Since I started this blog journey little over a month ago I’ve had a very loyal Switzerland-based follower. She’s great and is determined to share her environmentally conscious lifestyle on her blog. ( she blogs about other things too! ) I had a chance to talk with her about how she decided to start her blog, her choice to take a strong stand with environmental/social issues, and her plans for the future. I thought it might be nice to share some tips on how to start your year off right and maybe make less of an impact on the environment this time around. She’s provided a great list of tips for living a greener life at the end of this post.
Don’t forget to hop over to her little corner of the internet, check out what she’s been up to. She was kind enough to share my blogging adventures with her readers as well. Go to fourleafcloverblog.com!
VEDA: You’ve found a really great Niche to blog in. I think environmental blogging is definitely going to be a new trend. How did you get started blogging and do you have any big goals for your blog?
FLC: I wouldn’t say my blog is just an environmental blog; I write about all of my interests! I’d thought about starting a blog off-and-on for a few years. Finally I decided I had time and nothing to lose so I started designing my website and, after a couple of months, the next thing I knew I was writing post after post and people were visiting and commenting. I’m so glad I decided to start a blog. The blogging community is full of nice and wonderful people and I feel as though my blog has been embraced with open arms. I hope to continue writing about the things I love and I hope that, with time, many others will find my blog a place to learn and take action as well as a place to share their thoughts.
VEDA: You frequently post about current events and I was wondering what are your daily resources that you visit for inspiration. Are there certain websites that you read everyday to pull information?
FLC: Oh, gosh… I’d have to show you my entire RSS feed to show you where I get all of my information and it’s quite full! I always link to the original story where I found the information, but most of the current events I write about are from the news or emails I receive from different organizations. As for websites, Care2.com, TreeHugger.com, and GOOD.is are a few I check daily and the ones with stories I’ve featured the most from on Four Leaf Clover thus far.
This is a really great video posted about a little while back.
VEDA: I’ve noticed that people can be intimidated by unsettling current events. How do you get people to interact with your blog in a way that commenting extends the conversation?
FLC: I try to write all of my blog entries as though to a friend or how I would in my journal. I’ve been an animal rights activist and vegetarian (now a vegan for over a year) since my sophomore year of high school, I was the environmental club leader in high school and part of my town’s environmental committee, I attended a Sierra Student Coalition camp, a couple summers ago I had an internship with PETA UK and I wrote for my school’s newspaper where I sometimes was able to write about these type of issues. My life in the past few years has all added up to the way I write about difficult issues going on in the world.
VEDA: You’re using SocialVibe to raise money for the whales & dolphins who are threaten by whaling. Have you found success using this too? I find this cause very exciting. Would you like to share any information about what you’re trying to do?
FLC: Through SocialVibe I’ve been able to get some of my friends involved and aware of the plight whales and dolphins face today. I fully believe that a single person can change the world so every one person who knows that much more about an issue is important. The cause I currently support is the Whaleman Foundation’s whose mission is to end all commercial and scientific whaling and stop dolphin slaughter. Many people found out about this cause because of the show Whale Wars as well as the Oscar winning film The Cove. So far the Whaleman Foundation on SocialVibe has raised over $50,000. SocialVibe, as a whole, has already raised over $700,000 for over forty non-profit organizations so they’re definitely making a difference and are a huge help to many causes. All you have to do is make an account and do a few activities once in a while to help raise money for a cause you care about and it’s all free!
VEDA: I know you are committed to bringing attention to the social/environmental issues we face today. Are you doing anything outside of the blog world to help? Do you have a career in the environmental department?
FLC: Since moving to Switzerland, I’ve not been able to get involved in any organizations like I did in the US and UK so my activism is strictly internet-based. Signing letters and petitions is often times a daily action for me. I had been posting actions that people could get involved in on my Facebook, but I decided to take it a giant step forward with my blog. This way I can reach friends and many, many others which is what I’ve always wanted to do. This year I hope to go on a volunteer program for environment and animal conservation. Following that, I’d like to attend university and study these topics. Finding a school here in Europe with a course in English that I’d like to take is harder than taking action, ha!
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Eva’s done a really great job of gathering some helpful tips for us to reference when making simple lifestyle changes. These tips can be used by anyone whether you have your own home, rent, live with someone else, etc. Living in an ecological and efficient place is not only better for the environment, but it can make home feel fresh and more home-like than ever before.
1 6-month eco challenge, 2 drink coasters on Etsy, 3 house plants for cleaner air, 4 bike rims in The Veda House loft, 5 homemade composting, 6 Martha Stewart etched glass jars, 7 Treehugger tips, 8 CFL light bulbs, 9 eco-friendly cleaning solutions, 10Sierra Club blog
If you have anything to add, please leave a little note below. If you like what you see at Eva’s blog, share the love with a note to Eva in the comment section!