Welcome to Greening New Mexico, a new New Mexican tradition.

Thank you for checking out our website, and thank you for your concern for our precious environment. Ever since my childhood I have been conserving, recycling, finding new and unusual uses for products that no longer served their original purposes. I collected newspapers for newspaper drives, saved metal for the scrap dealer and made compost heaps with my grandmother. Living in a rural farming community in the Midwest, in the forties and fifties, I learned what my unique place in the environment was and understood my obligation to ‘leave it as I found it.’

Back in the seventies, four friends and I formed a magazine called ‘Houston Home & Garden.’ We decided that the magazine should be ‘practical, informative and beautiful’. Without really deciding to write articles on conservation, recycling, efficient energy use, we soon ended up doing so. These were tough energy times. America was in the midst of tightening its belt and queuing up in long gas lines. The Carter Administration recognized the importance of offering incentives for energy-saving devices and for insulation. Most of us heard the words ‘solar panels’ for the first time, and words like ‘R values’ came into our consciousness as we began to realize how precarious our energy relationships with foreign governments were.

Fast forward thirty some years. Not much got done to reduce our fossil fuel dependence since our first nationwide energy crisis, but our problems got much worse. Some States enacted legislation to limit their CO2 emissions. Others created incentives for alternative energy producers, and some, like New Mexico did both.

U.S. manufacturers started designing better more energy-efficient appliances and looking at ways to improve construction methods. Organic gardening made a comeback and we saw renewed interest in holistic medicine. In short, we became more aware of our earthly ‘footprint’ and our place in the eco-system. Because of improved communication and the internet, we began to build constituencies and influence our communities, our politicians, our laws and our environment in a way never before possible.

We’re now at a crossroads, both socially and technologically, and that’s why I decided to start Greening New Mexico. Crescit eundo (‘It grows as it goes’) is our State’s motto, and as we grow we must all be conscious of our contract with our environment. We must be faithful to our pledge to ‘leave it as we found it,’ and the only way to do that is to be involved and engaged. You, too, can help. Make Greening New Mexico your first stop for information. We invite you to be a member, to contribute your views, to be part of the on-going dialogue, to patronize our advertisers and to move us all one step closer to a cleaner healthier environment. Please stay involved and please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Stephan Helgesen