Fluffy Bunny Green vs. Hard Green.

Reading through the local papers over the weekend I was struck by the number of "clean up" days there have been throughout North Tyneside. Schools and community groups have been out dredging ponds and tidying up cemeteries in the name, according to the headlines, of being Green. Now all of this work is excellent stuff I would encourage it all out, no argument but I think that its Greenness is being misunderstood. It is not the tidying up that is the Green activity although it is good (usually) for the environment. The Green bit is the fact that it is a community activity. It is people taking responsibility for where they live. The cleaning is "fluffy bunny green" the community action is "Hard Green."
Being Hard Green is, well, hard. Although it involves putting out your recycling bin the reason why you have stuff in that bin in the first place should be considered. You may use a low emission car but to be hard green you should consider whether or not you need that car in the first place. To become a green society it is the underlying economics that have to be changed. Sustainability will change the very way our systems work. And it will, at first, be hard. But if we are to bequeve this world of ours to our grandchildren then we are going to have to do a bit more than just tidying up litter or using our recycling boxes, even though these are a very good start. And I do like fluffy bunnies.