Tag Archive culture

Are we ‘falling or rolling towards a GREEN age?’ By @MarIntroini

Being GREEN is not just another fashion trend made up of recycling, eating ecological food or the use of solar panels, as many skeptics would argue. Being green means awareness of the negative impact of relentless climate change that needs us as individual to act to make a real difference. If not, every attempt is reduced to a mere commercial goal that doesn’t change the situation and is not able to reform the system either. However switching to a green age has become a matter of fashion, and a profitable business. The business is to promote products or services provided by a green label that gives an image of a modern and sensible business, one that cares for the environment.

Binge GREEN also has an emotional element, that it is the feeling of trying out new habits and changing the old codes of our daily life. Little sacrifices/efforts such as reducing cars circulation, recycling, buying ecological food, changing use of water or electricity suppliers and they all could make a big difference. 1st you change an attitude then a strategy, that is the main secret to building a new life. The emotional aspect is essential in the process and consists of being devoid of fear to the new and starts a sustainable process towards green habits.

The most effective way to address revolutionary changes is it through the educational system that transforms minds and build a new way of living individual and professionally. Until this critical moment arrives it reminds in our minds the idea that environment issues are not a matter of private concerns but a public issue that needs to be regulated at State level without individual efforts.  However, individual attitudes are paramount and cannot be entirely dominated by a public authority. That is the importance to educate and convince people of the relentless impact of climate change and the influential impact of our private behavior. Educating present and future generations towards green patterns of behavior. Literally the conjunction of individual efforts could have a crucial impact on global crisis, not only climate change but also other crises like migration. In Ghana people are forcing to migrate because of the dramatic rise of the sea that submerge entirely villages.

In political aspects leaders committed with the environment need to reform their agenda substantially giving priority to strategies and budget around adaptation, and investment on natural resources. In the near future green parties would not exist and will give way to an entire green political class, above political ideologies. To be green is no a chapter in the political agenda anymore but a part of a solid project to any country with higher or reduced risks to be impacted by climate change.

Investment in Education programs and educate actors of the civil society around green matters become a central pillar for building resilience and to educate the political class.

Be Green and not die trying must be the motto for the coming decades. More than ever, individual efforts are more effective and more feasible to achieve results in the short term than big bureaucratic public initiatives have tended to be.

“Falling” or “rolling” into a new Green age? For new generations means “rolling” as is part of their education process. For the latest and the skeptics means “falling” resigning to old codes of habits by integrating new concepts.

Never mind if you are falling or rolling, being green is the only sustainable investment at an individual level…. thus it is just a matter of time…

This post was originally posted by @MarIntroini for their blog : thesustainabilityreader.com