GreenMark Public Relations®, Inc.

Stop climate change now should not be treated like a bandwagon campaign. On the one hand, advocates of green living may need a few “trends” to muster general interest, so we have the big ones: global warming, hybrid cars, solar power, vegetarianism, light bulbs. The problem with trends is that people will find quick (and sometimes valid) reasons to disregard them. Politicians seeking re-election and television pundits who need to fill 24-hours of air time with talking points have nailed all these big trends - and whether or not they’re accurate or correct, they’re out there. Global warming was found to have botched facts by overzealous scientists, hybrid cars may be too expensive to get a dollar for dollar value, solar power won’t work in every region of the United States, Vegetarianism is too difficult - expensive - and/or “wimpy,” and fluorescent light bulbs are thought to be seriously hazardous if broken - also they are expensive.

Now that I’ve disregarded all of the “big green trends,” and anyone who wants to be realistic about the issue will be familiar with the arguments against these things, I’d like to point out that individual lifestyle choices aren’t going to save the planet from the realities that underly some of the rational for serious issues like climate change, starvation, natural resource depletion, etc. Not to desparage individual green living choices, which are a great thing, but the only two ways to make a major green impact is to climb the uphill battle through state and national legistlation and find green money reasons for green living solutions. No one would disagree that hybrid cars are better for the environment than a new non-hybrid car, but making them cost-efficient is the key. A new Toyota Prius starting at $22,500 is still too much to get everyone on board. Now, getting large scale government changes might be another issue entirely, as we all saw the results of December’s Copenhagen Conference.

So what do we do? Sit back, bite our nails and hope we don’t wipe ourselves out as a society? Yes. Of course! But while we’re doing that, we should put some distance on the trends. Be green. Be as dark green as possible. Being dark green requires as much a critical eye an measure of practicality as those who look upon green lifestyle changes as expensive alternatives and “not for me.” The irony is that everyone wants to be green. Everyone wants to save the planet, but they also want to save some money. Dark green companies and organizations understand this and use this effectively in whatever product or service they provide. To make an impact on someone’s life, make an impact to their wallet.

In the mean time, here’s some nail-biting photographic proof of extreme polar ice loss from a recent TED conference.