recently on unplug
- The Story of Stuff
- Legalize It!
- Tibet Needs Our Support
- "Eco-friendly" Cars are Coming
- Starting a Green Business
- Community Gardening and Local Food
- The Importance of Gratitude
- Tough Times Ahead: Surviving Peak Oil
- 'Tis the Season
- Election Season is Approaching
great minds think alike: blogs of note
- alternet: peek
- green options
- treehugger
- sustainablog
- small failures
- the peta files
- a green idea
- another limited rebellion design blog
- mother jones
- amnesty international
unplug
unplug magazine asks you to unplug from your current modes of thought and look at life in a new way, whether this means unplugging from our toxic consumer culture, mainstream society, the tv, or a limiting mindset. author megan prusynski explores life's alternatives and discusses activism, progressive thinking, and moving towards a "green" & sustainable life.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Green Living Goes Mainstream
It's definitely been a while since I've posted, sorry about that! Summer has been busy with trips, moving into a new house, and plenty of projects. Sorry for the long absence, and hopefully they'll be less frequent.
Even without watching TV or living in a major city, I have noticed a lot more companies advertising that they're "going green," a lot more blogs and movements dedicated to covering green issues, and in general a lot of chatter about sustainability. Maybe it's just the high gas prices or the latest trend, but green living has definitely gone mainstream. I'm just trying to decide whether this is a good thing.
Increased visibility for any good cause is definitely a positive thing. I'm glad to see so much discussion on green topics. But with celebrities and corporations jumping on the bandwagon, I have a hard time believing they're all sincere. I also have my doubts whether some of them know what they're talking about. In a time when greenwashing is prevalent, it helps to be a conscious and aware consumer.
How do you make truly green choices when there are so many phonies out there? Do your homework, know which issues are most important to you, get information from organizations focusing on those issues, and vote with your dollars whenever you have to make purchases. Better yet, if you truly want to live green you'll not only examine the companies you're buying from, but whether you really need to buy something at all. Consumerism has us believe that we need to buy something brand new when a used, homemade, or borrowed item could work just as well. Always be on the look out for the simplest solution, because simple living equals green living, and accumulating more stuff only leads to more pollution and waste.
I hope that going green and living sustainably is more than just a fad. We've only just begun to scratch the surface of what sustainability is all about, so it's something we're going to have to study and work towards for a long time to come. What we truly need is a paradigm shift and a new way of looking at the world and living in it. It seems that Hollywood's version of "going green," with all the glamour and none of the tough questions and realizations, isn't going to get us very far. I'm still glad it exists, but now it's time to push it farther. Green consciousness is rising in our culture, which is a beautiful thing, but we've got to awaken faster if we're going to act in time.
The true green revolution will require more than just individuals living green, it will require green ways of doing business, governing, producing energy, and feeding and sustaining an overpopulated planet. None of this is possible without a new perspective and a mindshift, which can only happen one mind at a time. Albert Einstein was right: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." If we're really going to change the world, the revolution starts within each of us.
Labels: activism, corpo-consumerism, environment/sustainability, lifestyle
