People who care for the natural environment tend to embrace or reject many labels.  Greenies.  Environmentalists.  Conservationists.  Conservatives.  Liberals.  Hunters.  Vegetarians.  Gas guzzler.  Clean coal.  Wasteful.  Shop-a-holic.  Hybrid.  Republicans.  Just kidding about that last one, by the way, and feeding on the stereotype of a Treehugger.

Environmentalists are blamed by some for hating.  A lot.

Seriously, Google “Environmentalists hate”, which I did to see what kinds of words would pop up.  ”Solar”, “Grass”,  ”America”, “blacks”, “minorities”, “the poor”, and “humans” all make the list of who and what environmentalists seek to destroy.

Googling “anti-green” yielded interesting results, too.  As it turns out, a slew of webpages devoted either  to railing the environmental movement due to people feeling annoyed by “greenie” superiority complexes or to proving the environmental movement theories as we know it to be wrong.  A couple were just humor blogs… and some, I frankly could not tell how serious they were.  Just look here, here, here and here for a few examples of these sites.

My biggest issue, however, are those that are sustainability and conservation-minded basing each other.  The ends do not justify the means for many, and the semantics over how to achieve a healthy ecosystem create confusion, misunderstandings, and blatant failure of communication.

After all, when is the last time you heard a “vegetarian” speak nicely of a “hunter”, or vice versa?

I attended the Dixie Deer Classic ~ a hunting type of convention at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh a couple weekends ago.  I brought a video camera because I wanted to ask some hunters to share their visions of conservation and environmentalism for my blog.

I realized, however, being approached by a vegetarian “greenie” with a video camera may be a little threatening and questionable.  So instead, I simply opted for conversation.

As it turns out, I spoke at great length with the Wake County Wildlife Club, and learned a lot.  I will be sharing, shortly, more regarding that conversation, some of the inspirations I gained from that weekend, and questions that arose for me.

Thus, I bring you a Green Grounded featurette ~ “Face of Sustainability”.  Starting this week, I will occasionally chronicle one person, one every day normal person, who in lengths great, small, or controversial, are environmentalists.

I look forward to bringing you this segment, and if you are in the Asheville or Raleigh area and would like to share your views, feel free to contact me.

Until then…

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue

In case you are not attending what may be one of the most environmentally-unfriendly Super Bowl parties you know, like I will, you may be wondering how a Super Bowl party can be green and eco-friendly.  At least greener than the disposable plates, cups, lack of recycling, and meat-oriented everything that normally goes with these events.

In fact, if you are lucky enough to be hosting your own shindig, and you are curious in this short notice how to make your party have more splash with your friends but less impact with the environment, I have rounded up some great links to check out for your pursuit:

Lighter Footstep advises you on grilling (oh, tasty!). 

Green Diva Mom writer shares a full-out healthy menu plan.

Trey of Earth911 has got the eight best tips, from menu, to toilets, to gambling, and souvenirs.

Last year, I posted these tips on buying bulk, beer, and links I liked.

The NFL consistently works to progress their sustainability initiatives and reduce their environmental impact.  The NFL as an organization and the Tampa Bay Super Bowl are only a small part of the picture:  we fans are accountable for our impact, and it adds up.

We are not pushing to provide only organic, fair-trade, and locally-grown foods, or to use solar power to fuel your party, because as great as those choices are, many of us and our friends are just “getting our feet wet” with being more environmentally-friendly (if they care at all).  So do what you can, and be proud of that.

So, in whatever effort you can, make that difference, and go have fun!  

Sustainably Steelers,

Ashley Sue

Kiddies, it is again time to pull that bike out and get to Wooly the Bull in downtown Durham by 530 tomorrow night (first Thursday) for Critical Mass.

I can think of few better ways to engage in your community, engage your physical health and start the habit of biking where you can.

Check out this great youtube clip of one of last year’s Critical Mass rides in Durham.  This is awesome!

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue
BTW, This post was pre-produced due to the fact Green Grounded is vacationing a la mountain hiking this week.

Lowes Motor Speedway partnered with the local Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation (yes, Anheuser-Busch has a recycling corp) to put out well over 200 recycling containers in the speedway for last night’s big Kasey Kahne victory (and for good).

While I’m in Hickory with my Papa and Marc, I got stuck watching the 600 mile race last night (I successful ignored most of the race by chatting it up with my visiting Grandma).  The last 20 laps were outstanding however… who would think a 600 mile race can create drama, but with an ending filled with the lead cars one-by-one having to pit for gas (what a heartbreaking way to end the game… uh… race) and Tony Stewart blowing a tire with only three laps left, Kasey Kahne took it away after a twist after twist last 20 laps.

We called our friends in Chesapeake who love Kasey Kahne to congratulate them, and then I got to see a piece on the local news that the speedway has “gone green”.

Now you know how I hate that cheap phrase, but I have to say I am happy to see advances made in all different industries.  It’s a start, and I have to be happy that LMS and A-BRC didn’t resort to the ever-catchy green color for their recycling hubs (that screams gimmick to me).

So crack open a cold one and celebrate the Earth along with Kasey Kahne’s victory.  Cheers!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

Marc and I went to Falls Lake in Raleigh this past Sunday for, what Marc thought, was fishing.  I went just to relax on a rock.  Little did we realize that Falls Lake is simply a disaster zone of plastic, broken glass, cigarette butts and nuclear waste.

OK, the nuclear waste is a step too far, perhaps, but I did take this odd picture of some sort of oily rainbowish substance floating around the edge:

Then, I realized why Marc and I had actually ended up at the lake (as if the fates reigned us in).  Enjoy the next few minutes and see how I turned something sad into something fun. I turned trash into a disco!

Yes, I had fun with Marc, picking up and logging each piece with a picture.  And no, every single pic in the video is a different piece ~ no duplicate shots of litter.  And this all took place in 30 minutes in about a half a square block of land (fishermen were on both sides of us, so I opted not to disturb their “area”).

What’s sad is, I could do this every day for a year at Falls Lake and still not get it cleaned up.  Not Marc and me by ourselves, at least.  I have to feel that other people out there are doing the same thing as us, though. 

C’est la vie.  We each do what we can, right?

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue