- 1 read
Call me crazy, but I think that green is boring. Yep, I said it, boring! Now, why would I say something so blasphemous on a website so fantastically green as this one? Well, honestly, it's because I've decided that it's time to shake things up. The concept of environmentalism has been around for at least 40 solid years at this point, and if we include the works of great naturalist writers such as Henry David Thoreau, who published Walden in 1854, we've been exposed to this kind of "alternative" thinking for more than 150 years now. So, in short, we've been there and we've done that. I have the guts to say this because I also have BEEN there and DONE that.
My passion for all-things green started as far back as I can possibly remember ... only it wasn't about being green, it was just simply about being nice – like “don't throw your trash on the ground,” “don't throw perfectly good things away and help someone else if you possibly can,” etc. It just seemed nice. Then as I grew into a teenager, I had this unusual awareness of frugality – like “don't spend money that you don't have,” “don't buy things that you don't really need” and “save your pennies in order to start a conscious company when you hit your twenties” (you know, the normal stuff that a 14 year old thinks about). So, I did. I bought property by the age of 20, and my passion for design and living spaces led me into the home building arena shortly thereafter. I had my own Walden experience as I began building homes completely out of natural materials – when I say, “I've BEEN there,” I mean it. I've lived in mud huts that I constructed with my own two hands – and they were fantastic. I eventually broke into the mainstream luxury marketplace, constructing healthy, durable and efficient homes that were featured on television shows and in magazines.
After all this time, talking for years about low-VOC paints, renewable fuel sources and cradle-to-cradle living systems is not what drives me anymore. I'm ready for the next level. That stuff is just the obvious way that things should be done now, anyway. I want the creativity, functionality and passion for design to take front stage again in a major way. We already have all the green information that we could possibly need at our fingertips, so let's make today's story about how gorgeous a product is and how it has the smartest, most elegant design around.
Essentially, I want to KILL GREEN so that its spirit exists simply in the backdrop of our shared common sense, and the real star of the show is our ability to innovate and inspire new ideas and products that make life exciting and sexy again. I can only imagine how dry the basics of going green must sound to the average person who wasn't born to live, eat and breathe this stuff (like I was). And I know that my progressive take on the growing movement may be a little premature for some, but I've decided to hold the torch for those of us who have already been forging this path for years, and say "What's Next?!" Well, stay tuned ... and I'll tell YA!
As businesswoman, eco-pioneer and CEO of Rebekah Green, Inc., Rebekah Green is a reverse environmentalist positioned at the forefront of the Green 2.0 un-movement – where global responsibility is as expected as much as it is commended. In 2002, Green launched a full-service, multi-million dollar custom design and build firm, constructing and designing luxury green homes featured in countless magazine spreads and on television shows (including her own special on the Discovery Channel). In 2007, Green joined iTunes as producer and host of the video podcast series, “The Green Scene with Rebekah Green,” and – serving as creator and executive producer – partnered with networking television producing powerhouse Magical Elves (Project Runway, Top Chef, Last Comic Standing) to develop green-themed programming. Green’s newest venture is a luxury line of fair trade, sustainable and entirely hand-crafted jewelry (with proceeds benefitting Global Green USA, Charity: Water and Heifer International). Green identifies a clear need for the complete reinvention of the present green movement into a common sense-based un-movement – in essence, a Green Killer revolution.
