| Is it possible to live green in the current state of our economy? When your investments are down, your job security is iffy and costs of living are up can you justify the extra couple of bucks to buy a green product? When faced with two problems as massive as a crumbling economy and a neglected and exploited environment, which one should we make our priority and put our financially-insecure thoughts, money and actions into? Well that all depends on what we collectively decide we want more: 1) do we keep our current quality of life and spending habits up where they’ve been for the past few decades or 2) do we strive to secure the survival of the human race on earth for a few more centuries. This may seem like a strongly slanted environmentalist’s ultimatum but considering that we are all very much dependant on the planet and its resources for our survival, this short-term vs. long-term decision is in fact the one we’re faced with when choosing between economy and environment. It’s a hard decision to make and one that nobody wants to be responsible for. So why not decide that both the economy AND the environment are equally important and should be handled together on a united front. That’s what many respected environmentalists, scientists and politicians are proposing. They’re actually going one step further and saying that the economy and the environment are related and that the economy is actually a direct reflection of what we’re doing to the environment. It makes sense; the economy is the trading and investing of money and money is a world-wide trading system that was invented to represent natural-resources cultivated from the earth, products made from natural resources and services rendered using materials and tools derived from natural-resources. So you see, the environment and economy are one and the same… whoa, hang on a second, considering that every economy’s measure of success is growth and “growth” means more money and money has a direct correlation to how many natural resources we extract from the earth… how can this system be sustained? And assuming that’s all true wouldn’t a recession actually be a good thing for the environment? After all less growth in the economy means fewer natural resources extracted at the environment’s expense. Considering all these facts how can anybody suggest that both the environment and economy be handled on a united front when they seem to be fighting against each other for the upper hand?The answer is a shift towards a green economy. It is true that continuing to grow the global economy as we know it today with gas, oil and other commodities yielding the most power, isn’t feasible from an environmental stand-point. But if we buy into this shift towards green, sustainable business, we’ve got it made in the shade! And this green economic shift is happening right now. As I write and you read this article, new green businesses are popping up all over the place, well-established businesses are starting to use sustainable and recycled materials in their manufacturing and adding green policies to their operation protocols. Green jobs are being created and more and more highly experienced business people are making the switch to green positions with environmentally conscious companies. The green economy is growing exponentially every day. But every economy is dependant on one very important group of people; consumers! So is green living possible in strapped financial times? The answer is a resounding yes! Not only is it possible but the more people live green, the more we accelerate the shift towards a green economy and strengthen an economy that is more sustainable, more stable and less at the mercy of fluctuating gas and oil prices than the economy we currently have. In fact, oil and gas have no place at all in a green economy, the free energy from the sun, wind and earth’s heat is more than enough to meet our energy needs and harvesting it won’t have nearly the impact on global warming and climate change as using oil and gas to achieve the same results. The use of the word ‘free’ to describe these alternative energies are surely conjuring snickers and scepticism for many readers considering the initial costs are a little higher than we’d like or can afford. But once you’ve dished out that initial wad of cash and have the infrastructure in place, these energies are really, actually, no kidding... FREE! Not only free in a monetary sense for the consumer but free in that it won’t cost the planet anymore to renew itself since energies like those coming from the sun and wind are incidental to the existence of the planet, they are forces that have evolved into being through 4.5 billion years of universal evolution! Who are we humans with our measly 400,000 year experience on earth to second guess that? These energies are readily available so why not use them? Fossil fuels, by comparison, are buried hundreds of meters beneath the earth’s surface. Lets label them as ‘not readily available’ and if the slow evolution of the planet over billions of years sees fit that that stuff be down there… maybe there’s a good reason for it and I for one think we should leave it there! The green economy doesn’t only include alternative energies but in fact for every wasteful and dirty product, a green, sustainable alternative already exists! We just need to start buying and using them more! The only thing we need now to make the green economy a reality is for consumers to take the leap of faith, stop being worried about green products and how they differ from traditional ones and just try them out! After all, you can read all the consumer reports you want but until you try something for yourself you really don’t know if it works for you. This is a call to action to every consumer (which, last time I checked, is all of us) to take the leap, start buying green products, start asking yourself if there is anything in your lifestyle that can be made green. The answers to our worries about the environment and the economy are out there in the form of recycled stainless steel water bottles, clothing made from recycled and organically-grown fibres, take-out containers made of corn, plastics made of industrial hemp (arguably the most versatile sustainable crop on earth), organic and local foods, solar, wind and geothermal energy equipment, green energy providers (like www.bullfrogpower.com) and electric cars to name a few. We need to drive the shift towards the green economy from the ground up, we can’t rely on governments who are dearly indebted to big oil and energy companies to fund their campaigns (yes some politicians mean well and some even do amazing things but they don’t have the power or money and therefore tools for real change that we all collectively have). Green business owners are doing all they can to drive the green economic shift, it’s about time we picked up our slack and started supporting them and joining them in a move towards a sustainable future. We’re alive in a very exciting time, a time when everybody on the planet is converging into one mind about the state of the planet and taking action to honour her and the gift of life. Once we embrace green energies, products and in short the green economy, our costs of living will dramatically decrease and job security will increase as there will be a free exchange of money between the green companies you support and the green company you work for. Imagine the world when we all fully understand the miracle and fragility of human life and the great ally and coach we have in the natural world, when we all start looking to nature for answers to our human problems, when we all understand that life on earth will go on with or without us and to tread lightly is to ensure our survival, prosperity and happiness. When we are all of this same mind, I ask you; what isn’t possible? |