the gift of thought

The power outage in California yesterday provides a moment to reflect on the contribution of energy and how it impacts our personal and professional lives. How many of us for example, depend on the Internet for our businesses? Not to mention it's assistance in shopping, communication, and entertainment?

I heard an interview recently on public radio (can't remember the book title or author at the moment) about how our reliance on computers has increased our energy demands. For me the question that comes of this information is...do I feel guilty about being an energy glutton or find alternative ways in life to balance out my energy use? I can't come close to being balanced but I can make the effort.

Yesterday I visited with Jule at Be The Butterfly to chat about dsmBUZZ and also do a bit of shopping for a gift. Now I point out that I drove to Ankeny so there was energy used and tomorrow I'm flying out of Des Moines to New Jersey which means more energy there.

At least my gift and purchase help just a bit to counter this. This lovely box in the photo contains a bowl made with recycled plastic bags woven together. The special and unique gift boxes from Be the Butterfly are chocolate brown made from recycled cardboard. The periwinkle blue ribbon is made with hemp.

I also picked up a new wallet which, as you can see pictured here, is  made with a recycled movie poster. For me that is wonderful in that it is recycled AND I enjoy anything movies. The wallet comes from a company that Jule carries called www.ecoist.com.

I enjoyed the shopping experience at Be the Butterfly especially because Jule has a wealth of interesting information and stories to share about the items she carries. Her enthusiasm for health and environment, and her attention to service, give these environmentally friendly objects an extension of value beyond the products themselves.

Let me know if you want to head out there together and we can share the ride and save gas!

I had a terrific interview yesterday on Entrepreneur People. Real stories. with Andrea Foley of Diaper DuDee but as of now the blogtalkradio site has not archived it. This is very unusual for them and I wonder if it has anything to do with the power outage. I'll post further info on the interview once it's available.

In the meantime, do you have ways you have reduced your energy use in your business or home? Feel free to share them so we can all benefit from the ideas.