Random Thoughts

I believe we, as a culture, can learn a lot from something as simple and small as the hummingbird.  As the hummingbird migrates its' way south, it stops intermediately to fuel up on nectar.  Throughout the 2000 miles of migration a year, not only does it use nectar as energy, it also pollinates the flowers to promise nectar for the following years' great migration.  This will not only take care of the hummingbirds and their offspring.  This will provide the bees and insects with a more plentiful energy source.  

I work at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and they are very conscious of their own social responsibility.  Not only do we give grants every year to the farmers we get our coffee beans from so they can keep their operation going, we also pay them a fair market value for their product.  We learned that six months out of the year, the farmers and their families have to cut back on the amount of food they eat so they can keep their business running.  Because of GMCR the farmers and their families now eat full meals every day.  Green Mountain understands that we cannot just take their coffee beans for a low price and expect them to work full days without food and hope they have the same quality and quantity of product the next year.

Like Nature's Operation Instructions says, we are apart of nature, not apart from it.  We need to understand that just because there are a lot of us humans, it does not mean that we are necessarily indestructible, and that we ARE connected to and effected by nature.  I believe we need to realize that the byproduct, or waste, from creating energy is starting to have a real and visible effect on our world.  

Instead of carelessly spending money on the luxury or horse power of your vehicle, focus on miles per gallon (oil dependency?), where it was built, the kind of chemicals used.  Our culture is very materialistic.  Some people base their feeling of "self-worth" on what they own or what they can show off.  I do believe the green movement is coming, and hopefully with time, what is cool and isn't cool will change.  We need to shift our perception of "cool" from bigger and faster to energy efficient and  the production of less waste.