* THE GREEN GENERATION: It's Easy Being Green!

sesame street – its not easy being green

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” by Kermit The Frog
(written by Joe Raposo for the first season of Sesame Street 1969-1970)

It’s not that easy being green
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that

It’s not easy being green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over ’cause you’re
Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky

But green’s the color of Spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like an ocean, or important
Like a mountain, or tall like a tree

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder
Why wonder, I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful
And I think it’s what I want to be

-

THE GREEN GENERATION: It’s Easy Being Green!
by Aireen Joven

http://thehotpotato.org

15 May 2008

IN FASHION AND CULTURE, green is the new black. There are so many reasons to buy and wear organic clothing. One you may not have heard is that organic cotton feels softer than non-organic cotton. New textile entrepreneurs and designers are now exclusively using organic cotton, hemp, linen (made from flax), and recycled fibers in a fusion of their business’ green ethics and rising consumer demand. Though not totally organic, clothing giants like H & M, whose European organic 2008 spring collection will boast 1,500 tonnes of organic cotton, and Nike, who is the top organic cotton clothing manufacturer in the world, are riding the green wave as well. Did you know that non-organic cotton consume 25% of the world’s total toxic pesticides while using only 2.5% of the world’s agricultural land?

In the business world, green is fast becoming gold. Just this past week, AOL News featured a business article about what industries are projected to be favorable in the future job market. Their top three picks? Healthcare, education, and green living. It’s all about what Paul Hawken elucidated in his highly influential book published over 10 years ago, The Ecology of Commerce. Green businesses do business using the Triple Bottom Line: people, planet, and profit. Did you know that several top universities in the United States now offer a Green MBA (www.greenmba.com)?

RAINBOW CONNECTIONS

And in our homes and communities, green means not just one color, but a rainbow of all the choices we make every day to create a more peaceful, sustainable, and healthy world for ourselves, the planet, and future generations. We are worth the investment! Every action we take adds up over time, like saving pennies in a piggy bank or dollars in a retirement plan. Let’s stop emptying our eco-wallets. The source of all wealth, after all, is the Earth. And the Earth will only survive, let alone thrive, when we restore nature and re-imagine our communities to be self-sufficient, interconnected, and in partnership with eco-systems that create zero waste.

Back in the late ’60′s, early ’70′s, Jim Henson’s Kermit the Frog made famous the phrase “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. That was some 40 years ago, when the environmental movement reached mainstream consciousness along with civil rights, feminism, flower power, peace, and human rights. Today’s generation, the Green Generation, will enjoy walking the paths cleared by decades of work accomplished by those who came before them. Simultaneously, the Green Generation will inherit the planetary mess we’re in and the mission to make things right. The Green Generation will also have the benefit of “being green” from the beginning. Changing our personal habits and greening our lives happens over a long period of diligent and exciting transition. Our children and grandchildren, however, will be eating organic, calculating their carbon footprint, and using planet-friendly transporation from Day One. Just imagine. Their generation’s mantra will be “It’s Easy Being Green!!!”

Those of us new to going green are just that, still going green, not yet gone green. Every journey begins with the first step. So here are just FIVE steps that we can take to GO GREEN! Kermit the Frog would be proud of us. And so will the Green Generation.

FIVE STEPS IN THE JOURNEY TO GO GREEN

There are a lot more than five steps in this journey, and we hope you will enjoy each one! If you’re looking for a tune to hum or an affirmation to repeat while you compost your food scraps, install new CFL bulbs, or grab your reusable bag (http://www.reusablebags.com) before hitting the store, remember what Kermit sang so long ago, “I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful.”

STEP 1 – Put on your thinking cap. Being green means being aware of your choices and their impact on the health of you and the planet. This requires learning what is green, greener, and greenest in all of our choices, big and small. Search the internet. Attend community lectures. Go to the Chicago Green Festival this weekend, May 17-18 at Navy Pier (www.greenfestivals.org). Pick up a free copy of the monthly magazine, Conscious Choice, or read online (www.consciouschoice.com). Check out a children’s book about nature from the library and share it with a young member of the Green Gen while going for a picnic!

STEP 2 – Enjoy the outdoors and nature. Remind yourself often what going green is all about. Trees, rivers, animals, delicious, local, organic fruits and vegetables. It can be as simple as growing herbs on your windowsill, shopping at the farmer’s market, going for an evening stroll, or keeping track of the phases of the moon. A deep breath of fresh air. Stopping to absorb the scents of spring, like lilac, hyacinth, and magnolia. What a gift. Summer will be upon us soon!

STEP 3 – Eat green. Buy organic at the grocery store. Support organic restaurants and cafes. Eat less meat or go vegetarian. Connect with local, organic farmers for meat, eggs, dairy, and produce (try www.localharvest.org and www.illinoisfarmdirect.org). Plant a tree (http://plant-trees.org) or garden!

STEP 4 – Appreciate mobility. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Wait – it’s Superman and Superwoman getting from here to there using green transportation! Flying would be a super green way to get around. For us mere mortals, we can walk, bike, take public transportation, telecommute, carpool, drive green cars, ditch our cars, or just drive less, fly less, and explore wonders close to home.

STEP 5 – Make a commitment. You could commit to a more green work commute at least one day a week, buying only organic food, replacing every lightbulb in your home, going vegetarian on Fridays, switching to all green cleaning supplies, or investing in non-toxic organic paint, carpeting, and mattresses for you and your family (check out www.healthygreengoods.com). Whatever that commitment is, it’s up to you. Going green? That’s up to you too – and all your green friends all over the world.

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