By doing this we hope to massively simplify a hugely complex and daunting issue. Most info on climate change actions are To Do lists of 20 small steps you can take and we felt for less motivated people this often got filed in the Admin/must-get-around-to-that-sometime pile.

By hooking people in with the first easy step we hope they will lead themselves on a deeper journey of exploration/action at their own pace (each Green Thing has a range of ‘Do More’ actions to encourage deeper engagement, e.g. http://www.dothegreenthing.com/green_actions/lights_out/more). Think of Green Thing like Weight Watchers, small, easy steps with lots of encouragement and community re-enforcement, lead to deeper, more meaningful ones over time.

I think in the issue of mass public engagement with climate change – which clearly isn’t happening on the scale or at the speed it needs to – I would suggest that values can follow action. Sometimes process drives culture/values in an organisation i.e. what people actually do embodies the values by which they do it. You could think of it as lead and a lag variables – rather than do two things simultaneously (focused actions and values), you start with one and the other naturally follows.

I feel a lot of the problem has to do with our consumerist culture, and the manic behavior that goes with it. Rediscovering simplicity is not easy. I guess, that’s where zen comes into play.

Paradoxically, your article, although addressing the issue, from a purely content standpoint, embodies some of that same consumerist culture in the way it rushes to propose a solution, using numbered lists . . .

It does get the reflexion started, and for that I thank you.

Next comes the hard work of becoming more conscious.

marguerite manteau-rao
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

However, technology cannot provide values, and I think the principles of this post are an important reminder of that. Just because we may be able to easily access all of our information and entertainment needs on one box in the comfort of our homes does not mean that we should approach such a funnel of data without a moral filter.

Another great litmus test is to keep a time journal for a week and see if your Big Life is showing up in your daily doings. If not, either your big life vision needs tuning or you’re doing things from a “should” perspective as opposed to values.

My big fat 2 cents!!

BTW, I tried to email you to let you know I wasn’t insulting you but it was bouncing back saying you’d reached your capacity. I’m SO sorry!

It’s not that I don’t proof read the posts, I do. In fact, I usually read and re-read at least 4-5 times. But even with that, they sometimes slip through - like today.

I’ve done a lot of magazine writing and even authored a book once — and the thing I miss most now that I mainly write my own blog is having a good copy editor.

I have a full-time job and so I need to write mainly before work (or later in the evening). This particular post was written in a hurry in the morning before I went to work, which is why there are the errors.

I’ll be extra careful and try to give a few more reads in the future.

-kevin