Monday, November 9, 2009

Activism?

As of 15 minutes ago, I am a member of Greenpeace!

I was walking toward a coffee shop on Pearl Street, and was stopped by a charming young man with a Greenpeace clipboard. My initial "I'm good, thanks" response wasn't accepted by this guy, and he pushed a little bit, discussing endangered whales, orangutans, and the need to put consumer pressure on trangressing corporations.

"I have no money!" I insisted, but as he was chatting I realized the hypocrisy of my position. I read articles about Greenpeace and Earthfirst every week. I WRITE about them, for goodness sake! And it is my job to analyze the effectiveness of environmental rhetoric and try to make it better. I need to put my money where my mouth is!

So I stopped being a turd, and pledged a little money to a cause I believe in. I'm pretty thrilled about it, actually. Greenpeace does have a number of successes in the past, and maybe my little bit of $ will help them gain ground in the future. In any case, it's gotten me thinking about environmental activism, which I really don't do. I have a lot of excuses: I'm poor, and harried, and incredibly busy. But there is a difference in NOT doing bad things for the environment and proactively doing something positive.

I want a positive project, other than my academic research. Any ideas?