DISCOVERING the NEW WEALTH of Green Living

Sustainable Living is in large part about developing a Green Lifestyle. And a Green Lifestyle offers a new form of wealth that can be both enjoyed today and passed forwards to future generations.

A Green Lifestyle isn’t a product to buy, nor is it a single practice to adopt. This is about a rewarding change in our daily behavior that is the result of an intentional shift in our values and responsibilities. Feel free to borrow these ideas, please!

IT’S  ALL CONNECTED   When we  begin taking personal responsibility for our individual impact on our local environment, we start thinking in new ways that see the underlying inter-connection between each of our choices, actions and results:   

    What is the full impact of what we consume versus what we produce ( which means factoring-in the resources consumed during the full life cycle of a product, manufacturing>use>disposal)?

    What waste do we throw away (and just where is this ‘away’?) versus what we recycle - or choose not to consume in the first place ? ( we often forget, but there really is a difference between needs and wants, and between short term material versus long term enriching satisfactions)

    How do we best invest our time (commuting long distances to work /shop - or - taking walks and gardening with friends and family)?

Note: These are all lifestyle choices we are already making, even if we haven’t noticed it yet, or don’t really even like the outcomes of our choices. Which choices lead to a higher quality of life?

Ultimately, Green Living is about values. Our values lead us to make choices. The choices we make then directly bring the world into being around us. The economic, social, and environmental problems we face today are a direct result of  values i.e. choices that our society has been making for many generations. Likewise, the solutions to these problems will be based on NEW VALUES  and NEW CHOICES - smart choices  that improve our quality of  life today and for future generations to come.

“We need to cut back on the burning of coal and oil and start using renewable energy. We need to stop deforestation and plant billions of trees. We have to become more efficient and stop wasting so much energy. We need to stop factory farming and start using sustainable agriculture.” Al Gore

 The following Green Living Resources are available for all ages to provide real examples of actions we can take to accelerate positive change in our homes, gardens, workplaces, schools and communities.

GREEN VALUES - Less really IS more

 

GREEN CHOICES - New Wealth in Action

GREEN GLOSSARY - DIY!