Turning Five

This blog is turning five today. In some sense it feels like a long time and in some, not so long. It all started as a rant against junk food. The documentary Super Size me had just come out and it shocked me into action. I haven't been to a fast food burger joint since. I started becoming more aware of issues, especially environmental. The more I read, the more I wanted to do something about it. It was through blogs that I gathered more and more information. And it was only a matter of time before I found myself blogging.



It is never easy being a treehugger. There is a never ending flow of bad news. Change is inevitable and mankind's relentless so called progress, does come with a huge impact. A lack of coherent and consistent reporting in the main stream media gives a false sense of well being sometimes. It is when you dig deeper that you begin to see the greater reality. In between all the gloom and doom were blogs like Treehugger.com and World Changing that got me looking at issues in a different light. They introduced me to the concept of environmental sustainability. They changed my way of looking at things. Change and progress is inevitable, how we change and how we progress now became the key question.

Not sure what, if any, difference this blog has made to the greater debate. But I have to say, it has made me a more aware and light footed person. From food, travel, buying and living, this blog has kept me honest, made sure I made every effort to reduce my footprint and practice what I preach. My obsessive recycling, carbon offsetting, organic dung wine drinking and organic righteous t-shirt wearing are the usual butt of jokes when friends get together. It is a lot of fun! In fact the more I blogged, the more productive I was, the more ideas I had, more blog friends I followed.

The last two years have seen blog fatigue creep in. Posts became few and far between. I had a lot to say but never got around to typing it all down. As I look ahead, I am not sure about the future. Green has come a long way and is becoming more and more mainstream. Unfortunately so is Greenwashing. While there has been a lot of positive developments, tackling of Climate Change still remains painfully beyond reach. I still remember blogging about Incovenient Truth. Al Gore brought the issue front and center even during the dark slash and burn days of the Bush administration. Then came the historic election of Obama and there was plenty of hope going around. Thanks to the mind numbing rules of US Senate, and the greed jockeys on Wall Street, nothing of significance has happened in the last one year. Copenhagen became Nopenhagen. Senator Inhofe is as toxic as ever. And now, the US Supreme Court has opened up the floodgates for corporate influence and money to pour into US policy making and elections. 

I still believe that consumer awareness and behavior can go a long way in bringing about change. But I also believe that without sound policies and regulations in place, change can take a long while. I don't think we have that kind of time. Where does that leave me and this blog? I am not entirely sure! I guess I will take it one post at a time and see where it all leads. A new blog look and feel I thought would be a good first step to the next five years.

To everyone who has followed this blog over the years, thank you for your time, patience, comments and insights. Hope you will continue to stick around :)