Greening of America with environmental sustainability? Money? Big Business?

It used to be that even the slightest mention of green would have most people assuming money was being discussed. If it was mid February, maybe St. Patrick’s day was the topic. And I’m sure we all can remember the regular commands to eat our green vegetables but how many of us thought even just a few years ago that “going green”, or “being green” would be this big and this much a part of our social consciousness? Businesses both large and small are on board. From the federal government to local communities everyone has joined the bandwagon. Education, the Internet, community organizations, and the media are invested in it. The real evidence though might be just how important being green is to Madison Ave.

What is the Greening of America?

Companies that might need to reassess what “being green” really means are now touting themselves as environmental leaders or at the very least as having products that are totally green. There isn’t any escape from the media blitz. It’s impossible to escape the march to green that is sweeping the country. The grassroots movement of “environmental sustainability” has now turned to a more common approach and we have dropped the long name for a simpler easy to identify one, “Green”.

It wasn’t very long ago that environmental sustainability was the catch phrase. Now renewable energy, carbon footprint, and resource conservation are all a part of our everyday vocabulary. There was a time when we needed Sierra Club, Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth to tell us who was really contributing to the cause. How much of an impact did Earth day have on us? Some of these leaders inspired a lot of us to take up the cause for ourselves. The people who had the passion to lead us here need our help though.

Many of us have moved past the simple rewards of recycling and water conservation. The opportunity to keep the pressure on the decision makers to make going green a real, long lasting decision is at hand. We all have a vote and it’s one that gets heard every time we make a purchase. So make sure everyone who is telling you they are green can back it up. Make sure you don’t settle for contributing to the cause because you buy a product Madison Ave. tells you is green. Now more than ever the everyday consumer has a chance to be heard. It’s not time to relax because we are all going green. It’s time to demand accountability and keep the momentum towards real environmental sustainability.