from Natural Life Magazine, January/February 2008
From the Editor’s Desk 
Trying to Lighten Up
The global warming warnings are getting heavier by the moment now. In response, conscientious people like Natural Life readers (not to mention owners and staff!) are responding to the growing sense of urgency by lightening up our respective footprints. And much of the rest of the world’s population – with the notable exception of North American political leaders – seems likewise engaged, if polls are to be believed. A recent BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries found that four out of five people are ready to make serious changes to their lifestyles to address climate change – even in the United States and China, the world’s two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.
In the U.S., that’s a sea change in public opinion and it’s backed up by a study conducted by Yale University, Gallup and the ClearVision Institute. In that poll, 62 percent of respondents said that they believe life on earth will continue without major disruptions only if society takes immediate and drastic action to reduce global warming.
Then why is my biggest problem not lightening my footprint but my mood? I keep wondering if all the sacrifice individuals are making really matter if governments and industry don’t stop dithering. And the greenwash gets me down. The other day a PR firm sent me a whole case full of water in plastic bottles sourced from a spring in Fiji…accompanied by a press release telling me how it is the first bottled water brand to go carbon negative! Then I read about how an eight-passenger SUV won the “Green Car of the Year” award at the Los Angeles Auto Show. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was quoted as drooling, “They’ve proven that they can make beautiful cars, strong cars, keep the size, keep the safety, and all those kinds of things, and at the same time be more fuel efficient.” Maybe his heart is in the right place. After all, it is Hollywood. And Hollywood, says American author, columnist and blogger Arianna Huffington, “has gone from the capital of conspicuous consumption to the cutting edge of conspicuous conservation.”
So I’m trying to keep my senses of humor and perspective. One of the ways I’m trying to stay hopeful for the future is by writing and reading. One of the writers whose books I’ll be exploring more thoroughly this year is a Tibetan Buddhist nun named Pema Chodron. She is a teacher at Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery for Westerners. Her books have titles that are well suited to these times, including No Time to Lose, The Places That Scare You, When Things Fall Apart, and Start Where You Are. And what better place to begin than with a quote from the latter title: “The best gift you can give yourself is to lighten up."
Enjoy the year and keep a light heart to accompany your lightened footprint.
Wendy Priesnitz, Editor
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