Comments on: Global War by Dawn Maxey

By: Dawn Maxey

Dawn Maxey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:43:05 +0000

Kristin- The point of the poem is that if people get caught up in the glory of consumerism, there’s a potential to fall out of it. The emphasis should be on keeping sustainability sustainable. There’s nothing wrong with “hip” products in the short term, but long term-wise, it may be better to teach people about the reasons we should be sustainable and thus create informed citizens.

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:13:12 +0000

I’m with you, Kristin — this isn’t really a time or issue for self-righteousness. It doesn’t serve people who care about the environment (or the environment itself) to judge why people do what they do. Once the benefits of our ‘hipness’ become apparent, responsibility for its own sake will follow. This is one of the main problems many people I know seem to have with the environmental movement in the first place. And that hurts us all.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:59:39 +0000

This poem by Dawn Maxey, and people like her, really drive me crazy. “I want to pour environmentally safe salt in their eyes.”???? Are you serious! So being green is chic right now. Is that really a bad thing? The way I see it, the more attention being paid to choosing responsible products, the better. Why discourage people for making the switch to organic. I agree, American’s are consumer crazy, and there should be an emphasis on reducing our consumption. But most people simply will NOT go without some of the creature comforts we have come to rely on, and if they decide to purchase ”ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE dishwashing soap” or “Tony the tiger’s non hydrogenated hypoallergenic free trade grain flakes” isn’t that better than doing nothing?

By: E.R. Dunhill

E.R. Dunhill — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:17:04 +0000

Starre,
I agree that the environment=balance sheet analogy is appealing to a small and unhip cohort. Alas, I happen to be tragically unhip, concerning myself with spreadsheets, and records, and so forth, so I don’t mind using it. Interestingly, I’ve found that this environment/finance device has been somewhat effective in talking with fiscal and political conservatives about environmental issues.
More broadly, I think environmentalists need to focus on parlaying the idea of sustainability into terms understandable to as many groups as possible.

By: Starre

Starre — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:08:18 +0000

Thankfully I’m MUCH more conscious about my carbon footprint than my finances, which are a MESS! But your comment is well-taken E.R.- both are responsibilities….unfortunately, Americans are terrible money-managers, so I don’t know if that’s an argument that will sway many people.

By: E.R. Dunhill

E.R. Dunhill — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:30:23 +0000

I think green=hip has been a good way to get people thinking about the issue, but we need to start illustrating the point that the environment is a basic responsibility. I tend to think of managing my environmental footprint as similar to managing my finances: both have inputs, both have outputs, and I would be really embarassed if either of them were a mess.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 04:48:19 +0000

All very true. We just need to lead by example and be humble about it I suppose. :)