You’re enjoying your morning java when you notice a book on a table nearby.  It has a post-it note that says, “I’m Free!” 

You pick it up.

You’ve just experienced a Book Crossing.

On the inside of the book you’ll find a BCID - a Book Crossing ID number that identifies this book.  This book may have just entered the world, or it may be a seasoned traveler.  Now it has made its way to you.  The motto of Book Crossing?  Read, Release, Repeat.

Over 600,000 people around the world have become members at BookCrossing.com (it’s free for basic membership) and have registered books they have released into the world to share with others.  When someone finds a book, they are able to log onto the website and post a journal entry saying that a book was found, and where it was released next.  The goal?  Get our hands back into books, and sharing with each other. 

It’s really easy, and can be pretty fun.  There’s no guarantee that someone will find your book, or if they do, follow the instructions included.  But you’ve still made a difference.  And of course, you can get as involved as you’d like, or follow the basic four steps:

1. Pick one of your books-one you have read or one you haven’t read.
2. Click on “register book” under the “My Shelf” tab. [If you can’t see the “My Shelf” tab at the top of the page, you may need to log in to the site.] Follow the prompts to register the book and generate a BCID (BookCrossing ID).
3. Write the BCID in ink inside the cover. Add a label or write the BookCrossing info. you can add some additional markings, stickers, notes, etc to make the book noticeable, if you wish.
4. Release the Book.

Then you can check back and see who has found your book.  And if you wanted to go find someone else’s book, you can by using the same website to find what books have been released in your area. 

This is such a great idea that I ordered several release packets.  We have some other ideas for it as well that might prove to be useful - and even prove to make more of a difference. 

Why do I always find the coolest things when I’m busiest? 

So, the next step has been taken in the goal to become more eco-friendly.  You might think we bought a Prius as I’ve been alluding to for some time.  However, as much as I sin daily by coveting my neighbor’s Prius, I saw this little number and fell in love.  (Yes, my avid readers, that color is KIWI GREEN.  Did I mention that I shiver with joy when looking at it?)

It’s not a tiny step.  It isn’t a step at all - it’s a perspective change to think, “HEY - I could take my bike if I planned for a little extra time.”  It seems an easier step to take when your vehicular transport has recent been smooshed and you are trying not to spend your 401(k) on gasoline and downtown parking. 

Flaws in such a beautiful kiwi green plan?

1. Safety. Biking does not save you from future car accidents.  I would say “duh” here, but I think I thought it might be safer to be smaller and be able to dart in and out of traffic easier to avoid oncoming collisions.  However, one notes on one’s very first ride that cars care even LESS about you, and make a concerted effort to zoom past you to “avoid” hitting you.  However, that sort of behavior is what causes these sorts of accidents.  Yie.

2. Gear. It saves you from spending money on a car, which is sort of a blow against materialism - right?  However, it is VERY easy to start slipping down the slope of “gear”.  Once in love with a bike, you might do anything for it - such as contemplate purchasing $200 satchels, the perfect baskets, and even bells and whistles.  And don’t forget valve covers! 

Did you just say VALVE COVERS? Yes…yes I did.  Oh, the depths of consumerism reached in the attempt to become more environmentally conscious are numerous.  Consumerism isn’t evil, but when one of your goals was not to spend so much money on buying or operating a car, “outfitting” a bike starts to fill in that gap pretty quickly.  This coming from a woman who never spent more than $100 on a bike before now.

3. Helmets.  I’m not sure what to say about these except that I have a natural, inborn hatred of these things that stems from my youth in rural communities.  If you wore a helmet, you were obviously a sheltered kid who hung from your momma’s apron strings.  However, it only makes sense when commuting to work and dealing with flaw #1 above.  Still…I put the darn thing on and I’m instantly transported to a time when my grandmother made me wear a swimming cap.  It’s a hard thing to swallow.

4. Weather.  This is another “duh” moment, but since I’m in the middle of a flooded county, I might go ahead and mention that you are constantly concerned with what the weather might do.  40% chance of rain no longer means slightly wet pavement to be concerned about.  When the storm hits, you are stuck whereever you are.  And I’m a new enough bike commuter that my lofty goals of riding to work this morning were quashed by the merest sprinkling of rain.  I’ve got to determine a way to still bike to work when the weather is not 70 and sunny. 

5. Bike Locks.  People are wonderful beings with the potential for great goodness and kindness.  They are also quite capable of being rat bastards.  I now own a bike lock that is heavier than my bike.  At least I’ll be building my arm muscles at the same time, right?

6. Communication.  Once of my intentions with this bike is to ride with others.  However, what was once a “Turn here so I can show you this nifty place I just thought of,” in a car is now me saying, “WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” when the person leading me has randomly cut across traffic down a different road than where I thought we were heading.  I didn’t catch up for a bit because, well, I had to either turn around or go to the next block.  And in between there, neither of us knew exactly where the other one was.  This is a combination of using proper hand signals and paying better attention.

7. Stuff.  Transporting stuff will never be the same on a bike.  Nice try, but no.  Things jingle and make noise, and I’m not so certain that my original idea for bringing my laptop home on my bike would be a good one.  And I was very excited to consider a coffee-holder on my bike for imbibing while coasting to my place of employ.  Now I’m wondering if I wouldn’t spill boiling hot tea all over me every time I tried to drink it.  Add in that the overall amount of stuff you carry with you will have to be cut back, and the bike starts to look a little uncertain.  Good luck bringing in treats on Friday!

8. Appearance.  This might sound shallow, but it is more important how you dress when on a bike, and also harder to maintain a quality appearance.  With a car, you can pop in - drop off your mail or the dog or whatever - and get back home without imposing your morning hairstyle and flannel pajama pants on anyone.  With a bike, you are visible to the world. 

This also connects with weather item in that you have to be prepared for the fact that you have no climate control.  So commuting to work, I can’t wear my suit.  So I carry it with me.  That won’t stop the fact that I’m sweatier than the flanks of a raging bull and any deoderant and perfume I once used is now gone with the wind, so to speak.  This translates into having to bring this stuff with you, which further translates into taking that into consideration for your finite amount of space for the stuff in #7.  My goal to solve this is to bring an extra set of stuff to work so that I can “freshen up” there.  But there’s an additional cost I’d not considered.

None of these things is a deal-breaker, really.  There are ways around most of them, and practice will smooth out the edges.  In many ways, it isn’t that different from taking the bus - which I did for several years.  I’m really excited, actually, to start commuting this way.  It’s just another way that “being green” takes a little more thought than buying a recylcing bin.  It really requires you to take a look at how you do things, and each step in the process.  But I believe that in the end, it will be worth it.

Ran into an interesting article today - U.S. Postal Service Begins E-Waste Recycling Program

This is the first national program for the U.S. and is set to try and deal with the 2 million tons of e-waste we generate each year. Right now, it is only available in a few cities, but if it is successful, it will expand nationwide this fall. 

How will it work?  The Post Office will provide pre-paid envelopes in which you can put your unwanted electronics - digital cameras, printer cartridges, MP3 players, blackberries, cell phones and PDAs.  These will be mailed to Clover Technologies Group who will either refurbish them or strip them of all their components and recycled.  Clover pays for the postage for the envelopes, so our postage will not go up.  Additionally, Clover has a zero-to-landfill policy that is ideal.

You should be able to pick up the envelopes at the Post Office, and then drop the filled envelopes into any blue postal box.  Easy, right?  I think so!  I may even go down to Chicago to pick up some of these envelopes so that I can support the program for the future.

If successful nationwide, other electronics may also be included in the program. 

This isn’t the first program running at the post office.  Did you know they also have a program for recycling lightbulbs? I didn’t.  It is for CFLs, and you have to go and buy the recycling kits from Sylvania.  Not as sweet as the Clover program, by far.  And other alternatives exist. 

But it is nice to see the Post Office getting involved. 

I’m having a dilemma - one I thought I’d never face. 

I want a hybrid vehicle.  It’s part of who I want to be and how I want to express myself as an environmentalist.  Soon, my vehicle will not be staying together terribly well, and it is an opportunity to trade in for a better, greener vehicle.

But I can’t decide.  A year ago, there wouldn’t have been a question: I wanted a Toyota Prius.  Hands down.  It’s a roomy mid-sized car that’s been around for 10 years and everyone I’ve spoken to LOVES theirs.  I mean, how could you not love it?  Just take a look at it!

Today, I am not as sure that a Prius will serve my needs.  Today, given the things I want to do (camp, go on road trips cross country, cart around a couple kids someday, do bellydance gigs) it seems like a Ford Escape Hybrid is what I would want.  It’s got more space for supplies and the junk I’ll need to cart around on these trips.

This makes me feel badly, however.  I feel like I should not be giving into the idea of “bigger is better”.  And I’d only really need the Escape on trips for camping, dance seminars, events with a number of people involved - I wouldn’t need it to get to work, or go to the grocery.  In fact, I probably don’t even need a vehicle at all for local stuff - I could walk or ride a bus.  But for the larger, longer, involving more stuff trips (specifically the camping), the Prius probably wouldn’t cut it for carrying the stuff I would need.

Furthermore, aren’t SUVs a part of the problem?  Isn’t the idea of a hybrid SUV like a low-fat brownie? The brownie isn’t good for you, but at least it isn’t as bad for you as it once was.  I don’t want to be a part of the problem, a neon-green environmentalist.  I want to make a difference with my choices.

There’s the other hand that says - by buying the Escape Hybrid, I am telling Ford that green is good, and they will pump more dollars into green technology, right?  Or am I saying - Hey, I don’t really want to compromise, so keep giving me these half-hearted attempts to make me feel better about my choices, but not really make any dramatic change?

Don’t get me wrong - moving in a green direction is better for everyone, all around.  All of the vehicles should be getting this sort of mileage, if not better.  We should have electric options, fuel-cell options - whatever will make a difference.

But I don’t want to be one of those people who buys a hybrid SUV and feels I’ve done enough to better the earth. 

But I also can’t be someone who lives entirely off a bicycle and mass transit (at least the crappy version that Milwaukee offers) - I will need a car of some sort that can carry stuff.

There has to be a way to balance this situation - can I only use the Escape for those long trips, and have no other car? Can I sacrifice in other ways in my life to ensure I’m living as green as possible?  Needless to say, I have a lot of green hope, but not a whole lot of green action.

And one of the best ways to be actively green is to not purchase more than you need.

There are probably some ways to get around this, but I’m not sure what they are yet.  If you have any ideas or suggestions for how to deal with occasional SUV-sized travel needs, but otherwise live in a small to mid-sized car world, let me know.  

Want to change the world? 

Perhaps we think too expansively (at least, here in America I feel we do) and get downtrodden by the thought that we are too small to make a real difference.  But it isn’t one huge action that changes things, but hundreds of little, thoughtful actions that gradually tip the scale in one direction or another.  Just like a circle is made of many tiny direction adjustments to a line, so can you round out your edges with a thousand tiny actions to bring you closer to your nirvana - or just closer to feeling better about your daily life.

As I read TreeHugger today, I found something of great interest.  We Are What We Do has a book called Change the World 9-5.  Just the title hit home to me - I realized that my choices at work are often slightly different (and less like “me”) than my choices during the rest of the day.  

Example: At work, I’m more willing to get three cups of caffeine in three separate paper containers.  At home or after work, I really try to get my own mug refilled. 

That is just one tiny example.

But it is small actions like that that add up.

The site works to help you choose actions.  Much like 43things, you can choose items you want to do, and then indicate what it is that you have done.  Unlike 43things, the focus is to give you ideas of how you can make a difference everyday, and has less to do with personal desires than to do with personal choices.  And I like that difference.  43things was great to give me a sense of what I’ve done, and some of the things I wanted to do.  We Are What We Do causes me to reevaluate the small actions I take in a day. 

And isn’t that part of living?  Knowing why we do what we do?  Being a part of every moment, consciously?

Excerpts from the webpage for We Are What We Do:

Actions to change the world
Here’s our list of simple, everyday actions you can do to help change the world (and have fun while you’re doing it). It could be doing something for the community like shopping locally, something for the environment like avoiding plastic bags, or something for you, like learning to paint, sing or speak Spanish…

So how does this work? Click on an action to see what it’s all about or, if you ‘re ready to do the do, tick each action you have completed and press the “Done!” button down below. Your actions will be added to the total, there on the top-right. Just like that.

Join In! We Are What We Do is all about joining in, so we’ve set up all sorts of ways for you to share your ideas, vote for what you believe, dare your friends to do new things, get others involved, and ultimately… change the world.
Please help! We can’t do it on our own!

 Just a short post here about a snack I’ve found that I really really like.

I was looking for a bar/snack/something that was not a meal, but was filling enough to keep me going during a long workshop weekend.  I ran to my local Outpost thinking, “I GUESS I could get a CliffBar…but perhaps there’s something else.”

Nothing against CliffBars - but they really are like sweet, chewy patties that all vaguely resemble each other in flavor.  Some even have icing.

My issue is that I’m gluten-intolerant and I like to eat organically.  And I hate nuts unless they are nicely complimenting something they are in.  So most trailmixes are nixed because they have wheat in them, along with all granola bars, graham crackers (not good for you, but yummy) and most snacky, crunchy things with texture.

Lo and behold, I see ALPSNACKs.  Something my Outpost is trying out and had on sale.  Gluten Free.  Wheat Free. Vegan.  Organic.  Fair-trade.  Combination of fruits and some nuts, but mostly not nuts.  They have hemp nuts.  Now, I am not a “hemp nut” and didn’t know that hemp had nuts.  Apparently, Hemp Seed/Hemp Nut/Hemp Protein are all the same thing - and it is supposedly super good for you.

Whether they are good for you or not, I really enjoyed the snack.  I bought three. It was nicely textured, perfect amount of dried fruits of good flavor, not overly nutty or fruity, and it really lasted a long time energy-wise. 180 calories - less than a Powerbar - and 5g of protein.  It does have 9g of fat, 1.5 of which is saturated.  But I’m not a huge anti-fat person, where all the Omega 3/6 is.   And what with all the fish ingesting plastic chemicals, I’m not sure where to get my Omegas these days.

And I didn’t even know it was part of the Bronner’s group of products.  Yay for a great product that is made by a business connected with my local community, has great business practices, and an example of how business and people should be involved in the community.

I was writing a different blog today when I came upon some more information about the Pacific Trash Patch:

 A video, done by MSNBC.   

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=5f1f192d-aa22-4788-845f-6e658339e26a

I’m glad to see that it is at least getting coverage finally.  They don’t mention all the ways that its getting out there, and perhaps the public just needs to KNOW about this, so they aren’t giving the details that make it really really scary. Step one, inform the public.  At least that is happening.

Can you believe the arrogance of the spokeswoman for the plastics industry?  “Plastic should be in the recycling bin!”  Oh, well - fine and good.  Except for the fact that:

• Some types of plastics do not have recycling support or options - whether through lack of technology to do so, or lack of community money to support that function
• Many businesses don’t even fully support recycling (you know you’ve got companies that just empty their recyling bins with their regular trash)
• the fact that companies illegally dump their trash in the ocean.

So, the links at their site?

Green is Universal - Looks like some proto-green PR site that has buy-in from several large corps.  Still, better than nothing.  From their “About Us”

Welcome to GreenIsUniversal.com, the digital home of NBC Universal’s new initiative to bring an environmental perspective to our networks, our platforms, our audiences, our communities … in fact, to everything we do.

We’re kicking it all off this week, with 7 days of environmentally focused programming and a new “green” look on all our channels, programs and sites. And right here at GreenIsUniversal.com, you’ll get green tips, green clips, and a fast-paced blog covering everything we’re doing at NBC Universal, and beyond. We hope you’ll dive in, join the conversation, and help us make “green” as universal as we can.

Their Good, Green Fun has information on building a green house, calculating your carbon footprint, and some other less actually interesting or useful items (but more “fun”.)  Apparently, with the week long of Green Programming, they are making good - at least for a week - on their claims to make a difference. For the first time in a long time, I wish I had television.

MSNBC’s connected article - 7 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle - was interesting, and connected me with Grist.org.   At Grist, I found a lot of interesting articles.  Sure enough, I’ll be linking to Grist in the future. 

 Extra Coolness?  Try Grist’s How Green is your Candidate? 

Please, share the video with others.  Perhaps it will get them thinking.

So, you read my post about the Continent of Trash in the Pacific called the Eastern Trash Patch.

And hopefully, you were appalled.

So, what do we do now?  I wanted to open this up to anyone and everyone to really brainstorm on what we can do to make a difference here?  No - perhaps you and I cannot go and clean up the Pacific Ocean (but hey…Hawaii is nearby…).  But can we do things to keep from adding to it?

Right now, I’m searching the net for ideas, and I’ll post more about my ideas in further “parts” to this post.  I’ll post my ideas and my findings.  But I really want to know what YOU do as well, because I know there are a lot of green-minded people out there.

Have you checked out Fake Plastic Fish?  This blogger is trying to change the world, one plastic item at a time.  She’s got a lot of stories about what she does to avoid plastic in her life.  Some are seemingly annoying.  Others are pretty easy.  Here are a few items from her List of non-plastic alternatives:

Stopped drinking bottled water and bottled soda except for the occasional glass bottle of seltzer. Now, I fill up my stainless steel Klean Kanteen bottle with filtered tap water before leaving the house and refill it wherever I happen to be. If I have a craving for soda, I buy seltzer in glass bottles and add a little fruit juice. I’m considering buying a soda maker but haven’t gone there yet.

Carry reusable utensils in my backpack. I bought this cute little To-Go-Ware utensil set, but there are also stainless steel travel utensils as well as just plain reused plastic cutlery. I’m not suggesting anyone go out and buy new plastic forks and spoons. But if you already have them in the house, why not put a few in your purse, backpack, or briefcase in case you’re out in the world and can’t live without a hot fudge sundae on your way to work?

Brought my own tableware, glass, and utensils to keep at the office. This way, I can avoid all the disposable cups, plates, and cutlery in the lunchroom.

When ordering online (which I’m trying to do less and less of), try to include a message to the seller requesting zero plastic or Styrofoam packaging. When this doesn’t work, I’ve started to send back unwanted plastic packaging with a letter of explanation. And I send back unwanted plastic I receive unsolicited in the mail or on my doorstep.

When ordering sodas or coffee in paper cups from take out places, try to always specify, “No straw and no lid.” This can be hard to remember. But the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Buy in bulk as much as possible. As I’ve mentioned before, we have some great bulk food stores here in the Bay Area (Rainbow, Berkeley Bowl, Whole Foods, for example) and I can get almost all dry foods as well as some personal care products from the bulk bins. These foods include rice and other grains, pasta, beans, seeds, nuts, all kinds of flour, baking soda and other dry baking ingredients, cereal and granola, pretzels and chips, some candy, tofu, oils, nut butters, olives, herbs, tea & coffee, and more things than I can think of right now. The key is bringing my own reusable bags and containers with me to the store. But even if you live in an area that does not have bulk food stores, you can still buy non-perishable goods in large size packages, which will decrease the amount of plastic used overall.

Reuse all the containers that I can. I especially love glass pasta sauce jars but I also save plastic tubs and bottles from products I bought before this project began.

Do household cleaning using white vinegar (which comes in a glass bottle), baking soda, Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (which comes in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles) and a few essential oils. Baking soda is awesome as an alternative to any kind of scouring powder. I cleaned my refrigerator with it the other day and was amazed how effective it is. I use a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water as an all-purpose spray cleaner (storing it in a reused spray bottle) and produce wash. I’m using the Bronner’s to wash the dishes, but I think I may have ruined it with too much lemon juice. (Does the lemon juice cancel out the soap?) So next time I’ll just add a few drops of a citrus essential oil and see if it works better.

Switched to compressed natural cellulose sponges for cleaning dishes (instead of synthetic) and other natural scrubbers and brushes. Compressed sponges are often sold without any plastic packaging because they don’t need to be kept moist. They expand when wet.

Avoid products sold in liquid form when a solid alternative is available. By doing this, I can reduce the need for plastic bottles and containers. I switched from liquid hand soap to bar soap, liquid shampoo to Lush bar shampoo (and am looking forward to trying Burt’s Bees bar shampoo when that is gone), Lush solid container-free deodorant (and am considering trying baking soda when that is gone), and am currently testing bars of shave soap (Simmons, Williams, and Lush Emperor of Ice Cream soap) instead of canned shave gel.

Brush my teeth with baking soda instead of toothpaste and use a Preserve toothbrush. Preserve toothbrushes are made from recycled plastic and are recyclable by sending them back to the company. Baking soda rocks, once again. More info here.

Switched to buying cases of Seventh Generation recycled individually wrapped toilet paper. It’s recycled, plastic-free, and I can get a great deal on it through Amazon.com.

Additionally, Fake Plastic Fish has a Plastics Guide, that explains a lot about the realities of plastics.

Green Sangha also offers information about non-plastic alternatives, and from their “Don’t Think Plastic Bags” come the following recommendations:

Alternatives to plastic bags→  Take alternative carry-out bags with you, made from all-natural fibers:  jute, hemp, woven cotton, and canvas are all available.  →  Use, and re-use, brown paper bags for fresh produce and bulk items such as beans and rice.→  Use no bags – simply pick things up and put them in your shopping basket (this works for large items such as apples, bananas, carrots, melons, etc.). Two large canvas bags of premium quality cost about $30, and should last about 10 years.  If plastic bag fees, under consideration in some

California communities, are instituted at a conservative 15 cents/bag, a family switching from four plastic shopping bags per week will recover its purchase cost in the first year.  In the nine years following, an additional $30 per year would be saved.

These are two websites that have immediate ways to make a difference that probably only cost a few cents more right now, in exchange for cost savings later.  Plastic bag charges are becoming more prevalent - Ikea is charging 5 cents per plastic bag. 

Please - share your thoughts and ideas!

I was sobered and appalled Sunday evening as I drove home from my feel-good training weekend as this NPR story played.

It is about a “patch” of the ocean filled with TRASH, 80% of which is plastic land waste.  (Best Life Magazine has a pretty in-depth article about the situation, in addition to the NPR story.)

And my first thought as I got upset was, “Why the hell didn’t I know about this before?” 

Why doesn’t EVERYONE know about this?

Which means, I’m going to tell you so that you can spread the word.  If this isn’t proof that something needs to change (which will be the next post on this topic), then what is?

The Facts:

• Refuse, both marine (20%) and land-based (80%), is collected in the pacific ocean between Hawaii and the West Coast by ocean currents.
• The Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch is nearly the size of two states of Texas.  TWO.  It is, in essence, a loose floating continent.
• It isn’t the only Garbage Patch in the Pacific
• Plastic doesn’t degrade.  It merely breaks into small bits (called “nurdles”) and is ingested or becomes a home for microorganisms, some of them harmful. 
• Some of this trash comes from ships that illegally jettison trash of corporations (botched shoe batches, plastic bags, etc).
• Accidental “dumps” of goods by ships are not required to be cleaned up or even reported.
• Wildlife eat the plastic items, thinking they are food.  Seabirds often ingest the plastic items, and then regurgitate it (or try to) for their chicks!  Other wildlife are caught in the plastic and die, or it becomes a permanent part of their lives.
• Japanese researchers found that “plastic debris can act like a sponge for toxic chemicals, soaking up a millionfold greater concentration of such deadly compounds as pcbs and dde, a breakdown product of the notorious insecticide ddt, than the surrounding seawater.” (from mindfully.org)
• Charles Moore is one of the few trying to make a difference in this situation.  This is a write up by him.

This doesn’t include the information we are continually learning about plastics and how harmful they are to us.  The chemicals involved with plastics have been linked to the obesity epidemic, as well as being found as carcinogens (remember my post about microwave popcorn?)

Part of the problem is no one group will claim responsibility for the problems - because it is everyone’s problem.  The US Government has taken some actions in working towards this, but it has been poorly funded and slow going.

The next post on this?  Continent of Trash - the 911.

Links for more information:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL

http://www.algalita.org/newsletters.html

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Trashing-Oceans-Plastic4nov02.htm

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Pacific-Garbage-Patch27oct02.htm

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N05174536

http://marine-litter.gpa.unep.org/documents/World’s_largest_landfill.pdf

http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1103/1103_feature.html

http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/health-fitness/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we_2.shtml

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw04232006/coverstory.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&type=politics

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1011/p02s01-usgn.html

Yesterday, I read this great blogpost from The Wild Green Yonder about the differences between environmental movements in terms of shades of green.  K-Co, you’ll be happy to see that you were spot on. 

Their shades are reposted below.

It’s very obvious that our world has issues with the environment that need to be dealt with.  The growing problem has created these different greens that are each looking at the issues from different perspectives.  Everyday more facts indicate that our world is sick with the damage that has been done to it, with the green community hotly debating which level of illness we are dealing with (Some Peak Oil proponents might, for example, state that our situation is terminal and it will take a virtual miracle to survive.)  Wild Green Yonder makes it pretty obvious where they feel we should be heading, as if the greens are three levels of environmental enlightenment. 

However, I’m not so sure that it is so bad to have these three different shades/perspectives in existence together, instead of having to shed one to move onto another.  And no, it isn’t my love of Lime Green as a color that makes me cling to it so. 

Certainly for the present they are a welcome change from the past.  There was a time when every person who cared about the environment was viewed as what I could deem the shade of  Olive Green -  the color of hippies, eco-terrorists and tree-huggers, cargo pants and worn out fatigues, good for all those earthy types, but not something the general public should be concerned about.  It symbolized resale shops, composting and marijuana - and really gave the impression that these people were out of touch with society, relegating environmental issues to the backburner.

I’m just very glad that we’ve moved beyond this into a spread that reaches more people.  Lime Green still espouses consumerism, which still has its negatives to the environment, and many environmentalists are very skeptical and deroggatory about Lime Green’s achievements and methods.

But Lime Green is getting people to embrace the idea that environmentalism is accessible…and desirable.  I think Lime Green is the ground floor that most people climb from to get to Grass or Forest Green levels.  So we need Lime Green to be the turning point, the launch pad for expansion into the other realms.  It wasn’t until I started trying to be more ecologically conscious in what I purchased (aka, Lime Green) that I started to really recognize the deeper aspects of ecology (Grass Green).  It is almost as if Lime Green is the first level at which you can see the other greens in the horizon. Once you’ve reached Lime Green, Grass and Forest Green seem actually attainable for oneself, instead of being the realm of the Olive Greens.

At least in American culture, if you create a holier-than-thou atmosphere, you’ll never get buy-in.  And buy-in (a telling term at that) is what we need from the American people to support green initiatives.

So Lime Green is an integral step towards building the ecological perspective.  Lime Green is Whole Foods, Co-Ops and local farmer’s markets, Hugger Mugger, Gaiam, Real Goods - companies that have feet in both the Lime Green and the Grass Green worlds to offer sustainable options to both - and facilitate the movement of Lime Green perspective into Grass Green perspective.  Consider that these companies are often the only way the public is even made aware of many current issues.  Many people read about an eco-friendly widget and learn about the issues behind the non-eco-friendly one - for the first time, the message about an issue is getting through.  Lime Green is, therefore, also an educational stage that preps for the other stages.

I also feel that not all of society will ever move totally to one color, and that there will be standards of living that still require Lime Green responses, highlights among the darker, richer colors of Grass and Forest that make up our worlds.  In the end, perhaps we can achieve sustainability through employing a wide array of shades to work together. 

So, what shades do you fall into?

 From Three Shades of Green:

Lime Green is the color of green consumerism. It aims to make environmentalism cool, continuing to provide the ever-higher standards of living we’re used to, only with a green twist. Hybrid cars, clean coal, corn-based ethanol and CFLs are some of the Lime Green topics circulating in the news these days. To companies with a Lime outlook, sustainability is a consumer trend that may or may not go away, but it’s certainly worth capitalizing on for now. The system is working great, say the Lime Greens – if anything, it just needs a little tinkering. Lime ideology is summed up with quasi-green oil giant BP’s slogan: “It’s a Start.”

Fortunately, the Lime Green ethic is fast being eclipsed by something a little more substantive. Grass Green, the middle shade, treats climate change, habitat destruction, and water pollution as real and dangerously pressing issues, and recognizes that we’ll have to make some serious changes to business as usual if we want to survive much longer. This is the shade of green espoused by popular environmental advocates like Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Bill McDonough, who call for a “new industrial revolution” that will transform our economy from one of inequality and great material waste to one of efficiency and abundance for all. How will this happen? Through ever-improving technology, social entrepreneurship, and sensible government regulation: think Cradle to Cradle, micro-loans, bike boulevards and carbon taxes. A fringe movement only a few years ago, the Grass Green philosophy is fast gaining ground in board rooms across the States: execs from top corporations like Whole Foods, Staples and Wal-Mart have been saying some remarkably Grassy stuff recently, and the cover story of the latest edition of BusinessWeek posits a near future where environmental responsibility is at the top of the corporate agenda.

Finally, there’s Forest Green. Inspired by the Deep Ecology movement of the 70s, Forest people claim that another industrial revolution is the last thing we need. The anthropocentric heritage of western civilization is what led to our current predicament in the first place, and any attempts to make our current system more sustainable are, to use ecophilosopher Rudolf Bahro’s term, “cleaning the teeth of the dragon.” We don’t have a chance at creating a truly sustainable society, Forest Greens argue, until we value the well-being of the planet over and above the flourishing of any particular species – including our own.

What would a Forest Green society look like? For one thing, it would be much smaller than the current one: a couple billion people at most. Levels of consumption would be far less than those we’re accustomed to in the overdeveloped world, with each person’s ecological footprint averaging a hectare or two. Our shelters and possessions would be modest but of high quality, and the production of food would be integrated into our cities and landscapes through design techniques such as permaculture. How we arrive at a Forest Green society is another question entirely; answers range from the enviro-anarchism of Derrick Jensen to the grassroots utopia-building of the ecovillage movement.