The Urban Environmentalist

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Driving my parents SUV today, a thought occurred to me. How am I really making a difference towards improving the environment? You see, this is an important question to me as I now consider myself an environmentalist. This is the "career" that I have finally prepared to commit to. A big change for a boy raised amongst the glitz of a big city, where money, fame and toys define your status. As such, I'm wondering now if I really am making a difference and what I can do to make the biggest impact while being able to live my life in the urban realm. Is it possible to be an environmentalist in a big city, where we are so dependent on "consumption", or am I just a big hypocrite? Or, will I have to move to Montana and live off the land and "suffer" through an existence. This is a question/perspective I believe that MOST people, who may be even remotely environmentally conscious (or want to be), contemplate as they live out their urban existence. Just how can one be an environmentalist while working at a high-tech job, while commuting to work in a gas-guzzling vehicle and while working horrid hours simply to pay an enormous rent? I know that this thought process has stumped me in the past. Maybe being an environmentalist is too daunting of a task - perhaps I should just give up.

Recently, I began working part-time with a small environmental media company called EcoWorld. EcoWorld's long-term mission is to accelerate the success of environmental projects by matching environmental heroes with heroes of philanthropy. It is vital to EcoWorld's mission to appeal to *all* people, not just other environmentalists. People like you and me, who yearn to live an urban life as ecologically responsible as possible. And, without having to give up *all* of the luxuries we enjoy today.

Education is the first step and most effective way to alter perception. The media still has the largest impact upon the masses. Several successful media campaigns were launched in the 70's. One commercial showed an American Indian crying after he witnessed someone throw litter out of a passing car, in another, Smokey the Bear advised to not play with matches. In my circle of friends, we used to make fun of environmentalists. People that chained themselves to trees or those that waited outside fancy hotels to douse fur-wearing women with blood, used to alienate us, and we made fun of them.

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