Ms Green Dreams

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned; how has it been 9 months since my last post?  And yet the topic of that last entry remains current: how do we face our problems as a town, a country, a planet, and keep up the motivation to heal the world when it's all so overwhelming and easier to just pull the blanket over your head?  While the good news is Ebola is amazingly back under control, other things seem worse - with Palmyra falling brutally, and more uncivil civil conflicts in our own home towns. 

And, just when you want to tune out, give up, and just tune in to Mad Men, THAT outlet pulls the plug.  But not without giving us a little reminder of social progress made since that era, especially as pertains to the ERA, in one of the last episodes. This won't blow the finale for those that are delaying gratification by storing it in their DVR, and even if you've never watched it, at least watch the segment from one of the last episodes when Joan tries to go head to head with her boss over sexual discrimination. Spoiler alert: she loses.

Joan's argument and poise is perfect, her character's bravery buoyed by Betty Friedan. While she at least walks away with some dignity and some of her owed dollars, the battle is what is important for women today to watch and understand.  It really was not very long ago that women like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem helped us finally WIN some of those battles.

We still have a ways to go, and equal pay issues can be added to my laundry list of misery-making headlines.  But we cannot take the progress for granted.  Organizations like Makers are showcasing the stories of women who have - and do - make America.  Younger women can't afford to not tune in and understand the sacrifices made by the Joans before them.

I've made my own progress in the past few months. I'm channeling my anxiety about the news into a resource for women who want to find purpose-based ways to help turn thing more things around.  It's called Golden Girl Dreams, and its aim is to be a curated guide to ways to give back. It's my sideline so it's slow going, but the illustrious followers I've gained on Twitter and the enthusiastic response I've gotten to the concept inspires me, and keep me moving forward.

It's all we can really do, after all.

Riding the Green Wave in April

Ann Curry's special on NBC - "Our Year of Extremes: Did #ClimateChange Just Hit Home" - was well done and provided a necessary reminder - in simple a+b=c terms that there is little doubt it is people that are impacting our planet's dramatic weather changes. And watching the report as both an ad sales marketer and someone passionate about sustainability, something was clearly missing. Something as glaring as those glacier images. Not one advertiser in that show grabbed the opportunity to align their brand with corporate social responsibility. And not one advertised product was anything endemic to the area of sustainability. There were half a dozen ads for QSRs and fast food restaurants, a couple of department stores and (ironically) insurance companies, many cleaning products, and even those land-filling coffee pods. I'm from the "it'll never be perfect but at least we can try" camp. So, where was Starbucks and its sustainability effort? Where were CSX or Amtrak touting fuel-saving transportation modes? How about even a fuel-efficient or hybrid car? Even Microsoft - which PRNews just applauded as the most socially responsible company of 2013. Instead, we saw ads for (ironically) air fresheners and burgers.

A few years back #NBC launched its fairly wide-reaching "Green in Universal" effort. Where's the beef now? Around then, #CBS bought a smart little company EcoMedia, which while today still allows ads for mainstream brands to feature a leaf in the corner of your screen, indicating a portion of the ad buy is being donated to environmental causes, I haven't seen a leaf in a long time. Now, just as when waves of consciousness were spurred by things like long fuel lines then diminished when the lines went down, it seems it has grown less ...convenient?... to wave a green flag. Yet media media gives a nod to extra eco-content in April -- Earth Day month  

But as every marketer today will tell you, ads are most effective when more "native" to the content and appropriately aligned. So, some cynics might cry "greenwashing" if the Climate Change special had ad loads of more environmentally conscious products, but even they would have to agree that the AD environment was better suited to sponsors who at least tried to grab the opportunity to shine their sustainability spotlight a little bit brighter.

What if God were On the Bus?

I always loved how Joan Osborne's lyrics captured the essence of it being possible that anyone could be anything, and what if God were just a "slob like one of us" ...just a "stranger on the bus...". I got that reminder today. I realized I'd misplaced my metro card and was frantically searching my pockets for the fare just as the bus pulled up.  Then in my frenzy a receipt I needed went flying into a puddle, and I plucked it out gingerly, flapping it dry.

Shaking my head at my own disorganization I heard a woman ask if I needed a tissue to dry off the receipt. I looked up and it was a shabby but warmly dressed woman, who was missing most of her teeth. Probably in her 60s, but could have been younger based on what seemed to have been a hard-lived life. I thanked her and declined then shared how stupid I felt about losing my metro card.  Without a second of hesitation she asked if I needed money for the fare.

A whole range of thoughts raced through my head -- from "oh gosh, I hope she didn't think I was looking for money," to "she doesn't look like she even HAS any money - let alone any she could spare?" to "what an incredible gesture." Clearly to all appearances I was the one who should be offering her help, but this stranger from the bus thought nothing of helping another stranger even if it put her that much more behind on rent, or food. I was humbled, and honored. I assured her that I would be okay, after she asked at least twice more if I was sure I'd be okay.

I thanked her and said I wished more people were like her. She just asked, "Well, that's just the way we should all treat each, isn't it?"

Simply, yes. It is.
And a stranger from the bus reminded me of that.