The Rise of the Environmentle Movement By Way of Consumption

When I read, back in 2004, that Leonard DiCaprio and several other celebrities started buying hybrid cars I thought, that's perfect: the only way hybrids are going to take off in this country is if they're made into status symbols. Hybrid technology, still unfordable to most people today, was even less affordable four years ago. Driving one in 2004 signaled environmental consciousness, but more importantly, it signaled wealth. As the costs of 'green' living become affordable to the middle class, a different behavior is driving the environmental movement: moral superiority.

What better way to market bamboo floors, fluorescent light bulbs, and recycled glass backsplashes than emphasizing the added value of being able to say to your friends, "This is a green kitchen." Dude you're still bulldozing a perfectly good kitchen and you would save more of our nature's resources by using what you have instead of shipping these green materials half way across the country.

However, all of this is a great thing for the environmental movement, and for the world. American consumers, for whatever reason, are driving demand for eco-friendly products. And in a free-market economy, what better way to get companies to change their practices by demanding products that will force them to?

There is one problem with the green revolution: it's consumption, not behavior, driven. Americans aren't consuming any less. Fossil fuels and energy, yes, but we're still wasteful as hell. To-go bags at restaurants may be made with recycled material, but they're still offered to every customer for even the smallest purchase. For example, I was picking up my replacement piece of Sacher Tort from La Madeleine yesterday (I complained about the dryness of the last one I bought on the company's website and was offered a free, moist piece) after a lunch rush. They were out of small bags, and were going to pack my tiny piece of cake in this giant bag. No thanks, I said. If I don't need a bag, I never ask for one or tell the clerk before she wraps it up. I just wish they wouldn't assume everyone needs one. Bags should be given only on request.

Another example is the HGTV green slogan, Change the World, Start at Home. Change the world by buying eco-friendly products for your home. A few energy saving tips are peppered in through out the day, but it's mostly green kitchen redesigns.

The consumer-driven green movement is a start, but by no means is it an end to our countries obsession with convenience and wasteful habits. And I must admit, watching Lauren Lake transform hideous kitchens into fabulous new green spaces is more entertaining than being lectured about wastefulness.

Happy birthday to Megan and my bff Martha, who share their special days with our planet.