PLENTY Magazine

For those who fret that America is going in the wrong direction it's important to remember that 'America' is a multi-facted society with many concurrent realities. Just look at any well stocked magazine shop to get a sense of the range of worlds you can be part of. Every month new magazines appear that cater to emerging tastes. A new magazine named PLENTY appeared on shelves November 16 and harbors the same optimism in the face of adversity that I do.

With a cover story titled "THE END OF OIL?" they are well aware of the problems we face but they come prepared with one of my favorite quotes:

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
— Margaret Mead

If this magazine is any sign — and I'm sure they did their market analysis — there is still intelligent life in this nation. I applaud their ground-up approach to change. It really is up to each and every one of us to build a better future through personal action as they make clear in their mission statement:

The publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring awakened a nation to the environmental degradation in its own backyard. But for too long the environment seemed something out of our own personal control. That is quickly changing. For, today, green options abound. These not only are pleasing to the eye but also require no sacrifice of comfort or design. You simply have to hunt a little harder to find them (and in time these options should be even more readily available). There are hybrid cars that get unprecedented gas mileage, but still have most of the power we’ve come to enjoy and expect. Tasty organic foods, designer clothes, and elegant furniture made from sustainably harvested natural resources are available at competitive prices. There are even ways to build a beautiful house from ecologically friendly materials.

Partly because of unprecedented consumer demand, but also because of the inherent logic, businesses are rethinking their core processes. They are not simply trying to market themselves as green, but more and more forward-looking companies are becoming green by reinventing how they make things and by closely examining the resources they use.

All of these changes bode well for the future, but it’s still all too evident that the world’s key natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate. We need to look to alternatives if humanity is to thrive and prosper. We have, for instance, an inexhaustible supply of solar and wind energy, and hydrogen fuel cells stand out as promising replacements for our oil-based economy. If we, as individuals and as a society, make the right choices, we can still have a world of PLENTY.