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Feel-Good Reasons to Go Green
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Posted by Savneet Singh on Dec.13, 2009
©iStockphoto.com - LilliDay
More and people are going green in their lives as well as in their business. Rising energy prices are certainly one reason. Sustainably built houses and business mean lower costs and many other benefits. Health is another major reason. Our health and well being is strongly affected by the environment we live in. Plus, going green gives a personal feeling of doing good, adopting green principles and practices in our work and personal life. Certainly, taking on the responsibility to help improve the places where you live and work goes toward curing any eco-anxiety.
Help your Kids
Many people change a behavior like smoking because their kids want them to. This can be a good reason to green your workplace. Most kids intuitively understand that we need to take care of the planet and everything on it. Many learn about protecting the environment in school, and others just somehow know that we need to take care of the earth. Our kids will be living in whatever we leave. Society generally focuses on the here and now. If we consider our family and descendants many generations into the future, we may make different decisions about our environment and daily choices. The more we can solve our environmental problems, the better shape we will leave the planet in for our children and their children.
It is all about the legacy. So do it for your legacy. When you are involved in green initiatives in an organization, you have something to show for it. The early green adopters will be considered pioneers, long remembered in their industries.
Love and Happiness
Health and environmental improvements are themselves a nurturing act of kindness to yourself, others and the planet. For the same reason people do volunteer work. Thus, going green can make you happy. Having hand in greening an organization has the power to make you feel good. Do it to release your creativity. Going green is also about an opportunity to be creative. It is the chance to make the workplace exciting and new by reinventing and rethinking how everything is done. It gives us the power to say why we are doing things and the ability to make things better. It can give the same old business new life and new meaning for everyone involved in the organization.
Green is the Right Thing to Do
Business is part of the problem, and needs to be part of the solution. Some business people already find it immoral to ignore the consequence of their actions with respect to the environment. Avoiding the green issue is a shame and disgrace in the eyes of many consumers.
People do get motivated to go green based on a moral rather than business decision, from altruistic reasons rather than a profit motive. There is nothing wrong with enlightened self-interest. It is what has brought us the many modern conveniences that we enjoy today. The attitude that there is gold in green may just get us through the overwhelming environmental challenge we are facing. You need to find reasons that motivate you to go green personally and that resonate with those working around you. The business world is shifting. A new golden age of green business is coming, and no one should miss it.
Check out Green Diva Mom’s Greenwashing Guide to make sure your efforts to go green are really helpful, and not just a feel-good greenwash.
Posted under Eco-Friendly Ideas, Living.
Article By: Savneet Singh
Profile: Savneet Singh has been a writer and editor on the environment, science, education, and human and spirituality since 2003 for various books for children. Savneet holds a Masters degree in Environment and a Masters in Education and currently located in Santa Ana (near LA),California. Savneet enjoys reading and writing about the environment and life related things. Savneet has a strong inclination for spirituality and practices meditation & yoga everyday.
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December 13th, 2009 on 10:13 am
Great article! When my son and daughter were in elementary school they began teaching the kids about recycling and pollution. Their generation seems to be more concerned about the environment because they started thinking about it while still very young.
December 14th, 2009 on 9:58 pm
I agree with all of this; especially the idea that we need to tie profits to the larger picture. Being green is not going to take hold as a “feel good” opportunity. There are already thousands of companies in the U.S. who understand that going green or serving green has the potential for huge returns. Many of these companies are listed on the website http://www.greencollareconomy.com. They also have a slew of case studies that further illustrate how sustainable businesses practices are becoming an economic imperative. I encourage readers to learn more by visiting the site.