BLUE

AKA The Evolution of an Environmentalist - Part 3 continued from "The Evolution of an Environmentalist - Part 2"

To understand what the BLUE movement is, we need to understand what it grows out of - dead environmentalism. Environmentalism is dead because it's approach is outdated, uninspiring and not up to scale for the challenge we face today - global climate change. Traditionally, environmentalism has isolated a problem, such as air pollution, created a technical solution, such as emissions standards for vehicles, and worked to get it turned into law. This doesn't work very well when the challenge, climate change, is the result of our entire way of life. Plus, environmentalism has said "No, No, No" and "Don't, Don't, Don't" for everything from shopping to driving to eating, basically living in our culture. This doesn't inspire and, instead, sets up a seemingly unattainable standard, leading us to give up before we start.

Ok. So what is the BLUE movement?

From Adam Werbach's speech "The Birth of Blue" at the Commonwealth Club on 12 April 2008:

As vast and common as the ocean, BLUE is a platform for sustainability that goes beyond the deep, beautiful green of environmentalism. Green puts the planet at the center of the dialogue. BLUE puts people at the center.... Green is the beating heart of the emerging BLUE movement. Green represents the simple and inarguable wisdom of ecology: that all things are connected. BLUE brings together a broader set of human concerns, from practice to price, from nature to society. BLUE integrates all four streams of sustainability: social, cultural, economic and environmental. BLUE puts the way we treat ourselves and each other at the center of our focus....

There are three desired outcomes for the BLUE movement. First, to measurably improve the quality of life of people who join. Second, to engage as many people as possible in the effort, and third, to increase the effectiveness of their activism. The primary tactic is getting one billion people to create their own personal sustainability practices.

Remember, when I wrote that I didn't get into environmentalism for the environment, but for the people? This is what I was talking about.

So, what does "being blue" actually mean? What does some one who's "BLUE" do?
Since, it's my computer curfew, the answer to that question will have to come another night.
Next up, PSP and the big box...