green is universal

Is It That Time of Year Already?

Dear Mr. Green,

As we begin to prepare for the holidays and the ending of another year can you give us some advice on how to avoid eco-fatigue through to the New Year - when it will be time for our Green Resolutions?

Thank you,
Eco-Worrier

Dear Worrying Warrior,

In my opinion, waiting four months until you and your family make your Green Resolutions, are four months of lost time...so by all means, make your collective Green Resolutions as soon as possible. Besides, how many New Year's Resolutions have we all made only to be forgotten by January 2nd!? (FYI - I don't keep my resolutions - I recycle them.)

No matter when you make them, I'll suggest only making resolutions that are achievable and habit-forming. Rather than setting out to solve Global Warming, begin by taking smaller, personal, baby-steps. The saying goes, "Think Globally; act locally," and I am a true believer that for most, this is how eco-successes are achieved.

Imagine if every household in the U.S. recycled just one plastic bottle by re-using it (You know the drill...you save the empty spray bottle from a commercial "blue" window cleaner, refill it with water and a splash of white vinegar and - Voila! - instant glass cleaner!). There are approximately 78.5 million American households, and just one empty spray bottle weighs about four ounces, meaning that 19.5 million pounds (almost 10,000 tons) of plastic could potentially be recycled, re-used, and never make its way into a landfill. That's the equivalent weight of 1,800 adult elephants (about one half of the elephants alive on the planet today!); or 127,435 average human beings - more than the entire population of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All that from reusing just one bottle per household...thinking globally and acting locally!

Eco-fatigue comes from being bombarded with horrible scenarios and contradicting opinions by environmentally disturbing radio, troublesome television, nasty newspaper stories and from searching online for answers. After a while, the volumes of helpful information simply turn into white noise. Becoming overwhelmed - we stop dead in our tracks.

There is also an endless amount of commercial "Green-Washing" around us - ridiculous mumbo-jumbo being touted by polluting companies jumping onto the enviro-bandwagon to heighten their image by promoting a new "green line of products" while still producing their toxic cash cows.

If you're anything like me, you're disgusted by the wishy-washy "Green" hype being offered in an attempt to get you to purchase "questionable" earth-hugging products. Ya' sure...they say that they're better for the planet - but when you read their labels and are able to sift through the fine print (if the fine print is even listed!), you should be suspicious and skeptical despite your good intentions to buy these so-called eco-friendly products. Green this, green that, eco-eco-blah, blah, blah. No wonder so many folks are filled with organic-overtiredness, eco-apprehension and conservation-trepidation.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

The green movement was and still is a wonderful and distinctly authentic American development. Authors, organizations, activists and thinkers like Rachael Carson (The Silent Spring), Henry David Thoreau (Maine Woods), Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth), John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, the National Park Service, The Sierra Club, and the Environmental Protection Agency collectively created what snow-balled into today's green movement.

But, unfortunately, much like moon boots, poodle skirts, leisure suits, platform shoes, pet rocks and streaking, (Sure - it was a stupid idea to run through crowds in the buff...anybody else enjoy it?) being green, too, could be in danger of becoming nothing more than a practice followed for a given period of time with exaggerated enthusiasm, and then, too, being dumped...a fad.

However, our planet and how we treat it isn't like collecting beanie babies. In all seriousness, we need to get past "Green" (a term which has become meaningless). At this juncture, it's time to rethink the hype that the "green" cult has created. It's time to re-imagine our vision, and find a new way to reposition the underlying important message.

One way that I keep my eye on the prize is by thinking "clean" rather than "green," and in this regard, I view everyone - myself included - as a work in progress. Sustainability is a goal, it's not the process, and it's our processes that we need to change to reach our collective goal.

By working with what we have and holding onto what we hope for, we'll remedy obstacles with solutions. Perhaps thoughts like "Start green, grow greener...start clean, grow cleaner" might spark some inspiration to carry you through your eco-fatigue. Remember, acting locally doesn't necessarily require huge measures on any one's part - small ripples combined with other small ripples turn into huge powerful waves.

Here's your new anti-eco-fatigue mantra: "Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink and re-imagine!"