(no subject)
I had a brief conversation with the lovely Poppy (not on LJ) at Bi Underground a couple of nights ago where we discussed the pollution of air-travel. She's a member of the Green Party and I'm an angry environmentalist. She was quite impressed with my stance on not flying (she may have been equally impressed with my lack of a car, but we didn't get onto that). However, she doesn't think that pollution is the responsibility of individuals. I was fairly gobsmacked by this, but didn't get into an more argy-bargy than I already had that night.
I think if you pay for a cheap flight, run a car, buy fresh fruit and veg that have travelled more than a couple of hundred miles, YOU are responsible for that. The government didn't make you. The companies didn't make you. Society, though it would have had a lot of influence on your purchasing, didn't make you.
YOU were the one who decided that you deserved to get on a cut-price flight to Prague. YOU were the one that thought that you deserved to go on multiple holidays because of the cheapness, rather than holidaying less frequently but in a more environmentally sound way. YOU were the one who decided that instead of putting a new cover on your 12 month old sofa you would buy a brand new one. YOU are the one who shops for a newspaper in your car. YOU are the one that gets an SUV that protects your children inside but is more likely to kill a child pedestrian in the event of a crash than the average car. YOU are the one who says it's too dangerous to cycle, so you get in your car which is so much more likely to kill a cyclist than the other way around. YOU didn't try to find a residence close to your work.
I'm not perfect. There are several things I would like to address. I think that seeing as I live with a vegan, we'd probably eat enough veg to justify the cost of an organic (LOCAL!!!) box-scheme. I haven't got round to buying some energy-efficient light-bulbs because my energy costs are fixed.
I don't think that under a market economy there is the room for the control that really cleaning up the environment would necessitate. I'm a crap anarchist, and I don't believe that the British people would accept communism. I don't have the answers, but I do believe in personal environmental responsibility. I'm thinking of joining the Green Party.
What are you going to do?
I think if you pay for a cheap flight, run a car, buy fresh fruit and veg that have travelled more than a couple of hundred miles, YOU are responsible for that. The government didn't make you. The companies didn't make you. Society, though it would have had a lot of influence on your purchasing, didn't make you.
YOU were the one who decided that you deserved to get on a cut-price flight to Prague. YOU were the one that thought that you deserved to go on multiple holidays because of the cheapness, rather than holidaying less frequently but in a more environmentally sound way. YOU were the one who decided that instead of putting a new cover on your 12 month old sofa you would buy a brand new one. YOU are the one who shops for a newspaper in your car. YOU are the one that gets an SUV that protects your children inside but is more likely to kill a child pedestrian in the event of a crash than the average car. YOU are the one who says it's too dangerous to cycle, so you get in your car which is so much more likely to kill a cyclist than the other way around. YOU didn't try to find a residence close to your work.
I'm not perfect. There are several things I would like to address. I think that seeing as I live with a vegan, we'd probably eat enough veg to justify the cost of an organic (LOCAL!!!) box-scheme. I haven't got round to buying some energy-efficient light-bulbs because my energy costs are fixed.
I don't think that under a market economy there is the room for the control that really cleaning up the environment would necessitate. I'm a crap anarchist, and I don't believe that the British people would accept communism. I don't have the answers, but I do believe in personal environmental responsibility. I'm thinking of joining the Green Party.
What are you going to do?