‘…Betty Crocker never existed. She was created by advertising manager Sam Gale in 1921. General Mills wanted a ’spokeswoman’ to personalize responses to letters it received from consumers.’
Anonymous

Somewhere that’s green

There is a danger these days of true intentioned ecologically-sensitive projects being lumped in with the ‘Walmart biodegradable, eco-friendly, disposable garbage can liners’. Everyone, it would seem, wants to put ‘Green’, ‘Sustainable’, ‘Bio-Degradable’ and ‘Eco-Friendly’ on their products whether or not there is any evidence to support it. There is equally a possibility of such false claims flooding the market and turning an important social movement into a cliché. I already find the word ‘Green’ to be a cliché.

What I’m interested in learning about are the values that live within these catch all phrases?

How are we actually interested in living our lives? If we strip off all of the competitive crap that seems to go a long with making a change in life we are left with our actual value system. I know personally that some things that I possibly ’shouldn’t’. Or I should consider these values obsolete.

For instance, I love taking long hot baths. I can admit it. I probably shouldn’t take a long hot bath every night. It is very wasteful. Likewise, I probably shouldn’t drink beer every day. But I do. Should I therefore pretend that this isn’t true? Shall I keep it in my dark, secret, closet of hypocrisy? Are these Eco-taboos of any use? I see them every day. People coyly admitting that ‘well they really shouldn’t… but they do’. I see absolutely no value in this fear. I mean I can respect the fear. But I don’t respect behavior that perpetuates the continuation of our societies need to hide from itself.