1. If you could do whatever you wanted, how would YOU spend your $600?
2. Is that the same or different from how you actually plan spend it?

If I could do anything I wanted to do with an extra $600, there are two places I would put it. First, I’d give to at least a portion of it to Green For All. This is one of the most important initiatives in the US right now with its mission to help build a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Donations to Green For All are matched dollar for dollar by an extraordinary $1 million Challenge Grant so every dollar donated goes twice as far towards the Green For All initiatives.

I would also consider putting some of it into a trip for myself to New Orleans, which would of course be timed around the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival but with plenty of time to do some Habitat for Humanity work. A volunteer vacation with really good music and food sounds perfect to me.

What would I really do with the money? Probably put it in my savings account and await YET ANOTHER email from my bank letting me know that the feds have ONCE AGAIN dropped the interest rates. I am sympathetic to the people who have fallen prey to predatory lenders. A lot of what has happened in the US mortgage market is criminal. However, a lot of it could have been avoided if consumers and the government took more responsibility for their credit and spending. None of us are perfect, myself included, but I’m definitely getting a little fed up with the situation.

What would others do? Part of this meme is tagging other bloggers to answer the same question so my turn to tag: Ren at Accounting Solver, Thursday at One Vote Matters, Darlene at Interview Chatter, Dan at Property Crossroads and Blain at Talk Stock Trading. You are all tagged!

Post from: EveryJoe

What to do with a $600 Federal Tax Rebate?

In April, Green For All is bringing organizations and leaders from communities across the nation together to produce The Dream Reborn, an event aimed at solving two of the world’s most severe crises – global warming and deepening poverty.

This conference will celebrate the life of Dr. King and present positive solutions for social and environmental justice – ecological solutions that can heal the Earth while bringing jobs, justice, wealth and health to all communities.

Among the presenters: Van Jones (Ella Baker Center/Green For All), Majora Carter (Sustainable South Bronx), Winona LaDuke (Honor the Earth), Malia Lazu (The Gathering for Justice), Mary Ann Hitt (Appalachian Voices), Reverend Yearwood (Hip Hop Caucus), Ian Kim (Oakland Green Jobs Corps) and more.

There are several ways to get involved with The Dream Reborn: Register to attend and learn how the green economy will lift all boats. Learn about the event at their website and spread the word. Or sponsor a youth community leader – this is a great way to show your support!

The Dream Reborn is at the Cook Convention Center, Memphis, Tennessee, April 4-6, 2008. Click here for more information.

Post from: EveryJoe

Green for All & The Dream Reborn: Lifting All Boats in the Green Economy

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in the United States, a national holiday commemorating Dr. King’s birthday (Jan 15) and his leadership as a civil rights activist.

What you might not be aware of is that more than a holiday, today is also a day of service. The King Holiday and Service Act federal legislation honors MLK, Jr. and “challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action through volunteer service in honor of Dr. King.”

While this blog is dedicated to green business, it’s not just about the environment. Green means sustainable and without social equality our economy, our environment and our world are unsustainable.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., here are some links to sustainable endeavors that are working for social and environmental justice.

Green For All: working to bring “green collar” jobs to urban areas, launched at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on September 26, 2007. The group, created by Van Jones, co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, seeks to capitalize on the exploding green economy while ensuring that the coming green economic wave lifts all boats.

Louisiana Bucket Brigade: empowering fenceline communities along Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor in their fight to reduce industrial pollution and protect public health. LBB works with communities that border the oil refineries and chemical plants along the Mississippi River. With the tools and support of LBB, citizens monitor air pollution and have the data to fight corporations which have ignored, overlooked and disrespected their neighbors for generations.

Deep South Center for Environmental Justice: is a collaboration between community, environmental groups and universities to address issues of environmental justice. The DSCEJ provides opportunities for communities, scientific researchers, and decision makers to collaborate on programs and projects that promote the rights of all people to be free from environmental harm as it impacts health, jobs, housing, education, and general quality of life.

Check out Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to see how communities and individuals are honoring Dr. King this year. In Washington, to commemorate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a collaborative funding, design, and construction is in progress for the creation of “a memorial to honor his national and international contributions to world peace through non-violent social change.” Take a virtual tour of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Memorial here and find out how you can help build the dream.

Post from: EveryJoe

How Will You Honor Dr Martin Luther King Jr?

Fahey’s recent article, A Wave of Green Jobs can Lift All Boats, delves into Mr. Jones’ social and environmental leadership in, what she calls, his “moment in history.” If you haven’t met Jones yet, this is a good place to get to know him.

And you should. Van Jones is powerful force for economic and environmental change who “has the ear of every 2008 Democratic presidential contender as well as top policy-makers like Nancy Pelosi. He’s all over the national climate scene,” according to Fahey.

Mr. Jones, who founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights which promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration, got the City of Oakland to adopt the Ella Baker Center’s “Green Jobs Corps” proposal, and he is working to create the first-ever Green Enterprise Zone in Oakland.

His latest endeavor is Green for All, an initiative

to help build a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for a national commitment to job training, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy – especially for people from disadvantaged communities — we fight both poverty and pollution at the same time. We are committed to securing one billion dollars by 2012 to create “green pathways out of poverty” for 250,000 people in the United States, by greatly expanding federal government and private sector commitments to “green-collar” jobs.

Here’s Van Jones on Green Collar Jobs…

A Wave of Green Jobs can Lift All Boats by Anne Fahey at GreenBiz.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rising Tide: Van Jones on Green Jobs