“Green” Will Never Scale
by James Bedell
The pundits all say it. The skeptics believe it, they all say that America can never be a “green” nation. We will never lead the world in sustainability. America will fall behind because she doesn’t care about the environment she only cares about rabid consumerism, after all the “green” brand has already been bastardized beyond recognition anyway….
Enough.
Of course green will never scale. Green will never scale because “green” doesn’t mean anything. “Green” is a movement, a way of thinking, it’s not a product. There wasn’t a “mobility” movement that spurred the automobile to scale, there wasn’t an “information” movement that got a computer on every desktop in America. These were incredible products of immense value to their customers to the point where most Americans can’t fathom the idea of living without a car, a computer, or (multiples of) both.
When skeptics tell you “green won’t scale” tell them “you’re right.” But also tell them what will scale. What will scale is a superior class of building accessible to all. Tell them that what does scale are profitable retrofits of existing buildings. The conversion of buildings from energy sucking, health depriving, creativity sucking, productivity killing cinderblock dungeons to life affirming, productivity enhancing, health improving, energy neutral spaces that people are actually thrilled to live and work in every day will scale.
Enough defending green. Start providing such a vastly superior product it doesn’t have to be defended.
Green means defending Al Gore. “Green” means fighting with Glenn Beck. Green means having your building being spoken of in the same breath as organic home remedies. Green means fighting about how many degrees it was in Antarctica this winter or the distance between polar ice chunks…meanwhile our building stock still sucks.
Forget green. Make it better, better does scale.
This content is published by the permission of its author.
Great article. I completely agree! Sustainable products will take off once people are convinced that they will save them money and improve their lives. Most people will not go “green” just to save the planet, especially if it makes their lives more difficult (e.g. line drying laundry to save energy). However, there are so many great sustainable products out there, especially for building homes, that really can improve quality of life and save money. Rather than guilting people into doing things that are uncomfortable, lets inspire them with products that make their lives better!
I'm right there with you James… 'Green' is an adjective, not a verb. We truly need (deserve) action on the part of everyone to move a better planet forward. Great post!
I'm right there with you James… 'Green' is an adjective, not a verb. We truly need (deserve) action on the part of everyone to move a better planet forward. Great post!