John Mayer: Change Just One Thing, Plus Mini-Slam to Sheryl Crow
Filed under: green and famous, music, web — rebecca @ 1:23 pm
April 27th 2007
John Mayer got on a roll about the environment on his blog yesterday. He talked about global warming, how boring it seems to be, and how to go Light Green.
The concept behind Light Green is that you can do some good things for the environment without needing to convert to wearing Birkenstocks and marching on Washington. As John puts it, “No thinking about ‘offsetting your carbon footprint’. No rallies. No brow-beating people who think the Earth just has a fever. Pick one thing to change this year, and keep the rest of your life the same.” It really gets to the heart of any improvement is better than no improvement.
John presents Light Green as a way to look at global warming in a less boring way: “The trouble is, nobody has managed to come close to bringing this issue to you in a way that doesn’t turn you off. At best, it’s a bore, and at worst (toilet paper square accounting?) it’s insulting to human autonomy.” Ooh, a blow to Sheryl Crow! And they are friends! Both are playing Live Earth USA, incidentally.
He’s basically giving you permission to be an eco-hypocrite, “A side that drives an SUV on the way to the grocery store but then produces nylon mesh bags at the checkout line.” I guess it’s better than driving there in your SUV and NOT bringing your own bag.
It seems that he knows we were going to read this post, because he finishes it all off with a disclosure: “I drive a Porsche SUV, I still drink lots of bottled water, and I will be flying private charter several times during my summer tour. However, my bus has been converted to Bio-Diesel, and I’ll be coming up with even more ways to adapt to the Light Green mentality before I set out for the summer.” Okay, okay John, we hear you. Thanks for your honesty and your biodiesel.
Check out the entire post, it’s worth it. He’s hilarious…to me, at least! Thanks for the tip, Sofia!
I totally hear what he’s saying. None of us is perfect. Even those that are most devoted to the environmental cause have some work to do, myself included. But on the individual level, we can think about what’s going on, think about the way we live, and decide on a plan for making a change. That’s respectable.
“Light green” (without the passion of blue) is simply yellow…it seems that John Mayer is too chicken to commit to anything.
Not surprising from someone that is waiting for someone else to make a difference (waiting on the world to change).
Ok, while I see the point John Mayer is trying to make, I think it is absolutely pathetic for a star, a role model, a spokesperson of any sort to encourage people to half-ass positive change in their lives. It is also insulting that he assumes people cannot find a compromise between green ideals and other factors that works for their lives without the guiding light of John Mayer. What’s more pathetic is that he is probably right that most of his audience isn’t going to think it through for themselves. And how is imminent world destruction, extiction of countless species, and on a selfish note, a cessation to all the little luxuries (like clean water) “a bore”?
John Mayer is going green… i’m a college girl and here’s my take on the situation
http://collegecandy.com/2007/05/02/the-john-mayer-theory-of-global-warming/