During the Q&A session for the In Conversation Forum organised by the Raffles Girls School, a student mentioned that talking about the environment has become cliche and gives the feeling of “not again”. We replied that this is partly our fault, partly the fault of environmentalists who turns people off with our Dark Green environmentalism.
We have been focusing on the Dark Green mindset for too long and it’s time to embrace the Bright Green mindset. Our mindsets shape our actions and it is important to adopt the right mindset. There’s nothing wrong with both mindsets except that Dark Green tends to inspire fear and denial while Bright Green tends to inspire creativity and action.
Learn more about Dark and Bright Green from Worldchanging.
Dark Green
It’s about sacrifice and the horror stories.
Use less and buy less.
Switch off the lights and use less energy
Save the whales.
Save the polar bears, the polar bears are dying.
Don’t do this, don’t do that.
It’s about pessimism and negative mindsets.
It’s about “I have a nightmare”.
Bright Green
It’s about solutions and innovations.
Think possibilities and green technologies.
It’s about creating jobs and improving lives.
Better quality lives and environment for all.
Embrace green businesses and clean energy.
Achieve energy and water independence.
It’s about optimism and positive mindsets.
It’s about “I have a dream”.
The time has come to focus on Bright Green and let’s work together towards a bright green future.
Photo credit: Raiden256.
I think this hits on two very key points to do with the environment, or world changing in general.
Inspiration: while it is very important to highlight the terrible consequences our lifestyles take on the environment, we must also highlight the solutions and what everyone can do to help.
Those of us with a message about environmentalism should be careful to not only scare but also to inspire.
However, I also think that some personal responsibility for the comment should be taken by the student – being green is not a fad, it’s not something we can ignore when we’re bored of it.
Yes, those of us that are passionate about the environment should strive to make it interesting and inspiring, but you can only lead a horse to water, you can’t stop the horse from finding the water boring.