Nowadays everything is green. Green house, green food, green label, green etc. Is this all there is to tell about sustainability? In my opinion not, and think it is time to go beyond the term green and make sustainability more widespread and prevent the sustainable thought going into a niche.
Two weeks ago Arjan Lubach made a statement in his TV show “Zondag met Lubach” (2015) about meat consumption in the western world. He argued that it is just not right to eat the amount of meat we eat today and he illustrated it by saying that one steak (200 gram) needs 3000 litre of drinking water. He continued his argumentation by saying how much forest is cut down for intensive animal farming. Furthermore Lubach made clear the he enjoys eating meat and does not feel miserable for animals, but thinks wasting this much resources is just not worth it; meat demands too much from the world. After this statement one do not have to be an animal or nature lover to eat less or no meat anymore. This transition is very important since it brings sustainability to a broader perspective.
Comparisons like Lubach’s we need as society to get an insight in what is relevant in terms of sustainability. In my opinion, the colour green as a metaphor for sustainability is not enough to cover the concept of sustainability and I do not think it will stand and make a real change in how people treat resources. Also, the concept ‘green’ currently is shifting towards ‘healthy’ (the new hype, recognized by the writer). This makes green an outdated metaphor for sustainability because confusingly enough, green is not always sustainable.
Like quinoa seeds, often wrapped up in a green package full of trees, happy animals and terms such as biological. If those seeds are considered to be good for your body, it should be good for the world too, right? In fact, a lot of quinoa seed come from Bolivia and Peru and is transported all the way to the western world (Blythman, 2013). The TV programme “Keuringsdienst van waarde” (2014) pointed out that because of the big demand of the western world for quinoa, the seed became too expensive for the people who were used to eat it and have to eat less nutritious food like rice.
If we really want a sustainable transition in the way people act, the concept ‘green’ limited to a relatively small amount of people who try to act sustainable. The concept ‘green’ was a good start but now the world needs awareness throughout all layers of society. Distinct outlines like Lubach’s will establish such an awareness and made hypes alike the colour green unessential. I am convinced that once sustainable acting has become the general moral, it will stand much stronger than any symbol illustrating sustainability like ‘green’.
Blythman, J. (2013). Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? The Guardian.
Superfoods. “Keuringsdienst van waarde”. KRO/NCRV. 30 Oktober 2014.TV
Zondag met Lubach. “Zondag met Lubach”. VRPO. 1 November 2015.TV