I am often asked why I don't talk about my career and the topics that I deal with on a daily basis. On the simplest level, I find talking about the environment to be a big downer, a real big downer. And I don't like being a Debbie Downer, I much prefer being an Uppity Umberto.

I am an environmental scientist working for a dynamic organization that tackles a few of the myriad problems that are making the world going down the toilet. And I like it. It's difficult, and tough, and challenging, but if you make some headway you really start to see impacts. This column is intended to get me to start talking about the environment and the issues that I deal with and think about.

Now I realise on a global spectrum my nation is a little behind the times on some issues, a little wrong on others, but not so bad on all of them. I am only representing my thoughts and opinions, not those of my culture, nation, employer and the like. I may have more directed columns in the future, and I am really trying to avoid this becoming a sprawling incoherent mess...so I'll stop the preamble.

I entitled this column "Environmentalisms" to attempt to be witty and topical. I plan on taking each of the parts and writing a little something them environs, mentalities, and isms. Let's break it down--not the etymologically correct way either:

Environ: A place or setting. I argue that it is a place that is familiar and/or intimate. Our most comfortable place is our home, or pub, whichever you can relax in.

Mental: I have two specific ideas for the base of environmentalism. The first is in two parts:

A) Using your head to understand things and make things work.

B) The ability to use your head to make things utterly complex and hindering. The second is a more colloquial meaning as in "You are making me go mental." Specifically, getting mental or angry due to the inadequacies of peoples, systems, bureaucracies or any other system. I often go mental from things people say or do (or don't say and don't do) that seem to be completely perpendicular to common sense.

Ism: Not sure if this is a proper English word, but it counts in Scrabble. I am defining an "ism" as a specific doctrine or belief system. For instance, Progressivism (one of my favourite isms at the moment) was a strong political party in the United States and Wikipedia defines it "as a political philosophy whose adherents promote public policies that foster social change. Early in the 20th century, progressives worked to reform the political process in the US. In several states, they succeeded in reducing the power of political bosses by instituting presidential primaries and non-partisan elections. They exposed corruption, and established public control of the existing monopolies over public resources."

I am hoping that Progressivism will become the third party in the United States (as if!). Tree-huggerism, although not my cup of tea, is the belief that whiny, unwashed activism will raise awareness and cause social change. There are pluses and minuses to that, which I may get into at a later time. Basically, every person has a suite of "isms", which helps to guide our decisions everyday.

My thesis is simple: Man, as a species, is a little too smart. Via the creation of tools, language, systems of law, economics, industry, structured society and all those other advancements of mankind, we've found a way to distance ourselves from our biosphere. And not just a country drive away either, more like a cross-country drive to a plane to a boat to another plane to a moped and a cheap touristy postcard away. That doesn't quite make sense, but I think imagery works.

Our technophilic nature has created barriers to understand our direct and indirect effects on the environment around us. It's simple, yet so complex. It's not uniform, there are obvious (and not so obvious) gigantic differences caused by the geopolitical and socio-economic fabric of our planet. But in an effort to keep it simple for this first instalment, I pose the following questions:

1. Where does your food come from and how does it get from its source to your home?

2. Where does your shirt come from and who makes it?

3. How does your light turn on?

The layers that we have created over the past couple of millennia to increase efficiencies and make life easier have completely distanced most of us from the environmental consequences of our actions. Now, I'm not promoting a return to Cro-Magnon times, there just needs to be more thought in our actions. The challenging thing about trying to convey ideas around "the environment" is making sure that the concepts don’t become to unwieldy and overwhelming, so I’m going to stop for now. Answer the three questions above and you’ll be on your way to promoting a healthier planet.