Green, Greener, Greenest
Green is going mainstream. Recycling, in Switzerland, is something you do, or be shunned by neighbours and trash collectors alike. Even if you hate the planet, and are plotting to destroy it with a well placed nuke, you still have to sort your rubbish.
And this is good. Even if the doom criers are wrong, I can't see how environmentally friendly, fair trade, recycled whatevers are going to do any harm. But - on the other hand - how green should you go?
Recycling isn't as easy in the UK as it is here, but I think most people would agree that it's worth doing. As long as it's not too much trouble. Living without electricity, subsistence farming, and consuming the abolute minimum in the way of raw materials is definitely too much trouble, most people agree, and even complete strangers shouldn't be forced to do it, particularly if Bob Geldorf is going to keep singing for as long as it continues.
So where do you draw the line? This isn't just a rhetorical question. I'd like to know. Because I'm not that comfortable with where I draw the line. I'd like to be greener. Not greenest, I don't think: I rather like being able to see K (sod the planet) and buy new things (sod the planet) and eat exotic foods (sod the planet). And I think this makes me a bad person on two counts. First, I'm not greener, and second, I have no desire to be greenest. I'm banking on either human ingenuity (someone else's) to come up with some revolutionary, lifestyle-saving, gizmo, or all the emminent scientists to be wrong. Hope springs eternal.
Figuring out where to draw the line is also tricky. I went through this with the meat/fish/insects/dairy/eggs/plants issue when I went veggie. The end result was a blanket ban on as many suspect substances as I could manage. I still eat cheese, for example, although I'm not 100% happy about it.
It's hard to feel that the environment is an urgent problem. Particularly in the day-to-day, individual sense. What good does it do if I recycle my beer cans, if the factory that made the beer isn't enviromentally sound, and American still hasn't signed the Kyoto Agreement?
And, assuming that all these things I'm doing do good - or less bad - then do I have a duty to do more of them? Carry my cans around until I can find a recyling bin? Even if it's annoying? Or would it be OK if I chuck this one in the bin, because I'm in a hurry?
While I debate the issue, I'm looking to expand the number of things I can do to save the planet, without, y'know, actually trying. Or changing my lifestyle. Or spending any money.
Like I said: hope springs!
And this is good. Even if the doom criers are wrong, I can't see how environmentally friendly, fair trade, recycled whatevers are going to do any harm. But - on the other hand - how green should you go?
Recycling isn't as easy in the UK as it is here, but I think most people would agree that it's worth doing. As long as it's not too much trouble. Living without electricity, subsistence farming, and consuming the abolute minimum in the way of raw materials is definitely too much trouble, most people agree, and even complete strangers shouldn't be forced to do it, particularly if Bob Geldorf is going to keep singing for as long as it continues.
So where do you draw the line? This isn't just a rhetorical question. I'd like to know. Because I'm not that comfortable with where I draw the line. I'd like to be greener. Not greenest, I don't think: I rather like being able to see K (sod the planet) and buy new things (sod the planet) and eat exotic foods (sod the planet). And I think this makes me a bad person on two counts. First, I'm not greener, and second, I have no desire to be greenest. I'm banking on either human ingenuity (someone else's) to come up with some revolutionary, lifestyle-saving, gizmo, or all the emminent scientists to be wrong. Hope springs eternal.
Figuring out where to draw the line is also tricky. I went through this with the meat/fish/insects/dairy/eggs/plants issue when I went veggie. The end result was a blanket ban on as many suspect substances as I could manage. I still eat cheese, for example, although I'm not 100% happy about it.
It's hard to feel that the environment is an urgent problem. Particularly in the day-to-day, individual sense. What good does it do if I recycle my beer cans, if the factory that made the beer isn't enviromentally sound, and American still hasn't signed the Kyoto Agreement?
And, assuming that all these things I'm doing do good - or less bad - then do I have a duty to do more of them? Carry my cans around until I can find a recyling bin? Even if it's annoying? Or would it be OK if I chuck this one in the bin, because I'm in a hurry?
While I debate the issue, I'm looking to expand the number of things I can do to save the planet, without, y'know, actually trying. Or changing my lifestyle. Or spending any money.
Like I said: hope springs!