what's green

Image Credit Anand Singh Naorem
In my efforts to live a better life, care for my family, and contribute to society, I find myself trying to move toward a working definition of “living green”. As I search for ways to have an impact, I am getting bogged down in a plethora of ideas mostly about facts and opinions regarding sustainability and global justice. While many of the Websites I hit go well beyond the personally helpful, some sites seem more like a menagerie of sight, sound, and advertisement for something akin to the dominant culture I’m trying to leave behind; or, they’re so un-Godly academic I find myself looking for yet another cup of fair trade coffee. Somewhere between the good, the bad, and the ugly I come up buffeted and baffled. Alas, methinks I need a roadmap to sustainability.

Having an aversion to chaos (perhaps I’m looking at the backside of the tapestry) I’m thinking…… “Wow, I need some peace here.” Do I simply step out and go do stuff? Not a bad idea really, every little bit helps I suppose, but how can I get a handle on the bigger picture – the universe of ideas and ideals? How can I systematize this thing, or at least organize it in my mind so I can move forward more efficiently. After all, isn’t sustainability about energy efficiency?

An exercise in futility perhaps but, if not for my own sanity, I need to build a schema – a framework to work from.

So, I start searching ….

A Wikipedian version of the morass defines sustainability as - work with me here.

“…characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend.”

OK – I like it, but it sounds more like academic soup for the soul then the road less traveled. Let’s get down to basics.

I read on….

More from Wikipedia

Bear with me.

“The term "sustainability" has already proved useful. Sustainability discourse is discussion of how to make human economic systems last longer and have less impact on ecological systems, and particularly relates to concern over major global problems such as climate change and oil depletion. This discussion is an inherently useful activity. (What is even more useful, of course, is to then go out and find a way to make some unit of economic production -- a business firm, a family household, a farm -- more sustainable.) To help in this kind of discussion, it is meaningful, and pragmatic, to speak of some practices being "more sustainable" or "less sustainable." Thus energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs might be considered more sustainable than incandescent ones, and so on. There also is some usefulness in talking of moving "towards sustainability," or away from it. Sustainability advocates would argue that this kind of discourse helps inform debate about human impacts on planet Earth.”

Ok… I can go with that, but let’s see, if I can simplify this. How about one of my favorite thinkers, Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs.

The world according to Abraham tells me that I need to be able to breathe, eat, drink, have sex, sleep, experience homeostasis, and excrete before I can move up the hierarchy of having my safety needs met, enjoy love and belonging, have confidence and self-esteem, and finally reach self-actualizaition wherein I can give back to the community and still be a moral, creative, spontaneous problem solver who accepts facts and lives free of prejudice.

My goodness, works for me.

So now I can begin to hone in on green living just a bit more. How about....?

living green is caring for my personal health, prosperity, and wisdom while living a balanced, earth sensitive life that gives back to the community, so the community can care for the planet and each other.

Commendable thoughts, but the credit belongs to my wife. Thank you!

OK, that’s good, but I need more. If I’m about to embark on a journey I’ll need a GPS - some conceptual containers or categorical jugs to part the waters and light my path. I’ll need to break away from my post-modern trappings and actually connect the map to the terrain. Not unlike other millennials, my working definition lacks specifics. How can I sub-divide and parse this thing long enough to generate my personal plan of action?

Let’s add:
· Personal Health
· Community Health
· Environmental Health
· Social Justice
· Economic Justice.

Enough? Not just yet. These are lofty concepts worthy of further study and understanding – the future of this Weblog – but how about some action on the ground?
To help us move up the hierarchy we’ll add the following categories to our to do list.

· Food
· Clothing
· Shelter
· Education
· Outreach

Now we have a working model – grist for the Weblog. Stay tuned.

we are us

This is our first post. We know it's a bit redundant since you can see it just to the right on our profile, but let's face it. You gotta start somewhere.

Bannon River Books
We are a small online bookstore and emerging family farm located in rural Vermont. Our focus is green and sustainable, so we are constantly looking for and sharing information on responsible ways to live, prosper, and give back to our community. We invest a good deal of time sorting through resources and listing them on Amazon and e-bay, but this site is dedicated to writing about sustainability and highlighting a few of our favorite picks. We concentrate on health, wealth, and wisdom; so you'll find many picks on complimentary and alternative medicine, socially responsible investing, and the wisdom traditions. We also get down to the basics of green food, clothing, and shelter. We hope you enjoy our picks and help support our efforts. In turn, we contribute 10% of all our profits to ending child slavery around the world. Read, think, act, and enjoy! Peace....