I’m Going Green with all this “Green”

You see it everywhere. It’s practically the standard marketing ploy of just about everyone and anyone out there nowadays. It could be a corner deli sandwich shop, and they claim they’re “going green” now that they have implemented paper bags and moved away from plastic…oh and don’t forget the recycling bins next to the door…they’re “going green.”

Come on. So I am not going to shake a finger at the whole concept, because I have to give credit where credit is deserved. There are MANY people, companies, organizations, non-profits and environmental groups out there making a significant difference, organizing campaigns, movements and all sorts of other public activating concepts to illuminate our carbon footprint….but when it really comes down to it…How are you daily “going green?”

First off let’s get the facts. There are a number of ways that our country and world are making progressive steps to save on power used, natural resources used, and of course teach the general public how they can contribute to the larger picture/cause. There has been legislation passed to allow for tax breaks for those individuals and businesses that are using less power and/or restoring their homes/businesses with sustainable energy resources (i.e. lights, recycled building materials), there have been huge organization launched to support the education and urgency of such sustainable living- such as LEED and USGBC. We have researchers scratching their heads over and over to try and produce off-shore wind farms, and of course we have just about every social media outlet out there discussing…tweeting, facebooking, blogging and whatevering about how we need to become more green. We have all watched and seen as many of our local communities have encouraged us to change our simple daily routines of carpooling to work, enforcing our children ride to school on busses, encouraging us to fuel up in the evenings, use battery-powered machinery opposed to fuel powered. To keep up with the Jones’ you’d better buy that hybrid and start walking to Whole Foods with your clothe shopping bags…or your life on Wisteria Lane is donezo.

Stepping back…its freckin’ expensive to go green in this economy. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to change all your light bulbs (just in a residential home) from standard bulbs to LED lights? A simple LED bulb, for say your bedside lamp will set you back anywhere from $30-$40, and an LED Tube light (used in most offices) will run you between $80 and $100. Sure you will help the environment and even save some cash on your yearly electric bill… but who sees it that way? If we all saw it that way and had no problem forking over the extra cash now… there wouldn’t even be “regular” light bulbs for sale (poor Edison). So my question is: When it is so costly to “go green,” how the heck is every company out there going green, yet laying off employees by the hundreds, cutting hours, salaries and bonuses, yet proclaiming they’re going green? What does it really mean to go green and what is the difference between all this sudden going green and what we used to call just plain old recycling?

I think it’s like anything else. It’s a fresh look, a fresh face, a new marketing ploy we role out in hopes of reinventing ourselves, and driving in more business. Wrong. We/You still sell the same product, still offer the same service and most likely still do it the same old way, and your employees probably still throw their green tea glass bottles in the regular old waste bin. Until we are straight out forced to change our ways and change our light bulbs, most of us are still going to stick to our comfortable patterns.

I think there really needs to be something Earth-shattering impressive about why we each need to give a darn. Is there a statistic we all need to know? Is there a $ amount out there that each of us will get to put back into our pockets if we go green? When will it become law that we not just go green, but BE green?

It’s definitely a thing of the now and the to be. If you scroll through University Colleges/Course Studies, you will see some variable “go green” studies in their academic offerings. I think that the kids that get in on it now may just be the most hirable candidates in 4 years. Maybe they won’t be getting plowed by Sallie Mae and other private college lenders, and actually be able to pay off their student loans (Ha! That’s a whole other topic---- Barack you better pass that legislation).

But really, all in all, there is so much buzz on green, it can make a person sick… in fact GREEN! With all this talking, is there really all that much doing? A movement, a “change” (the change we just elected for the next 4 years, I quietly remind you), has to start with the people, and right now its only with the white-collared upper class business men… and we all know what has happened by entrusting them. Foreclosure, unemployment and marred credit.

-RW