Crowdsourced Eco Innovation Introduction

First post,
We'll see how this goes for a bit....  Will it ever be successful?  Who knows. 
I want to start out by offering some definitions, just so everyone is on the same page.
Crowdsourcing:  for a very good definition, and explanation visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing
Basically, the idea behind it is an open call to the masses (the crowd part) to carry out a design, refine, or perform tasks.
Eco: meaning ecology or, the environment.
Innovation:  visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation .  A change in the thought process for doing something, or the useful application of new inventions or discoveries.

Really, when it comes down to it, Everyone I know loves the environment.  No one wants to live in a polluted wasteland reminiscent of a 1980s apocalypse movie.  I remember when I was in the Boy Scouts we would go on a lot of hikes.  We were taught to only take pictures, and leave only footprints.  When I was growing up I had a pretty darn cool rock collection, complete with fossils, shells, and even a chunk of obsidian. On one particular hike, I remember hearing the mantra of "Taking only pictures."  I don't remember what mountain we were hiking that day, but I remember having a conversation with my cantankerous scout master.  "Why can't I take this rock home for my collection"  "If you and everyone that came through here were taking stuff home, there would be nothing left for the rest of us to enjoy."  I think he might have even called me a knuckle head that day, but it made me realize, with all the natural beauty in the world there is to enjoy, there would be nothing of it left if "knuckle heads" like me destroyed it for their own amusement.  Ever since then, I've always tried to take care of the environment when I could.

Fast forward to now.  You can't turn on the television, or get on the Internet without being bombarded with "green this" and "green that."  People are obsessed with lowering their "carbon footprint."  Really, who could blame them, there is a lot of "Inconvenient Truth" propaganda out there.  I'm not here to debate weather or not a "green house" effect is going to end life as we know it.  I'm not even here to point out the hypocrisy of the people who propagate those ideologies when they jet around the country from place to place in a private plane.  No.  I'm here to find a solution.  I want to use crowd sourcing for innovation.  I want to get solutions, not from the government, or from large corporations, but from people.

When it comes to politics these days, it seems that some of us are for government interaction, and some of us are not.  There are people who envision the government, and the people who run it as humanitarians providing a utopia for all.  In reality, all big governments do is oppress the people they are there to protect.  One of the smartest and wittiest girls I have ever known, boiled down her liberal political affiliations to one sentence, "I just think that the government should play a central role in our lives."  I wanted to ask her if she ever read the book, or had seen the movie "1984."  The idea of a big brother government scares the heck out of me.  When arguing liberal politics versus conservative politics the discussion of big business almost always comes up.  Honestly, the left has a point.  Big business can be just as frightening as big government.  History shows us what happens when businesses are allowed to run amok.  Low wages and huge barriers to entering the market are the least of concern.  Slavery, child labor, and pollution were the norm without the intervention of government and labor unions, which brought about more fair wages and labor law.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro union either.  I've seen what happens when unions get too much power.  They can bankrupt a company faster than a large ethical accounting scandal.  Just like tenure can keep incompetent teachers employed, unions can keep useless employees employed.  Instead of losing their job, unionists merely get bounced around from department to department, or they become a redundant employee.  When a job could normally be handled by one employee, there are two or more union workers.  Just think of a DOT project.  How many times have you seen six men leaning on shovels watching one man dig?  Get my point?

My point is, the solution to our problem of pollution in this world is not big Government.  It's not bid Business.  It's us.  You, me, your neighbor, everyone.  That is the reason behind this blog.  Perhaps it will chronicle my attempts at saving the planet.  Or maybe it will provide an outlet for the best and brightest innovators to share their ideas.  What comes next has yet to be determined.
Until next time.