Thoughts on environmentalism...I mean the "green" movement

I was in fourth grade in 1994. I was obsessed with this book call 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save the Earth. I recently saw it in a friend's classroom. I'm not sure if it sowed the seeds of my thoughts on saving the world, or my belief that I, and you, as an individual, can save the world, but it didn't hurt. So in the years that have past since those seeds have grown. They have gone through periods of dormancy, but most recently have been nurtured by the current state of affairs in this country and internationally, and by the amount of attention being focused on the environment. And maybe I was a stupid young kid, one that thought he could save the world, but the movement then compared to now seems to be night and day. Ahh the naivete of youth.

"Put litter in its place"; "Reduce - Reuse - Recycle"; these are the slogans from my youth. Captain Planet was on TV fighting for a clean planet. I mean seriously, what more could you want? Not what we currently have, I'll tell you that. Here are a few examples from my recent experiences in 2009.

U2 is scheduling a massive tour, literally. The stage set structure is 164 feet tall, has four sides each powerful enough an entire arena, and 72 subwoofers. And the whole thing will need 120 trucks to move it from city to city. 120 semis! This from a man who has teamed up with Al Gore to spread the message of global warming. Oh, but maybe we should take solace in the fact that he will be buying enough carbon credits to offset the impact.
*From this Rolling Stone article

And maybe you would like to live in one of 36 "eco-indulgent" condos in New York. Prices start at $1000 per square foot. But it does have LEED Gold Certification and there is a "sophisticated wellness center." But none of that means as much as the fact that the condos are called Village Green, and that "green" in the name will give you unlimited clout in your crew of $7 latte swilling, Prius owning, U2 blaring neo-environmental green heads.
*Village Green

What I grew up learning about in environmentalism was a constant striving toward those "r's" - you know, reduce, reuse, recycle. Let's lower our ecological impact. Let's work toward reducing our consumption of our natural resources. It was founded on the belief that the lifestyles we were living were unsustainable, that if we kept up at this pace we would cause imminent and lasting damage to our world.

According to contemporary green thought, this is not necessary. With the right amount of money I can live as green a lifestyle as I can afford. Reducing is unecessary - drive that Hummer, take out some carbon credits. Reusing is pointless now that I have biodegradeable plastics Tupperware. And recycling - hey, I think that dude down in the lobby will come sort my trash if I tip him a twenty.

Ah the naivete of youth. To have that back would be bliss.