Simply put the “green” movement was supposed to raise awareness of the global environmental issues and to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint. This was not always such a big contention, however over the course of time it has become increasingly complicated and misunderstood. In order to understand what the term “green” implies an understanding of sustainability is required. Caution must be used when the word “sustainable” and its variations are used. It is impossible to maintain sustainability within a finite system. When considering our global situation, as the number of consumers increases so does the amount of total consumption to the point where all essential resources will be consumed.
The label of “green” implies doing things that will reduce and improve the methods of our overall consumption. However we must understand that even with this connotation we will reach a point where all the resources have been consumed. The only option within a finite system is to reduce the overall number of consumers.
The so-called “sustainable”/”green”culture in the world amounts to finding ways of maintaining the levels of consumption to which we have grown accustomed to. How many of you actually confront the fact that real sacrifices are coming whether we like it or not and that technology can not save us? It is in our human nature to avoid personal conflicts, we are all guilty of this.
As the economies around the world weaken and consumers look to cut costs, the banner of “green”/”sustainable” environmentalism has been adopted everywhere. With so much “green washing” , circulating propaganda rather than actually being “green” is the precedent. Some of the most polluting industries are among the loudest to vaunt their “green” credentials. Waves of “green” information are available with special interest groups and conferences of all types propagating information and awareness. Governing bodies have been implemented in response to this overwhelming deluge of information. Up to this point most of the effort is directed towards creating awareness rather than direct action to deal with the matters at hand. Let’s be reminded that “Awareness is not action”
