It is perhaps the greatest question to ever exist, and mused over by the minds of many men, from the common to the great - what is the meaning of life?
People have pondered this question generation after generation, and have tried to answer it through faith, through companionship, through philosophical musings, through war, and more recently, through consumption. However, we are no closer to the answer than 3000 years ago, and it still remains the most illusive question in the great hall of mysteries.
As a child, I contemplated this question for days upon end, wracking my brain for some sort of satisfactory answer as so many countless people have done throughout the course of their lives. After years of disillusionment derived from not obtaining an answer, I had a revelation in Environmental Ethics class (a requirement) during my senior year of undergraduate study.
There are very real problems that face our world today, problems that threaten our existence-- problems caused by our way of life. Global warming is no longer understood to be simply a liberal agenda or a crack-science theory. Anyone who has seen the smog clouds over Los Angeles, or followed a tractor-trailer as it spewed filthy exhaust, for that matter, should be able to induce that global warming is, in fact, a very real and very scary phenomenon.
In the Pacific Ocean, there is a floating mass of plastic ("The Great Pacfic Garbage Patch") that is estimated to be roughly twice the size of Texas.
Countless species are becoming endangered and extinct.
Water is becoming polluted, and water is becoming scarce.
Everyone is aware of the environmental problems that face our world and threaten our very existence if we do not begin to make some serious and permanent changes to our way of life and our stewardship of this Earth.
The challenge is great, but in a way, these environmental problems alleviate a greater stress to our souls and our being. The great question is no longer immediately relevant. For our generation, the meaning of life is to prolong life. The purpose of 21st century mankind is to ensure that there is in fact a 22nd century mankind, and that is why Generation Y must (and will) save the world.
Green is not necessarily the word- people are already growing tired of it. The word is sustainability. Sustainable business is the future, and a sustainable Earth is our purpose now.
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