The husband and I had a conversation last week about the environment, changes that need to be made, and the uncertainty of the future for all living creatures on this planet. He'd mentioned that we need to demand that the government does what's right.
While I agree that we should demand from our leaders that which will benefit us all and not just a handful of the wealthy and powerful, I also think that, as with health care, we must exercise control over ourselves.
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
No one is forcing us to leave lights on, or to leave computers on, or to run water while washing dishes or brushing teeth, or to use a dryer, or to eat irresponsibly raised food, or to eat food products, or not buy locally, or not buy organic, or to drive large vehicles, or to drive at all, or to run the AC to arctic temperatures, or to run the heat rather than don a sweater, or to feed wants rather than needs, or to not switch to solar power, or to not reuse, reduce, and recycle, or to not build our homes eco-friendly, or.... (and on and on and on).
"They" are not forcing these products and habits and addictions on us. When we stop buying what they are pushing, we send a message loud and clear, to our government, to big business, and to the world. Perhaps when we demand that our government make regulations to protect us, or ask that big business starts thinking not just in terms of short-term profits but long-term sustainability, we must already be diligently working on quitting those habits which got us into this mess in the first place.
