Change the Margins

You like me! You really really like me!

In a shout out to Sally Field (no, I did not watch the Emmy's, but of course DID watch the YouTube footage of Field's comments being bleeped out), just wanted to say thanks to all who have signed and passed along the Microsoft petition. I got a message from the "Care 2" team, the group that manages the petition site, that we have become a verrry popular petition in recent weeks. As a result, they have sent us a butterfly.

A butterfly? Yes, a butterfly (I thought it was odd, too). I never expected to incorporate butterflies into the Margins campaign, other than perhaps a lovely pic of one floating around a forest as motivation. But Care 2's explanation is below in the email they sent me, and the butterfly actually fits right in with the Margins ethos that small changes can lead to large results.

The Care2 Team has sent you a butterfly

Butterflies are our way of saying "Thank You" for taking action.

You received this butterfly for Popular petition DEAR MICROSOFT: CHANGE THE MARGINS

Why a Butterfly?
Care2's goal is to help individuals make a positive impact on the world. The butterfly symbolizes your ability to make a difference.

The flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil can set off a storm in Texas. Isn't that an amazing statement? Physicists call this theory "The Butterfly Effect" to explain how the breeze produced by a butterfly's wings could set of a series of reverberations that over time have a tremendous affect on weather patterns thousands of miles away. Now imagine the impact of millions of butterflies...

When we send you a Care2 Butterfly, it's our way of saying thank you for taking action. The reverberations from your actions, along with other Care2 members', will have tremendous positive effects on the world beyond which any of us can see.

Thank you!                   

Back from Toronto

I'm back from Toronto. Had a great trip, saw lots of thought-provoking films and came back to an e-mailbox full of amazing comments and suggestions for MARGINS. Can't tell you how gratifying it is to see people's positive responses to the ideas and additional suggestions for the campaign! 

I'm slowly going through emails and compiling a list of things people have asked for, i.e. sample letters they can send to their companies and schools requesting that they adopt the more efficient margin standard, lists of stats, etc. I'm also putting together a mailing list to make getting the info out a bit easier. Thanks for everyone's patience - this is indeed the roots-iest of grassroots campaigns.

It's definitely been a learning experience for me as to how these things work. It's a little overwhelming - in a good way! I'm just trying to remember that the campaign started with the basic idea that it's possible to make small changes that lead to big changes.  So each  day, it just comes down to dedicating a little bit of time to keeping things moving.

To that end, many thanks to those who have blogged about the idea. I have added several blog posts to the PRESS page so you can see what others are saying. It's also becoming a good resource in general for Green sites, as many feature lots of good ideas for environmentally-friendly living.

NPR Story Airs on 9/6/07!

Great news!!! The NPR story aired on Thursday, September 6th. Verrry exciting.

Just as exciting is that as I type this, it's one of the top 4 e-mailed stories on NPR, which means it's listed on the home page, so there's more exposure for it.  If you want to keep it at the top of the list, please forward the story utilizing the "e-mail page" feature in the upper right hand corner of the NPR site.  That allows NPR to track how many people are getting the story forwarded to them. 

Unfortunately, I was on a plane all day Thursday flying to the Toronto Film Festival, where I am covering the event for DOCUMENTARY magazine and shooting segments for THAT INDIE FILM SHOW. I've gotten a bunch of wonderful comments, suggestions, and questions on Margins, which I'm trying to respond to as quickly as possible. I've got limited email access while I'm up here, so thanks for your patience.

One big question people have is HOW to change their margins.  I've posted a very simple explanation on how to do this for Microsoft Word, and my friend and I are working on a nice,pretty  document with screen shots.  Please let me know if this description is clear. 

Other suggestions included sample letters to companies urging them to change margins, and more specific stats. I hope to put this together over the next week and a half.

Thanks thanks thanks for all the feedback & keep 'em comin!