Gearing Up for Going Green

OK folks, we've got two weeks to get prepared for the big, official "Go Green" kickoff, so let's get organized. Your first task (wow, how much does it suck that you have 'pre-tasks' before your actual tasks?) is to sign up at the Yahoo Group and introduce yourself. This, I feel, is especially important for those of you without blogs. It is a great way to interact with other like-minded folks and you'll get loads of great ideas from the other folks in the group. Finding a sense of community - even in an online forum - will help encourage you to keep going.

If you're not familiar with Yahoo Groups, let me give you a little 411. Yahoo Groups are simply private message boards that allow folks to post ideas or information. It's totally free, so don't worry - you don't pay any money to join. Of course, "free" on the internet usually means "lots of ads" and Yahoo is no exception. The good news is they're not pop-ups, just your standard clickables.

Once you join a group, you can select the method for viewing the posts. You can either have each new message sent to your email address as it's posted; have a "daily digest" of all the posts sent to your email; or have no messages sent to your email and just log into Yahoo Groups when you feel like checking in.

You can change your method at any time by clicking on "Edit Membership" (right under the giant Yahoo Ad and just above the header that says "Going_Green_With_Burbanmom"). This will take you to a separate page where you can edit your email address, change your message delivery option, your message option, and email options.

This is also where you go if you decide you want to Unsubscribe from the group. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see a button in the right hand corner that's labeled "Leave Group". I have been in so many groups where messages are posted that say "HELP!!! UNSUBSCRIBE ME!" Please know that YOU are the one who has the power to unsubscribe yourself! :-)

I don't have too many rules for the Yahoo Group. I hate to inhibit the free exchange of ideas by saying that you can't post off-topic or anything. I only ask you all do one thing: respect each other. No judging, no admonishing, no finger pointing. We're all here to try to do what we can to lighten our impact. We all have our hang-ups. Some folks can't buy from bulk bins because it skeeves them out. Others can't stand the cold and keep the furnace turned up a bit. Still others are carnivores through and through and find it difficult to give up their beef.

Get over it. As I constantly tell my kids, "Get your finger out of your nose and quit licking the window!"

Oh wait, that's something totally different.

I meant "stop worry about what your brother/sister is doing and worry about what you're doing". This is not a competition. Although it's great fun to see how your numbers compare with others, in the end it is the effort YOU put in to it. Do what you can and help others out with advice or suggestions, but do not deride.

That's it! Your first unofficial pre-task. See? Baby steps. We'll get there, folks.

Join the Going Green conversation...