Finding the Future

Human inventiveness and labor created the environmental crisis now upon us. Human inventiveness and labor can slow the environmental decline and, hopefully, reverse at least part of the damage. To succeed, we must change our daily living habits and activities to become better friends with our world.

Learning to Live Within Our Environmental Means

We are constantly bombarded with advertisements that promote “new” products that are “bigger” and “faster” and offer “more convenience.” As consumers of products and services (and of the future of our planet), we might ask:

• Must the treadmill of new products conscript old products to landfills, even if the old products are still adequate for their intended purpose?

• What are the real environmental, energy and use-of-resource costs of bigger and faster?

• Does the convenience of new products translate into inconvenient truths?

Our consumer dollars are our votes in the marketplace. Every purchase is a vote for or against the planet’s future.

Educate, Communicate and Advocate

We all need to learn as much as we can about making environmentally responsible decisions. We all need to communicate effectively with others, through our words and actions. Through communication with government leaders, we must be determined advocates for change.