Being "Green" Makes Me Sick!

I am not a fan of Al Gore and I do work in a company that makes sustainable cores for surfboards. Surfing, in general, is a natural pursuit that is about as pure an any.

What makes me sick about being "green" is all the talk and judgement that goes along with it. Al Gore came forward with a great movie, then wins an Academy Award for it, then has some influence to make the awards program "green". That is ALL good. Nowhere is anyone claiming that they are 100% green, 100% perfect. We are not 100% green in our company, a company that is dedicated to being green.

Ok, so Al uses more energy in his home that the national average. So what if he uses a private jet for travel. If that was his base line and he has made some improvement, it is a step in the right direction. By the way, carbon offset programs are valuable and simply not a guilt tax. It is a way to give back a little for the fact that you do use a private jet. (or an SUV for that matter)

The talking heads on both radio and TV are out of control. I saw Sean Hannity complaining "don't talk to me about my SUV if your still riding around in a private jet Al". That sounds like school kid talk where your parents would run in and say, "Now Sean two wrongs don't make a right". It's ridiculous!

I accept fully and completely believe that any small step in the right direction is still a positive step. If I drive an SUV that gets 10 miles to the gallon but can make it to work two days a week on public transportation instead of that SUV - guess what? - I still have an SUV that gets 10 miles a gallon and I have taken my first step to being more green.

Why can't these little changes be celebrated instead of everyone saying they are not enough. Imagine if everyone did one little thing, one little step in the green direction, collectively the benefits are huge. It's guys like Hannity that use his type of rhetoric that stall the whole process. Unfortunately guys like him have an audience and unfortunately too much of his audience is on the Hannity cool aid.

Please don't be afraid to take that first step no matter how small it is. You'll find it is easy and causes no hardship. Once you take one step, it will be easy to take the next. Collectively we can all, step by step, walk into a new way of doing things that will help preserve this planet and it's people for our children and generations to come.