Ask “Why” Before the “How”

Okay so, I’m drinking the “Go-Green” cool-aid. And I’m not ashamed to admit that. After all, it is the “cool” thing to do – green is everywhere these days — in the news, politics, fashion, and even technology. You can hardly escape it. But with a million messages and ideas coming at us from all sides, it is easy to get caught up in the mundane activities of going green – switching to organic foods, layering up instead of increasing the thermostat, recycling blindly — without thinking about the big picture of how your actions stack up. In this post I hope to provide some insight on Why To Live a Sustainable Lifestyle?, instead of How?

In our rat race for making money, living the lifestyle, travelling the world, and following our dreams, we often forget about how much we extract from our planet. Our generation is the most aware of the effects of global warming. Yet, we are also the generation most accustomed to living a disposable lifestyle. Most of us have lost, become unaware or simply choose to be oblivious of our direct connection to the Earth and its significance in our day-to-day survival.

Some of the broader reasons that inspired me, personally, to try and live an environmentally-friendly lifestyle are:

• Globalization – As  the world becomes smaller, it has become increasingly easy to see how the lives of people (as well as plants, animals and ecosystems) everywhere are closely entangled with one another. Toys made in China affect the safety of children in Europe and North America. Pesticides used in Mexico can affect our health here, and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia has an effect on the rainforest in Brazil.
• Power to Control – As an individual you have the power to control most of your choices and, therefore, the impact you create. You make a broad range of life choices from where you live to what you buy, eat, and use to light your home, to how you shop and vacation – Every single thing we do every day has a global impact.
• Healthier Lifestyle & Live Longer – Organic food is better for your health as it doesn’t contain artificial additives, pesticide residues and often has higher levels of nutrients. Need I talk about the benefits of riding a bike or walking? Using “green” products for cleaning, etc. also reduces your intake of harsh chemicals.
• Financially appealing – Buy locally grown produce, reduce your reliance on car or public transportation, follow simple energy saving practices like switching to energy efficient light bulbs, buy used goods instead of heading to the mall, make do with less and save hundreds of dollars on a monthly basis. Again you are in total control!
• Save the Furry animals – our future generations deserve to see polar bears, sea turtles, the North Atlantic giant whale, the giant pandas, orangutans, tigers and elephants in flesh instead of pictures in science textbooks.

While it’s easy to get overwhelmed, it’s also simple to begin making a positive impact for yourself, our future generations and the planet. Quite simply, a sustainable lifestyle is a “win win win” situation. So why wouldn’t anyone want to green?