Gus and Michelle Moore Outed By Miami Herald

Dear Family and Friends,

Please don’t expect much from us this Christmas. James Burnett from the Miami Herald has exposed Michelle and I for being the eco-friendly, skinflints that we are…

For Gus and Michelle Moore of Palmetto Bay, a husband and wife team of Internet entrepreneurs who operate the site MiamiBeach411.com, a green Christmas has been in the making for about seven years, and may have finally come to fruition for them on the World Wide Web.

PLASTIC MAN

‘‘From the time we met, Gus always used a plastic Christmas tree,’’ Michelle says. ``He just thought it was wasteful [to have a real tree], and I always went along with that. But in other ways, I was over the top with how I celebrated Christmas.’‘

Michelle sheepishly admits that she has always kept on hand ‘‘five huge boxes of Christmas ornaments,’’ and even when she was broke, she’d spend every available penny on as many friends and family members as possible.

‘‘I guess as you get older, though, you realize that this isn’t what Christmas is all about,’’ she says.

The tipping point for the couple came last week, as the couple watched the CNN/ YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates. A question from a woman complaining about toys with lead, and other retail practices that could harm human health and the environment gave Gus and Michelle an epiphany.

‘‘We just thought she was right. There’s too much unhealthy stuff being moved around in the name of celebration,’’ Gus says. ``So we agreed right then we were going to stop sending people packages. We were going to stop doing anything for Christmas that required a bunch of paper packaging and fuel to be burnt in shipping and money to be spent on postage. So we decided for now we would do eCards.’‘

GREETINGS ONLINE

And with that they began sending electronic holiday cards to friends and relatives over the Internet.

‘‘You know, this is significant for us, because we have a Christmas card mailing list with about 200 names on it,’’ Gus says. ``But I think it’s pretty neat that we can use our own Photoshop skills to make an eCard with a picture—giving it a personal touch.’‘

Michelle says the couple will expand on their conservation Christmas next year by either purchasing long-term growth savings bonds for nieces and nephews or opening savings accounts and contributing a little each year toward the kids’ college funds.

I blame Scott. If it wasn’t for him asking where to find Christmas trees, nobody would be the wiser.

Related Links: About Miami Beach 411's Travel Company Miami Beach 411’s “Success Story” Is Featured In a Google Campaign Visiting the Googleplex for the Geo Developers Day How Google Gave Us Confidence To Start Our Own Company Related Categories: Miscellaneous, Gus Moore heads up Miami Beach 411 as site administrator. You can reach him at 1-305-754-2206. See more articles by Gus. See more articles by Gus Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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