Has "green living" become America's new religion?

Arden Strachn: Artificial trees or worse on our environment than real trees. Check out the link below. You can also find out on that site where to recycle them in your area.

Barrett Felicia: also - how can someone be part of the solution of recycling?

Nestor Klan: Slim Whitman, are you on Exxon's payroll or something? Last I heard, scientists don't doubt that global warming exists and that it is human-caused. However, there are skeptic foundations and scientists out there that Exxon pays over $20 million to publicly say that they don't think global warming is real or human-caused.To answer the original question... living green is not a religion nor is at a fad. It's a natural human reaction to want to right a wrong that we've committed....Show more

Voncile Slaubaugh: Brilliant observation and summary. It would appear that the 'green' issues have become the hot topics in every aspect of our lives. Perhaps, rightfully so...we will see. But it has becom! e a marvelous marketing and business opening for those opportunists who recognize the opportunity for capitalizing on the newest craze....

Dawn Saha: Plastic trees.

Elden Bardach: Yes. The eco-marxist religion is clearly agenda driven. It lacks scientific validity. It is a "belief" not fact.One fact they have correct, the earth's mean temperature has risen 7/10s of 1 degree over the last hundred years. That is the end of their factual evidence.There is no evidence it is human caused.Here are two websites that contain a large compendium of valid scientific climate information.http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm...http://www.junkscience.comAny time the word "BELIEF or BELIEVE" enters the conversation think "RELIGION". It is cult of epic proportion. The only way to deprogram yourself or others is with facts and understanding.I am a lifelong student. when I first heard of "Global Warming" I recall in my environmental studies in college the "prevailing" wind was ! around a new Ice Age.With certainty climate changes, and has b! een doing so for 4.6 billion years. Sometimes quickly sometime slowly.Man is inherently narcissistic and our cultural shapers have found ways to manipulate this for the purpose of gaining power.The validity of IPCC report fails based on inadequate peer review, Most of the supposed 2500 scientists involved are saying the content of the report is NOT what they recommended of even wrote.What we can do about it? nothing. Don't believe it. Use your common sense. If there is money involved, someone's pocket will be lined.Al Gore's is definitely one of the primary pocket liners of the ecomarxist religion....Show more

Carter Dewater: Which is worse?The first answer people tend to think of is "real trees". But plastic trees take energy to make and they get thrown away too. Real trees are farmed and can be replaced. The remains of the real tree can be composted. But then, you're still killing a tree.Which one is the best option if you are thinking first and foremost about t! he environment?...Show more

Alecia Kaehler: Real trees if they were farmed for it or are under some kind of replacement program. Plastic ones are okay as long as you use them for more than 7 years, problem is 40% of new artificial trees are thrown away every year.

Doreatha Kjellsen: No. Green living is the obvious direction when a society realizes that there is no way for 6 billion people to exist at a standard of living that generates 1 million pounds of waste per person per year, which is what it takes to support the American lifestyle as is. America's New Religion is Neoconservative Evangelism, which requires nothing more then blind faith and hollow justifications to rationalize an insane economic system while stripping the checks and balances out of the most successful democratic government the world has ever seen....Show more

Luis Farlow: my opinion would be both. because first you have the live tree which as been cut down and put into homes as chr! istmas decoration then thrown out and forgotten about. really tree help! s make air cutting down trees are bad for our environment. then you also have the plastic trees. think what they are made from. also they use power. power is something we need to save. lighting up christmas trees and christmas decorations is burning lots and lots of electricity. which is also bad for the environment. everyone should go green and save the planet in which we live in....Show more

Natalya Sydney: Is there a tax deducation avaliable to those who "go green" (using solar lights, driving a hybrid car, etc)? If not should there be? Do you think this tax credit would make more people try to stop global warning?

Bo Perham: Yes, and rightfully so. As an atheist, Earth is my 'god' (ew, i cringe just typing that word). Without the Earth, there will be no place to worship anything.

Charissa Bichsel: I think the best option is a living Christmas tree. If you live in an apartment or anywhere where keeping your own isn't an option, there are now live tree r! ental services.But between the two I still think a regular live tree is best. Think of all the waste and toxins involved in creating and throwing out a fake tree. While you are killing a tree, like you said you can compost or place them in a lake (with permission) to create a fish habitat and they are renewable....Show more

Tracy Huesso: I think so. I know in my household we have become very alert to everything that we throw out, chemicals in our home and energy consumption. I think that it's just a way of life that so many have made the choice to adapt to for the good of mankind.

Jude Colbenson: Not typically, although it depends on how loosely you define "religion." Green living (which is itself not a clearly defined term, but I will use it in the sense of "making choices about personal consumption with the goal of reducing some environmental damage") might more probably be called one or more of the following:*a fad*a marketing device*a meme*a long-term shift! in behavior as a result of increased evidence of environmental damage ! caused by certain types of consumption, as well as an increase in the technology, products, and lifestyle choices available to combat these damages*the consumption ( and somtimes anit-consumption) extension of the larger environmental movementIf green living only lasts a short time, you might call it a fad. But green living has existed for quite a while, it just only recently seems to have reached critical mass.By most definitions, it would not rightly be called a religion. It is not based on faith, nor is it "organized" in the way that organized religions are. While it's true that some people who are "living green" might do so with little knowledge of any environmental science, the overall effort itself is based on known quantities (e.g. - the amount of CO2 relased by your car, the quantity and health effects of toxic substances in your pesticides, etc.)However, if you take a more generalized definition of "religion," green living (as well as lots of other activities) coul! d be called a religion. You would need a definition of religion something along the lines of: a widely-practiced activity that includes defined locations where the activity is practiced or celebrated (your temple), specific actions that define the religion (your rituals), and leaders who speak about the religion to the public and the practitioners (your priests).By that definition, the following, as well as many other things, might qualify as a religion: baseball, green living, healthy eating/dieting/weight lifting, and gardening.None of which (except maybe baseball) are considered a religion, because they are not based on faith. There are examples of exaggeration and lies in each of these activities, but they are still largely based on verifiable facts and we use the facts to enjoy them. We don't need to believe that the pitch was fast, we can watch it happen (in slow motion and four times a day on Sports Center). We don't need to simply believe that DDT is toxic, we can s! ee the effect on bird eggs. Etc. Conversely, although there are lots of! facts associated with any religion (I don't have to believe the Bible exists, it's right in front of me), believing in God is an act of faith that doesn't require proof that He exists.Of course someone will now counter that all of green living is merely faith and has no factual basis. Again, some practitioners will "live green" based on faith not facts, and some others will try to make a dollar off of green living by telling lies, but the overall practice has plenty of facts on say, organic and local farming, or the effects of dioxins, to support living choices that are based in fact. The peer-reviewed, well-respected scientific studies are there, and thus green living is disqualified from typical defintions of religion....Show more

Queenie Ruthers: The best choice is a real tree from a local tree farm. Even if it is shipped from a great distance it has less of an impact than an artificial tree. Most fake trees are made with PVC that can't be recycled, even if it cou! ld be recycled it would be difficult to separate the metal from the plastic and it is usually shipped from China, not the US. A real tree can be mulched and returned to a natural state with no toxins involved. I don't use a tree, because I'm not celebrating winter solstice....Show more

Robin Marchione: I think that is going a bit too far! Its more of a way of life, and sometimes it can be a bit spiritual. If you think about it we are all keepers of the planet, and it can make you feel good to do everything possible to help our planet flourish, stop pollution, and save our resources. Wouldn't that be part of God's plan? It's a choice to be conscious about our everyday lives. It is about respect for the planet and the human race. Right now we do need to get more people conscious about ways to help the planet, and if it seems like a religion to you, do you have a better option? Just look around and you will see pollution and waste. It's time we make this a priori! ty for life on earth, or we may lose it....Show more

Rodolfo Mere! l: I have to do a report on recycling. I have to put what "underlying science concepts" are involved. What science concepts are involved with recycling?

Mel Crapo: No, it's just something that people do to help make the world better.

Damaris Weiler: Green living, is just seeking to make the world better, cleaner, and to promote a world where our children, the future can live cleanly and neutrally. A world where we enjoy ourselves without taking from the environment what we do not need. And if we do take, becoming carbon neutral by putting it back through carbon reduction activities. www.stopglobalwarming.orgwww.allianceforclimateprotection.org...Show more

Caryl Mclaen: Renewing and reusing materials.

Brian Freedland: Very astute observation. It is very fashionable right now to care about living green. I am not saying it is not important, just that yes, some people are very devoted to this cause. It is almost like a religious ceremony and they have! to witness to as many people as they can. I wonder if they earn points for each convert they get. :)

Mildred Pombo: Well, there are some places to bring real Christmas trees after the holidays are over. We bring ours to a lake near our town that puts the trees in the water to build a man made, but natural, reef for the fish and other water animals. It is like a coral reef, with places to hide and other things for the animals in the water. Buying Christmas trees also supports the local tree farmers, who if they cannot pay to keep their farms running, will have to sell the farms to developers, and have all the trees destroyed, as well as the farm land turned into houses. So, in my opinion buying a real Christmas tree is the best for the environment....Show more

Veta Slicker: You could always do a report on the amount of energy required to recycle versus the energy costs associated with new manufacturing as an underlying science concept. Apart from recycling your! self, you could try and find new ways to recycle or to increase efficie! ncies related to a recycling program. (IE tax incentives, environmentally sound means of transporting recycled products, etc)...Show more

Faviola Dewire: in the us yes, in fact for now it's subsidized, the dept. of energy will reimburse 50% of the instalation cost and you can write off 20% standard depretiation for home power generation. unless its renewed you have untill 12-31 to get the hybrid car tax credit.

Ninfa Aronica: Hmm, I guess based on the previous answers, it depends on how you use them.Personally, I have 3 trees between my in-laws and me, and 2 of the 3 are on their 9th year of celebrating, and will probably go through several more before we consider a new one. (The newest one is in it's 3rd celebration, and still kicking as well, but we needed a new one when we moved, so the old 9 footer went to the in-laws when they built a bigger sun-room then what we have in the new house, when the small tree got too small for all 4 of our kids ornaments, we ! started using their old 6 foot tree again.)Long live free-cycling :D...Show more

Barton Morfee: we all know that cutting trees down depletes our enviroment of oxygen. Perhaps buying a real tree then replanting it after the holidays can be beneficial.

Rosalyn Olivera: well i think fake trees are better use because we wont have to cut real trees that we need and were losing a lot of christmas trees so probably in the future we wont have any trees to help us grow fruits like apples or whatever