Friday, July 11, 2008

Green convention

An article from Indian Country Today about the Green efforts of the Democratic convention, and some of the Native effort going into it. I was pleased to see that there are several Native organizations really focused on the environment.

There's been a lot of to do in mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) media lately about the "greening" - a whole lot of very negative press (one from the Washington Post today). Some of it's for the "color" guidelines they're using for the food, others for the big push towards reducing the carbon footprint of the convention itself.

Are people seriously mocking the efforts of those who are actually trying to encourage environmental responsibility, water conservation and good health?

The Post article in particular mocked the "color" guidelines for the caterers - that they choose a "rainbow" for each dish. Maybe it's news to them, but I worked in early childhood for several years, and this is exactly how they try and teach both parents and children how to balance meals. I think we can all see that blasting the public with percentages and ounces ("chemistry", the article says) hasn't exactly worked out for a healthier America. As a memory device, the color guidelines are much easier to remember.

I'm excited to go to this convention, and am happy to see that the DNCC is devoting so much effort to both health and the environment. This is exactly how people should approach big change - lead by example.

_

No comments: