The problem with Going Green is deciding WHAT you want to Go Green WITH. What am I really worried about? My Carbon Footprint? Plastics consumption? Sustainable harvesting? Organic food? Locally grown food? Chemical / hormone / carcinogenic-free food? Cruelty-free products? Fair-trade products? Environmental preservation? Endangered animals? Biodiversity? Air pollution? Water pollution? Water conservation? Unfair labour practices, sweatshops, and child labour? Do I care if it took 2/3 pound of toxic pesticides to produce this t-shirt I'm wearing? Do I care that the subsidies that allowed its American production are seriously and intentionally damaging huge swaths of the Developing World? Do I care that a six year old chained to a loom made it for me? What about politics? Should I avoid goods that send money to people who have bad human rights records or fund terrorism? (No more diamonds and heroin for me! - And nothing made in China!) Should I be a weekend eco-warrior? Should I pick up trash on the highway? Should I firebomb mink farms? Do I want to be a vegetarian? What if the fair-trade cruelty-free tofu comes in a plastic container? What if the byproducts of tofu production are bad for the local watershed? Is technology the enemy, or our savior? Should I move to a farm and slaughter my own hamburgers? How do I balance this with my other developing lifestyle - taking better care of my body? Do I have to give up the gym? No more Luna bars? How will I find sugar-free cookies? Do I want to buy carbon offsets and call it a day? Do I want to join the Compact and go a year without buying anything? Do I want to be No Impact Manky?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Day One
The problem with Going Green is deciding WHAT you want to Go Green WITH. What am I really worried about? My Carbon Footprint? Plastics consumption? Sustainable harvesting? Organic food? Locally grown food? Chemical / hormone / carcinogenic-free food? Cruelty-free products? Fair-trade products? Environmental preservation? Endangered animals? Biodiversity? Air pollution? Water pollution? Water conservation? Unfair labour practices, sweatshops, and child labour? Do I care if it took 2/3 pound of toxic pesticides to produce this t-shirt I'm wearing? Do I care that the subsidies that allowed its American production are seriously and intentionally damaging huge swaths of the Developing World? Do I care that a six year old chained to a loom made it for me? What about politics? Should I avoid goods that send money to people who have bad human rights records or fund terrorism? (No more diamonds and heroin for me! - And nothing made in China!) Should I be a weekend eco-warrior? Should I pick up trash on the highway? Should I firebomb mink farms? Do I want to be a vegetarian? What if the fair-trade cruelty-free tofu comes in a plastic container? What if the byproducts of tofu production are bad for the local watershed? Is technology the enemy, or our savior? Should I move to a farm and slaughter my own hamburgers? How do I balance this with my other developing lifestyle - taking better care of my body? Do I have to give up the gym? No more Luna bars? How will I find sugar-free cookies? Do I want to buy carbon offsets and call it a day? Do I want to join the Compact and go a year without buying anything? Do I want to be No Impact Manky?
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