Going Green

I've been thinking and writing a lot about going green lately, again topic of our journal, but environmentalism has always been an interest of mine, simply out of respect for the beauty of nature. I tend to think about why things don't happen, causes for rejection, why a restaurant goes out of business, why Macy's just cut another 1,000 people, and even why people would reject a greener lifestyle. I don't know that I have come up with anything groundbreaking, but I think I have some ideas as to why. But where to begin I ask myself. OK, here we go. First I think that life, every individual, is placed on Earth to serve a purpose, they have a journey and whether or not they realize this doesn't matter. And I think that every individual has a common element or quest to their journey and that is to be happy or to seek happiness. One of the problems with environmentalism is that the fun or happy part of it has been removed, possibly never even existed, and because of this absence, we don't want to strive for it. Look at the rhetoric; I don't know that there is a campaign going right now that has more negative energy than the environmental cause. Green Peace is full of nuts, Al Gore's documentary was a joke at best, and when you read anything on the topic, it's what about this, and what about that, think of these, or think of those, there is already enough tension and stress in our daily lives to have to think about this and that, and those rare birds in the forest. We reject it because we have to worry about it and the last thing we need in our lives is another worry. Negativity and unhappiness is associated with the cause. I know environmentalists will say otherwise, but they are wrong, a clean Earth will make us all happier - it won't. Rational people which most of us are avoid negativity and that is what this cause has turned into. Now putting a smile on your face when you call the majority of the population pigs isn't going to make it better, but we will get to solutions later.

Now we realize that the cause makes sense. We need a habitable Earth to survive until either, we learn how to live on another planet, or we self destruct from the international tensions. Either way we have time, and we will need water, food, land to grow food, air to breathe, the necessities of life and growth - all life. So it does make sense, it is rational. What has become irrational is the belief that we need to turn our houses into a solar powered dwelling, eat only organic foods, live in the dark, consume nothing and still find happiness. Our tastes do not coincide with the environmentally friendly products. For instance a hemp produced piece of clothing can only be afforded by wealthy individuals, organic foods are unbelievably more expensive than un-organic, household products tend to be more expensive, the common person cannot afford these products, meaning that we are not willing to spend 50% more on them when we need to heat our house, drive our car to work, pay for the other expenses in life. Once the costs of these products come down, there will be a demand. We love the Earth, but do we love it so much that we will negatively affect our bottom line? I tend to think not. Again solutions to these will be discussed at another time.

Why we don't practice green? Have you ever wondered why you buy Pepsi and not Cola? Because Pepsi is good, the can is appealing to our eye (visual stimulation), the name is known, and you can find it anywhere. Another problem with the eco-friendly movement is that the products look generic and when you do find them, they are in some specialty store way away from your typical paths. We don't know what these products are, they have no name. Here is one solution for the cause - sell out! Yep sell out, sell the product to a company that can mass produce, can make a name for it, and can get it in the everyday stores. The bearded hippie isn't going to be able to do it. We simply don't know the names of the products out there; we don't know where to find them.

Well it's off to my pollution emitting car, to drive to my land and energy consuming job where I will probably waste paper, plastic, and everything else. Let's stop with the negativity, let's stop with the rhetoric, make going green make sense, make it well known, and make it available and affordable to the common slug. Once we do this, we may see a change in our behavior and how we look at consumption.

Peace, Prosperity, & Happiness.