Scott Oterric’s Recent Comments

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  The big picture

  is what we often miss in the environmental community.  Of course we should walk to our corner, locally owned organic grocer and buy locally grown organic vegetarian food, and put it in our hemp shopping bags to carry home.  When 5% of us do that, we make a great difference.  We also set the bar so high that sustainability seems pretty out of reach to 'the average American'.  I visit my extended family in suburbia, and they simply don't get it, nor have I ever been able to demonstrate it unless they choose to come visit me in my little green house in my little green neighborhood in my big green city where they are immediately uncomfortable because they can't find parking or a McDonald's on every corner.  Adam's vision has helped bring sustainability into those people's lives in a very personal way, reaching hundreds of thousands, millions of people that traditionally just thought we were just weird because all they knew of us was what Rush Limbaugh would tell them about us.  Our conversations were circular amongst ourselves, and we can certainly put off a judgmental and holier than thou vibe that only then confirms in the general public what Rush told them:  that we're not grounded in reality.  

  We are the 5% that are the leading edge.  We don't need to preach to ourselves at this critical moment, or debate whether wind power is better than solar.  What we need is to reach the next 50% and show them that sustainability is not weird, but rather can be good for them, fun, and good for their children and the planet, too.  The purchasing willpower of that 50% will not change.  They are not among our 5% who are ready and willing to hang our clothes to dry and reuse our ziploc baggies until they're riddled with holes.  They may get there someday, but they have to start with what they know.  So for now, when action is so desperately needed, wouldn't you prefer to see that 50% (150 million Americans) taking the first few steps towards joining our leading edge?  They start buying organic because they've heard it's good for them and hey, bonus, it's good for the planet, too.  Then they read labels, then they get concerned about chemicals in their food, in their paint, in their bedding materials, then something clicks, and they see...

  the big picture.

  And then they come join us on the leading edge.  On Adam Werbach follows up 'Death of Environmentalism' with 'Birth of Blue' posted 1 year, 7 months ago 46 Responses