Morgan Phillips on being immaterially green

Being green implies that you care about the future of the planet, that you enjoy the great outdoors and so on. It is generally defined somewhere along these lines: I recycle therefore I am green, I buy low energy light-bulbs therefore I am greener, I use reusable instead of plastic bags therefore I am greener still! It seems that the greener you are the better, unless of course you are too green at which point you liable to be labelled a killjoy or a hippy. By too green I mean that you are someone who has started to question conspicuous consumption, the material wealth equals happiness myth and have begun to opt out of mainstream consumer culture.

But how green is green enough? Can we really fly off on skiing holidays in the winter then exotic beach holidays in the summer and still call ourselves green because we get a box of organic veg delivered once a week? Can we still aspire to own and then flaunt the latest luxury cars, houses, clothes, electronics, holidays, jewellery and so on and consider ourselves green because we bring them home in a ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ and recycle the packaging? Surely not. The materialist and often infantilising values underpinning and reinforced by consumer culture are at the root of most, if not all, environmental, social, personal and one could now argue even economic problems.

To become green, and not just conspicuously green for the sake of one’s image, one needs to let go of these consumerist values. This is not a simple thing to do. It involves a lot of soul searching, a fair bit of scepticism and a lot of resolve. I know, I’ve been there, done it and recognised that I shouldn’t buy the t-shirt. The greenest people out there are the ones who don’t make a song or dance about it, but whose lifestyles just make them naturally ‘green’. These people often display materially simple but intrinsically rich lives. They have found real ways to meet their basic needs for non-material things like love, respect, friendship, intellectual stimulation, entertainment and play, they are not seduced by goods and services that merely promise to deliver these things and they are not conspicuously green. If you are less materialistic, less concerned with creating your identity through the goods and services you buy, you will naturally be more environmentally friendly (you will create less waste and use less fuel). You will also, probably, be happier because you will not be so reliant or guided by external stimulation and praise. Being green means doing all the green things like reducing, reusing and recycling, but it also means having a mindset that lessens your propensity to display your greenness!

Here’s a prescription for three books which might help you shake off the common assumption that a high income is always necessary for happiness, and encourage you to become less conscipuously green. 
Tim Kasser The High Price of Materialism
Vance Packard The Hidden Persuaders
John Naish Enough
Andrew Simms (ed) Do Good Lives Need to Cost The Earth?

All these books can be found on The School of Life's new shelf "For Those Who Strive To Be Greener".

Morgan Phillips is The School of Life's expert on Green Living.

Comments

[Chajana denHarder]

Thank you for this.

[Edward Hines]

Thank you for a concise summary of where many of us find ourselves, and what I have struggled with over most of my adult life. When I was not struggling it was either because I had given up, forgotten, or was in an integrally green period of my life.

Right now I'm struggling again ;-) Fortunately I have learned that guilt is a poor motivation for me. Little reminders like this article are far more encouraging, especially because they are understated, and I'll spring off these words with a little more oppenness to receive and supply those non-material needs as I move through this amazing city.