07/09/09
Green fatigue? It’s about time.
As published in the Maine Switch, July, 2009
By Heather Chandler
I struggled a bit to write my column this week. Immersed in aspects of sustainability education for the past four years, I feel like I’ve written about green everything – green clothing, green travel, green home improvements, green food, green education – the list goes on. Does anyone really want to read about “green” anymore?
Reflecting on this, I realized it was not the green lifestyle that I’ve tired of. Not at all. In fact, like many of you, sustainable living practices have so permeated my life that I barely consider them as such anymore. They are just the way we live. And it’s a good life.
So, what’s this fatigue all about? The over-use of “green” as an adjective is a big part of it. While the word “green” has helped many businesses and marketers quickly convey the environmental considerations of their topic or products, it has also been used to the point that it may be beginning to lose its effectiveness.
Marketers have long struggled to find simple terminology that gets people’s attention while at the same time conveying sometimes complex messages. Earlier buzz word “sustainable” was replaced in many cases by easier-to-understand “green.” And I’m told the new word is “less,” (as in “less is the new more”). I like to think sustainable living has more to do with “enough” (as in knowing what is) and “well” (as in living healthier and more mindfully).
It seems to me, the green lifestyle is about creating a full life – healthy, joyful and sustaining. Not following me? Think about the deep feeling of nurture and satisfaction that comes from making a meal with herbs or veggies just picked from your garden, or the experience of hanging laundry on the line and then enjoying the fresh, crisp scent on your sheets. How about the smile that creeps onto your face when you ride your bike to the store and instead of passing neighbors protected in the steel casement of your car, you stop to say hello.
I know what you’re thinking. If only I had the time. I could cook, hang clothes out to dry, walk to the store, mend things instead of buying new ones. I’m with you. Perhaps what we need is not more things or money, but more time. Maybe the new word shouldn’t be about green, or consumption at all, but rather about time.
As we begin our summer in Maine, I wish you time to experience and appreciate what we’re here to protect.
Reflecting on this, I realized it was not the green lifestyle that I’ve tired of. Not at all. In fact, like many of you, sustainable living practices have so permeated my life that I barely consider them as such anymore. They are just the way we live. And it’s a good life.
So, what’s this fatigue all about? The over-use of “green” as an adjective is a big part of it. While the word “green” has helped many businesses and marketers quickly convey the environmental considerations of their topic or products, it has also been used to the point that it may be beginning to lose its effectiveness.
Marketers have long struggled to find simple terminology that gets people’s attention while at the same time conveying sometimes complex messages. Earlier buzz word “sustainable” was replaced in many cases by easier-to-understand “green.” And I’m told the new word is “less,” (as in “less is the new more”). I like to think sustainable living has more to do with “enough” (as in knowing what is) and “well” (as in living healthier and more mindfully).
It seems to me, the green lifestyle is about creating a full life – healthy, joyful and sustaining. Not following me? Think about the deep feeling of nurture and satisfaction that comes from making a meal with herbs or veggies just picked from your garden, or the experience of hanging laundry on the line and then enjoying the fresh, crisp scent on your sheets. How about the smile that creeps onto your face when you ride your bike to the store and instead of passing neighbors protected in the steel casement of your car, you stop to say hello.
I know what you’re thinking. If only I had the time. I could cook, hang clothes out to dry, walk to the store, mend things instead of buying new ones. I’m with you. Perhaps what we need is not more things or money, but more time. Maybe the new word shouldn’t be about green, or consumption at all, but rather about time.
As we begin our summer in Maine, I wish you time to experience and appreciate what we’re here to protect.