I recently received an email with a footer that read: “Please consider the Environment before printing this email. Think Green.” The interesting thing is that it actually made me kind of mad. The person who sent me this email is anything but green, and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought green living had more to do with color choices than the earth or the environment. This got me thinking though, have I become an eco-eliteist? Am i so into my own ‘green-ness’, that I deny any attempt, genuine or not, at other becoming green or doing something that will benefit the earth regardless of how they feel about it? I guess it has a lot to do with the whole concept of Greenwashing. That it’s cool to be green, but people don’t think or embrace it, they turn it into a marketing line, a ploy, a fad.
I believe we need to embrace and encourage our fellow eco friendly folks, and invite new greenlings to join our cause. Does it really matter where their head is when its really all about the end-game? For sake of argument, these individuals may begin to make environmentally friendly choices just by default, as you can’t work with dye without eventually staining your hands – green in this case. If we all benefit from an action, does it matter what the reasons for the action are?
There are those attempting to profit from the green-movement, with no attachment to the cause, indifferent of the environment and strictly revenue centered. I am not a fan of these people as they come off as ‘posers’, dressing themselves up to be something they are not. I do believe, however, that you cannot remain in this arena for any length of time before coming to believe it yourself. When promoting a product as green or sustainable, it doesn’t take long to see the impact of non-green items and a realization is almost imminent. This is not to say that some people don’t revel in their ignorance.
I guess the point of this is to get a discussion going- are we becoming green snobs, or are we just reacting to the commercialization of a cause?
Comments 3
I understand the need to guard against greenwashing, it’s a very real problem but I think it’s to be expected, there will always be some who try to exploit an idea, phenomenon, trend… that appears to be gaining popularity…
What I find particularly disturbing though is the animosity that seems to be coming from the more extreme end of the green movement. Nothing good can come from ridiculing anybody’s efforts at being more sustainable. I agree that even if someone is motivated by profit, if in the end it leads to a more sustainable environment, then that can only be a good thing.
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