Needed: A Team Approach (Since We Are All in This High Stakes Game Together)

While it is easy to see “life as usual” going on in the U.S., there are many bright Green spots spread over the landscape of this beautiful country. Some of those green projects are concentrated in certain parts of the U.S. -- like the strides made in San Francisco moving toward the majority of municipal waste being recycled, reused or composted. Large scale efforts in Renewable Energy is moving ahead in some states like Colorado, Texas and California, in leaps and bounds. The not so good news is that in other areas like the Midwest are still primarily focused on mining and burning coal, spewing toxins into the air, soil and water.

How can we realistically move forward with a renewed economy when the head is turned backwards and the vision is on what worked in the past? One piece of this puzzle that I have heard repeatedly in discussions of the NAAEE Sustainability Task- force and The Institute of Green Professionals site, http://www.consilienceblog.org. It is the inability of scientists, architects, engineers and other professionals to effectively communicate their research findings or what they predict from sophisticate modeling to the generally scientifically illiterate and often unengaged public. Part of this maybe the “balanced reporting” by the media, putting results of scientific study on the same level of “accuracy” as some layperson’s opinion on the subject. Some of this may be the general public just not wanting to hear the difficult truth – because change is difficult and “we have always done it this way” ostrich syndrome, if we ignore it, it will go away. But another part of this is the need to also translate the information, to put the information into a format and into words that the general public can understand and digest, then act on responsibly.

This educational message is core to the mission of the Thumbprint Endeavors Team. We gather information, work with clients to Green their space by saving energy, using less resources, and save money – the triple bottom line plus. And the plus is that while we inform and educate to help them to develop more knowledge and awareness to make better sustainable lifestyle choices.

So, a shout-out to the Professionals (scientists, architects, engineers and environmental educators) on the “Green Team”, we need to work together on informing and EDUCATING those not yet on board.