WHAT IS GREEN?

Green is a new catchall adjective that we use to describe our society's evolution toward harmony with our environment. It has also been used in the context of efficient use of resources and indoor and outdoor environmental quality.

Given how much the term "green" has been used and misused, these three aspects of green - environmental harmony, environmental efficiency and environmental quality - deserve further explanation.

ENVIRONMENTAL HARMONY

This may be best described as developing a symbiotic relationship with our bioregion and our planet. In most cases the basic resource utilization systems we have developed are not sustainable.

This literally means that if we continue to use the earth's resources in the manner in which we currently do, those resources will be depleted, and the planet will be polluted beyond the point of her being able to sustain our species, and many other species for that matter.

Environmental harmony entails a commitment to scientifically studying the natural systems of each watershed and bioregion, determining a maximum human population a given bioregion can support, and then redesigning our systems to complement those of nature.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFICIENCY

When we our resource utilization is in harmony with natural processes, we are relying upon the earth to provide us with abundance. The price of this abundance the responsibility of using these resources as efficiently as possible.

This means that we must use energy, water and food with minimal waste, and the byproducts of these supply processes must be integrated into our life sustaining system.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Built into almost every green endeavor is an implicit attempt to enhance environmental quality, and consequently life quality. In other words, one of the key components of being green is being happy!

Our consumer economy by its very nature forces us to remain on a hamster wheel of buying things we don't need, transfering wealth into the hands of a few. As a result we find ourselves working harder and harder just to survive, and the quality of our life is steadily diminishing. This is an unbelieveably senseless and inefficient dead end that thankfully is slowly being eclipsed by a much saner green alternative.

This is truly the heart and soul of the green movement - moving from a consumer culture addicted to excess quantity to to a healthy pursuit of day to day life quality, with and end goal of happiness.