Opinion Piece: Why is “GREEN” so hot? Everything we are asked to do, touch, eat and especially buy is GREEN. What’s happened to make us so anxious?
When did this green craziness begin? When did everyone become so worried about what their clothes were made of, if their cars were hybrids, if the food they were buying was organic? A craze that is now nicknamed “green consumerism” has turned the world upside down, but do we really know what Going Green means?
It does not mean owning two solar powered houses in the Hamptons, driving a Lexus Hybrid, wearing your organic cotton jeans, sleeping on hemp fiber sheets. What the public does not understand yet that it is the quantity of our fuel uses, not the quality of them. It means not owning two houses that are eco friendly, but maybe just owning one, because that is what is going to change the carbon footprint you leave. The public has become obsessed with this movement, not really analyzing what it is saying to them. The movement is not urging you to go out and buy twelve pairs of $214 Organic-Cotton Levi’s jeans. This is where we are wrong. Going green just wants us to REDUCE what we are already consuming. Acknowledge that you might not need 3 cars, even though they might be hybrids. Realize this, and we might get somewhere.
I was reading a book last night “Food’s Frontier” by Richard Manning and this quote made me think:
“By feeding ourselves, are we starving our descendants?”
It may not be directly focused on the green movement, but it got me thinking, are we demanding too much from the earth that the possibility of starvation right now seems impossible, but may be a future consequence? If I told you right now that in the future, we won’t have enough food to eat, would you still go to Burger King and order 4, $1 menu burgers, just because? I feel sometimes that the human population only cares for the right now. We need to start; we need to realize what the reactions to our actions are and we need to correct them ASAP! If not, what will we be looking forwards to in the future?
What makes YOUR lifestyle green? Share tips and suggestions! Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by!
save containers to re-use for food storage (especially glass bottles for sauces, etc), re-use plastic bags, use all food we buy in whatever ways we can. I *wish* we could do a compost pile but that would attract too many undesirable creatures to our small outdoor space. I do want to try my hand at gardening. And I try to buy local stuff as much as possible since almost everything is shipped here! Next up is to ride my new bike to work more than driving when possible.
great post, we recycle, we never throw out food..buy only what is needed,
sweetlife
mmmmm great discussion topic. sigh yea, we live in a consumerist society, myself included! hmmm making my lifestyle green is unfortunately very consumerist – organic produce, organic dry cleaning, organic cleaning products, etc. but one thing i am adamant about is bringing my own grocery bags to the store or using tupperware for my lunch!!
Great point about simply reducing what we already use. My mom was ahead of her time, and always saved and reused EVERYTHING. A a kid, I used to tease her about it, but now I’m trying to follow in her footsteps. I recycle a lot, re-use my grocery bags, use re-usable containers for my kids lunch, keep a pitcher by my sink so I can collect water while wating for it to get hot and use it on my potted plants. There are so many simple things you can do that add up!
well said my friend!! it is all about living simply. buying only what you need. making less of a total impact. beautiful post thank you for sharing! <3
Paleo eating..definetely ..paleo does not allowed food that came in boxes,plastic bags (well some veggies do..),plastic bottles..so..paleo eating,organic eating..is a great Green step.
We’re fairly big on recycling. We seem to have the most on the curb on recycle days. lol
And little by little our lightbulbs have been switched over to the “greener” bulbs. Mostly, reusing when possible I think is the best way to be green. We don’t replace things just for the sake of replacing them.
Great op piece, Nelly 🙂
Thanks for the input guys! Great to hear what you do! As for my family, we try never to have extra lights on, have started a compost pile, and my Dad obsessively recycles every single plastic container we use!
I do simple things : use energy saving bulbs , walk wherever possible and avoid using the car (its good excercise too) , switch off unnecessary lights, appliances, use water carefully (dont let the tap run when brushing etc )
well there many ppl in different countries who have no food everyday and water too ! yes we should do what we can 🙂
Great post Nelly. Like it!! We try to walk or bike to the store and grow our own fruits, veggies and herbs. Changing small things can be huge in the long run! Thanks for bringing up this great topic of conversation!
FG Hugs!