That green thing
Posted on November 26, 2007
Filed Under Opinion, Rants |
Over the last few years, I’m sure you are aware, that there has been a big rise in trying to get people to go green. And for good reason, Global warming etc. I’m trying my best here, but I just can’t grasp it. The problem is that no one seems to want to help us, it seems to be this backward step rather than trying to improve what we have, we get “use less electricity”, “don’t travel”, “wash your clothes cold” etc. I’m all up for switching lights off, but surely it should be “we need to sort out a green way of supplying electricity”, “our planes need to be greener” etc. I washed my clothes cold this weekend, still dirty.
The problem is, consumers, myself included, are selfish. We try and go cheap, we don’t want to stop taking holidays, we want to live comfortably. That’s how it works, it’s simple economics. I went to look at buying ecover the other day, a greener way of washing your clothes (bio-degradeable). I want to subscribe! I really do. But when the washing liquid is about double what I’d normally pay, and not as nice smelling. I have to start thinking, why? It feels like people will soon be bathing in mud to “save the world”, if ecover was the same price, I’d probably go for it, but if everything is going to cost more if you want to save the world, surely that isn’t my fault?
Another example, I flew to Cornwall the other day for a weekend, lovely it was. I stepped on a plane, 1 hour, I was there for dinner (door to door was about 3 hours). Usually I drive, my girlfriend will take the train other times. The plane cost us £50, which was train to airport, plane ticket and tax. The train is £60, takes 4 hours (6 hours door to door), car is £70 minus fuel (5 hours). But with this is isn’t just cost. 1 hour to 4 hours is quite a lot different, then the train is more expensive anyway! Hell, I’d take a cheaper train! No one wants me to, in fact, the train tends to be packed, you can’t even get a seat, so you get to sit on the floor in between carriages for saving the world. So now, to stop this, environmental groups are telling us “put more taxes on planes then”, surely that’s missing the point?
There are places I go to with recycling bins instead of normal bins, “EXCELLENT” I think, but as the food is in one container for several days, fruit flies start buzzing around. I almost expect a rat to pop out at me munching away at any point.
Now, I may get told “but it’s your planet, do you want to die etc?”, I know, I know. But while we’re human, the way to get people interested is to help us, not to say “bathe in mud”, “take extra time to get somewhere”, the human race is sufficiently advanced to try and come up with new ways to do things, we’ve been hearing about global warming since I was 10, 18 years ago. So why the panic now? When some people already say going green will just mean global warming will slow, but not stop.
It’s very hard to make judgement when I can’t go to the polar ice caps and see it all for myself, same for everyone else.
Rant over.
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