'Carborexia'
Some of you may have seen the articles in The Australian and MX yesterday (27/10) about 'carborexia', the terrible new mental illness on the rise in Western society... or something. The term supposedly describes a state in which one is so concerned about one's carbon footprint and impact on the environment that one becomes obsessive and irritates all ones' friends. While it is technically true that any mental state which impairs one's ability to carry on life as normal can be diagnosed as a disorder, I think it's terribly disingenious and offensive to imply that anyone who cares about the environment, or who talks about caring for the environment, is a raving nutcase.
Not to mention that it's pretty offensive for people who are battling the debilitating disease that is anorexia nervosa to be compared to people who wash and reuse ziplock bags.
The articles were based on this article in the New York Times (helpfully labelled 'Completely Unplugged, Fully Green' in case readers fail to grasp the essential point that green = crazy). It profiles several people who are doing the best they can to live sustainably, and who have taken it just that bit further beyond recycling and carbon offsets (shocking!). The article doesn't really do them justice, so I recommend checking out their own blogs:
Sharon Astyk - http://sharonastyk.com/
David Chameides - http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com/
Colin Beavan - http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
And if, unlike the NYT, you're willing to concede that maybe we could all be doing a leetle bit more to save the planet than buying compact fluorescent lightbulbs... check out http://www.riot4austerity.org/ to read stories from a whole bunch of people who've been reducing their environmental impact to 10% of the Western average for a year.
I don't claim to be a perfect greenie, or better than others because I don't flush every time I pee. I hope that by mentioning this topic I'm not coming across as preachy or annoying. But I think it's pretty obvious that we need to find a different way to live. Continuing to do what we're doing now, as the planet runs out of resources and diversity, the rich-poor gap widens, the population increases and the financial system sends us careening from boom to bust - now THAT is crazy.
Not to mention that it's pretty offensive for people who are battling the debilitating disease that is anorexia nervosa to be compared to people who wash and reuse ziplock bags.
The articles were based on this article in the New York Times (helpfully labelled 'Completely Unplugged, Fully Green' in case readers fail to grasp the essential point that green = crazy). It profiles several people who are doing the best they can to live sustainably, and who have taken it just that bit further beyond recycling and carbon offsets (shocking!). The article doesn't really do them justice, so I recommend checking out their own blogs:
Sharon Astyk - http://sharonastyk.com/
David Chameides - http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com/
Colin Beavan - http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
And if, unlike the NYT, you're willing to concede that maybe we could all be doing a leetle bit more to save the planet than buying compact fluorescent lightbulbs... check out http://www.riot4austerity.org/ to read stories from a whole bunch of people who've been reducing their environmental impact to 10% of the Western average for a year.
I don't claim to be a perfect greenie, or better than others because I don't flush every time I pee. I hope that by mentioning this topic I'm not coming across as preachy or annoying. But I think it's pretty obvious that we need to find a different way to live. Continuing to do what we're doing now, as the planet runs out of resources and diversity, the rich-poor gap widens, the population increases and the financial system sends us careening from boom to bust - now THAT is crazy.