A few years ago a company I was working for sent me to a management training class. It was an amazing class. In addition to teaching me how to improve my interactions with my employees and customers, it also made me take a look at myself. I had to define my management style, create a list of my core values, and write a plan for bettering myself as a person, all to realize my potential as a manager. And I got to watch FISH! again!

I recently came across the folder from that training, and the list of core values and goals I set for myself. Now, these weren’t short term goals, theses were lifetime goals. One of them stuck out …

Leave a legacy.

It’s something most people hope to do in their lives. Some people’s legacies are their children, or the work they do that changes a process, or how they touch other’s lives. What is my legacy going to be? It only seems natural:

Water.

Water has been a huge part of my life. As a child swimming every weekend in the great lakes, as a dive master in the Caribbean, on ships, hard hat diving in the gulf. I love water, and I’ve been lucky enough to have an abundance of it in my life…

But many people don’t. I’ve seen the devastation that is caused by a lack of water, women carrying water from wells miles away for their family, children sick from drinking tainted water. I can fix that. I can make a difference. I found out that $10 can give one person fresh water for 10 years. Really. But that’s not enough. I found this site thru change.org:

The Water project lets people help bring fresh water to schools in Africa and India. Each well services the school and surrounding community, and can bring fresh water to over a thousand people. And each well… well, it only costs $5,000. That’s right, $5,000 will give hundreds, if not a thousand, water for at least 10 years.

I’ve found my legacy, the pickle jar is already starting to fill up.

What’s yours going to be?

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It’s a bright and sunny Sunday morning, mother’s day in fact. I’ve been up since 5:30 baking bread, marinating meat, and getting the grill ready for the family to stop by. Cup o’ coffee in hand, I sat down to watch some TV, when the Rottweiler came up and put her head on my knee.

If you have a dog, you know. Thru good times and bad, happiness and depression, and life in general, that dog is the one who keeps you grounded. I try every day to be the man my dog thinks I am.

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Today I was out shopping for grocery bags, and I came across something that surprised me. The Target store that I was at didn’t offer any eco-friendly options for trash or sandwich/freezer bags. I ended up going to Wal-Mart, where they had several options including the 60% post consumer recycled trash bags, Ziploc Freezer bags made with 25% less plastic in a wind powered plant, and 100% recycled paper towels that I ended up purchasing. I thought that I’d share some of the manufacturers and retailers that offer products like this. If each of us were to make small changes in our daily routines like these, we’d be making a huge difference!

Webster Industries

Webster Industries offers many consumer and professional level options for eco-friendly disposal and storage bags including:

And more! Click any of the above logos to find out more…

The GoodSense line, as well as Glad’s 65% Recycled trash bags can be found at Wal-Mart.

Marcal Paper

Marcal makes the Small Steps line of paper towels, as well as many other products. They are made from 100% recycled paper, and without chlorine bleach or other additives. Click below to find out more:

Ziploc

The Ziploc® evolve™ line of freezer and storage bags are made with a special resin that uses 25% less plastic for each bag, and this is what they say about their commitment to using renewable energy in the plant that produces the evolve line:

The makers of Ziploc® brand products have partnered with a wind energy supplier to support renewable wind energy. Every year, Ziploc® purchases approximately 50% of the estimated energy involved in manufacturing Ziploc® evolve™ in the form of renewable energy to be put back on the electrical grid. Actual wind energy delivered could vary due to weather conditions, but is not anticipated to be any less than 45% of the Ziploc® evolve™ manufacturing facility's total energy

The Ziploc® evolve™ products can be found at:

Rainbow Foods, and other grocery stores. None of the Major Department stores list them on their websites yet.

Read More 0 comments | Written by Dan