A favorite website of mine is called Tree Hugger and it is constantly updated with “tree hugger” news, news that comes with a techno-meets-eco theme. Here is one prime example that got me thinking.
Something is happening in the UK that we are missing in North America. Where we are all single issue types, worried about global warming or peak oil or vegetarianism or seal hunts, in the UK they have wrapped the whole thing into the concept of ethics, which the dictionary describes as “A set of principles of right conduct.” They make TV shows about it. They build communities around it. ‘People have a hair-shirt image about green living but it can be easy, affordable and attractive,’ said Kendal Murray, who lives in BedZed. ‘I live with a clear conscience and haven’t had to give up a single thing to live this life.’According to the Guardian, “Ethical living is on the march… . Statistics published by the Co-operative Bank show that Britons spent £25.8bn on ethical goods and services last year, up 15 per cent on 2004.
Tree Hugger – Guardian: Can Our Way of Living Really Save the Planet
The United States used to be on the cutting edge of all things modern and advanced. I grew up in Washington State thinking green and recycling long before the rest of the United States. Here in Mobile, Alabama, 20 years later, there is still no recycling! Amazing.
And yet, thinking green seems to not only be a slow growth thought in the United States, the US is being out-thought by many other countries.
I wonder why?
I love how they call it “ethical goods” and “ethical living”. Living with nature, not against, is about ethics. Protecting the little nature left on this planet is an ethical duty. I like this idea.