So what is compelling? I received an email yesterday from the Worldwatch Institute, a Spring 2009 Campaign donation request, I often receive them and just as often I delete after reading the final word. This time the words spoke to my soul....
It speaks of culture and how our culture influences our daily lives. Their call to action is to shift the culture of over-consumption to a culture of sustainability! While this isn't a new thought, this culture shift angle struck a loud chord with me.
I often (more and more every day) hear comments from friends in a predominant culture that I believe in about "tree-huggers" and other such silly names that label a movement that they believe does not belong in their "culture." Well I'm sorry folks! You're the ones that can't see the forest for the trees! Sustainability is self-reliance. Self-reliance is a core value you suppose to espouse....or are those just words? This is dedicated to you, my friends!!
In re-posting their email here, and I must use their words, I am not necessarily asking you to join their campaign financially - especially in this economic environment - but I am asking you to consider how you can join their campaign in how you live your life! Enough of my editorial, on with their words!
Why do we spend billions on expensive products to keep us healthy, while consuming cheap processed foods that make us sick?Why do we spend more time than ever plugged in to gadgets, and less time visiting with our friends?
Why do we put some animals in day care and others in factory farms, making "best friends" of the former and fast food of the latter?
IT'S OUR CULTURE.
Culture is the invisible force that molds our values, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors. It is the force that makes everything we do seem natural. And while rarely discussed, culture is the single most important determinant of whether we as a society thrive long into the future, or-like maladapted civilizations before us, go extinct.
The 21st-century consumer culture now influences the behaviors of over 2 billion people. But to thrive, we urgently need to shift cultural norms so that it is no longer "second nature" to consume ever more stuff. Instead, it should feel natural to live healthier, more satisfying lives that are in balance with the Earth's limits.
After decades of extreme over-consumption, we now have a moral obligation to ourselves, to our children and grandchildren, and to the Earth that sustains us to change the way we are thinking and alter our habits as a result. And that is exactly what Worldwatch is hoping to provoke.
In Worldwatch's Spring 2009 campaign, we are working hard to raise $20,000 for our "Transforming Cultures Project,"which will explore the current consumer culture and how to transition to a culture of sustainability. I hope you will consider making a gift to support those efforts.
The two main goals of our Transforming Cultures Project are:
To develop powerful tools that encourage people to reconsider the current cultural system.
To challenge people to play a role in transforming that cultural system into one that is more sustainable.
In addition to providing a compelling analysis of how a culture of sustainability is starting to take root, our flagship report State of the World 2010 will launch a discussion of how to effectively cultivate a culture of sustainability as individuals and as a society. Throughout 2010, the book will be used to reach those actors already poised to lead this cultural transition: environmental educators, policymakers, journalists, social entrepreneurs, eco-celebrities, and civil society leaders.
Will you help us get there? Please make a donation of $50, $100, $250, or more to support the writing and research behind State of the World 2010: Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability, as well as the critical communications strategy that will amplify its impact.
With gratitude,
Christopher Flavin
President
