Greening the Trenches
by
Carolyn Parrs

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi

“Now!”
-- Carolyn Parrs

After an hour and thirty two minutes of what felt like doom and gloom, the movie screen faded to black. I was frozen solid. Unlike the Greenland ice sheet that is melting twice as fast than just five years ago. Global warming. So what do I do now? What do WE all do? Everyone sitting in this theatre? Everyone everywhere? The time between fade-to-black and the fade-up of Al Gore’s simple and singular messages of hope seemed endless. But thankfully they arrived. And, for me, the most important part of his film, “Inconvenient Truth,” began, thirty seconds from the end. The first message read:

Are you ready to change the way you live?

For me, it doesn’t get any more basic then this. Am I willing to change? To do my part -- however insignificant it seems? Just seconds before the next message scrolled across the screen, this is what scrolled across the movie in my mind:

But I am already committed to green living. After all, I bought a relatively “green” house. I eat organic. The skin cream I slather on each day doesn’t contain parabens or any artificial ingredients. And haven’t I recently taken up the habit of picking up at least five pieces of garbage a day in parking lots and Santa Fe streets? Even my kids love this “I Spy” game. (My husband however is suspicous of the Colt 45 bottles in the trunk of my car).

Before I could squeeze in another thought, the next message slid by:

Here’s what you can do.

What followed was a montage of messages like,
“Tell your parents not to ruin the world you will live in.”  I have to admit, this one still chokes me up. So? What now? What can I really do to slow down the carbon dioxide emissions that are thinning our atmosphere?

And what about the current threat to water down the certification criteria for organics so more big businesses can get into the action?

And whatever happened to the electric car?

According to the Roper Green Gauge study, more than 50% of Americans want to do something, and would do it if they only knew what and how.

This is where we can all get immobilized. Or… Thoroughly charged.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead

Rarely does anything change from the top down. It all happens in the trenches. And that’s you and me and a million other Americans speaking out and making it happen in our own, unique way. What is needed is not just big solutions but many people doing small things that add up to big things. When enough people reach a critical mass of consciousness and don’t leave it for the next guy to do it, then real change happens. It always does.

“If enough minds are changed, we cross a threshold,” Al proclaims in “Inconvenient Truth”. “We have everything we need -- but political will. But that’s a renewable resource.”

From your mouth to God’s ears, Al. After all, this whole green thing isn’t about right verse left. It’s about right versus wrong.

So here is what I have committed to do.

America the Green
Being a communicator, marketer and life/business coach, I have created a forum with a couple of fabulously committed partners-in-green, Irv Weinberg and John Biethan, that is meant to wake up and inspire people across our beautiful country to green up their lives. The forum is in the form of podcasts at AmericaTheGreen.com. Each week we speak up and out with green business leaders, forward thinkers and people like you from sea to shining sea. Here you can find out how others are greening up their businesses, homes and hearts, being the change they want to see in the world. But that’s just me.

Here’s what Beth Walker is doing in Centennial, Colorado…
The Green Team
Every week, she and an inspired group of citizens have committed to getting together to advance the greening of their community through environmental awareness and stewardship. How it works is each person in their Green Team heads up a project in one of five resources areas: water, energy, solid waste, chemicals and transportation. The Green Team then meets regularly on what’s is being done and not done in their community. Then they make it happen. It is said that graduates in their programs save between 10%-30% in each area – as well as a fair amount of money. And best part is Green Team is a nationwide educational movement. To form one in your community or neighborhood, check out GreenTeamProject.org.

For Rudolf and Amrita Reitz in Santa Fe, their greening goes back over 20 years with…
BioShield Healthy Living Paints
Being a true pioneer, Rudolf has been greening homes, buildings and businesses across the country for a long, long time with non-toxic paints, floor finishes and cleaning products. Here’s a couple that turned their passion for people and the planet into profits and in turn became an industry leader in healthy home improvement. Don’t you just love it! Check out www.bioshieldpaints.com.

Now What About You?
What are you willing to commit to right now that will have a permanent, positive impact on our environment? What is the one thing that you know for sure you are really good at? Now, how can you morph that skill and creatively use it to have a lasting impact on the environment in your home, your community, your world? And be fun too? What are you willing to do to advance that idea today? Will you commit to emailing me your action step?

If you’re stuck for ideas, visit my website at AmericaTheGreen.com or www.ClimateCrisis.com. But I have a sneaking feeling you know in your gut what you can uniquely do right now that you would really shine at. Trust that. And tell me about it so I tell the world. Big or small. Soft or steely. Extravagant or extra simple. No action is insignificant. We are but one species of an incredibly complex interrelationship of flora and fauna. We belong to the Earth. The Earth does not belong to us. It’s not hopeless and it’s not a foregone conclusion that’s its all over and too late. Just do your little acts of environmentalism and spread the word. As Mother Theresa once said,“There are no great things. Only small things with great Love.”

With that, I am happy to report that Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed all his Hummers into storage. See, anything is possible.