4/23/08

Spring isn’t the only greening I see these days.  Finally, after 38 Earth Days since the original one in 1970, it seems that nearly everybody wants to be green.  Somewhere between Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth and $4 gas, did we all turn a corner?  What may have seemed like extraordinary dedication a few months ago—like bringing our own bags to the grocery store—is becoming the norm.  Maybe environmentalism isn’t just for environmentalists anymore.

Let’s hope so.  But let’s also hope that these signs of green are indications of fundamental change.  A society that faithfully recycles metal, paper and glass, but paves over the last remaining undeveloped land in the I-5 corridor can’t yet claim to be very green.  Nor can a 10,000 square foot single-family home claim to be green because of its energy-efficient lighting.  Or a Hummer driver who car-pools.

Yet for most of us, becoming green is a process, tackled a bit at a time.  It doesn’t have to be all or nothing to count.  That’s why People For Puget Sound’s “simple things you can do” campaign starts small. 

And getting green at a large scale can’t be accomplished just at the individual level.  Decisions made in boardrooms and in legislative chambers have everything to do with whether we will save the Sound or curtail global warming.  Money tends to talk loudest in those places, but we’re even hearing more about how protecting Mother Nature actually saves money overall.  Now if we could just reflect the true cost of stripping the landscape in the cost of developing the land…

And while individuals doing the right thing can’t turn our region all the way green, a groundswell of public support and demands definitely can.

Speaking of a groundswell, Earth Month has been better than ever here in Puget Sound, despite snow, sleet, hail and other challenges.  Hundreds of volunteers have braved the weather to work on People For Puget Sound restoration projects.  Hundreds more have taken part in April’s whirlwind schedule of educational, cultural, hands-on and other fun events.  There’s still time to catch The Highest Tide, a wonderful production at Book-It Theater in Seattle (through May 10), People For Puget Sound’s ivy pull restoration project at Priest Point, Olympia (Saturday, April 26), and Winged Migration in Burlington (April 30).  And in case you thought People For Puget Sound’s April calendar was over the top, check out what’s on tap for May…  There are so many ways to get a little greener!

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