big truck, but he is in construction and he uses it to haul loads every week. So I understand the need for trucks. But I don't understand promoting it as a green option to the general public. I wonder if the Sierra Club is going to taint it's brand with these types of endorsements.

The Tahoe may be the best in it's class, but should we be promoting this class for the environment? Is this like promoting open toe high heels at a rodeo?