Hmmmmmm.....  

nupos
Thanks Olive,
How to restore common sense?, Well I,m not going o wish a crisis to anybody, but for those things are really good.
People who had lost it are ,nouveau riches. To prove the relationship between
Nouveau rich and common sense, I,ll tell about nupos. The nu-pos (nuevos pobres, new poor) were a product of the 2001 crisis. And if new riches are interesting, the nupos are ten times more.
They are as opposite as new riches as you can imagine. They had a lot of culture and knowledge and too little money. And used too little resources to do a lot. And about CS while NR lacks it and nupos surplus it.
But crisis made disappear ,nouveau riches, (not their wealth, but their lack of CS) and show them that :
Their ,nouveau rich attitude, was synonymous of ,BAD TASTE,.
Now, the crisis is over, and the economy growing 7-10% per year made disappear nupos also.
But this grow economy made new wealth, but still now, the lesson of the crisis and the bad taste thing is in the air.
As well as seen ,,green attitude,, as sexy, may be you have to show that if somebody waste resources is also a mater of ,BAD TASTE,.

common sense
I have been reading through this thread until now (spent a lot of time but I was really absorbed by the topic!) and I totally agree with your way of thinking. My small little tiny contribute is that the biggest problem is the lack of respect that people have towards each other, which ends in being lazy to think more forward than the immediate.
This works for individuals, too worried to spare a cent to see the real advantage of buying once for all, instead of buying some cheap crap that will need to be replaced in a blink. I'm talking either furniture, devices, appliances, light bulbs. Why turning the light off if in 5 or 10 minutes I'll get in the room again? (nobody sayd that but is it still true that CFL bulbs need to be turned on for more than 1 hour to be really money saving?). Then, it's easier to walk to the bin with only one bag instead of running along the quarter with a bag for the plastic bottles, for the glass, for the compost, the expired chemicals, paper and cardboard (and the house is a messy garbage mountain). Again, why getting out from home ten minutes earlier to walk (or to ride your bike) to work, when the car is so comfortable, easy, last-minute?
This laziness also works for the manufacturers. The white appliances for example are made to last maximum 10 year (I remember my grandma having the same washing machine for maybe 30 years?). They have invented long time ago 'green' or 'eco-friendly' cars, where are they? Why do nobody push that economy? They are all buried under the diesel lies and the petrol SUV monsters which run idiotically in our towns.
I feel so frustrated and powerless. In any case, I keep on doing what I can and my 0,00000001% contribute for the environment is granted for sure. You just keep on doing this great job with posts like this which increase the people's conscience and shake their minds (OUR minds). Thank you!