Dissolve to Green or Fade to Black?

While some see "green" reflected in the dollars to be made selling "new and improved" green products to a "movement", others are pleasantly surprised at the realization that they have been quiet participants in what has suddenly become "all the rage". Though environmental consciousness has become a personal lifestyle choice for many and a professional pursuit for some, collectively we now stand at the doorstep of extending those personal choices to our nine to five and beyond with new found acceptance. As "greenies" come out of the proverbial closet, a union of a green personal and professional environmental ethics can actualize a composite set of practices solidifying the process of adaptation from fad.

There was a time when the lament of those who embraced our connectedness to the planet resonated in the words of a favorite frog, "It ain't easy being green". What a relief to no longer have to deal with the dismissive "tree hugger, greenie" comments, hippie peace signs or eye rolls when innocently asking "Do you separate glass and plastic?". The union of a green personal and professional environment is beginning to take hold.

Our collective environmental consciousness has been raised, and it IS socially acceptable to be green,to practice green,to think green. In fact it is COOL!

The slippery slope of this social awakening is that if GREEN is only cool because of the social climate and economic pressures driving us to seek alternatives to our previous lifestyle choices, "Greening" runs the risk of becoming just another fad; a saturated concept that burns itself out in a few years. Then we will loose more than a great buzz word, a visually slick campaign or a catchy logo... much more. We simply can't afford to create another "Flower Power", "Generation X" types of marketing employing buzz words that burns themselves out from overuse or stagnation.

As advertisers, marketers and media leaders, we drive and shape the thinking of the planet. Our responsibility, indeed our challenge is weighty... To create "sustainability" for the "brand" (life as we know it) while our "Target", KENT or consumer (M/F, all socioeconomic levels, all educational level, age 0 to 100) come to grips with the realization that the "sunshine yellow" and forever blue sky "land of plenty" attitudes of our past must blend together to create a true, substantial GREEN LIFESTYLE.

The opportunity to facilitate global awareness,empower positive change,and enhance the "shades of green" that are part of this metamorphic period and personalize "environmental consciousness" are as rich, dynamic and essential as any message we have ever delivered, maybe more so. Our industry is in an awesome position to do that. The question is do we have the awareness,passion,commitment and creativity to do and most importantly, carry through? We must decide if we are fueling a movement or shaping a lifestyle. Shaping takes leadership. We begin leading with a look inward at our own organizations, carbon footprint, environmental impact and wanton wastefulness? 

Shifting the focus of environmental consciousness from "anywhere out side my door" to everywhere I interact (whether at home, in my car, at my workplace or in my recreational activities) is a fundamental. As we collectively burst foreword from the "chrysalis of separation" we have built between ourselves and our natural world, will our energies prove to be an extension of our own awakening, or another brand slogan with a hot logo?

Happily, there are a few advertising agencies and industry leaders already taking the point. They've been drawing the solid line between individual personal commitment to environmental changes and their business practices. Creating global impact one sphere at a time. 
Forging a union of green practices that include virtual officing, minimization of environmental waste, smarter and more efficient use of resources...without sacrificing delivery of superior advertising for the client. Some of the obstacles are daunting. Some of the changes are tough to get used to. But adaptation is key to survival.

Finding the motivation to take action has become, by necessity, an easier first step. Confronting the challenges of changing time honored practices and traditions are not for the weak of heart. Finding the fortitude, guts, courage and vision to create change, even when the urgency is so pressing, takes a bit more. It takes a united vision, collective study, innovative thinking, committed passion and a daring to believe that each individual CAN make a difference...this time "they" can't do it without "me". Thanks to the "Hippie Tree Huggers" who are already a distance down the road, we aren't blazing entirely new trails.

Never before has a species been able to foresee the potential for it's own extinction with such measurable and predictable clarity. Never before has a species been able to so clearly articulate and comprehend the interdependence of all life forms; one to another and all to the planet that sustains them. Through scientific study and technological advances we are.

If science and technology are the eyes that can most clearly see the perils and possibilities, media is the mouthpiece that can deliver the message of sustainability, redefine environmental conscious and facilitate a union between the green movement and the green lifestyle. And we can.

If we fail to break out of our cocoon of "made by man"; fail to universally reintegrate ourselves with our natural environment; fail to act swiftly, deliberately and personally, fail to embrace every technology, tool and opportunity available to us; fail to re mediate the strain we've placed on our resources, ecology and diversity; we will emerge from out metamorphosis to an unrecognizable, flightless world.