Today the newest issue of Country Smallholding magazine came through the letterbox. I was flipping through it when I came across an article by James Strawbridge from It's Not Easy Being Green and saw a sentence that went something like "trying to live as naturally as possible". This reminded me of the latest series of It's Not Easy Being Green when he was trialing hydroponics to try and grow "strawberries in December". This has got me thinking about what it means to be "green".
Firstly, I'll tell you the problems with the Strawbridges' particular brand of green-ness.
- separating people into "light greenies" and "dark greenies"
- trying to get people to go green by making them take a guilt-trip
- strawberries in December?!?!
- green-ness at any cost
In one episode of the most recent series of their programme, they were "helping" some poor bloke who was trying to create an eco holiday home, and rather snootily said that the wanted him to go much more "dark green" than he actually had. They were suggesting this bloke by organic cotton sheets, organic this and organic that...do these people know how much these things cost?! Are they actually aware that there's a recession going on?! The way I see it the "green-ness at any cost" attitude is counter-productive; part of living a greener life is living a more peaceful life, and this poor dude isn't going to get any peace if he has to stay up all night worrying how he's going to pay for his "green" organic cotton bedsheets!
The strawberries in December thing just makes me laugh - I'd much rather follow Hugh F-W's example and eat seasonally. Frankly I don't want to eat strawberries in December anyway - whatever the quality, they are just too cool and crisp for wintertime. Give me hearty stews and braised lamb shanks any wintry day.
The pigeon-holing of dark and light greenies and guilt-tripping thing really gets up my nose. Ever since I read The Transition Handbook, my whole eco philosophy has changed. Alienating people in this way doesn't change anything. They feel bad for a while, but carry on as normal, and eventually will probably ditch the eco-preaching person becuase they've become so boring. People don't like to be patronised, preached to and made to feel like they're the sole root of the world's problems. The Transition approach seems much better to me - the idea is that you INVOLVE all different sorts of people, including local councils, businesses etc., and that you make a green future look so APPEALING that people will work for it without being made to feel guilty. The whole idea is more positive and inclusive, and isn't that what we want from a green society? A low-carbon, inclusive, peaceful society. This is unattainable if you stomp around frightening people into using low-energy lightbulbs like some Green Gestapo.
I have seen the effects of a positive attitude myself; my Dad and I have been campaigning for a new allotment site in our area, and the council have been really supportive and willing to give it a go, which is wonderful. This wouldn't have happened if we'd excluded them and made them out to be the bad guy - by giving people the chance to be included in your green schemes, you may be surprised by the support you get from unexpected and welcome places.
Since discovering permaculture, every other green movement has seemed ridiculously ill-thought out to me. Other people may see it differently, but to me permaculture principles just make sense. And part of permaculture is Poeple Care - i.e. looking after people, as well as the planet. Although I rather envy the Strawbridges and their eco-lifestyle, their attitude makes me grimace. It's this behind-the-times preaching guilt-trippy attitude that makes people roll their eyes whenever someone mentions green issues. In their eagerness to get more people going green, they may just be putting people off such changes. Giving green issues a positive spin is the only way we're going to get anywhere. Just look at the Obamas and their new veg patch! Loads of greenies have been saying "well, that's not enough, they should be doing this, that and the other as well". Come on people! The Obamas are making growing your own seriously cool, and that's way more likely to get people growing and greening than Dick Strawbridge giving them a lecture!
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