Making a Difference (Number One in a Series)
5 February 2008
I grew up during the 1960s, so I heard about a lot of protests of the Vietnam War, but also a lot of protests about, oh, just almost anything. Not all of those protests were successful, of course, and I certainly did not agree with everyone who carried a picket sign. But the one thing I did come away with was a firm belief that one person can make a difference. And I still believe that.
There are a fair number of people who think the numbers are against us—that one person’s views or lifestyle cannot possibly matter one way or the other. And if you think only in terms of numbers—one versus many millions—they may well be right, although Mahatma Gandhi began as only one. But, still, unless one heads up a movement, which I don’t, one person may appear not to matter. To which I would reply one person matters to me. I cannot control how others live, only how I live. And one of the things that is most important to me is doing things the right way, both in my dealings with others and in how I choose to conduct my business.
And that brings me to my views on woodworking, because I do tend to have different views on it than most. And where I most part company with my fellow woodworkers is in my insistence on running a green shop.
In the Biblical account of the Creation, we are told that after He created Adam and Eve that God commanded them to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." Eons later we see that we have done a good job of subduing the Earth, but not a very good job of replenishing it. And now, at long last, it is beginning to catch up with us.
What can I do about it by myself? Not very much. But what I can do, I will do, which is why I run a green shop.
Joseph
NEXT: "Why Green?"
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