Dr. G. Jay Lennartson spoke on "Why Green Design?" with a geological perspective. It was a very interesting viewpoint towards design and I enjoyed his photographs of parts of continents and countries from space. The photograph of Iceland struck me---it was magnificent and then he showed a quote about sustainability, "Meeting all the needs of the present without compromising the ability f future generations to meet their own needs." It is so true. We take so much of what little we have now, that we will leave nothing for the future.
He really laid it out truthfully we he said if we go to islands and cut down one of the two trees left of the island, it will not be a big deal anymore, that will be the norm to see a single tree or a single patch of grass. We see the deforestation percentages as "just a little" and through time, it will be "just a little left".
Dr. Lenartson said we have environmental problems in our own city. One of the top 25 dirtiest cities in the country! I did not know this and it was striking to know that 1/3 of the air during the summer months in our city, it is not safe to breathe the air outside! That is ridiculous!
I learned that due to dominant social paradigms: individualism, growth and private property rights are effecting what is NOT being done. Our wants do not match our needs. "Many Americans are not willing to make personal sacrifices to fight it."
The best way he explained our society and the way we live: "Creeping Normalcy" and "Rational Bad Behavior". With gas prices the way they are, we now hear each other saying, "Oh my goodness look how good gas prices are there! It only costs 3.15 a gallon!!!" It is not okay and we are saying that about everything now. It needs to change and green building and preservation of Earth needs to occur. Creeping Normalcy and Ration Bad Behavior need to stop and people need to start making simple sacrifices. A little bit, will go a long way, in the right way.
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