treehugger

this is a term thrown around quite a bit. my dad would call people "treehuggers" because they wanted to protect some patch of grass or tree or some endangered species that would delay or limit construction for a neighborhood or business community. he couldn't understand why we should limit our progress because of earth's reluctness to let us. he couldn't understand how it all comes back to us.

i didn't understand it and in some ways, i still don't. my wife is an environmental scientist. she calculates the risks involved to us and the birds, bees and worms when businesses disregard their responsibility to our environment. she helped reshape my view of the earth, my view of the environment, what i was doing to it and what it was doing to me.

you see, it's not about partisan politics and whether global warming exists or not. i personally believe it does, but throw that whole argument out and just think. if we have the technology to make sustainable products, and we have the technology to limit our impact on the earth and our local environment, why don't we use it? what are we losing? why must we be so wasteful? there is no reason not to recycle. there is no reason not to break out your bicycle and take a ride to the grocery store. there is no reason that your car should be some sort of statement on your personality when it should be a statement of your willingness to help our society and your environment by choosing less gas. because if you believe in global warming or not, oil is finite. and its last remaining resting places are in unstable, unfriendly countries. that's where we've put our last remaining eggs. in the hands of putin, chavez and ahmadinejad. it's not a great place to be. and we don't have to be there. so think about turning all your lights off when you leave. think about recycling your plastic water bottles. think about riding your bike or walking to the store. think about it. it makes sense.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-basics/