There are tons of resources on the web and in books for writing personal and business mission statements. (I first learned how from Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People; now he has an online tool.) But they all start with a selection of values – lists of words that describe traits or actions that appeal to you, that you wish to emulate or do more of in your life: compassion, giving, loyalty, etc.
For a green mission statement, what you need to start with are the worldly concerns that cause you stress – not just environmental concerns of pollution, toxic chemicals, or dying lakes but all the issues that underlie the Triple Bottom Line: environmental, economic, and social issues of our times. When you look around and are heartsick with concern about homelessness, children going hungry in your own community, or the abandoned brownfield site at the edge of town – these are all interconnected and all must be addressed to get the human ecosystem healthy again. (Learn more about the triple bottom line).
What seems to be missing from the world is a comprehensive listing of these concerns. In the same way that a listing of value words facilitates the making of a mission statement, the following list (by no means comprehensive) is meant as a way of kick-starting your thoughts about where you want to spend your emotional energy.
It’s a first stab, so please don’t hesitate to send feedback – this list will be expanded and refined in my book. Here goes:
water conservation waste management industrial toxics workers rights
water purity recycling health and safety (products) gov’t oversight (lack)
water waste composting food safety (system-wide) corporate lobbying
marine life conservation litter health and safety (food) pollution cleanup
water / climate wastefulness animal welfare wild animal conservation
wetland destruction reuse animal rights homelessness
access to childcare resource conservation industrial pollution welfare
access to healthcare hazardous waste agricultural pollution children’s rights
access to education scavengers transportation pollution children’s health
immigration over packaging land use minimum wage
worker safety financial security land planning corporate responsibility (lack)
community stability local economy local jobs soil health
soil conservation crime personal safety public transportation
energy conservation alternative energy energy efficiency transportation wastefulness
Recent Comments