I’ll make a better case for sustainability as I further introduce myself and my purpose.
I’m a furniture designer and manufacturer. I’m also an environmental activist. Admittedly, I was not moved to get involved in this work because of global warming, although I certainly don’t like living in a dirty house.
I was moved to get involved with this issue because of the lip service paid to the human dimension of this crisis. What good does it do to restore the earth and leave the people who come from it (whose bone is made from the same substance as rock, whose flesh is composed of the same substance as the earth’s vegetation and whose body is 75% water, exactly mirroring the planet’s water to land ratio) to overheat in anger, frustration, and insecurity due to job loss or a lack of means to adequately sustain ourselves and our families?
Few care about environmental degradation because we don’t see ourselves in the sustainable picture. When we look at a photo the first person we search for in the picture is ourselves. Until we see ourselves as the object of the movement, instead of sprouting trees, virgin landscapes and the cute polar bears often seen in advertisements, product packaging and other forms of public communications, the planet doesn’t have a chance.
By the way, according to Webster, one of the definitions of stupid is lacking interest or point.
More next post.
