<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Can a lazy environmentalist really change the world?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by AmandaD http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:21:45 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/1 Dorfman seems to know us all too well.  Easy and inexpensive solutions - perfect.  I like to follow similar "change agents" who keep me up to date on how to lead a sustainable lifestyle (www.changents.com/earthkeepers).

]]> Dorfman seems to know us all too well.  Easy and inexpensive solutions - perfect.  I like to follow similar "change agents" who keep me up to date on how to lead a sustainable lifestyle (www.changents.com/earthkeepers).

]]> Comment #2 by greengenie4 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:55:41 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/2 We can use the weak state of the economy to our advantage as consumers. Spending money on efficiency costs less, and yields big returns in one to two years. For example, energy saving light bulbs may cost a little more, but they last twice as long and using them consistently dramatically reduces building or home energy use, which significantly drives down the monthly electricity bill. Most people know this, and soon it will become a 'fact' so to speak. It's a similar concept in consumer-business relations; if consumers demand organic and green products businesses and corporations will deliver because it will drive up their profit in the long run. Consumers get used to these product standards and in effect will continue to demand them. Affecting long-term change has to start at the bottom. Habits are easy to change with the right information, attitudes will follow.

]]> We can use the weak state of the economy to our advantage as consumers. Spending money on efficiency costs less, and yields big returns in one to two years. For example, energy saving light bulbs may cost a little more, but they last twice as long and using them consistently dramatically reduces building or home energy use, which significantly drives down the monthly electricity bill. Most people know this, and soon it will become a 'fact' so to speak. It's a similar concept in consumer-business relations; if consumers demand organic and green products businesses and corporations will deliver because it will drive up their profit in the long run. Consumers get used to these product standards and in effect will continue to demand them. Affecting long-term change has to start at the bottom. Habits are easy to change with the right information, attitudes will follow.

]]> Comment #3 by racc http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:43:45 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/3 Comment #4 by mimi http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/ Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:56:00 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/4 mimi agrees you.

 

http://twitter.com/yomimi

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/mimi/73352484645

]]> mimi agrees you.

 

http://twitter.com/yomimi

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/mimi/73352484645

]]> Comment #5 by TomBlees http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:20:50 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-lazy-environmentalist/5 Being cognizant of the fact that most people will not go out of their way to modify their habits in service to the environment, I've taken passive environmentalism to a global systems level in Prescription for the Planet. We can lift the standard of living of everyone on the planet and be far more efficient in our use and reuse of materials without any overt effort on the part of the general public.

Oddly enough, a lot of people fight such a concept. The city of Sacramento has been struggling with a no-lose proposition to recycle all the city's waste, with the companies now being paid to haul their garbage over the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Nevada not happy at all. This is just one small example; there are many others. The sad fact is that the status quo isn't just comprised of greedy corporations like oil companies and electric utilities. It's also made up of organizations of environmentalists who are loathe to question their assumptions and long-standing doctrinaire stances and who instead stand in the way of real progress in the struggle against global warming, resource wars, etc. Ironically, many people who consider themselves environmentalists are unwittingly in league with coal companies and others they abhor.

When we're looking to shift the paradigm, we all have to question our beliefs.

]]> Being cognizant of the fact that most people will not go out of their way to modify their habits in service to the environment, I've taken passive environmentalism to a global systems level in Prescription for the Planet. We can lift the standard of living of everyone on the planet and be far more efficient in our use and reuse of materials without any overt effort on the part of the general public.

Oddly enough, a lot of people fight such a concept. The city of Sacramento has been struggling with a no-lose proposition to recycle all the city's waste, with the companies now being paid to haul their garbage over the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Nevada not happy at all. This is just one small example; there are many others. The sad fact is that the status quo isn't just comprised of greedy corporations like oil companies and electric utilities. It's also made up of organizations of environmentalists who are loathe to question their assumptions and long-standing doctrinaire stances and who instead stand in the way of real progress in the struggle against global warming, resource wars, etc. Ironically, many people who consider themselves environmentalists are unwittingly in league with coal companies and others they abhor.

When we're looking to shift the paradigm, we all have to question our beliefs.

]]>