Green Options

Stuck in traffic the other day and surrounded by an army of traffic cameras, I was forced to pay closer attention to the street signs at a busy intersection. It was at this intersection where I saw this sign and thought that it really defines our present situation. “Left Turn” referring to the political/social change in direction that our country has taken. And, “Yield on Green” referring to the fact that [...]

Sometimes it feels like there is nothing we can do to make a difference. Sometimes we are so confused by all we see and hear that we remain motionless. Now is not the time. A green building writer and consultant tells you what she REALLY thinks!

If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you consider yourself “green,” or, at least, you are trying to do your part to be more environmentally minded, environmentally sensitive and environmentally responsible. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are a part of the green movement. And each part makes the green movement what it is — the entity it is — (on the global scale, the national scale, the regional scale, the local scale, and the personal scale).

Throughout the course of our life and our efforts, we have to step back and look at how effective we are at achieving our goals, how far our good intentions are actually taking us, how “green” our lifestyles are. We have to look at how much our green actions are doing to really protect and conserve the environment. At the same time, if we are trying to be a part of this green movement (which is growing in name, in respect, and, to some degree, in overall influence), we have to step back and evaluate the trajectory of the green movement, how effective the overall movement is in making our dreams of a safe, secure, sustainable, lively, and vibrant environment a true reality.

To be honest, I have been involved in the green movement since childhood and am fairly “extreme,” sincere, or devoted in my efforts to be green and to do my part. Nonetheless, I just moved to Poland from the U.S. and I have found that I have habits and ways of thinking that are greatly less sustainable, less environmentally sensitive, than the normal, average Pole who does not have any special care or concern for the environment and may just have the vaguest sense of what the “green movement” or “green living” is.

Why the great disparity in our actions and ways of life, despite the fact that I am the “green”?

While twentysomethings may be the cheerleaders of the green movement, a new report from i-com reveals that the ranks of actual users of green products are grey haired and wrinkled.

Both male and female groups 55 years and over reported above average usage of environmentally friendly home goods. Leading the way was the 55-59 year-old female demographic, who was more than twice as likely as the average consumer to use green products. Males 65-69 years old were second, more than 1.7 times as likely to use than the average American.

I don’t find this terribly surprising for a number of reasons including what the survey found out: 50% of non-adopters cited high prices as the main factor behind their decision not to purchase green products. As is well know, the bulk of this country’s wealth is concentrated in the baby boomer generation. If you were lucky enough to be born in the first half of the boom (and now find yourself wondering why your kids have such trouble getting ahead in a vastly different economic landscape than the 60s and 70s) then you know what I mean.

There’s a review of this book that goes by the title “50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth” and curiosity got the better of me to get to know how I have personally impacted on the future of our planet.

But then it has been around with us since just before Earth Day 1990. A lot of water have since passed under the bridge. Save the forests; there is a website and a rave blog too: 50 Simple Things.

Eco-friendly shopping, for instance, may be fashionable, but critics have argued it won’t reduce global warming. What has been the role of the Green Movement in ecological modernization?

Since the early 1980s, green as a political ideology championing ecological and environmental goals, has given the face of the Green movement a newer look, but not without the usual controversies: global warming, biofuels, or “agro-fuels” in more fluent eco-speak, solar-powered future, etc.

I tried crossing through the Uhuru Park this morning from Nairobi central business district on my way to Community Hill but paramilitary police, better known as GSU or the General Service Unit, barred my way. One officer, armed to the teeth and sporting a bulldog frown, cocked his AK gun, looked at me with scorn and asked who I thought I was. I mumbled a quick “sorry” and went back to walk along Valley Road. I was just testing the waters with my act and I realized they meant business.

But in 1989, one brave woman who we now know as Wangari Maathai, dared the then Daniel arap Moi government at the same park and took a heavy beating, spending time in hospital. Then and now, Uhuru Park, has been the darling of environmentalists and politicians in Nairobi alike. For politicians, it is where declarations on Grand Marches to Freedom have been made to the people; for environmentalists, Nairobi’s only serene recreational public park with an artificial pond, is too valuable for just being a talkshop. It is where Freedom for the Planet, ala Wangari Maathai, began. She almost single handedly stopped the Moi regime from putting up a 60 story business complex as a gift to the ruling KANU party and the world noticed her work that started in 1977 with the formation of the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots environmental non profit.

The Face of Environmentalism in Africa
Maathai is the face of environmentalism in Africa. No other African environmental activist has won as many accolades, including the Goldman Environmental Prize, as she has and when she in 2004 bagged the Nobel Peace Prize for her lifetime struggles and achievements for a greener Africa and the world her countrymen and women thought one of their own had finally been recognized by the global community. Shalini Ramanathan, a clean energy advocate, writing in Grist calls her “outspoken, accomplished and passionate” about the environment and what she stands for. The British Broadcasting Corporation has called her a leading campaigner on social matters.

Dear Readers,

In the first week of February, we explored and compared methods of public transportation around the world.

This week, from February 18-24, we’d like to introduce a topic that’s a little more personal. How do people in different nations view the environment and environmentalists?

To help answer this question, our correspondents around the world will shed light on four areas:

• traditional cultural views: how different cultures see nature and the environment
• attitudes on the street: what

[...]

Sound familiar? Well, if you’ve been following my rant on nuclear power you’ll remember my first podcast on the subject concerning a paper written by researcher Jesse Ausubel, Nuclear Energy is Clean; Renewables Damage the Ecology , condemning renewables and praising nuclear energy.

Before continuing, once again I’ve produced a podcast on this subject, so if you don’t have time to read, tune in here:

Now, 86 year old Dr. James Lovelock, pictured at the left, has written a book, The Revenge of Gaia (Penguin Books 2006), where he makes no bones about it - nuclear energy can save humanity, and “there is no sensible alternative to nuclear power if we are to sustain humanity,” a quote taken from the pages of the World Nuclear Association’s web pages.

Editor's note: Green Options is pleased to welcome Robin Schidlowski to the writing team. Robin is a feature writer and co-editor for the Urban Alliance for Sustainability's newsletter, and lives in the Bay Area. She'll be covering happenings in that part of the world, as well as writing about urban and general sustainability, and "zero waste."

Paul Hawken spoke in San Francisco last Friday on the final stop of his

[...]