Surviving The Economic Downtown – Opportunity to be Environmentally Conscious!(Or at least let everybody think you are)!

Remember the days when we were sitting at Starbucks sipping our Mocha Latte Light, texting on our Blackberry, while looking forward to going home in our Hummer and reclining in front of our 56” plasma TV.??? Well those days are gone now thanks to the current economic crisis that we in part with our excessive consumerism, have helped create. (Oh, AIG, Citigroup, Bear Sterns, Lehman Bros, and numerous other “Big Companies” bad management did contribute significantly to this mess too)!

But there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The point is to be pro-active, take the bull by the horns, take responsibility for your destiny, and all those other clichés we toss around in times of adversary. It’s time to appear to be environmentally conscious without feeling embarrassed that you lost your cushiony six-figure- a -year job and have been reduced to selling cookies out of your kitchen!

1. You now take public transport to work because you can’t afford gas or maintenance – Your spin – “I am reducing my carbon footprint”.

2. You brown-bag it to work instead of having lunch at some overpriced, artsy café – Your spin – “I am trying to eat healthy and reduce my carbon footprint”!

3. You take your own popcorn to cinema – “It is less fattening than the cinema popcorn, so I am being healthy, and saving the environment by consuming less resources”!

4. You use coupons everywhere! - “Well the stores used a lot of paper to create those coupons so I am merely recycling paper”!

5. You are eating so much beans you could write a recipe book on 100 ways of cooking beans! – “More beans = less meat = less trees being cut to raise animals”. Ah the sacrifices you are making for the environment!

6. You traded your Mercedes for a Smart Car – “Less gas, less pollution – all for the sake of the environment”!

7. An afternoon of fun is playing basketball with your friends at the local park instead of going to the game! “I am reducing my carbon footprint by staying close to home instead of driving to the game”!

8. You turn off all electrical equipment when not in use because you can’t pay the electricity bill – “I am doing this not just for me, but for Mother Earth”!

9. Your “dream vacation” is now the park near your house – “ I am cutting down on my carbon footprint by staying close to home”!

10. Your jeans have cuts on them due to wear and tear – “I am anti-consumerism so I refraining from buying new clothes”! ( P.S. You are also trying to start a new fashion trend – ChicPoor)!

11. The only brand name items you own are imitations – “I am providing work for the thousands of third world citizens who survive by producing imitation stuff – plus I are saving the environment”!

12. The only job you can get with your fancy MBA is flipping burgers – “I always wanted to experience the true meaning of work, to work with my hands, to create something, to bond with my customers”! (Plus you are saving the environment)!

So now go forth you Harvard educated, MBA citizen, bask in your new reality and be proud of it, after all you helped create it!