Environ|Mental: Keep Talking About the Environment
By Wesley Joseph • Jun 28th, 2008 • Category: Products and Shopping, Recent Posts, Recycling, Resource Waste Reduction, Workplace
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I come across it everyday: people who have, for whatever reason, not jumped on the sustainability boat. They’re going down with the (rapidly sinking) over-consumption, worry-not-about-waste boat. Maybe they have not been reading it in the newspapers and magazines as the movement has re-cemented itself like it has not done since “recycling” became a mainstream concept.
But I see people all of the time who don’t turn off lights when they are not in use (sure, we all forget, but I’m talking about those who always seem to leave them on), don’t recycle when there is a recycling bin right next to the trashcan, and who generally do not take an interest in improving their envirohuman impact.
Now it would be hypocritical of me to be too scornful of these folks. After all, myself and many others who now consider themselves to be quite eco-conscious, were not so caring just a few short years ago. Many were, but all too many of us are newcomers to this wave of change. And all for the better! But, it’s up to us to teach these simple concepts to those around us, so that they may go and do the same.
No, you don’t have to go door-to-door to spread this change. Subtly talking about more ecologically sound practices, such as reducing waste, recycling, and using more eco-friendly products is often enough to spurn the thoughts in others. You can exert healthy peer pressure to do what is right.
This is true of parenting, but also of your peers at work. No, don’t put your career at risk by telling your CEO that you saw him discard his water bottle in the trashcan. But you could suggest that it would be best for your company to green both its actions and its image to the public by adopting some practices that improve its envirohuman impact. Recycling bins. Compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs. Joining a recycling program. Powering down equipment, like computers, over the weekend. All of this can green a company and even save some money, too!
You can be an influence to those around you to help sustain the momentum of the movement and insure that it continues to infiltrate industry and consumer alike for a more sustainable future.
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Wesley Joseph is the primary editor for EHI. He comes from a strong political science background and is interested in the effect humans' actions have on the environment, how in turn the environment affects humans, and how environmental policy at large and personal actions can both change into positive envirohuman impacts.
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