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The sustainable fur ranch gives an ideal example to help us parse out what we mean by green vs sustainable. It may be sustainable but I would argue that the fur ranch is not green. Sustainable refers to a set of practices that are designed to minimize impact on the environment and encourage the least use of resources. Green is actually much broader to me, and is more philosophical and values driven. For instance, "green" includes reverence for life and honoring of nature. It encompasses sustainable practices, but it is an attitude of preserving resources not just for our own use so we can still keep using them later, but because nature has merit in and of itself. Is fur a necessary use of nature? I think most people who see themselves as having green values would agree that luxury and looking good are not good enough reasons to raise animals and kill them.
I make this distinction in advertising my business, because I can document my sustainable practices, but it is more challenging to explain and prove my green philosophy. As you can see in my signature below, I use the word sustainable to describe my real estate company, but not green.--Laurie Sonnenfeld

"Portland's sustainable, progressive realty company."

posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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