A colleague at work, a few weeks ago, commented to me that he is considering following my example and “doing the green thing”. Now I don’t wish to be cynical… but this kind of comment was illuminating. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great guy and he shares a lift to work. More than I do. So his heart is in the right place. However I found it quizzical – his reference to the “green thing”. What is it and what does this kind of wishy-washy terminology say about us?

We are a people without a name. We can’t name our cause. We use descriptions devoid of meaning. Platitudes. Euphemisms. What are we hiding, what are we afraid of? Or do we not have the language to describe this burning need to go Post-Carbon? Even worse – is the “green thing” a reflection of society’s entrenched position that practically everything in life is about “lifestyle”. Lifestyle is ephemeral. It is fluff lacking any substance. They are green. You are an environmentalist. I am post carbon.

Lifestyle. That is a killer. I hate the “green” choice as “lifestyle”. It smacks of “alternatives”. Today I will buy a fast car. Tomorrow I will do a bit of the 'green thing'. Then I am going to smoke crack cocaine. What do we mean? Is the 'green thing' just about showing off to our neighbours? Is that a bad thing? I like to think of this as creating a new social norm. We do what we do because our neighbours SHOULD see it. We lead by example. But are we just trying to get ‘one over’. Is the green thing just another bit of “keeping up with the Joneses”? Or does it matter? Where does the 'green thing' pass from a bit of showing off to being an ingrained reality – as important as eating or breathing? When does the 'green thing' lead to conflict with your neighbours? It is only when you challenge people that you have passed through the a barrier. It is no longer a question of peripheral social acceptance. Not just “fitting in”. This is a revolution and it won’t be comfortable. Look at it from the inside out, not the outside in. Live it. It is you. You can be a Politician or a Policeman and these are commitments. You can’t try the “politics thing” nor have a go at the “law and order thing”. That would be daft. You can’t be a little pregnant nor partially dead.

Today I can no longer conceive of thinking any other way. I guess not everyone is as far down this path? You certainly shouldn't’t complain about why people make the choices they do. However you have to question the permanency of such decisions. Creating a sustainable future means doing something that will last forever. It is no more a lifestyle choice than the reproduction of your species. It is an imperative. I can’t stand the idea that someone's thinking is so short sighted and lazy so as to even consider that they would do the 'green thing' because it is some whim or fancy. This year's fashion like last year’s stone cladding or Rubik's cube. Building for your future is hardly a fad. How do we get people to embrace this change permanently? We need a vision. A positive idea about what we are and what we stand for. Governments could buy airtime and sell this with flashy TV adverts. Post Carbon is the new green. It is the new cool. It rocks and if you don’t get with the plan you are a dinosaur paying through the nose for your fossil fuels fool! Just how do you create a mass movement that creates a new paradigm?

Stand up. Say in a clear voice. “I am post carbon forever”. I am not doing the “green thing” today because it matches the colour of my eyes. You are post-carbon FIRST and foremost. It is a philosophy from which you review your lifestyle choices. It itself is not a choice nor can it ever be a lifestyle. There is no alternative to post-carbon. It isn’t a thing. It has a name. Use it. Get used to it. You are not green no more than you are blue of grey. Green is a terrible word, like “environmentalist” or “ecologist”. Until these words are not confused with “primitive” of “anarchist” then NEVER use this word again. Ever. I’ll be watching.