Green ideas and green information for the blog this week.
So what do you think it means to be green?
It’s pretty amazing how quickly this word has made it into our vocabulary and our lives recently. Everyone is using it and talking about, claiming their business or product is green. But often times I wonder what does it actually mean to be green? Is it the car you drive, the way you do laundry, how you drink water, the clothes you wear, the stores you shop at? Is it just to make us feel good or is there real value to being green?
I believe there is real value to being green and I also believe that there are simple, concrete steps you can take to be more green. I also believe there is real benefit to doing things that make you feel good. I think the big problem is that we associate being green with being an environmentalist or a tree-hugger. Al Gore made a huge mistake with his message that we must take care of the environment or else the world will end and we are all bad human beings. People didn’t like that message, we don’t like being told what to do and nobody wants to hear that living our normal daily lives will destroy our world.
So why should we recycle and drive fuel-efficient cars and use less water? We should do it not to save the world (although I think taking these actions can have significant positive impacts on this world) we should do it because it makes sense. Water IS a limited resource and we shouldn’t waste it, our dependence on oil is a bad thing and we should try to reduce it, the sun is an amazing energy producer and we should harness it’s power. We should begin to change our habits because taking these steps just make sense (common sense and in many cases financial sense.) We shouldn’t do it because Al Gore scared us into thinking global warming (or is it climate change) will make our planet barren and inhospitable. We should do it because change is good, times are different and our mindset needs to shift.
Everyday this week I’m going to be posting a green tip or topic so make sure to check back tomorrow.
Zach: @Jessica, that is the funniest thing I have read all week... but it does make a lot of sense :) Love the series Andrew! ( 03.11.2009 - 05:47 )
carolyn bowles: Cool, I'll check back for more green tips. Thanks! ( 03.10.2009 - 06:44 )
Brett: And then she was all, like, "GOLF IS STUPID BECAUSE IT'S BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT IT'S STUPID STUPID."
Yowsa.
Then, of course, another conversation about hunting, and he was all like 'yeah, they have a big ranch, and hunt wild boar because they're overpopulated' and she was all like 'do they eat the meat,' and he was all like ' not always' and she was all like 'they should, *I* should talk to them about buying the m ( 03.10.2009 - 01:13 )
Brett: The fervor of a subculture is necessary for an idea to gain traction in a society. But in order to have actual staying power, it eventually has to disassociate from that subculture and become something else - Just the way things are done.
It's like with most 'isms.' They are points of view and perspectives, but when people constantly impose that point of view on Everything, we get bad art and literature in the humanities and bad practices in business and social circumsta ( 03.10.2009 - 01:08 )
Brett: Being Green is good. I think it's important, though, to relinquish any self-righteousness about it. (I think you do a good job of this, since you like sports and gamble some and wear nice collared shirts and don't worship Mr. Gore).
"Green" needs to move away from being a subculture and an identity to just being a part of our lives. When it becomes linked to an identity group, then it becomes falsely pitted against other identity groups. ( 03.10.2009 - 01:05 )
jessica Bergthold: Guys, here's a tip for ya......
You need a kegerator because it's the GREEN way to drink beer.....You're saving the environment from all those cans and bottles, not to mention saving the real $green$....
You can send you're wives to me..with their questions..... ( 03.10.2009 - 01:02 )
