From the Desk of Mike Mollet

In the Green.

A few weeks ago I was reading an article printed in Patagonia’s Winter 2004 Catalog. The article was written by Yvon Choulnard, the founder and owner of Patagonia and 1% for the Planet, an organization I proudly participate in.

I especially liked Choulnard’s outline of the five steps we can take as individuals to reduce the harm we do to our environment and increase the help we can offer to make a difference. I’ve copied Choulnard’s advice below to share with you. I hope it moves you as much as it did me.

STEP 1: Lead an examined life.
Most of the environmental damage humans cause is a result of ignorance. That ignorance is willful when we avoid confronting our problems, when we refuse to learn because we don’t want to have to act on what we know.

STEP 2: Clean up your act.
Once you learn the environmental costs, try to reduce them. And when you can reduce them, you must. People love to figure out how to do the right thing, once they know what that is.

STEP 3: Do your penance. 
No matter how diligent a corporation, it causes waste and pollution. This can take the form of a 1% “earth tax” donation of your profits.

STEP 4: Support civil democracy.
It’s obvious that governments and corporations hold a lot of power, but so do small groups of people who care passionately about an issue and press their cause. The great social movements of the past 200 years – for democracy itself, for women’s rights, for social equality, for conservation and preservation of the environment – rose up directly from small groups of people who spread the word to others. Nature loves diversity and hates monoculture and centralization. A thousand diverse activist groups, each passionately working on a specific problem, can accomplish more than bloated, cautious NGOs or governments addressing all the big issues at once. Even though I work for tough laws, I don’t trust my government. I support the front-line activists, the river keepers and tree sitters who work to save a single patch of land or stretch of water. These are the people who do the most to hold the corporations at bay and keep the government honest. These are the kinds of groups to whom we give most of our money.

STEP 5: Influence other companies.
If you undertake the other steps, this one is a natural. The company that discovers new ways to be more environmentally responsible has an obligation to spread the word to others – to share the knowledge of what can be done. Again, people like to do the right thing when they know the right thing to do.

Very truly yours,
Mike Mollet CPA