Photo courtesy of Miss Shari

There is nothing more relaxing than a long walk barefoot down the beach. But a pristine beach has become a rarity, and now we are creating clean beaches more often than finding them. We have personally participated in a multitude of beach clean-ups. Some were organized by non-profits like the Surfrider Foundation and, in the San Francisco Bay Area where we live, Save the Bay. Others were co-sponsored by socially-minded private companies. But most of them have been self-initiated. Our beach bag may be filled with lunch when we arrive, but it’s full of trash when we leave. We figure that if people see a clean beach, they will be less likely to pollute it.

Once the trash is removed, folks no longer have “permission” to litter. They can’t say, “It looks like it’s OK to leave behind our wrappers, beverage cans and plastic bags because, look, others have already done it, so a little more won’t matter.” Instead, they will see an unspoiled beach and have to think twice about being the first to litter.

Often the litter is what was left after lunch was eaten. We generally find drink and fast food Styrofoam containers, used Mylar mustard and ketchup single-serving packets, soiled paper napkins, plastic flatware, French fry containers – plus the plastic bag it all came in, in which we re-deposit the remains.

But of all the litter we have removed from beaches throughout the country and all over the world, the most insidious item is by far cigarette butts. They are hard to see at first. Usually buried in the sand an inch or two down, they are virtually invisible.

According to the Ocean Conservancy, cigarette butts make up 20% of all litter removed during beach clean-ups. It is now the most prevalent type of litter on the planet. Cigarette filters are made out of cellulose acetate which never biodegrades! And they are saturated with tobacco, nicotine, and tar which harm wildlife when incorporated into nesting material.

How did this happen and why does it continue? Is it because some smokers don’t regard cigarette butts as litter? Or is it because sand has been used for decades in ashtrays? Or is it because the general public has not indicated to its elected officials that this type of litter should be considered unlawful like any other type of litter?

Recently we were in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, where they have attacked the “butt” problem head-on. On every litter can there is an ashtray and a sign that says, “Cigarette Butts ARE Litter! $200 Fine!” These folks know that when cigarette butts are discarded onto the street or the sidewalk, they wash down the storm drains into the ocean and often wind up on the beach.

In an effort to discourage tobacco litter, New York Assembly Member Michael DenDekker has proposed a one-cent deposit on every cigarette – like a bottle redemption. The redeemed cigarette butts will be recycled into rust prevention products and plastic molds instead of costing New York City over $500,000 per year in landfill. Bravo! We hope it passes!

So as we approach Earth Day this year, let’s give the beaches a clean break and follow Alaska and New York’s lead. Let’s all work together to get the butts off our beaches!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Get the Butts off our Beaches! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

As we approach the nation’s 236^th year of independence from England and thereby Europe, we find ourselves glued to the financial news out of Europe like we were still part of it. And we are, more than ever. We worry about the economies of China and Russia as if they were our own – regardless of our political differences. Why? Because our very livelihood depends on the world’s economic and environmental health.

We live on the Pacific Coast where debris from the Japanese tsunami is now just starting to wash up from a catastrophe clear across the world’s largest ocean. Beyond our human empathy for the brave people of Japan, many Japanese products we took for granted became scarce. We were confronted with how the damage to their infrastructure affected our marketplace.

If there’s even a hint of an interruption in the supply of oil from the Middle East, we feel it at the pump. That cost trickles up into everything we buy, including the food we eat.

On the West Coast, we’re now getting air pollution from China. If the developing world continues to copy our approach to “prosperity,” we will suffer the health and environmental consequences right here in the USA.

So yes, we wave the flag and celebrate our great nation. We are thankful for the opportunities and freedoms we enjoy. We are proud to be Americans. But independence? We are all here on the same planet, all interdependent and becoming more so every year.

The good news is that the superpowers all know that their customers and suppliers in the other superpowers are too important to allow anything that would hurt their infrastructure, economy, or the world atmosphere. The bad news is that we haven’t yet realized that our economies and health are ultimately dependent on the health of the environment.

But we as individuals are not completely powerless, especially in America. Over and over again we hear that the world economy depends largely on the health of the American consumer. We all know by now that we vote with our money. In our incessant desire to get everything at the very lowest price, we can inadvertently subsidize political, social, health and environmental practices we would never allow in our own country. Every purchase we make is a vote for how it was made, the working conditions and how it got to us.

It’s hard to blame the government when the lobbyists are financed by our choices. If all politics are local, as it is often said, we can start to make changes in the way we spend our money. We can shop at the local organic farmer’s market and try to buy as many goods and services from local merchants as possible. We can avoid the purchase of single use plastics and vote for cleaner beaches. We can vote for lower healthcare costs by making healthier food choices. Every time we fill up with gas we can at least recognize where those funds are going and hope the day will come soon when we will have cleaner alternatives. Car-pooling, biking, and just plain walking are great votes for a more sustainable future.

This Independence Day let’s recognize our interdependence and how our individual choices can shape the future of not only our great country, but also the world. We are free to make independent choices in how we spend our money, thereby casting our votes. We can yet bring in the “New Order” that our nation’s founders called for by recognizing our true power right here in our wallets.

Happy Birthday USA!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post On Independence Day, We’re more Interdependent than Ever appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.