Hello, I’m Michael Nazarian, Founder of Greening your Life and the author of The beginner's guide to Greening your Life. I’ve decided to use our site's blog as a sounding board for sustainability concerns I see in my day to day life. For me, this is a form of expression and I hope that you will get something from it. Please feel free to comment below or message me at any time.
So building a new site and getting traffic to it can be challenging. I’ve created the Facebook Group and page to help not only spread great tips about sustainability but to also help draw traffic to the site. Recently, I decided to post an advertisement for the Greening your Life Facebook page in the hopes that added exposure would incite others to join or follow. The advertisement which was just the logo and a short description as seen in the photo below of the page or group was rejected by Facebook as being political. Sustainability was considered to be a boilerplate topic and even after “review”. The ad was rejected and canceled.
When did sustainability become a political issue? I’m confused about why politics is now taking over scientific consensus. Well, I know why. Money. But when did we as a society allow politics, which we know are opinions for purchase, to dictate what is political or not? I found it amazing that a site/group that works to refuse, reduce, reuse, re-purpose, and recycle was considered a threat in some sense. I had to change my advertising criteria to target gardeners and recyclers so if you are here because of those ads, thank you for joining the movement.
Be aware. At some level, buying less seems to be an attack on the current system. Growing your own food, reducing your consumption, deleting waste, and reducing your energy consumption are becoming rebel actions. I hope that these communities that we build can help each other navigate these concerns as we make strides to live a cleaner life. This advertisement rejection was the first time I faced it personally. I know with the book release, more will follow. We will just have to be diligent and organized. Sustainability is a science concern, not a political concern. Objective truths lead us to know to that societal change is needed. Water misuse/drought, waste monuments, material scarcity, climate evidence, and countless other factors that are quantifiable lead us to be better stewards of the earth and it's inhabitance.
If you feel as if you are pressured away from sustainability, let these community groups be a place where you can voice the frustration and concern while also receiving positive feedback and advice. We all are doing our part and I thank you for yours.
