Social Media Call for Action: First Steps to Being Green
The call to action regarding green matters in social media is incredibly inspiring. I've found that my participation in social networks online has increased my passion and my commitment to living sustainably. Signing in to Tweetdeck in the morning and touching base with like-minded people throughout the day on networks like Twitter and Facebook keeps me inspired and motivated to find more and more ways that my family and I can be good stewards of this planet. It's almost like repeating an affirmation again and again throughout the day: "I'm green enough, I tweet enough, and gosh darn-it @thegoodhuman likes me."
Sign in to Twitter or Facebook and hook up with the green crowd and you'll soon see what I mean. There's a plethora of green tips, green news, and green resources flying around. You can really see the new frontier and you're right on the edge watching this revolution grow and gain ground. Green bloggers are bringing environmental issues to the foreground.
Unfortunately, the majority of the dialogue about being green usually revolves around renewable energy, recycling, reusing, and repurposing, none of which should be the leading message in this green movement. Recycling our plastics and using renewable energy are a huge step in the right direction, but they shouldn't be our first or our only steps. We're on the right path with greening our lives, our cities, and our nation, but if we don't curb our consumption and curb it soon, we're just going to replace one addiction with another. We need to take renewables and recycling and re-purposing off the table for a moment and take a good look at how we're living.
Our environmental problems are not going to be changed by government policy or incentives. The only hope we have to repair the damage we've caused is to make the necessary changes in our own individual lifestyles. We can support any environmental organization we want and blog about any environmental cause that pulls our heartstrings, but if we're not striving on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis to be conscious of our own consumption, the world will remain the same. We cannot rely upon government policy to make the changes we need.
In the book Ishmael, Daniel Quinn says, "If the world is saved, it will not be by old minds with new programs but by new minds with no programs at all." For those of us who are passionate about not destroying our planet, it's necessary to grok this statement.
Buying "green" products isn't sustainable, not when 98% of them aren't really green. Investing in renewable energy without curbing consumption is not sustainable. Each of us needs to take a good hard look at our consumption patterns. I've found the most effective way to do this is by asking myself some simple questions before I make a purchase.
- Do I really need this?
- What impact will this product have on the environment when I'm done with it?
- Is there an alternative that uses less packaging, is recyclable, etc?
Don't guilt trip yourself! Guilt trips never work. If you're not willing to sacrifice what you want for the good of the planet, so be it. Commit to a little introspection and move on. Ask yourself how and where you can make changes that work for you.
Take baby steps. You're not just going to quit wanting stuff overnight. The more you increase your awareness about your consumption patterns, without making self judgments, the less you'll need stuff to fulfill you
Jeanne Weierheiser
