And when we (men and women–see I learned and adapted!) let conversations about cars dominate our concerns over practical solutions to reinforce habits such as the ones you and I both mentioned here, we lose valuable time.

(Sorry about the cut off!)

Then again, I’m not sure that less-informed, less-active Americans are ” slack-jawed mouth-breathing knuckledraggers,” either. They are, right now, the majority, so I think we have to tread carefully in referencing them, too. I think a lot of it boils down to time-strapped, hard-working folks with shorter-sighted objectives, ranging from surviving to excessive consumption. And when we (men and women–see I learned and adapted!) let conversations about cars dominate our concerns over practical solutions to reinforce habits such as the ones you and I both mentioned here.

By way of background, Oregon introduced the first ‘bottle bill’ in 1972. This is an example of your external influence (a deposit of 5 cents) resulting an instinctual behavior.

But I’m not so sure about your male/female theory of women leading the slack-jawed mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers to a higher state of green consciousness. If I’m suffering any fatigue right now after the Democratic primary, it’s the whole men/women thing. I’ve always been more than ready to give anyone respect, no matter how many X chromosomes they have. (You go, person!)

Make no mistake, the last 40 years have been really important to gaining a level of sexual and racial equality. Now we’ve got some other really big issues to face together, and I hope we can all work towards that without breaking down into fractious groups.
Best, Bert

I think the real question is whether or not frugality and going green can become automatic…natural…routine. Hip, trendy…they connote transitory. The phrase “green fatigue” is already taking hold…that’s not a good sign.

What we need are permanent, lasting changes…or we will fail at meeting our goals. We need to ask: “how can we recondition ourselves to think FIRST about the consequences of our choices–even the pricey ones?”

Frankly, I believe whether or not this happens depends upon how involved women choose to help lead the shift at the grassroots and national levels.

No offense meant AT ALL, guys, but these online conversations too often drift into discussions about automobiles. That’s because such talk is still primarily male-dominated. And yet building even one new car (Prius or Tesla) puts a lot of stuff (including tons of carbon emissions) into the atmosphere.

We simply can’t buy our way out of this.

Watch for a wider, more energetic discourse about local eating, food preservation, mending and reusing goods. These are traditionally “feminine” concerns, but they are in many ways the fastest routes to a truly environmentally-responsible lifestyle. And they can be helpful tools in economically troubling times, too.

And, yup, there are indeed ways to make these things status-y…look no further than the fact that some wealthy San Franciscans now pay $300 upfront plus $35 per week to have farmers plant and tend veggie gardens in their own backyards. If a fancy homestead gets people moving toward sustainability, I’m all for it. Beats spending that much money on pesticides, water and gas-powered motors. I also predict we’ll start to see more businesses seeking to provide old-fashioned, home ec-style courses for grown-ups–men and women (sign me up!).

Note too that within the peak oil crowd–which includes lots of knowledge workers, women are definitely leading the way out of fear and into action by returning to the aforementioned essential homesteading skills. Riot 4 Austerity, Casaubon’s Book and Hen & Harvest are three sites with nice followings and eco-responsible messages. All three of them are related to New York academic-turned-farmer Sharon Astyk who has two books coming out on peak oil, sustainability and related topics. You will hear more about her. And then there’s the Ideal Bite and Eco-Moms circles, both of which seem to be referenced in every magazine I read. Since I’m in their target demo–upper mid. income, educated, suburban mom– that’s very telling about whom they are already engaging, too.

Finally, when it comes to triggering action among women, I’m convinced there’s something powerful inherent to the “Theory of Anyway”…a notion that comes out of the aforementioned peak oil crowd. You can read about its origins here: http://tinyurl.com/6atclx (not my site, btw!). For me, it’s a nice rationale that can appeal to a broader audience.

You might find it interesting to watch the ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?’ documentary, and also ‘Garbage Warrior’.

Who has real money doesn’t look like rich as a Christmas tree.

They already know how not to show up.

Money is a tool for something else.

All those who worship money don’t live, but die for them.

Money is a tool for something else.

Lessons for a mass electric car.
Style is necessary, but not sufficient. It has to be significantly better then the competition. The iPod looks cool, but if it didn’t work better and easier than other MP3’s it would be just a niche product.
Fashion starts with a core audience. But to go beyond that there needs to be a reason for others to want it — quality, ease, price.
I have a daughter who is a late adopter. Her husband is a gadget geek and will get things early. When cell phones came out she looked at his and said “its too big”. When they made a smaller one she bought it. She waits for the market to come to her. She’s consciously, politically green but will wait for the electric car to be most of what she wants before taking the plunge.