Start With a Simpler Life

Though written a bit tongue-in-cheek, I found this article that ran in the Washington Post last week, made a compelling argument that becoming green begins with reduced consumption. One of the points made in the article regarded our propensity to continually replace that which is no longer the newest or the best: “The culture of obsolescence has become so deeply ingrained that it’s practically reflexive.”

I was reminded of another Post column I had read recently — unrelated to the environmental movement. In the article, Jeanne Marie Laskas, was wearing boots with a broken shoelace when a student in her class said, “Looks like it’s time for some new boots.”

“I looked down. There was nothing wrong with the boot itself. ‘It’s a shoelace,’ I said, and made a remark about buying a pair of new laces,” Laskas wrote.
Quickly we come to the argument about whether or not a 10,000 square foot home that is LEED certified is actually “green.” Apparently some people in Washington state have a strong opinion about this. While I would never condone such an extreme act, I do question the validity of the claim.

I suppose that what I’m trying to say, is that while I’m encouraged by the changes I am seeing in the movement to being more environmentally aware as a society, until we’re able to connect that awareness to our actual consumption, we still have a ways to go.

As environmentalist Paul Hawken said in the Post article: “Really going green … ‘means having less. It does mean less. Everyone is saying, ‘You don’t have to change your lifestyle.’ Well, yes, actually, you do.“

Elizabeth Striano
Consultant and writer on sustainability and the environment
www.agreenfootprint.com

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