Todd and I both made a lot of money at casinos that allowed us to go to school and buy the things we wanted. For us, casinos provided a guaraneed increase of wealth. Oh how I loved the wad of cash in my pocket when I walked out the door!

Of course, we were casino employees, not patrons. While I’d typically stick to the theory that the only people at casinos who make money are:

(1) employees (who don’t then gamble at the end of their shifts)
(2) owners

But it turns out that every so often, casinos produce another winner:

(3) turns out one gambling couple actually did profit at a casino in North Dakota… to the tune of $3 million in one 75-cent bet.

I didn’t even know you could win that much in one bet. In Montana, the max is $800.

Today we celebrate blog action day with 15,500 other blogs. The focus’our environment.

Many businesses say that they’d love to follow practices that are better for our environment and local community… but they say that those ideas simply cost too much. I doubt that. Most environmentally aware companies actually make MORE money through their efforts.

The immediate expenses would be higher during your implementation, sure. But in the long run? I bet your business would benefit even more. The same goes for any huge purchase like equipment and training courses. Bigger initial cost, better long-term results.

A lot of small town businesses aren’t going to make these changes on their own. You, the consumer, have to urge them. I have made it a habit to speak to managers and owners of local businesses. I tell them my concern and ask if it’s something that they’re addressing or planning on doing something about. Local produce? Locally-made foods? Recycling? Pesticide-free products? Programs that give back to the community’s development and sustainability?

Most employees just shrug me off. Mangers listen (or at least seem to pretend to!). If you keep going home miserable, complaining to yourself, nothing will change. If you start speaking out, things can start to change.

After years of Styrofoam at every function, my local church has quit purchasing Styrofoam. We spoke up. Today shouldn’t just be a day to post about the environment. Blog Action Day means we ought to be taking action, don’t you think?

The SBA (U.S. Government’s Small Business Association) even offers two environmental loan programs to (1) help engineer, manufacture, market, install, or service energy conservation measures or (2) allow the ability to plan, design, and install a pollution controlling facility. So what’s the excuse?

And how about all those local businesses that keep handing out Styrofoam…

While this is not exactly about a coffee shop business at all, having high densities is one tactic that Starbucks used while building their vast empire. They were able to capture more traffic and customers, even if the second shop would cannibalize the other’s sales.

The reason that I bring this up is because of a site that ebay owns. It essentially does the same thing as Craigslist, of which they own a 25% stake in. The only differences are that kijiji is pretty, and Craigslist has users. I suppose that Craigslist also has the advantage of being pronounceable.

eBay New Ventures Launches Kijiji Classifieds Sites …Mobile.de, a car classifieds site in Germany; and Rent.com, classifieds site in the apartment and rental housing industry in the U.S.

eBay also acquired Marktplaats.nl, reportedly the most popular classifieds Web site in the Netherlands, in November 2004. Marktplaats owns classifieds sites in Germany, Canada, Spain and Turkey.

One Starbucks location can’t penetrate the market 100%, and if ebay is correct, neither can one Craigslist.

What would the world look like if everyone lived like you and me? The reality is, of course, that the world would be pretty disgusting. We consume a heck of a lot. Luckily, all 6.6 billion people on the world don’t live like you and I do.

But what are the consequences of our decisions? A great site, Sustainability.org, will calculate how many earths we would need if everyone had the life that you have, from the foods we eat, homes we live in, and amount of trash we generate. Go play the game for yourself.

A lot of Gen Y Americans score around 7 earths or more, so I thought I’d be set–I don’t eat meat or drive alone much. I recycle and use programable thermostats… and we’d need 2.7 earths to sustain people like me. With all my effort, I’m still failing.

Go check out your score and share your thoughts with us.