Figmentations

Every year, new buzzwords are coined (see last year’s list: “The Buzzwords of 2008“).  Clearly the list for 2009 is still evolving and will certainly include words that do not even exist yet.

Surprising or not, even the “eye-blurring” subject of Economics has contributed buzzwords to our lexicon as when “irrational exuberance” became a buzzword back in December of 1996.

“Green shoots“, as first heard from Bernanke in a “60 Minutes” interview last month, is sure to make the list of buzzwords for 2009.  In reference to the state of our current economy, this phrase is a metaphor indicating that we are starting to see signs of economic recovery (or as others would suggest are merely indications that “things are not getting worse at an accelerating rate.”)

Depending on your political persuasion, “green shoots” might even be a good way to characterize Obama’s first 100 days in office.

Quite conveniently, the phrase “green shoots” has also arrived in time for the Celebration of this year’s Earth Day, or as some would say is Earth Week, or Earth Month.  The Obama Administration’s new focus on the environment also reflects the “green shoots” that make this year’s Earth Day different from those in the past.

Yet, as pointed out and paraphrased from at least one of this Sunday’s morning talk shows: “a good start doesn’t insure a good finish.”  There is still a long road ahead.

This reminds me of a panel discussion at this month’s PSEG Greenfest where Daryl Hannah (supported by Ed Begley, Jr.), brought up the fact that being green is both easy and hard.  As the discussion went, “simple living” may reflect a less complicated time period of the past, but it clearly represents a more difficult lifestyle in other ways, too.  Living off of the land and doing things with fewer of our modern-day (and more environmentally-damaging) conveniences is not necessarily an easier life.

Yet, getting the low hanging fruit first is the best and easiest place to start.  It is where small things can go a long way (e.g., like turning off lights and unused appliances; switching to the longer-lasting CFL light bulbs; and eliminating the use of disposable plastic bottles and bags).  It is a good place to start, but it is just the start.

As Ed Begley Jr. also pointed out at both this year’s PSEG Greenfest and last year’s Global Green Expo, even though there is a lot with the environment that isn’t going well, and a lot of battles that still need to be fought that won’t easily be won, there is still a lot to be hopeful about, too.  Victories are being achieved (e.g., nationally, we have eliminated the use of CFCs and the ozone hole is getting smaller, and locally the Hudson River is one of many rivers that are viable again.)  Change needs to start somewhere.  And, change is an ongoing journey.

While consumption is necessary and important for a healthy economy, nowadays, we are all increasingly aware of the damage that overconsumption can cause, too, to the economy, our pocketbooks, our healthcare system, our individual health and quality of life, and on our environment.  Everything is felt globally, nationally, and locally.  And, solutions need to come locally, nationally, and globally, too.

Overconsumption leads to wasted energies in all senses of the word.   Retail therapy can no longer be the prescription of the day.  We are in the day where we are seeing studies that suggest how being “thinner is better to curb global warming” and how “Email Spam ‘produces 17m tons of CO2′“.

Environmentally, things are being evaluated in terms of our carbon footprint, with the goal to become “carbon neutral” or “carbon negative”.  Economically speaking, spending and saving, trade and budgets, need to come back into balance again, too.

I now evaluate my decisions in the form of trade-offs, i.e., what will doing or spending money on one thing over another now create or prevent for me in the future.  In all arenas, this trade-off consideration applies equally well, be it in finance, health, time, or environmental impact.  We need to have both a current and a long term outlook.  Small things, good and bad, build on themselves.

We are no longer in the day of expecting or believing in quick fixes.  Ed Begley Jr. often explains how he didn’t achieve his current green lifestyle quickly but by doing small things over time.  To paraphrase, he always says “don’t do anything you can’t afford…work up to it …save up for it…you will see savings in the long run.”

Right now “green shoots” are simply green shoots.  Let’s be sure to take care of them (both individually and collectively) so that they don’t get crowded out by weeds and so that they grow healthy in an environment of balance that is long-term sustainable.