We know that we watch too much television, which is harmful to us physiologically, but also mentally and spiritually because it teaches us to value consumption, both through television advertising and through television programming. We eat too much meat, not because we need the nutrition, but because many centuries of history have taught us that meat consumption has higher status. We put chemicals on our lawns, not because we need a lucious lawn, but because of the status it affords us among our friends and neighbors. On and on and on. We all are because we accept a lifestyle based so much upon status.
Producers display their status by their capacity to purchase billboard space.
Drivers display their status through the size and in efficiency of their automobiles. We need to get beyond blame and into new lifestyles that are environmentally sustainable. For that, economics must begin to develop a concept of sufficiency, of enough. There are many, many environmental organizations in the United States and around the world. Some of the most important environmental organizations are local ones.