Being green is not black and white.
It’s not about carbon footprints or treading lightly. It’s not about changing light bulbs or changing lifestyles. It’s not about MPGs or ULEVs. It’s not about global warming or sound-bite science.
The politics of environmentalism have overshadowed its purpose.
Far too often I’m not asked to be green, I’m asked to take sides. Be all in or all out. I’m asked to be in alignment with a doctrine, a way of thinking. Black and white. I’m asked to buy something. Light bulbs or lights out.
To me, being green is about foundational beliefs and core values. It’s about who I am and what I believe. Am I intrusive or indigenous? Am I here by coincidence or by design? Why am I here and why does it matter? Is this it or is there something more?
Being green is an answer. So what’s the question?
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This post really struck home with me. Being green answers my question about how I want to be in the world. And that’s not a matter of mere style, but rather of substance. When I consider an 800-year old lesson from Saint Francis (responsible stewardship) and hold it up to the concepts underlying green chemistry’s principles (sustainability, safety, efficiency, few or no byproducts), my revelation is the same as yours. Green is a way of being, it’s not fashion.
The question is: are you responsible enough to know how your life, and what you consume, is related to the rest of the world and its future? As an example, every day we eat three meals. The packaging on each item then goes somewhere. What does it do to the earth? Each item in turn, had a manufacturing process: it was grown, using land, tractors that use fuel, herbicides/pesticides that flow into streams.
The paper wrapper came from trees. The inks were made from minerals. The plastic was formed from post-consumer waste or from petroleum products.
After we’re done with it, each of these items will go some place. Maybe they’ll end up in the incinerator downtown. Or a landfill. Or maybe a river. Understanding green means knowing where you fit in these processes, and how your choices have an effect on the things you care about. Consciousness means going to the trouble of learning and understanding your role, witting or unwitting, in the future of the world of our children, nieces and nephews, and the rest of humanity.
The negative points surrounding environmentalism are actually provocative reactions to the fact that such understanding bears a responsibility to act, and to not be passive. Canards like ‘tree hugger’ and so on are designed to distract from the fact that we’re responsible for this earth, and how it’s passed to subsequent generations.
Being green means do all that I can making sure that my grandchildren inherit an earth at least as beautiful as the one I have enjoyed. It means my grandchildren not having to go to war because of the energy that I wasted. But most of all it means setting an example for my grandchildren that they have a responsibility as well to pass on to their grandchildren.
Come on people. This entire global warming issue has been politicized to death. Is the earth warming? Yes. Are humans involved in it? Yes. Can we stop it? No. Can we slow it? Yes, but not in any way that will impact the Earth’s existence in any long term way.
This earth has been around for more than four billion years. That’s billion with a “B”. During that time, the earth’s average temperature has warmed and cooled by dozens of degrees at times and time again. There have been, at minimum, four major ice ages. At the other end of the spectrum, there have been times when the earth was virtually free from ice, even at high altitudes.
To think that we – even as the most advanced, most heat-producing species the world has ever known – are the major contributor of rising temperatures is just silly. Sure, we contribute to the atmosphere’s temperature but not in a way that is comparable to the Earth’s natural cycle. To think that we have the ability to stop the next coming ice age or extreme heat wave is hubris.
The problem with humans as a species, especially in the global warming argument, is we can’t separate ourselves from a timeframe and think in a way large enough to understand that the earth is constantly changing, just at a very gradual pace. Try as you might, we can’t change the natural life cycle of the earth any more than a fruitfly on your shoulder can have any real impact on the natural progression of your life.
The earth is going to heat. It’s going to cool. The human species is going to die out and there is nothing we can ever do about it. Enjoy your life. Enjoy your family. But know that one day our fossils will be studied by whatever species adapts to the next period of temperate climate.
Hendy probably said it as well (better?) than I could have…the question is this…are you willing and able to be conscious enough in your daily life to make CONSISTENTLY the choices and decisions that will benefit the entire planet, rather than mindlessly consuming whatever is pitched your way or happens to be convenient? Andrea summed it up with her statement, ‘being green is a way of being’! I love that and it should be our mantra from now on!
BTW- Jonathan shows his ignorance and willingness to listen to the media and politicians rather than the scientists who actually STUDY this for a living (and aren’t paid by the oil and gas companies!)
To make this statement is just pure non-sense…’To think that we – even as the most advanced, most heat-producing species the world has ever known – are the major contributor of rising temperatures is just silly’
You obviously have no scientific background or graduate level courses in climatology or atmospheric sciences and thus have no right to make such false claims…it’s BS propaganda like this that’s ben feed to US citizens for the entire Bush Admin that has put us in the awful state we are in!!!
Joe, I find your response intriguing. To say I listen to the politicians and media is a little simple, don’t you think? Isn’t the patron saint of the global warming community Al Gore? Help me remember what he did for a living before he became a movie star? Doesn’t every media outlet known to man jump on any greenhouse story they can? And to blame this on the Bush administration, which I am no fan of, is just ignorance. It’s as if you’re saying global warming started Jan. 20, 2001.
Also, I’m assuming you are a climatologist and therefore are able to set me straight. I also assume you have had graduate level courses on sense-making because with your logic you aren’t able to make a comment about anything if you don’t have a PhD in the subject. BTW - and I normally wouldn’t point this out in a comments forum but since you were talking about the importance of education - it is very obvious you haven’t ben to any graduate courses on spelling. (Also, nonsense is not hyphenated.)
Good words.