Going Green

By Karen Wennberg

January 31, 2008

5 comments

Why is this certain wavelength of light getting so much attention these days?

Green used to be the color of grass, the mixture of paint you made with yellow and blue, and something to do with envy.  Having a green thumb meant you were great at making things come out of the earth that are yummy to eat. If you possessed green, you were either rich or ready to toke up.

So what has it turned into as of late, this buzz word permeating every sector of society?  About 99.2075% of people who’ve mentioned the G-word within the last 8.32 years are referring to the green movement. Not where cars go beneath the traffic light and definitely not what babies make the first 10 months of their lives. Eww...

I'm talking about: Reduce, reuse, recycle, conserve, reserve, spend less, waste less, grow more, eat organic, support locals, use less chemicals, additives, preservatives, all natural, renewable, sustainable, efficient, off the grid, eco-friendly  power/food/clothes/houses/cars/fuel/shoes/meat you NAME IT.  It can be MADE green. 
To be green, or not to be.
Is it easy? Wellll...there ya go.

 Our current way of life has been all about disposables.  Why? Because it's convenient, and when things are close to worthless, we don't really have to care about them.  Out of sight and out of mind.  But it takes some active environmentalists to dig up the garbage on our garbage to get our attention.  They may throw out statistical jabs about rainforests, global warming and carcinogens.  These may or may not be inflated for alarmist reactions, but the idea is there: we are using too much crap before it can get remade with the finite sources we have. Greenies have it in mind to get rid of ALL polluting and energy-sucking evils, which is just too far out there.  If we gradually diversify our needs between the green and not green, then everyone benefits. 

It's not just for the hippy tree huggers.

Though some people are really gung-ho, you don't have to go so far as these guys...

Our way of life has to change, the evidence is visible at every gas pump you drive by.  Basic supply and demand proves that until our global demand goes down, it's not going to magically get cheaper unless we start utilizing more options.  This isn't just a Special Interest. It's really about ALL of us, so go ahead and be selfish about it. You know you want stuff to be cheap. Once the demand is there for safer, cleaner, sustainable products, the supply will be created to match that.

it's perfectly acceptable to adapt small changes in your life...even things that are convenient to you! The paradigm shift is happening now, but it's gonna take awhile for it to catch on everywhere.  So even if it seems insignificant for one person to change one habit, living greener will gradually become the norm.  Hopefully within the next few generations.  

Pick one and try for yourself. Warning! Some methods MAY save you money:

• try reusable grocery bags
• stop using disposable plates and cups
• switch to CFL lightbulbs
• unplug your phone charger when it's not being used, turn your computer "off" instead of to "sleep"
• donate or sell old items instead of throwing them away
• buy some locally grown produce
• shop vintage or second-hand or hand-made first before getting something brand new

It takes a lot of green to get green.
(the good news-money IS recyclable!)

One of the reasons the political right isn't showing a grand interest yet is that it takes significant investment of time and money to get a profitable turnaround.  Otherwise we would be in flying solar-powered cars or nano-teleporters by now.  

There's obvious reasons we can't just drop what we're doing and make everything recyclable and organic.  There are delicate economic issues.  If everyone bought *only* local food, could you imagine how the transportation and import sectors would suffer? If we *only* ate organic, entire industries (fertilizers, pesticides, preservatives, flavorings, packaging) would shut down.  Paper products? NOT going away.  Unless we want to go back to medieval times without Kleenex or TP.  What the hell DID they wipe with? Erm, nevermind...

We can't disinvent chemicals and plastics and all that other "bad" stuff.  But we can balance them out with the Greens in a way that is helpful (even profitable because of the competition) to everyone and less harmful to the environment. During the television special "Life After People" on the History Channel, the topic was explored of how temporary even the most permanent of materials are that we have created. It showed future scenarios of how the Earth wouldn't take long to reclaim and unmake everything human--only a matter of thousands of years. So there's something positive.  As toxic as some things are, at some point, they will neutralize out.  Ashes to ashes couldn't be more true, amiright?  I only ask that we try to keep the system... manageable sustainable! The magic word.  

Maybe it won't be such a distant future where being cool is super green. 

Let's just hope it doesn't have anything to do with Chris Tucker.

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