April 22nd, 2009

By Tim Sanders
Saving the World at Work

I believe that we should repackage being green into a quest to preserve the living environment for future generations.  Save the humans!

Here’s the bottom line: The planet will not implode, it will eventually become a terrible place for humans to live. New species, such as insects, will rise to power at some point, likely driven by climate change and pollution.

As long as we couch environmentalism into preserving Earth (because we love it, because it is sacred or beautiful), we keep it on the fringes of the public gestalt.  If we look at sustainability as an ethical issue of not stealing from the yet-to-be-born, we’ll resonate across political lines.

That’s the secret to Interface’s success in sustainability.  Chairman Ray Anderson sees environmental degradation as “intergenerational tyranny.”  In other words, it is about ALL of us, and not just those that prioritize nature above commerce.

Read more from Tim at SandersSays and at the Saving the World at Work site.