A Green Solution

A green solution solves one problem without creating another. Many people live for the weekends, without taking control of their lives. They create more problems than they solve. Are you one of these people? Are you tired of depending on your employer to stay employed as you watch food prices go up and salaries go down? Do you wonder how you'll pay the mortgage and property tax and school tax or electric bill or phone bill or cable bill? Price of fuel oil and gasoline got you down? Do you cringe every time you here yourself say, "Fill er up"?

Solutions to our to our complex set of social and economic problems come with a price and that price is a special blend of patience and compassion. The world around us is rapidly changing and we need to adapt to these changes; what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Ideas are important but ideas only become tangible when they become goals and sprout legs. We need a plan. We each need to take responsibility our own lives and stop depending on politicians to lead us to the Promised Land. We need a sustainable economy that's less-dependant on executives focused only of profit. A good example of this kind of multi-billion-dollar business is the found in the carbonated soda industry. The producers of this carbonated sugar-water dominate the soda industry in over 200 countries.

Before 1903 Coke actually did contain about 9 milligrams of cocaine per glass. Before the 20th century there were no laws that restricted the use of drugs in foods. Coke was developed as a treatment for toothache pain in 1885 and it soon became a popular drink... perhaps too popular. By 1903 cocaine was removed when the health risks associated with cocaine were realized. Of course the caffeine and sugar remained and the Coke industry had to rely more on advertising and less on an addictive substance to keep their customers. The leaves of a Coca plant are used to make cocaine and the beans of a Cocoa plant are used to make Coco butter, a major ingredient in the manufacture of chocolate.

In 1903 Milton Hershey began construction of the largest chocolate manufacturing plants in the world located in Hershey Pennsylvania. Although not as addicting as cocaine people who enjoy the taste of Coco butter homogenized with sugar come back for more in spite of the health risks. Don't get me wrong. I'm no saint. I like to bite down on a piece of chocolate from time to time and wash it down with a bottle of Coke, but I'm not addicted to Coke or am I?

Do I actually think about the products I buy or am I drawn toward them like they are magnet? Do you ever wonder why a variety of candy bars surround the check out counters in super markets and pharmacies? They are like little magnets pulling your purse strings. Watch yourself slide a bag of M&Ms into the shopping cart next time your in the supermarket. Is this something you relay want or need? Do you here yourself think about the dark milk chocolate on the inside and a thin candy shell on the outside? Advertisers spend millions of dollars on TV commercials, and radio ads to lure consumers into their magnetic web, but a fancy web does not guarantee value. This is something you'll have to discover on our own. I could tell you to eat carrots and bananas instead of porter house steaks or I could tell you to walk at least 2 miles every day and stretch all your ligaments to stay physically healthy, but a few suggestions from someone you have never met will not guarantee a green solution.

Green alternatives goals only become tangible possibilities when we make a plan and develop realistic expectations based on our abilities and our passion. You don't have to spend the rest of your life pushing paper from one side of your desk to the other and you don't have to deep fry potatoes or shovel hamburgers or wash dishes or pack groceries for a living. We are approaching the end of an oil economy because we are running out of oil. As the expenses of transportation increase local businesses that take advantage of natural resources will have opportunities they never had before. Information that was once only available to the elite few is now available to anyone with Internet access. We no longer have to depend on an uncertain future with an uncertain employer. We can hire ourselves and provide valuable services to a localized green economy.

A green solution is anything that adds value to the quality of our air and water and life. A green solution creates jobs that help people preserve natural resources rather than destroy them. We share our planet with a variety of plants and animals that we need to respect rather than exploit. With modern technology it is now possible to extract all the nutrients we need from plants. We no longer have to drive cattle into the slaughterhouses or cram millions of chickens into an overcrowded barn until they become fat enough to eat. There is more than enough food for everyone if we use resources wisely and the greatest resource of all is our sun.

Energy independent, solar heated houses may not solve all our social and economic problems but sustainability, will only happen if we reconnect with the sun and make it so. As Thomas Edison said in 1939, "We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fences to fuel our houses when we should be using the energy from the sun..."

Become a solar farmer and harvest power and heat directly from the sun. Grow all or most of your own food. Become less dependent on failing banks and crumbling corporations. If you are searching for green solutions look inside the marrow of you bones and the sinewy of your soul and become the master of your habits. All I can do is offer a few green living tips to get you started. Your job will be to transform green ideas into green solutions.

View Article_Source