Greenzone Online

Green living and the Asian upbringing

One of my earliest childhood memories was my mother warning me and my sister about my grandfather who was taking a nap in the living room. We should walk cautiously around the house and avoid making any noise that would wake up the old patriarch. With the floor made of wooden boards that creaked often, [...]

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Green Living: It’s Practice, Not Perfection

I recently came across an interview via elephant journal (Boulder, Colorado’s most mindful mag) with Natalie Goldberg, whom I have long admired. Her most well-known book is Writing Down the Bones, one of the first how-to-write manuals of its kind. She entwines her spirituality–Zen Buddhism–with practical, accessible advice on getting the words out. “Make writing your practice,” Natalie says. Green living is also [...]

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Anti-green feeds on the suffering of others

Many people have not yet made a conscious decision to live green. Some of them do not yet understand the meaning of “carbon footprint.” They are not yet aware of the urgency of conserving the environment. And they are the ones that we are trying to educate and persuade. Unfortunately, there is another group of [...]

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I Am “The Alternative Consumer”

As an environmentally conscious (and poor!) college student, I try my best to keep my materialistic consumption at a low. I don’t often buy unnecessary items (the exception, as detailed in my last post, being the occasional book). However, I have to confess that I do like looking for things to buy. And of course, [...]

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Is Consuming the Culprit?

Green products and marketing are often targeted as being mutually exclusive to green ethics: encouraging people to buy green is still encouraging consumption instead of simpler living. However, as the editor of Boulder magazine elephant observed in a recent issue, consuming is not the culprit; consuming is here to stay. It’s a way of life, [...]

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