Hey, I'm published!
If you're interested, a couple months ago I penned a piece for an excellent new magazine here in the Upper Mississippi Valley region called Natural Communities, which is devoted to chronicling what I've taken to refering to as the emerging "culture of responsibility". The article is entitled "A Deeper Shade of Green", and it argues that just as the term "Organic" was co-opted by big-business, so "Green" is going to be as well. But that's alright, because just as true organic food buyers have deepened their understanding and become more informed and discerning about what makes food healthy, so too will those who wish to create healthy, responsible homes.
Or to put it another way, nobody really goes to Wal-Mart to buy healthy food, and nobody goes to Home Depot to buy truly "green" building materials either. They go there for "cheap". And this newly emerging culture of responsibility is by it's nature inherently incompatible with our dying culture of "quantity and consumption". Yes, I'll grant you it doesn't always seem that way, but it is.
"The green building revolution will pursue a practical course, which starts by re-examining the existing materials in our homes and workplaces and asking ourselves whether they might actually be harming us. Then, over time, we should replace these things when feasible, and explore ways to seal their toxins in when it’s not.
As a good rule of thumb though, just as with the organic foods movement, we should probably maintain a healthy distrust for any solutions we’ll be offered by the very corporations and industries that put us into this mess in the first place."
Of course don't get me wrong--the Big Box stores will still do huge business catering to the majority of people, since the majority of people--by their very nature--don't really give a shit. I mean why do you think Wal-Mart even bothered to go "Organic®" in the first place? Because they know that when push comes to shove, most people prefer a comforting lie to actually making any real effort to do the right thing.
