Friday, June 28, 2013

Letter to the Editor

I recently read a letter to the editor of my local paper where the writer was outraged by the LEED certified buildings popping up in town. The left wing liberal crazies are trying to push their weight around and make people do things they don’t want to do.

Honestly, I am trying to understand why this person is so upset that the town and business owners are choosing to build LEED buildings. It saves money, energy, and water resources while the green rooftops are creating habitat and cleaning the air.

Why are actions that are taken to help reduce our strain on the environment considered left wing craziness? Does this mean there are no right wing folks who care about the Earth and our strain on it? I know this is not the case as I know many people of all kinds of political beliefs that care for the Earth. In fact it is a growing majority of people.

It is a fact that conservation of our resources is a good management practice; one which conservatives and liberals should be able to relate with. Also, for those that are religious, wasn’t it a teaching of Jesus to rid yourself of material things and not to waste anything?

However, these are not the only reasons for “Going Green”.  Sustainability makes dollars and cents too. Ask any number of companies, big and small, about their sustainability initiatives and most have them. From Patagonia, to Walgreens, Wal-mart, New Balance, Kroger, Jewel-Osco, and on and on, they all have sustainability goals and plans. They have seen first-hand how being green makes business sense for them.

I imagine the local businesses and the town buildings that became LEED certified have made their business case for doing so and are achieving their goals through this. Maybe we need to stop labeling and being outraged over so many things that are completely out of our control. Then maybe, just maybe, we will be able to jump outside of our boxes and see all sides.