Why don’t Black folks care about being green? It’s one of the new popular trends, but Blacks have not latched onto the craze.
Green is no longer the color in the crayon box you never want to use; it’s a product, process, philosophy and lifestyle that has been adapted by people worldwide.
Going ‘green’ is a conscious decision to make environmentally friendly changes to one’s lifestyle to help reduce the human effects on global warming. Being green reduces the amount of waste going into landfills, reduces the litter on land and in water, conserves energy and saves our money.
Though countless books, Web sites and organizations provide green tips and information, too many people lag behind in a necessary global change. This trend has not had much of an impact on the Black community.
According to Target Market, a company that tracks Black consumer spending, Blacks spend a significant amount of their income on clothes and electronics. In fact, in 2002, Blacks spent $22.9 billion on clothes and $3.2 billion on electronics.
Now, this is speculating on my part, but when a group of people purchase so many things, which more than likely come in plastic bags, these shoppers have a great impact on the environment. The bags usually end up in our landfills and take years to decompose.
But who cares when you have instant gratification and social acceptance by keeping up with the latest fashion and technological advances. Our future rests in the choices we all make.
Charles Jordan, nationally known conservationist and the first African American to head The Conservation Fund, one of the nation’s top environmental nonprofits says, “Nothing exists in isolation in this world. Everything is connected. One person living upstream can contaminate more than 500 downstream …so how can either us, black or white, ever say I’m just taking care of mine? We have got to come together.”
The large misconception that Blacks have is “green living” is only feasible for those who are wealthy, can travel to save the polar bears, and those who can purchase natural foods. The image of the “treehuggers” is mostly that of White middle-class backpackers and upper-class elite.
Green groups need to better connect with Black communities.
Bianca Alexander, a blogger on “Divine Caroline,” sums it up best.
“Until we begin to truly work together as a one world community for the good of mother earth-who is crying out desperately for help in a myriad of ways-we are doomed as a human race to reap the consequences of a zero-sum game where everyone loses whether they’re black, white, or green.”