The events surrounding daily life these days seems to be on either end of a see-saw. Extremes. As individuals, community, and society, we have two ends on the balance scale to consider –one end is nature and how we care for our planet and environment, the other is our human impact. There are so many folks walking a path of entitlement, i.e. I deserve this because –fill in the blank– that the see-saw seems to tip more often than not towards the human impact and disregarding of the impact our actions have on nature. Yes, of course, there is every know green movement under the sun going on now and trying to grab our attention, but when taking a closer look, there is more under the color than just wearing a ‘I’m green’ button cause you bring a reusable bag to the grocery store. Now don’t get me wrong, that one step is a great start, and there has to be a starting point that gets each of our attention.
Looking at these steps and making conscious decisions as to what works and what doesn’t, what is in balance for ourselves and what isn’t, is a daily exercise that is made on each of our individual journeys. Letting go of that war inside of ourselves (and specifically myself, since I’m writing this) is something that takes a lot of focused effort and willingness. There is a willingness to be open to the possibility that our daily life is a mirror of the external see-saw. For example, in my consulting contracts I have a ‘green fee’ clause which basically says that if I have to travel to a clients site, there is a fee to purchase the carbon offsets of my travel. It’s my way of trying to bring the see-saw into a more balanced state.
When looking at ourselves and how we adopt those ‘green’ attributes into our life, let’s look at what we’re giving, as opposed to what less amount we’re actually taking. I suppose it’s a subtle difference, because we are certainly moving in the right direction when it comes to creating a zero footprint. But how many of us can actually say what is a zero footprint? I practice this way of life on a daily basis, and I still can’t say what is a zero footprint. I know I don’t have one, but I can’t tell you what one is. As an example, I have this nice bottle of moisturizer sitting on my desk called ‘California Natural Lavender’. It has a nice pretty nature looking picture on it, and a seal of organic approval. All 70% of it is certified organic. Seal of what? What does that mean? What is the other 30%, toxic waste? Does 70% make this a better product to use, or better on the environment? Not really. It is just giving the illusion of being ‘green’ or perhaps ‘greener’ then the other product without a seal. Greenwashing is going on more now than ever. Although I’d like to believe that we are all wising up to those tactics. Somehow there needs to be a way to not only acknowledge that we have a footprint, but to balance it with what we can give back to nature.
Interestingly enough, there is an entire country focusing a large portion of their economy on this. A little country that sits in the eastern Himalayas between China and India called Bhutan. Many people have not heard of it before, however they are modeling the Bhutan economy on and around the preservation of their environment. They realize the importance of nurturing nature and finding that middle way in living in the modern world. They place prayer wheels in their water systems so that as the water passes through, it is infused with prayer. Contrast that to what Nestle Corporation is doing by buying up water rights around the US, and specifically in Salida, Colorado, creating a water war so that their company can profit from more landfill infesting plastic bottled water.
A country and a company: two very different ways of looking at a resource. Let’s guess which one is going to be more in balance and walking down the middle.
Tags: water green nature spirituality balance economy shamanism
April 27, 2009 at 12:53 pm |
Im at the library in Fridley Minn looking at your website looking forward
to reading the whole book