'Green'
Most Over-Used Word in 2008
The
school children from Lake Superior State University have issued
their 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from
the
Queen's
English
for Mis-use,
Over-use and General Uselessness. "Green" and "going
green" received the most nominations.
For
those of us who are in the eco-friendly, (whisper) 'Green' business,
this news came to be somewhat of a blow.
For
some especially, the news came as very bad timing. Co-op
America, a well-known staple of information on natural products
and services, has officially
discarded their old name and is now known as Green America as
of January 1, 2009. Ouch. Perhaps it's
not
too late
to
dust
off the
old respected
Co-op America name that we still hold dear to our hearts.
Reflecting
back on the year in an honest light,
the word did spring out from the media and was pounded
into the
ground over and over until its shiny green newness was more of
a brown rot color. Companies that are not even remotely interested
in making
the earth
a better
place,
were
all
of a sudden
going
green,
by
offering recycled toilet paper in their 5,000 chain store bathrooms.
Small efforts touting big promises. A word
that was supposed to be synonymous with
'pure, clean and natural', was turned into a
trendy movement only to be scorned by frosty college kids in Michigan.
What
hurts us the most, is not that we may lose the word 'Green' as
a useful and good descriptive word, but that people may be
turned off to making the earth a cleaner place.
As
one comment clearly captures the bitter sentiment from the Lake
Superior website, "If
I see one more corporation declare itself 'green,' I'm going
to start burning tires in my backyard." -
Ed
Ok,
we get it. However, this
unfortunate attitude (as echoed by many others on LSSU website)
is dangerous to us as a growing global population. We here
at Happyhippie.com sincerely
hope
that it
was just
the
overuse
of the word, and not the concept that was a turn-off.
To
make the basic concept of the now banished and offensive term
'going green' simple
for the school kidlets in Michigan, pretend we are fish in
a small fish bowl. Now
pretend
that
the water
never
gets
cleaned,
and our fish flakes are running out. We end up as starving
fish swimming around in our own poop. Michigan kids - I hope
you took
notes, as there will be a pop-quiz in about 30 years.
(sigh)
Due
to the unfortunate
nomination, we may just have to say R.I.P. to
the word 'green' or 'going green' for now. On the bright
side, we still have eco-friendly and earth-friendly, and to honest,
those descriptions state the intention more clearly.
We
may also say clean, pure, natural, fair-trade, organic and renewable.
Although I may be grasping at straws from my compost-bin,
we could always choose a new color to encapsulate the whole 'save
the earth' movement. How about the color 'blue'
(like the unpolluted sky or ocean)? Or, perhaps, 'white', like
pure, unpolluted snow, like they have in Michigan..right?
Work with me, people.
Author - meg at happyhippie.com
