Ah, yes. Don't you just love this time of year?? I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season enjoying the company of friends, family and robot clones you created to replace your family. But now the time has come to take down the organic mistletoe, convert the Christmas tree growing in your living room back into a President's Day tree, and begin heading back to work. But before we do that, we need to look back at this holiday season and see what we've learned.
Christmas is notable for its characters that can inspire us and motivate us to become better people. Think of how the Grinch realizes the true meaning of Christmas and his heart grows three sizes (ow, by the way). Or Linus from Peanuts giving a rousing speech that gives everyone hope and teaches all of his friends a thing or two about interior design so they can resurrect the seemingly hopeless Christmas tree. Or Clark Griswald suffering through an unbearable Christmas Vacation to teach everyone the value of purchasing robot clones of your family so you don't have to deal with your real family.
But one character is often overlooked for the message he is able to teach to everyone. And that man is Ebeneezer Scrooge. Yes, I know, people know very well the message he learns. Some stuff about not being a jerk or liking Christmas or helping handicap kids or something. I don't actually remember.
But no, I'm not talking about what Scrooge learns at the end of the story. I'm talking about the way he acts at the beginning. His carbon footprint is insanely small!! Scrooge's story (which was first published in 1843, 130-ish years before the environmental movement of the 1970's) was so far ahead of its time! One example of a way Scrooge was able to cut his energy use is by walking to work each day. Yes, I know cars didn't exist back then, but walking is still better for the environment than taking a horse and carriage. And he also refuses to refill the coal furnace at his offices. He wasn't doing it to be cheap, he knew how many GHG's he'd be putting in the air from a coal furnace. And finally, Mr. Dickens tells us that Scrooge uses only a single candle to light his house as opposed to wasting lamp fuel to light his whole chambers. Hm... sounds familiar... maybe like Green Tip #7???
Well, there you have it. When I thought I was being really imaginative when I came up with that Green Tip, Scrooge was already doing it 166 years earlier. So I think the Christmas message is clear. Environmental stewardship doesn't have to be taught by fancy things like Ivy League Sustainability Business Management Masters Degree Programs or overly educated bloggers who think they are wittier than they really are. Sometimes you can learn what's truly important from a stingy banker from 1840's London.
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