Ecorazzi: Inhabitat takes on 500K of investment, whoop whoop, green media still hot in cold economy!

Wait.

When will greenies get that this movement ain’t all about eco? That green is simply one great, big, wide open gateway into a thing called living mindfully—that also involves social issues, like fair labor and fair trade, and so-called spiritual issues like living in the present moment, having a sense of humor (instead of, say, yelling at your child or roommate to effing recycle!)? 

Not as of yet, it appears. This morning I wake to find ecorazzi, I site I love thank you very much, celebrating our green peer media site, Inhabitat, taking on 500K of investment, only months after Huffington Post, that great bastion of indie fourth estate, got a little less indie on us.

You can’t be green and not support local—and that doesn’t just apply to buying your apples at your local farmers’ market. It means you can’t franchise—and compete with local, indie businesses. That’s why we never franchise elephant magazine into different cities, as have some of our otherwise-worthy cooperators/competitors. It’d be hypocritical to our mission, self-defeating to compete with the very local, independent businesses we seek to support. So hear me now: if you want to create mindful media, either stay local and compete/cooperate with locals, or go fully national, and compete with national media. Don’t franchise, wherein you pick on media not at all your own size, and don’t sell out to folks who will backseat drive you into selling out 100% within five years, so they can get your investment back.

I’m just saying.

PS: What’s a little rant among friends? This ain’t jealousy talking—this is about our ‘about’ pages. What are we ‘about’? Money, or mission—or both? Patagonia and many (but not enough) green businesses have proven that it’s possible to make bank, pay your employees well…without selling out. Outside magazine’s publisher pulls in $10 million plus a year, and that mag’s still independent. My basic point: we can go all the way. Dot every ‘i,’ cross every ‘t.’ We can do well by doing good, not despite doing good. We can change the world, and ourselves while we’re at it.