Over all the green movement is a good one. It has caused enough buzz to really make people more mindful of the amount of waste they produce in their daily lives. We have seen an onslaught of new green products on the markets, and major retail stores are carrying them. Green has not only become easy, it’s has become convenient for American consumers. In the meantime, this new movement is producing very ugly byproducts. Not unlike the toxic sludge that is created when refining petroleum.
The first real problem is that people are going green over night. People are replacing their less green products with green products before using them up. Keep in mind companies are using the green idea to get you to do the same thing you’ve always done. Consume, consume, consume! It’s okay to buy the green products slowly. It’s okay to use non green items until they are gone, and then find a better alternative. And in some cases, it’s okay to buy the less green product if you are going to use less of it or reuse it more. The damage has already been done with the items we buy. They have been made, and they will go to a landfill. So there is no sense in throwing it out now and buying something green that has already been made, and will also go into a landfill until you are done with the first product.
The other major problem of the green movement is the green elite. For them the green movement is like a religion and they profess their greenness with evangelical vigor, while trying to show everyone else around them the way to green enlightenment. They are the type of people who are happier judging you for what you are doing wrong, and then looking for the things you are doing right. Being green isn’t about shoving it down other people’s throats; it isn’t about showing the world how smart you can be. If you are making green choices, make it because they are better choices for you, not because they are trendy and make you look cool. It’s also okay to realize not everyone is going to be a conservationist, some times because they don’t value it, and some times because they haven’t been exposed to it. Growing up in Oregon, being a conservationist wasn’t so much an option as it was just the way things were. Everyone has a bottle and can bag, because bottles have a deposit. It’s the kind of place where it is rude to throw a soda can in the garbage. It is must more polite to leave the empty can on the kitchen counter so your host can place it in the bottle deposit bag. I guess when I moved to Washington, I didn’t realize that law has started to define a culture (and am sorry if I ever left an empty bottle on your countertop.) Slowly the culture is changing, and people are starting to be better conservationists, but rest assured people being giant douches about their green choices around them isn’t going to help.
With anything, there are very good things and bad things about it. Getting to use my $5 off coupon at bed bath and beyond for green cleaners, instead of having to find hippie markets across state lines is a good thing. Having to explain my non-green choices to people who can’t help but make other non-green choices is a bad thing. I hope as this movement goes forward, people cool off a little bit, and we end up with some really positive environmental impact from it. If not, I guess its back to the hippie market for me
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