Tired of green washing?
Jun 3rd, 2009 by ethicalimpact
[polldaddy poll=1672234]I’m an optimist and I think that most folks who are claiming ‘green’ but really aren’t do so out of ignorance. Many think of ‘green’ as energy conservation, recycled packaging or organic. Certainly it is all of these and much, much more. The entire point of sustainability is that we want to live on this planet FOREVER. To do that we need to live in harmony with it and live so that ALL of our actions enhance the ability of ALL life to live. We are a long way from that!
Most people do not know much about nature or how ecologies work. Traped in the old belief systems of separation, they do not get that everything is interconnected. More importantly they do not understand the implications of what this statement means. Because of that changes in behavior are irratic and even innappropriate.
Systems thinking is a key skill in understanding interconnectedness. Many people think in linear and step-by-step fashion so thinking of wholes and interrelationships is difficult. We’ve been trained for hundreds of years (since Newton) to think of the world as a collecttion of parts, so we’ve felt fine about tinkering with the various parts in any way we wished. thinking this way also allowed us to do what we wanted without thinking of consequences. Unfortunately, not thinking about consequences does not mean they are not there, and today we have the proof of that!
I believe that the success of our journey through this crisis will only happen if we, as a species, make the leap into connectedness and begin seeing the world as interconnected as us as an important part of that interconnection. We are the only part that is required to take conscious responsibility. David Korten, in his book, The Great Turning talks about this as the mautrity of the human species.
When you love someone or some thing, you protect it and prevent it from being hurt. It is time for us to take that position about the Earth. Being ‘green’ is a heart space decision, not a monetary one. Coming form the heart the business intent is to ‘do no harm’ and be willing to make the changes in business practice that will support this intent. When the focus is on making money from this new market, then the depth and implications of sustainability are lost and not addresses, or are unknown.
It is to be expected that people will try to take advantage of the new opportunity, some for good reasons and without much understanding, and others for more selfish reasons. That requires us to be vigilent and make sure that we put our money where our hearts are and exercise due process in all of our purchases. It also means that those with heart, but limited understanding need to take action to educate themselves and then others on what being green means as a path to true sustainability.
