Carbon Footprint
In my last post, I made reference to a video of a fellow named Matt Harding as he danced in various locations throughout the world (some exotic, some common, a few I've been to, or, recently, been very close to --- indeed, I rode a train right past the cathedral in Cologne, even though I didn't have time to stop in). I still find this video (and his past videos) fascinating, in part because they are simply fun, and in part because, while simple, I think they say something worthwhile. (Although something different for each video.)
When I first heard of this from Ankur through a Facebook note, one of the commenters there, not very impressed with the videos themselves, grumbled about Matt's surely tremendous carbon footprint. I wasn't sure what to make of the comment, being someone who is very carbon-conscious (for example, when I drive to Chicago, I try to take extra riders off of Craigslist more for lowering my environmental impact than for the money).
It's left me with a bit of a dilemma, as I can't tell when I think that a high carbon footprint is worth it. Clearly I'm willing to fly to Boston to take a vacation with friends, or to fly cross-country to Mathcamp, or to Europe for a math conference. Indeed, I think that leisure travel should be justified as a carbon expense, because I think it can be so individually valuable to travel, to see other cultures, to learn more about one's world. But where do I draw the line? Travel has a big environmental impact, and it would be foolish to seek reductions elsewhere only to say nothing of travel.
Perhaps I should stop thinking about this now and move back to the "real world," where I, well, fly out in less than twelve hours...
When I first heard of this from Ankur through a Facebook note, one of the commenters there, not very impressed with the videos themselves, grumbled about Matt's surely tremendous carbon footprint. I wasn't sure what to make of the comment, being someone who is very carbon-conscious (for example, when I drive to Chicago, I try to take extra riders off of Craigslist more for lowering my environmental impact than for the money).
It's left me with a bit of a dilemma, as I can't tell when I think that a high carbon footprint is worth it. Clearly I'm willing to fly to Boston to take a vacation with friends, or to fly cross-country to Mathcamp, or to Europe for a math conference. Indeed, I think that leisure travel should be justified as a carbon expense, because I think it can be so individually valuable to travel, to see other cultures, to learn more about one's world. But where do I draw the line? Travel has a big environmental impact, and it would be foolish to seek reductions elsewhere only to say nothing of travel.
Perhaps I should stop thinking about this now and move back to the "real world," where I, well, fly out in less than twelve hours...