The Green Think Lifestyle

DISCOVERING the NEW WEALTH of Green Thinking and Green Living

 

Sustainable Living is in large part about developing new ways of thinking that foster a Green Lifestyle. A Green Lifestyle offers new forms of wealth that can be enjoyed today and passed forwards to future generations. Green Think is, ultimately, Future Think.

 

courtesy rob schouten

 

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. When we learn to ‘think green’ we find a calming satisfaction from being mindful of our thoughts, our choices, and our impacts.

 

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:

 

Here are some initial Green Think questions to consider:

 

    Where does our food come from? How many miles does it travel and who grows it? Can we begin to grow some of our own food? And can we find ways to support small local or regional family farms to help our health, the economy, and the environment?

 

How much energy does our home consume and where does hat energy come from? Can we reduce our energy consumption? Can we become energy producers?

 

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 and transportation costs (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 re-thinking our 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 – locally and globally – are a direct result of  values i.e. choices that our society has been making for many generations. Choices that are clearly not working. 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.

click on images below to view each section

 

courtesy rob schouten

 

GREEN VALUES – Less really IS more

 

 courtesy rob schouten

 

GREEN CHOICES – New Wealth in Action

 

Green glossary

 

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