Why would a person want to “go green”?
That is a question that every person must answer for themselves and themselves alone.
Why I have decided to explore the nuances of a greener life, may or may not have any relevance to why you may want to.
You may find yourself in a number of different places on the spectrum of the green conversation, and maybe even sliding up and down the scale until you find where you really want to be, and that’s ok.
In this post, I’d like to explore some perspectives that exist from the natural, to the meta-physical, and to the religious.
The natural:
This is a train of thought is shared in various versions by the earliest of Greek philosophers in which one believes that the physical world is all that exists and is, in itself, eternal. Pantheists share a similar belief in that they see the universe itself as Deity. From this perspective it is quite obvious as to why one might value the preservation of our environment, the utilization of renewable energy, and living a greener life.
The religious:
As you well know, you could manage an entire blog just centered around this one perspective, but we are obviously not doing that now are we? Evangelical Christians often adhere to a belief called “premillenial dispensationalism”, which basically says that Jesus will come back to this physical earth at the end of time and reign for 1,000 years. After that, a great battle between “good” and “evil” will take place, with evil being once and for all destroyed, and with it, the earth we now call home. Many people who adhere to this belief often times write material things off as of no value, citing, “one day it’s all gonna burn anyway”. From this point of view, obviously, care for our environment is not really an issue now is it?
The metaphysical:
What if the world as we know it really doesn’t exist at all? What if it’s a dreamworld similar to that of The Matrix movies? The Greek philosopher Plato roughly held this world view and would have resonated heavily with the aforementioned movie trilogy. This idea is that the physical world we perceive is actually a shadow of but what really exists, not that it is not real, but just not fully real. This train of thought follows a trajectory into an area that makes most people’s heads spin into oblivion, so we shall not delve further into it. However, it is obvious that such a perspective could also lead to the absence of value attributed to going green.
Are you still with me?
If so, I’m glad. That was some kind of heavy stuff. I promise, only one of these types of posts every once in a while, ok?
You may or may not be interested in going green for any of the above reasons, and again, that’s great.
- Maybe you just love nature and want your children’s children to be able to enjoy it as well.
- Maybe you want to save some money and realize that going green is a good way to get tax breaks and save some money on the back end, which is also a viable reason.
- Maybe you have a philosophical or religious reason that was not touched on in the grossly over-simplified list above.
In any case, I applaud you for exploring your convictions. But remember, whatever your reason is, as with anything, it must be strong enough to promote action, lest it simply remain another good idea that fell by the wayside.
So ask yourself what some reasons you’re interested in living a greener life are, and feel free to share them here. I know I’d love to see them.
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.
