A hearty handshake for this article! This network is horrid, but I think it will satisfy its demographic. Being a smug jerk and having a small eco footprint seem to go hand in hand. At the grocery store a few days ago I was actually thanked by my Publix bag boy for buying reusable bags. This same bagger had chided me previously for purchasing Ferrero Rocher chocolate due to all the wrapping. I would be lost without the moral guidance of my local Publix bagger. I've also seen a customer shout at a drug store clerk (who was clearly mentally challenged) about bagging his one item. And idiots like this get to write columns: <link> I could go on and on. I don't want my anecdotes to stand in for the whole of the green movement, but some of these people are out of control. Their smug actions actually turn off so many people that it probably cancels out all their green efforts -- much like the Christians. My local Publix bagger makes me want to spray aqua net while eating a steak in my parked, running car with the A/C on and windows open. If we really want to bring everyone into the fold, we need to find ways to make the movement accessible and relevant for all people. The green network does little to that end and more than deserves the elitist label. If you're looking to be green and not a smug ass, see: http://greenforall.org/

I admire your keen observation that smug attitude of the green movement over zealous religious types. It's the latest Hollywood addiction du jour.

Forgive my careless typing....

The green movement is much like that of over zealous religious types.

I have noticed a lot of advertisements lately with a lot of green themes. I wonder how much of it is hype and how much of it is sincere. I think it is a good thing if major corporations really tried to attract customers by being more eco-friendly, but I can't help but think a lot of it is Madison Avenue BS. Is there any real objective way to tell, without spending countless hours researching every claim. Unlike Ed Begely, some of us have real jobs to go to.

P.S. "Much like the Christians" Gross generalizations such as this are usually the domain of bigots. Sort of like saying Athieists are the new Nazis. Hiel Hitchens!

Yes, we libertarian ecofeminist catholics are known for our bigotry. I'll clarify: much like the worst shades of Christianity. I recognize that the Christians have schismed off in a million different directions, and generalizing is not appropriate. However for the sake of brevity on the blog, I went for it. A lot of Christians (evangelicals especially) warrant generalizations though...one book, one thought.

On the subject of green advertising, I've mostly noticed a bunch of oil companies scared shitless, trying to convince us all that they are a part of the solution. They know the angry mob is coming. The angry mob can be useful though...that whole watering the tree of liberty business and all.

I'm seeing this as more of a fashion than a religious type thing. For example, recently I picked up a copy of Readymade, a magazine I hadn't purchased in a few years, but had enjoyed for it's projects and ideas. In that time, Readymade has apparently become a "green" magazine.

The editorial complained about how there's all these people recycling now, but the author has been recycling before them and is therefore somehow superior. It reminded me of the hipster at the show that wants to tell you about how he heard the band first and so everybody else that now likes the band is a poser.

The hipster will eventually ditch the band for being too commercial. The green as fashion choice person will eventually ditch the environmental moment for similar reasons. Once everybody is doing it, it will no longer be cool.

I think D Jeff is right about the Hollywood wing of the green movement. It reminds me of the fad of wearing various colored ribbons on your lapel to show your support for certain causes. What ever happend to those?

As far as the Eco-Catholic Fembot girl, or well, whatever, I think she is quite clueless. Thinking that Oil Companies are scared of anything is absurd. They are making money hand over fist, and we are lining up to buy more. What could they possibly be afraid of. A windfall profits tax? They will simply raise prices higher or sell it someplace else. Nationalization of the Oil Industry? Yes, the American people are clamoring for the folks that gave us Katrina to be responsible for keeping our cars running.

The oil companies are laughing at us. And they should. They are not responsible for the choices we make. They don't make you buy a gas gussler. They don't make you commute 50 miles to work everyday. They don't make us not build public transportation, or bike paths, or sidewalks. They just sell us gas. People are not upset because they sell gas. They are upset because it is no longer dirt cheap. Most people would be thrilled if suddenly they discovered more of it, and started selling it for 10 cents a gallon and handed out green stamps with every fill up. Penguins be damned.

We have met the enemy, and it is us. We need to stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for our own choices in life.

ecox ~ "On the subject of green advertising, I've mostly noticed a bunch of oil companies scared shitless, trying to convince us all that they are a part of the solution. They know the angry mob is coming. The angry mob can be useful though...that whole watering the tree of liberty business and all."

I'm going to disagree with you there. Their advertising is producing just the effect it desires, as seen by your response to it. They want their consumers to feel empowered. Humans around the world are using more and more oil every day. There is a limited supply of oil, thus they are sitting pretty. Even Congress's silly attempt to impose a special tax on companies that make too much money according to them, failed. No, the energy companies are not scared of you. They have a product, and you need it, and they know it. As icing on the cake they'll pander to you just a tad.

Um, Christianity is, at its core, about turning the other cheek, helping the poor, etc. All good things. Sure, it's offensive when people try to shove it down your throat or, worse, pervert it to make money or get elected. But to paint an entire religion with a big sloppy brush is stupidity, plain and simple.

Same goes for the green movement. Yes, people can be obnoxious about driving a Prius or whatever -- but does that mean that it's a bad thing?

It all started with the hotels pleading with us to be kind to the environment by not having our room serviced each day. What a bunch of BS. I'm sure the environment is at least third on the list of reasons for these annoying little cards in every hotel room. I think not having your room serviced every day is a great idea, I do it all the time. I would never, however, think for a second that the hotel has anything but the bottom line in mind. Prepare for this kind of BS all over the place from here on in. The new cult of green seems like the're here to stay, and the market has responded. SUPER ANNOYING!!!!

I hear ya man, forget recycling. It's just too much of a hassle to do a little extra for my fellow man and now i feel i have grown mature enough to realize that I'm good enough to not only NOT recycle but talk about OTHERS that recycle, what FINATICS. Especially those christians. It's not overgeneralizing at all to say "all christians" go right ahead. DESTROY THE EARTH! is what i love to yell out of my window every morning when i wake up, better then a fresh cup of coffee and a crisp newspaper. Who cares about this worthless blue marble anyways. It won't end before i die, right?

Right on, Green boy.

Mark the HSer:

I hear ya man, forget recycling. It's just too much of a hassle to do a little extra for my fellow man and now i feel i have grown mature enough to realize that I'm good enough to not only NOT recycle but talk about OTHERS that recycle, what FINATICS. Especially those christians. It's not overgeneralizing at all to say "all christians" go right ahead. DESTROY THE EARTH! is what i love to yell out of my window every morning when i wake up, better then a fresh cup of coffee and a crisp newspaper. Who cares about this worthless blue marble anyways. It won't end before i die, right?

This is the exact kind of smug preaching that the original poster was talking about. Talking like this doesn't help anything at all. You really want to save the earth, do it by setting an example and be nice about it. The majority of people these days are aware that pollution is a problem. There aren't that many stragglers left.

You really want to save that "blue marble" like you say? Then lets change our lifestyles so the default usage scenario is not destroying our planet. Giving lip service to recycling and driving fuel-efficient cars does very very little in the long term. The only way to fix our situation is a fundamental change.

You seem to care alot about the environment, Mark the HSer. Let's get crackin, I'd like to hear some new innovative ideas about how to bring about a real change in the lifestyle of the default American.

FirstInLastOut:

I'm sorry if i came across as smug, it's just that this article bothered me and people who think that others who are trying to do some good in the world are finatics. There are so many ways that you can help out and you see them everywhere in the news and in the papers that you don't NEED to watch Green network. People just get to me when they don't take things as serious as this seriously and the writer of this article was the smug one, that's why i wrote in the way that i did.

yeah, actually reading back the original post I have to take some of what I said back. I agree with you that people that don't take the environment seriously this day and age are aggravating. You're right, just because someone is being smug doesn't give you a right to shit on the planet.

On a positive note, from what I've seen, the last 5 years or so there seems to have been a big shift in mentality towards being more green. Almost noone argues against being "green" anymore. Even in the midwest it is now "cool" to be green, where this seemed to be only a coastal thing a few years ago. This is great news for those of us who actually care about making a better environment. It's bad news for all the smug douches who were only green so they can be hip.