Today We Give Thanks and Celebrate

Blue Planet Green Living is thankful for our first year and celebrating the start of our second. Photo: Julia Wasson

We all have a million reasons to be thankful, today and every day. For those of us in the United States, today is an official holiday dedicated to just that purpose. It’s a tradition in many households for each person to share something that they’re thankful for. So, at Blue Planet Green Living, we are taking this day to share with you, briefly, why we’re especially thankful on this particular Thanksgiving Day.

Yesterday marked our first anniversary of publishing Blue Planet Green Living. Although we began writing posts in October of last year, we didn’t officially launch until November 25, 2008.

We wrote furiously, trying to get enough content to look both interesting and respectable to potential readers. Those were tough days, when the two of us did all the writing ourselves. So, we are especially thankful, on this our first anniversary (plus one day) for all the people who have contributed stories over this past year.

Our contributing writers, our summer intern, and our international editor have all volunteered their time and talents, which is amazing in itself these days. If you know any of them personally or just want to tell them how much one of their posts has meant to you, please share the love with them. You can find them listed under Profiles/BPGL Crew. Please browse the list. We are proud of each of them and everlastingly grateful.

Thank you, too, to the great team who got us started. Internet Marketing Group (IMG) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, led by Jeff McEachron, created our beautiful website. Jeff taught us how important social networks are and patiently walked Julia through the basics of WordPress.

We also are more than grateful to the amazing people we have met in the past year, whose stories we’ve been able to share on these pages. Our lives have been enriched beyond measure through our interviews and conversations. We are proud to have met each one of you. Thanks for sharing your passion with us and our readers.

And thank you to all of you, both loyal readers and new friends who are just checking us out for the first time. This magazine is dedicated to you. Please keep coming back to read and ponder over the stories that we share. Use the ideas that speak to you. Pass along the posts that you find most meaningful. Keep voting us up on your social network sites. And send us your comments and corrections, whenever you feel you should. We listen to everything you say and write to us. Your input is invaluable.

Of course, we are also thankful to our family, whose images have graced these pages more often than many of you would know. Their patience with our obsession and dedication to this endeavor has been phenomenal at times. And their willingness to promote our cause has gratified us beyond measure. Beloved family, we appreciate you.

Over the past year, we have focused our efforts on publishing the best-possible magazine we know how to do. We’ll continue those efforts in the years to come, bringing you unique people and stories that you may not find in other outlets. Oh, we’ll have some of the bigger stories, too, but we’ll always try to give our own perspective on what we write, so you don’t feel you’re seeing that same old story rehashed.

In this, our second year, we will be adding a shopping cart with wonderful and unique handmade items crafted from organic, natural, and/or recycled materials. We’ll also have signature Blue Planet Green Living items coming soon. We ask that you watch for the debut of our shopping cart and give it a browse. If there’s anything that appeals to you (and we believe there will be), please consider purchasing it here. We are working to become as sustainable as the ecopreneurs we feature. We can only do that with your help. If you like what we are doing, please help us keep our pages alive. Thank you.

Joe Hennager and Julia Wasson

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)