RAISING SOCIAL AWARENESS, The ALISON D. GILBERT Blog, THE ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT

Green Heroes

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green heroes
The Incredible Hulk®

INTRODUCTION

Green heroes loom large in the world of animation. First of all, middle aged people will remember The Incredible Hulk® as one of the more popular ones. Furthermore, younger folks will easily relate to the loveable, animated Shrek® as one of today’s best known characters. Consequently, both are beloved, admired and influential green heroes.

GREEN HEROES

Less well known are the real world influential green heroes. Most noteworthy are people who have started sustainable projects and created productive, profitable businesses. Some are green in familiar ways. Others follow my broader definition developed in the upcoming ebook, Mastering the Art of Green. Hence including:
• a focus for individual survival and profitabiity
• an inventive and untraditional successful enterprise
• something for community well being
• solutions to world hunger and poverty
 

As a result, with growing green consciousness, poverty and scarcity will decrease. This will be due to the tangible results from green thinking and green resources. Most of all, the global crisis of hunger can be impacted in a positive way. Here lies the area of my greatest concern.

Consequently, we want to pay close attention to such green thinking and the results of these green heroes. Ideas and people like them will mold our future and probably change our world for the better. Towards this end, I have included several green heroes from a variety of venues in this post. In addition, it is my hope that their projects, the snapshots of their work and the details about them in the Sources & Resources section at the end of the post will serve to inspire all of us.
 

FROM CLEARANCE TO CASH: RYAN GRANT

green heroes
Grant says quitting his job to start his own business was the best decision he’s ever made

 

FARMERS CUT PILOT PROGRAM: MARK KORZILIUS

green heroes
Hyper local. Farm to Fork. Delicious. Healthy.
“You can probably guess by now, that we’re not an ordinary farm. Originally a farm was a place where people celebrated nature, enjoyed pure, good food. All around the world harvesting was a special occasion where people came together as a community to enjoy their gratitude for good food.

green heroes
Farmers Cut Pilot Farm

“Now, imagine a world of not just one harvest cycle, but many. We are talking of up to 20. Imagine the many pleasant occasions we can come together and enjoy pure good food! Together, we will bring back the joy of food and our farm will be home to that feeling and a place for you – the avid food lover.” Mark Korzilius, Farmers Cut
 

 

GOTHAM GREENS: URBAN ROOFTOP GREENHOUSES

Viraj Puri, Co-Founder and CEO
Eric Haley, Co-Founder and CFO
Jennifer Nelkin Frymark, Chief Agriculture Officer

green heroes
Gotham Greens was founded in Brooklyn.

“‘Gotham Greens’ pesticide-free produce is grown using ecologically sustainable methods in technologically-sophisticated, 100% clean energy powered, climate-controlled urban rooftop greenhouses. Gotham Greens provides its diverse retail, restaurant, and institutional customers with reliable, year-round, local supply of produce grown under the highest standards of food safety and environmental sustainability. The company has built and operates over 170,000 square feet of technologically advanced, urban rooftop greenhouses across 4 facilities in New York City and Chicago. Gotham Greens was founded in 2009 in Brooklyn, New York and is privately held.” Gotham Greens
 

green heroes
Extraordinarily fresh produce, grown in extraordinarily fresh places.

 

GROWING CITIES MOVIE: URBAN FARMING IN AMERICA

A documentary that examines the role of urban farming in America and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and change the way we eat. This film is based on a 13,000 mile trip around the United States researching answers to this question.

“In their search for answers, filmmakers Dan Susman and Andrew Monbouquette take a road trip and meet the men and women who are challenging the way this country grows and distributes its food, one vacant city lot, rooftop garden, and backyard chicken coop at a time. Join them as they discover that good food isn’t the only crop these urban visionaries are harvesting. They’re producing stronger and more vibrant communities, too.” From their website

 

green heroes
Jim Wang of Wallet Hacks
JIM WANG: WALLET HACKS

First of all, Wallet Hacks is an internet encyclopedia of financially green ideas. Jim Wang writes about untraditional tools to save money, from everyday items to phenomenal travel tips.

He is constantly amazing me with his suggestions and data. As a result, I cannot applaud him enough as a green hero whose research is invaluable and needs to be studied. Almost any area of life that you want to save money on can be found in his writings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KATHY TERRILL: I LOVE SELLING ON EBAY


A master ebay seller, Kathy Terrill presents all kinds of useful and fascinating information about selling on ebay. The inspiration for this video was a presentation for members of Sarah Mueller’s Declutter My Home, Facebook group.

 

PASCAL BAUDAR: URBAN OUTDOOR SKILLS

This man is a wild foods artisan. I am in awe of the delicacies he makes from foraged as well as commercial ingredients.

green heroes
Vegan cheeses made by Pascal Baudar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE TOP FARMING: INDOOR FARM TO TABLE FOOD
green heroes
The Table Top Farming icon

“Wish you had the space to grow your own food? Wish you could be in your garden even in winter? Table top farming is your solution for both. You can grow healthy greens, herbs, sprouts, vegetables and even fruit indoors, all year round.

“As a result of using growing techniques like microgreens, hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics, you can do your own ‘table top farming’ indoor and out. This page shares my experience doing ‘Table Top Farming’ for fun and a source of nutritious, fresh food.” From the Facebook page

 

 

 

 

SOURCES AND RESOURCES

Ryan Grant
Mark Korzilius
Farmers Cut
Gotham Greens
Growing Cities Movie, The film
Pascal Bauder
Kathy Terrill, selling on eBay
Table Top Farming
100+ Restuarant Where Kids Eat Free
Anne Gibson – The Micro Gardener

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Passive Income, The ALISON D. GILBERT Blog, The Former Middle Class

Are We Traditional Millionaires?

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micromillionaire
‘7 streams of income of millionaires’ from Jim Wang’s ‘Wallet Hacks’
The 7 streams of income of millionaires

According to Jim Wang of Wallet Hacks, millionaires tend to have 7 streams of income. To quote him, “Have you ever heard the statistic that millionaires have an average of seven streams of income? I tried to find the survey, report, or some official repeating that statistic but was unsuccessful. That said, seven sounds good to me.” His list consists of the following sources of passive income:
• “Interest – from a variety of loans, either to individuals (peer to peer lending or private notes) or companies (bonds, notes)
• Dividends – from investments, partnerships
• Capital gains – from the sale of investments
• Royalties – from products you sell or license
• Rental income – from real estate
• Business income – which may or may not be passive but the idea is you build something that generates income without active work,
like a website or the sale of information products”

 

Our 7 Streams of Passive Income

Even though we are part of The Former Middle Class and were One Day From Homeless, we have 7 streams of passive income. Does this mean we are traditional millionaires? Let’s look at our sources of passive income:
• Social security retirement benefits
• credit card sign up promotional rewards
• credit card cash rewards
• Assistance with housing and medical expenses
• Medicare and Medicaid
• Food stamps
• OTC card for over-the-counter medically related expenses up to $100
 

Are We Traditional Millionaires?

We actually have 7 streams of passive income. By definition then, we could be millionaires. But in the real monetary world, we are far from traditional millionaires. In spite of that, let’s say there is another world and another currency. It is a frugal world where large amounts of money do not define us. Our frugal living world involves:
• living on a very tight budget
• buying what we must
• acquiring what we can without having to purchase it
• being creative in making or scavenging for what we need
• limiting frivolous purchases as much as possible
• experiencing joy and meaning in life through activities other than consumerism and spending money as an addiction
 

Another Kind of Millionaire
micro millionaires
The No Spend Chart from The No Spenders! Facebook Group

You could say that we live in a world that is a microcosm of the mainstream financial world. Our world offers much more but in comparison to the mainstream, we do qualify to be micro millionaires. The reason we do is because we have succeeded in surviving in the miniature financial version of the middle class world we used to inhabit.

Survival comes first and we have not only managed to survive. We have become members of the group, Savvy Saving Survivalism.
It allows for most of the things that our middle class necessities allowed for but in much simpler terms and smaller quantities. In order to fit in to this new life while being comfortable in this smaller financial box, we have had to downsize our world to a minimum of material wants. We focus realistically on our material needs and away from consumerism as a lifestyle.

 

Nourishing Minimalism

Nourishing Minimalism has helped a great deal. Because of these internal and external space shifts, we are finding that we now have room for many new interests and goals. Because we are not consumed by wanting lots of dollars to spend, the currency of our current lives is focusing on our dreams. We dream about the avenues we want to explore, the subjects we want to study and where serendipity might lead us going forward in our lives.

micro millionaire
Nourishing Minimalism Yearly Decluttering Challenge-Closed Facebook Group
What Will the Future Bring?

I don’t know how or where we will go. But one thing I know for sure is this. We have managed to have fruitful and peaceful lives in our frugal world as micro millionaires. We have challenges even fears, at times. But they are less than when we had lots more money. We have learned that it does not take lots of money to make dreams come true. So I am sure we will accomplish what we am meant to do. It does take some money. But more importantly, it takes faith, hope and being tenacious about our dreams.

Conclusion: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

Nowhere in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs does it indicate that one must be a traditional millionaire. It seems to me that being a micro millionaire fits very well with his philosophy. Maybe that is why we feel fulfilled without having lots of money but lots of what money can’t buy.

micro millionaire
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, Illustration by TimVandevall.com ©2013 Dutch Renaissance Press LLC
Afterword

For anyone who can’t resist having an encyclopedic amount of information about passive income ideas, either in number or details, there is a voluminous blog post from Bengu. The name is 45+ Proven Wealth-Building Passive Income Ideas. Be prepared for a very long read. It is also suggested to take on one idea at a time. Become proficient in it and then move on to another passive income stream suggestion. Otherwise, you may become totally overwhelmed. But you will never run out of options.

Sources and Resources

7 streams of income of millionaires, by Jim Wang
The Former Middle Class
One Day From Homeless, Our Story
Survival Comes First
Savvy Saving Survivalism
Nourishing Minimalism
The No Spenders! Facebook Group
Healthy Frugal Food Resources and Recipes
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs vs. The Max Neef Model of Human Scale development Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
45+ Proven Wealth-Building Passive Income Ideas
 

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