Is Blue the new Green?

Posted by davilalu on April 18, 2008 | 1 Comment

I recently read Adam Werbach’s newest speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The first one was extremely controversial among the environmental community, as it declared environmentalism dead. This was huge given Werbach’s work with Sierra Club (youngest president ever at 23), and essentially as the poster boy for young people involved in environmental issues (for more discussion on this go to Grist.com).
The new speech still declares environmentalism dead, but instead declares the birth of a new movement called Blue. This new movement is essentially a movement made up by everyone and anyone, allowing people to become better consumers, design what he calls PSPs (personal sustainability practices), and live better, healthier lives. Werbach designed this idea while working for WalMart as a sustainability consultant (this obviously brought more controversy to his image). The concept also feeds to the same thinking embraced by the folks at the Breakthrough Institute (see my previous posting).
I think the idea has a lot of potential… Sure, people conscious of the magnitude of climate change, should consider ways to reduce consumption, and live healthier lives through more sustainable lifestyles. However, most people are not aware of this! Until there are massive investments into educating citizens around the world about the dangers posed by climate change, and ways to adapt and mitigate its effects, efforts like Blue actually make a lot of sense. I also think that Blue also changes the framework by which most people consume and behave as members of society. It provides a positive, non-confrontational solution to the way we approach sustainability.
I am convinced that this idea is going to remain controversial, especially among the activist community, but I am looking forward to gaging whether it becomes a true vibrant movement or not.

Posted in Climate Change, global warming |

One response to “Is Blue the new Green?”

  1. Bryson Nitta says:

    Hmm…interesting post. I remember reading about the “environmentalism is dead” speech. As an environmentalist who isn’t dead quite yet (and hopefully won’t be for a while), I disagreed with some of what he had to say, even though it was a fair critique.
    The thing I dislike about this “Blue” idea, is that it seems to keep things in the status quo. Environmentalism used to be about changing the dominant, athropocentrist paradigm. This “Blue” movement just seems to be a “greener” form of the same perspective that’s driven this planet to the edge, you know?

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