Green Faith

Reader Contribution by Staff
Published on December 23, 2010
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<p>’Tis the season to celebrate what is good, what is kind, what is holy. This sentiment tends to get lost amidst the frenzy of the perfect stocking stuffer or best gift to place under the Christmas tree (or Hanukkah bush). And this sentiment tends to get lost when we’re talking about environmentalism.<span>
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<p> When I first started teaching environmental communications to students at the <a href=”http://www.journalism.ku.edu/” target=”_blank”>University of Kansas</a>, this was my weekly refrain: “Whatever you do, please don’t tell people to ‘go green’ because it’s the right thing to do … appeal to pocketbooks, explain the science, capitalize on the trend, but do not emphasize a moral imperative. Please.” </p>
<p> Now, I feel differently. <br />
<br />I have spent the past four years in the middle of the country, a place that has transformed my worldview of what it means to care for the environment and live close to the land. My home is in a blue county within a red state, in a college town, surrounded by brand-new housing developments to the west, a coal plant to the north, and generations-old family farms all around the outskirts. Kansas has helped me to better understand that when it comes to the environment, there is no “us” and “them.” We <em>all</em> have a vested interest in clean air and healthy communities, but how we manifest and prioritize these concerns is very different.<br />

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