This morning in London, the price of a barrel of oil hit an all-time high of just over $135. There has been a lot of talk in the past year about Peak Oil, which is the theory that the world's oil supply is limited and therefore we will reach a point where production declines, never to return. It seems more obvious to me now than ever before that we (all of us) should be doing what we can to preserve Earth's resources.
I drive a really small car that gets great mileage (A Scion xA, 30 city, 37 highway.) I don't drive much and have only filled the 11 gallon tank twice since Thanksgiving. (And still have almost 1/2 a tank.) I take the train to work, and walk to/from the train. I only run the air when it's really hot, and the heat when it's really cold. I use compact fluorescent light bulbs and turn off lights when I'm leaving a room. I shut off the water when I brush my teeth. I reuse containers, including plastic bags, and recycle everything I can. All of the toilet paper / tissues / paper towels I buy are made from recycled paper. I am vegetarian.
And yet, when I go outside, I see disturbing things. There's one over-compensating guy who drops his wife off at the train in their Hummer H2. The town I live in waters the grass bordering the municipal parking lots. Garbage cans on the train overflow with newspaper and plastic bottles. The expressway is jammed with people driving to work...
And I wonder, am I obligated to give a damn about this planet? Are any of us?
If car companies are allowed to produce ridiculously oversized and inefficient vehicles; car dealers are allowed to sell them; and consumers are allowed to buy and drive them, then why should I try to use less gas? Other than my own selfish gain (of spending less $ on gas,) what good does it do? Why should I reuse my paper grocery bags when other people dump millions of plastic bags a year into landfills and the ocean?
Who am I trying to help? I don't have kids, and probably won't (we can all be thankful for that, right?). So why should I care if the planet is rendered uninhabitable? What skin is it off my back if the population runs out of fresh water in 40 or 50 years? Why should I care if the price of oil keep going up and up until Americans have to pay $10 for a gallon of gas? Why should I take measures to reduce my footprint when so many people aren't doing shit? Why should I be sacrificing so some person I've never met can use that extra gas to fill the tank on their Mustang, or use that electricity to light their incandescent bulbs, or use that oil to make more plastic bags to choke our landfills?
So you tell me. Why should I not buy a Ford F-150? Why should I not leave the water running and the lights on? Why should I not throw out my recycle bins and get a bigger trash can? Why should I not burn through as much of the Earth's resources as I can in my short time on this planet? Seems like that what everyone else is doing.
(For some reason, I felt like ranting today.)
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13 comments:
I am a big fan of the rant...these other websites that deem themselves as "analysts" are soooo stinking boring. I like hearing what people are passionate about, to me it makes for a much better read. I was always taught to do all of the things you are doing even before the big environmental push became popular. I am constantly harping on my son to turn the light off, don't start another activity until the other one is shut off. Shut the door. throw that away in the recycle bin. My husband drives a small car beater with hundreds of thousands of miles on it...and I drive a toyota solara convertible. My husband works for a company in Houston and has a home office and the commute is great, ha there is none. We really try to do our part, but yes I agree there are those who could care less. The Hummer dudes are overcomensating...it is like an advertisement of "I have a small penis look at me"...I don't think we should take anything for granted especially the worlds resources. GREAT RANT!! I think you should give a damn because you do...who cares what other doorknobs do...we are slaves to our consciences. :)N
I was a treehugger long before I was a Mom - having kids didn't change a thing on that level. For me, it's that it doesn't feel right not to do all the things that I do. I look at it this way - the planet is like the foundation of a house that we all live on. Not taking care of it seems counterproductive.
You guys are right, of course. I'll keep doing what I do because it feels selfish not to. It's like Gandhi said, I must become the change I want to see in the world, or something like that. :)
You know, there are other benefits to living a greener lifestyle as well. My wife and I would take the metro into downtown DC every weekend rather than drive (and spending forever trying to get a spot) and then simply rely on walking to see one of the world's greatest cities. You miss an incredible amount of beauty and life when you pass up these opportunities. Plus we got to experience a life in DC that most people will only get to see for a week of vacation. Great post
DB, you bring up a good point. While walking to work, I pass by such places as the Civic Opera House, the theater district, the Picasso in Daley Plaza. I wouldn't see much of this great city if I drove, I'd be too focused on the traffic.
On the one hand, I think that if we aren't obligated to take an interest, then no one ever will. We've kept one all-wheel drive vehicle in our driveway because we have a legitimate need for it six months out of the year. The weather in the Midwest is a fickle mistress who sees fit to drop the dumbest form of precipitation ever: snow.
On the other hand, I seriously question the "millions of bags in landfills" problem that is brought up. According to everything I'd ever read, we could designate one national landfill in the middle of the country, make it fifty miles on a side and we - as a nation would - never fill it. Ever. Recycling of anything other than aluminum cans simply doesn't have the infrastructure in place to make it worthwhile and we'd be saving trees if we used more plastic bags. For the paper use, there comes a time when a tree is more of a drain on planetary resources than it is beneficial. Removal of old growth trees would probably be more acceptable:
A) If they were being replaced by new trees
B) They were being utilized for something other than Victoria's Secret catalogs.
On the watering thing you mentioned, transvaporation is an important part of the atmospheric cycle. If hundreds of billions of gallons of water are getting removed from the cycle, that is going to have a definite effect on the climate...locally. Also, by keeping lawns and trees growing and vibrant, we are adding to their ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen.
Don't even get me started on oil. We've been running out of oil for fifty years, but we never seem to run out of it. Aside from that, as long as oil is allowed to be bought on the Futures market (where the prices are driven by speculation) instead of the Commodities exchange (where the prices are based on actual demand and usage), we aren't going to see any changes.
I think if anyone wanted a clearer example of the auto companies working in collusion with the Big Oil, take a look at the latest incentives from Dodge.
You buy a Dodge and you get a card that allows you to purchase gasoline for it at $2.99 a gallon. It takes six weeks to get activated and doesn't work with ethanol blends.
http://www.dodge.com/en/incentives/#family=null&zip=51346
Now, that's messed up.
Hey, Jeff.
For the paper vs plastic argument, read this. Plastics will be the death of us all. There are 5 areas in the ocean where the water swirls constantly due to the tides and the high air pressure above. Each of these now contains a floating mass of (mostly plastic) garbage, at least one of which is twice as big as Texas. Plastic never goes away.
Trees are one thing, but I think that artificially maintained lawns are a loss, ecologically. In places like AZ and NV, the amount of water and fertilizer they require, plus the exhaust from the lawnmowers, we'd all be better off if people would plant native grasses and shrubs.
The thing about oil is that the more is costs per barrel, the more of it we have. If oil is $25 per barrel, a lot of wells are shut down because there's no profit. With oil at $120 per barrel, suddenly a lot more drilling makes a lot more money. I've read estimates of the remaining supply ranging from 20 years to hundreds. I think that's one of those things that we won't really know until one day we find that there just isn't any more and gee, maybe we should have planned ahead.
That $2.99 gas guarantee from Dodge comes with one big catch -- you have to buy a Dodge.
Hope your weekend is a good one...stay safe and enjoy your holiday! :)N
We too use reusable bags instead of the plastic stuff at the local "Meijer or Walmart."
I ride my bike to work. I love nature, and I love to conserve it. You are are good person to do your part.
You should be more optomistic. The earth is more powerful than ever might you have imagined.
But you shouldn't be surprised that the Fed might let you down.
Rick.
Mike,
Where do you believe responsibility for environmental protections should lie? With private citizens or with government mandates?
When I was living in Germany, we had to separate our garbage into biodegradable and nonbiodegradable trash. Glass also had to be placed into its own bag. If you did not properly separate your trash, your trash would not get picked up. That was a huge incentive to recycle and take your own consumption a bit more seriously.
Also, gasoline was rationed. Whenever you went to the gas station, if you didn't provide your ration card, you couldn't fill your tank. And if you went over your allotted monthly limit, you couldn't get anymore gas until the following month. Very few people drove big SUVs and trucks when I was living in Germany. Small hatchbacks were all the rage there.
When I lived in Japan, I had to separate my trash as well. Like in Germany, if you didn't separate your trash, your trash wouldn't get picked up. I had no problems separating my trash and recycling, but in our culture of waste and excess, I can see how some people simply can't be bothered to be green.
But at the same time, part of the reason why I'm paying $4 a gallon for gas is because there are millions of other people in this country who use Ford Expeditions to shuttle their children to soccer practice. Some people who do heavy duty towing have a legitimate need for such vehicles, but most of us probably don't. So even though we have our own free will when it comes to environmentalism, we are also paying for it.
What do you think?
I roll through stop signs rather than stop to save gas. ;-)
Kidding aside, some countries are more proactive in protecting the environment than we are in the United States. Japan is a recycling crazy country where everything is recycled. It is starting to catch on in the US when more and more products are being created to reuse materials. Recycling is something I think we will see more and more as more innovative products come out.
Freadom, I have no doubt that the earth will survive. I'm certain that it will be here long after we're gone. My concern is for the people and animals. After reading the article I linked to in my response to Jeff's comment, It has become apparent that we're making the planet uninhabitable. Should I care about that? It won't affect me personally. What is my obligation to future generations? Do any of us have such an obligation?
Thanks for the comments.
Anthony, I think that there is a place for government in the recycling movement (if it can be called that.) Obviously a lot of people are doing their part, but only something like 3% of plastic bottles are recycled. If people aren't willing to step up and do their part, maybe we should take away their right to be wasteful and irresponsible. Maybe the companies that produce the junk products that are made to be thrown away should have to pay to recycle them.
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