Today, I am asking you to ChipIn to Strivin To Be Green.
I am amazed by the input and supportive feedback I’ve received from friends as I began to talk about this project. Your input has helped to shape it into what it is now. I thank you.
Like any reality show, it has challenges.
For me, the biggest challenge so far has been that some days I feel like giving up. Especially when I encounter a naysayer or someone who doesn’t believe I can accomplish this project or doesn’t want me to accomplish it. I get refocused on this project when I am reminded of how meaningful and important this project is to me and others in the Strivin’ To Be Green community. If you care about the environment, then YOU are a part of that community, and I need your help.
I thank you in advance for your support because it will be very encouraging each time I see the ChipIn total go up.
As we reflect on the past year, and begin to consider what we want to accomplish in the New Year, we know that there’s a lot to get done. Sadly, in 2009, Copenhagen fell short. Sadly, in 2009, the U.S. Senate did not pass climate & energy legislation. But, I believe in us. Together we can continue to advocate, educate, inspire and accomplish good for the environment. I created Strivin’ To Be Green to help us do that in an unique and interesting way.
I’m sure you know by now, that the backstory of the season 1 of the show is that I’m going to buy a house, live in it while renovating it to make it earth-friendly, then auction it off and give the money from the sale to charity. And YOU get to decide which charities benefit A season 2 is planned, I’ve already had positive conversations with some people in an organization who would like to get behind a show that involves a group of people living in a house, strivin’ to be green. It will fit in with things they want to do to educate people on the environment, it will fit in with my career in communications and with what we all want to do. I’ve been advised however to get some experience at doing this myself, so that’s where we are at right now.
I need your help in raising a modest chunk of change because I want this project to start off on a good footing so that we can be successful (and tell the naysayers to shut up). To help in this, I’ve created the “Founding Members” program. Founding Members are the first 10,000 people, who contribute $4.22. My goal is to achieve this by Earth Day 2010. The sooner, the better. (early money is like yeast).
So here are a couple of an incentives to help you decide to ChipIn today and become a Founding Member:
1. You Get to Help Create the List of Environmental Charities to Benefit!
As a way to thank you for your support as a Founding Member, I will invite you to send me a list of the top 100 environmental causes you want this project to support. I won’t make suggestions, that’s up to you. But I’m hoping you’ll include some national, international and local environmental causes in your list.
I’ll take your list and the lists of all the other Founding Members. All together there will be 1,000,000 suggestions. Whew! I’ll take out the duplicates and create a final list of environmental charities to benefit from the sale of the house. I might need to narrow the list down a bit, but to keep major decisions like this open to the community I’ll seek suggestions from Strivin’ To Be Green members first. Before the house is scheduled to go on auction I’ll invite all members to vote on just how to split up the money among the environmental causes.
2. You get an invitation To Special Events!
You will be invited to attend our “Dinner With” events. I might need to create “Lunch With” events too with so many supporters. You will also be invited to attend other special events as they occur.
Why $4.22? Because 4/22 or April 22 is Earth Day of course!
Where will the house be located? Somewhere in Michigan.
What else will the show feature? As we progress, I want to add:
I believe that with your participation Strivin’ To Be Green becomes better than anything I could do just by myself. It almost seems like we are creating something out of nothing. But there is no nothing about our desire to inspire people to do more to overcome climate change, wasteful use of resources and the degradation of nature and wildlife. Strivin’ To Be Green serves as a place to bring together our community in a project where there can be a whole lot of getting something accomplished for the environment. What I am saying is that we get so much more accomplished by working together as a community.
That’s why I use the phrase “Envision Green”. The meaning of the word “envision” to me is the collective form of “imagine”. So, I ask you to envision a time when every person on the Earth strives each day to live in a way that is environmentally responsible. Through the effort of individual people, Strivin’ To Be Green is not just a reality show, it is our collective effort to educate & inspire, to fund organizations we support and someone is going to get a earth-friendly house out of it too. The individual people who ChipIn will help to get all this started.
I’m asking for your help so we can begin our work. I am asking you to ChipIn today.
Thank you!
- Jim “JD” Sullivan
