Corporations aren't our greatest enemy in the journey towards sustainability. For years we've passed the blame for pollution, for water degradation, for overflowing landfills and a mountain of other environmental problems squarely on the shoulders of 'them' - the profit-mongering beasts of the corporate world. 'They' are at fault, and they, along with Government (the other big culprit), need to get their act together and save the world from destruction.

But it's easy to pass blame isn't it? And in this case it seems fairly obvious that much of the world's current environmental problems, not to mention a myriad of other societal issues, are the direct result of unscrupulous corporatoins and complacent governments. I am sorry, but I have two arguments against this notion:

1. If you drill deep enough you'll realize that it is you & I who have the power to influence change. We are the consumers, we are the citizens.

Every time we go shopping, we make a choice - do we support the big corporation that is polluting third world countries, or do we support fair trade/local producers/scrupulous businesses whose footprint on the Earth is much more minimal. With the global marketplace expanding every day in every way, we have the power to make choices, we have the power to influence. It turns out, the main motivation for most corporations ot change their practices is either due the threat of legal implications or the threat of losing money because consumers are not happy with some aspect of their product or service. So, get on the email or write a letter or phone that toll free number.

Do we chose merely to moan when the Government offers a financial rebate to offset spiking gas prices, or do we lobby our governments to produce more creative solutions & policies that will guide us towards a more sustainable future? Do we simply sit back and watch as our government makes policies without a view to the long-term impacts on our nation, our children and our environment? Or do we take action? We, the people, are the government. The moment we dismiss the power that this concept provides us with, is the moment we allow our democracy to become an empire.

2. Corporations and governments are not simply huge entities, they represent groups of people with many of the same worries and conerns that you & I have.

We are all human. We all want to provide our families with security, we all want happiness, we all want to be loved, and we all want to believe in a brighter future. At the core of each and every one of us, these are the needs that drive us. Yes, of course we are different in the way we go about striving to achieve happiness & security. That is merely because we've been conditioned in different ways, raised within systems that navigate our activities and propel us in different directions. But believe me, the CEO of that big bad company cares just as much about providing for his family as the stay-at-home Mom. They 're approaching the same destinaiton, but have chosen different roads to get there.

So what am I saying? I'm saying it's not anyone''s fault. I'm saying, let's stop blaming entities. We created these entities. We created the systems that now dictate our own lives and the workings of these entities. Let's get over that and work together to find new systems that are not destructive to the environment, or to our own well-beings.

We have to start thinking outside the systems that exist - outside the Monday to Friday 9 - 5 job that takse us out of the home, away from our families and to an isolating workplace where creativity is drained by policies and procedures that are based on an assemby-line mentality.

Corporations have to start seeing that decreasing their footprint on the Earth will not decrease their bottom line profits. In fact, the path to sustainability can only lead to increased profitability. Don't believe me?

Here's one story that may change your opinion: http://www.interfaceinc.com/getting_there/Ray.html

And that's what it all comes down to folks: change. And our fear of it. That is ultimately what holds our evolution up every step of the way. Oh, you can resist all you want. You can try, try again within the system that you are used to, but it will do no good. If the system is inherently faulty, you can not succeed within it.

Imagine a human maze, the walls are made of shrubbery, the paths of red dirt.. Instinctively, you know there is a way to the middle, because this is what makes a maze a maze. So you start running, but find that every way you try is blocked. You redouble your efforts, sure you have missed the right path. You aren't running anymore, now you are carefully backtracking and making marks in the path to ensure you don't go down that same path again. Eventually you give up and declare the maze to be impossible. But is it really? Did you consider getting down on your knees and pushing your way through the shrubbery. Did you think about brinign along garden shears and cutting your own path to the middle?

The path is not always clear, sometimes we have forge new paths and break down barriers along the way. Once we do that, the flood gates to success will open.