Be careful what you wish for…
As a businessperson, I’ve always cringed when I’ve heard environmentalists cry to their faithful to “consume less.” Of course that’s the right thing to do, but the whole focus of our economic security in our global culture is based on consuming more. Growth, production, and consumer confidence are false gods, but they are our current gods. Without them our economy is rudderless and, frankly, depressed. Like it is right now.
Environmentalists should be running around cheering because accidentally, inadvertently, their wishes for slowing consumption have come true. It’s a good thing for the planet. But no one seems to be celebrating. In fact, I’d wager that most environmentalists are currently trying to avoid looking at their 401Ks, and hoping they still have jobs…maybe even hoping they can stay in their mortgaged ecohomes.
How do we put the eco back in economics? Can we come out of the other side of this financial fiasco with a fundamentally transformed economy that creates economic health and wealth, and saves the environment as well? What would that look like? If we are going to make that much change, now is the perfect time. But we also have to figure out what we want to change things to.
I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m curious to know what you think.Send me your thoughts and ideas, and next post, I’ll share my top 5 ways to put the eco back in economics.
To be continued…
“Conservation is not the opposite of consumption…we can consume more and conserve more at the same time.”
Glenn Prickett, Conservation International
I love this quote and believe in it so much….what if we learn to produce products, goods and services that become an environmental asset, not a liability?