Mark Twain once said, “When you find yourself in agreement with the majority it is time to stop and reflect.” Wise words that could be applied to so many situations. Right now, however, even if we take the time to stop and reflect it is difficult to stop the momentum of the herd that seems oblivious to the fact that it is charging headlong towards an abyss.
As a species, we find ourselves in a state of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is when you hold two contrary views at the same time. Ours is a half-hearted desire to be green, verses the consumerist ways of capitalism where the bottom line is always the most important driver. We live in a world of finite resources and yet we are doing nothing to kerb our destructive leeching of the planet's dwindling supplies. We talk about being ‘green’ we may even go the extra mile and put our rubbish in the right recycling bin but there is very little effort to stop creating that rubbish in the first place.
Please tell me why does a single head of broccoli have to be sold in a polystyrene tray wrapped in cellophane? The examples of this obvious needless rubbish generation, could go on for even.
So a growing number of us talk-the-talk about being green but what are we really doing about it? The answer to that question is, as a global average, pretty much nothing. Though we want the greener way, we also want our STUFF and convenience. Our lives sadly revolve around getting money to buy ‘stuff’ because it shiny and new or because we think it going to make something else easier. Modern humans need a lot of stuff, in fact, our ‘stuff ‘is what really defines us as a species. If being ‘green’ means we cannot have our ‘stuff ‘ then we will work a little bit harder at the recycling to try to tick the green box in our lives. Saving the planet is somebody else's responsibility.
Are you capable of leaving the herd, can you give up your 'stuff'.