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Environmentalists Anonymous
Posted by: Doug Stewart
My name is Doug and sometimes I get sad for nature.
Sorry for sharing this with you but I recently attended an Environmentalists' Anonymous meeting for an intervention and I’m still feeling the effects.
The invite said something else, (Borderlanders conversation café) and was billed as, an exploration of Nature and Jungian analysis over Ethiopian food, enjoyed by a mix of Natural Psychology intelligencia and Renaissance Greens. (I should send a review to the Guardian.)
It turned out to be more like group therapy than conversation and a bit more ‘sharing’ than I usually find comfortable or even palatable. But it was great. Really interesting and inspiring and reminded me why I do what I do.
I’ve used ‘hippy’ as a dirty word. I spend my time espousing the joys of sustainability through common sense, science and style, making sure I avoid mention of Gaia, let alone anything more ephemeral about ‘mans’ connection to nature’.
But the truth of the matter is. ‘I think nature’s brilliant!’ I love its awe inspiring scale and its minute attention to detail. I love its diversity and variety. I love its fecundity and its harsh aridity. I love the story it tells. But most of all I enjoy just sitting in it. It is uplifting and calming and a great leveller of ego. Where better to gain perspective?
At Futerra I see the word ‘green’ almost as often as ‘eco’, and probably more than ‘sustainability’. In fact I see it so often that it has a new meaning. Its various hues now brand an attitude or ethics set. They are the trade mark of caring. I see it so often I am in danger of forgetting why it was chosen.
I was recently lucky enough to witness the power punch Ms Townsend delivers to a live audience. She explained Greenwash in full cinegraphic Technicolor but also indulged in a bit of audience participation.
She asked us to close our eyes and think of a calm place. A peaceful place that made us feel happy. She asked us to picture that place, its colour, its smells. She asked us to look at the details.
Keeping our eyes shut she asked us to raise our hands if our place involved nature.
When we opened our eyes the vast majority of people had hands in the air.
This she said, demonstrated the elements of the human psyche that could be manipulated,( in a similar way the advertising industry have long been using sex, another primeval motivator) to tap in to some of our deepest desires. Hence the temptation to Greenwash.
But it wasn’t until my intervention that I really understood the flipside to Greenwash. Why I do what I do with Futerra. Nature is brilliant and its biggest threat are people. If we can live sustainably, some of that threat can be reduced. So whether it is through swishing sexy seconds or equally elegant eco-efficiency efforts the goal is the same. It is more than just sustaining our current quality of life and enabling future generation to do the same. It is to tread lightly and learn natures’ laws so that I might rejoice in its beauty not morn its former glory.
So now when I see ‘green’ written on everything from stationary catalogues to life style magazines I will think of life and the environment needed to sustain it and I will remember that, regardless of the motivation, the reality is that people can be influenced by their love of nature. Which is good to know when you’re trying to save a planet!
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I couldn't agree more! Hippy is a dirty word only in the literal sense...(I should know, I am occasionally proud to be a dirty hippy); )
I'm a happy hippy too. But dancing in the crowd at bedroombar on a Saturday night, people wouldn't buy it. They have this certain image which doesn't fit with what they see. Which is great, because I like to confuse people;) Confusion often starts a conversation.