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We need a loud eco-alarm clock and we need it now. In fact, we could use a bunch of 'em--tick-tick-ticking in every city and town on the planet to remind us humans that time is of the essence. Our eco-system is finite and there is a point of no return. With this in mind, we could all kick things up a notch or three in terms of urgency and methods. Maybe such an escalation could begin with a showing of High Noon?
I watched this classic 1952 film for the thousandth time recently and found myself focused on the moment when Amy (Grace Kelly), the pacifist wife of Marshal Kane (Gary Cooper), shoots and kills a man to save her husband's life. Earlier in the film, Amy had declared:
"My father and my brother were killed by guns. They were on the right side but that didn't help them any when the shooting started. My brother was nineteen. I watched him die. That's when I became a Quaker. I don't care who's right or who's wrong. There's got to be some better way for people to live."
However, she not only ends up shooting a man, she also fights off the main villain, which allows Marshal Kane to finish him.
Before you run and tell Gandhi on me, let me state up front that I'm not suggesting that you shoot anyone. However, I am urging you to recognize that those clock hands are inching towards noon and it's high time to surprise yourself (as Grace Kelly's character did) with your ability to take things to a new level. Let's reevaluate our greenness. As my colleague Collin Dunn declares: We're all in danger of confusing "greener" with "green."
"Given the scale of the problems we face--a warming globe, vanishing freshwater, a badly damaged food system--and the ticking clock that we have to keep an eye on as we fight the problems," Dunn suggests we "stay focused on the information and actions that really make a game-changing impact" and he offers three examples:
- Recycling is greener; cradle-to-cradle, zero-waste design is green
- Hybrid cars are greener; bicycling is green
- Grass-fed beef is greener; not eating meat is green
But how does the average consumer-citizen make the leap from part-time greenie to full-blown revolutionary?
3 Ways to Start Beating the Clock
1. Recognize the Emergency
As highlighted above, when the stakes are high, we often react almost automatically. If you see a child wandering toward a busy boulevard, no one has to tell you what to do. If you see an entire eco-system in crisis, listen to your heart and respond.
2. Create Solidarity
A social system designed to keep us alone and staring at TV, computer, and cell phone screens all day is not conducive to collective action. Break the cycle and cultivate face-to-face community.
3. Discover New Tools
Dynamics evolve as must tactics. If you're not sure how best to fight for your planet, maybe you need to re-connect with that planet.
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