Deeper Shade of Green

So here’s the deal. I talk to a lot of people and most people are apparently quite aware of the dire environmental situation we’re in. And they’re concerned.

Yet, they just want to talk about it. They don’t actually want to do much more then switch off the lights when they leave their room and make sure their yogurt cup goes into the recycling bin. Yet, if we’re to make it, scientists tell us we need to make massive changes in our lives in the next 25 years. Will someone else do it for us? No. It’s up to us. Even the government will only enact environmental laws that really make sense only if people send a strong message to their governments that that’s what they want.
Yes, I voice my concerns, and I try to spur people into action. Yes I give people advice on how they could be more sustainable. But instead of people listening, and looking inwardly and realizing what they could do better, they point a finger at me. I am criticized, made fun of, and called an ‘extremist’. They point out every little flaw I have and the fact that I don’t do everything sustainably.

What’s that all about? I never claimed to be perfect, I never put myself high on a pedestal. I’m always there to help others when they need it and volunteer as much as I can. I actually take the time to think about almost anything I buy and anything I do. I weigh things all the time. But I also try to live a balanced life.

And for this, I get nailed to the cross. If instead, people engaged in a constructive dialog or invested energy at examining their own lives, their time would be better spend and they would make positive change.

Don’t people get it? Don’t they know we’re standing at a threshold of our whole civilization? That our way of live, the way we know it, could cease to exist in mere 25 years?

People! Stop bickering, stop complaining, stop pointing fingers. Get up, be counted and make some real changes in your lives. Be the change you want to see in the world.