National Geographic recently debuted a new Green magazine called the Green Guide. From the press release:
“Our goal is to help make going green an easy, gradual, affordable process rather than an all-or-nothing plunge,” says Seth Bauer, Green Guide editorial director. “We know that one of the most important ways to protect the planet is through consumer environmentalism: buying and using things – from the food you eat to the clothing you wear to the cars you drive -with an eye on the resources required to make them and the waste they will become.”
What’s in the initial issue? (Also from the press release) The inaugural installment of this service magazine unveils effective resources for green living with reliable, comprehensive coverage of green issues paired with easy-to-implement product and behavior tips to help green consumers of all shades live healthier lives.
Read more »
Last Sunday came at the end of a hectic week. All I wanted was to sleep in, and read the New York Times, and do more of nothing. There was only one problem. Lashy, my Little Sister, was waiting for me. The thought of canceling brushed my mind. For a second, I imagined what it would be like to not get dressed, and stay home. The pleasure of being lazy. No, I had to honor my commitment to her. I knew she had been looking forward to our outing, all week. When she called, I answered that yes, I was coming to pick her up and we would go ice skating as planned.
I have been thinking about what it is that moved me to go through the effort of meeting Lashy last Sunday. And what’s the difference with not following through with some of my green commitments? When I say I am not going to drive to the gym, and I am going to bike instead, and then I drop the ball, and grab my car key, what is it that happens? In the case of Lashy, it is my heart that moves me. I empathize with her, and I don’t want to disappoint her. In the bike – no car situation, there is no one to relate to, except myself. I know ‘I should’, and if I don’t go through, the only person that’s being let down is ‘moi’. I can deal with that. I am pretty good at rationalizing . . .
This is why 12-Steps Programs require their members to attend meetings, and more importantly, to choose a sponsor. The sponsor is the person that keeps the addict honest, and makes it hard for him or her to relapse. In the climate fight, we are all supposed to wean ourselves from our addictive habits of convenience and comfort. On our own. I say, we each need a green sponsor, a person with whom we can contract and who will hold us responsible to our promises. Someone we respect and whom we don’t want to let down. Wal-Mart is onto something with its Personal Sustainability Promise initiative.
My question to you is, who would you choose as your green sponsor?
I surprised myself with the strength of my response to Charlotte and Prad. ‘No way, I am riding my bike. I am tired and it’s cold.’ Never mind that I was going to the gym to exercise. My heart was set on swimming, not biking. Still, if I had enough energy to swim, I probably could have biked. It is just that I was thinking exercise equal gym. To exercise I needed to go to the gym. Although I was tired, I am very disciplined about exercising every day, and I was willing to make that effort. In my mind, going to the gym, was in the transportation category, not the exercise file. Transportation meant, I was going to naturally choose the option that was most efficient time wise, and comfortable.
Now, why was I willing to make the effort to exercise (swim) although I was not feeling so good, but not to bike instead of driving? The answer is, I consider exercise a direct personal benefit to my health and my well being. Biking instead of driving, because of environmental concerns, does not affect me directly. (that’s assuming I maintain earlier ‘logic’ of biking not as an exercise form, but as mode of transportation). Its benefit gets diluted both in time and space. The big pot problem again. When I exercise, I feel an immediate personal benefit. When I consider acting from my green conscience, it falls in the higher category of ‘I and many other enlightened people know it’s the right thing to do, but it is not part yet of the commonly accepted set of ethical behaviors’. Where I get in trouble is with that latter part. The lack of collective consciousness in the green category, and the resulting lack of environmental laws and best practices, both give me license to err.
Am I that selfish of a person that I never do anything for the greater good? Actually, there are many instances when I can act selflessly. My maternal instinct makes sure I always put my children’s interests before my own. I find great pleasure in mentoring my Little Sister. For seven years, I spent my time helping people as a profession. In the green category even, I now make sure that I bring my recyclable bags to the grocery store. I try not to flush. I have diminished my shopping significantly. I only heat the house very selectively. I always turn off the lights. I take the train whenever I go to the city. . . My laziness with biking is one of the last fortresses of my unconscious, not so green self, and a window into the ways most of the civilized world behaves. Here is what I saw:
- We are creatures of the flesh. Trapped in our physical body, and at the mercy of our basic needs for physical comfort, pleasure, and immediate gratification. Without the external reinforcement from state or spiritual laws, these primal needs take precedence over our conscience.
- We are lemmings. We look around and tend to emulate others’ behaviors.
- We are self-centered. Our priorities start with getting our personal needs met first. Needs for security, personal health, financial security, comfort, safety, education, etc. Environmental concerns are at the bottom of the pile.
- We are products of our culture. In America that means capitalism, money, greed, consumerism, extremes, convenience, industrialization, technology, cars, invincibility, man over nature.
- We are creatures of habits. Our thoughts and behaviors are set in certain ways. To unset them requires tremendous energy and outside forces.
- We are inherently lazy. Given the choice, we will most often pick the easiest, most convenient alternative.
- We are not rational beings. The way we derive our thoughts is often circuitous, and leads to behaviors that fly in the face of reason.
Next, is how can we take into account these seven characteristics of human nature, and formulate winning behavioral change strategies for a greener planet. Plenty of material for my blog…
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