Thanksgiving: what a wonderful idea. It is a day to give thanks for all that you have. In this current time of economic turmoil and governmental transitioning, you may find your head hanging low or your level of anxiety pushing through the roof. It may be difficult to add any of the recent events in this nation to your list of things to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday. In a country where our worries cannot compare to the hardships of others, I would like to offer a positive spin on this time of hectic worry: that perhaps we should be thankful that sometimes things, whether bad or good, happen, and that whether they have a positive or negative effect momentarily, there is always a lesson to learn. I recall talking to my late great Uncle Charlie, an immigrant from Italy married to an Irish immigrant living in Southie (Boston) during the Great Depression. He said that electricity was too costly to waste and the family would put some coins in a meter that supplied power only when they needed it some nights and when the power that had been bought ran out, the family went to sleep - no matter how many errands you still had or if you had already cooked dinner. Perhaps that type of system was not so uncommon, but the way he told that story, I knew, the lights were not often on. “What do you worry about?” he asked in 1993. “Things are easy, life is wonderful. Always remember that.” Those were times when the Frederico’s of the US had to change their name to Fredericks to get a decent job and your family did not look at you if you married out of your culture. This country has come a long way and it will go much further. We all have to keep our sights on the things we should be thankful for, even if those things are tough reminders to value our way of life and the opportunities we are afforded.

This year I am making Indian Pudding, a corn-based dessert that early New Englanders made at the holidays, and still a Boston favorite. It is definitely a recipe to share… Indian Pudding Recipe

Green SUV? This gas and electricy guzzler is one with nature. The picture tells us so.

Hogwash. Rubbish. Poppycock. Or my favorite: Bull. It is all the same as Greenwash. It’s not uncommon to get excited about a few great products that boast to “save rain forests and fuzzy little animals” or SUVs that are so eco-friendly that flowers shoot from their exhaust pipes. While Company X is planting a tree for every ten dollars customers spend on their clothes, the clothes are being manufactured by poor, starving children halfway across the world. This type of boasting about being green when the information is censored and/or skewed is labeled as greenwash: it consists of blatant exaggerations and misleading notions mostly, but may involve noting positive aspects of a product or service while strategically ignoring the product’s or service’s negative qualities.

Greenwash is hype about “eco-friendly”, “green”, “environmentally responsible” things. It exists because people want green/healthy products and services nowadays. Marketing professionals have picked up on the demand for this green market niche and use it to the fullest advantage. We are all victims of Greenwash. This “Greenwash Guide” reference guide is a funny, informational and witty piece. Give it a glance. Learn to better point out advertisements that try to pull the 100% organic, unbleached wool over your eyes… The best piece of information I came away from this piece with: American companies are under no obligation to steer away from exaggerating the ‘wonderful’ qualities of their products and services on their websites and in advertisements. US advertisers are able to do the following: ThinkDwell

1. “use environmental images capable of making a sweeping claim of environmental benefit”,
2. “be technically or narrowly correct, without looking at the bigger picture”,
3. “present claims as universally accepted when the scientific basis is under dispute of inconclusive”,
4. “make claims indicating an environmental benefit that while literally true, is unlikely to happen in practice”
5. “use exaggerating language”

That means its your job to determine what is Greenwash.

Good luck.