So it seems that the biggest catch phrase of the decade is "Going Green." It appears that if you are going anywhere...you are "going green." I agree with many aspects of going green, but here are the parts I may not be so sure about.
1. Why is it that only rich people can afford to "be green?" Is it the latest status symbol for adults? Does it not seem to separate the haves from the have-nots? (Ex...well...I only buy organic tomatoes...whereas the ____'s buy normal tomatoes. I must be a better person because I am saving the earth by spending more money."
2. If grocery stores really wanted to save the earth...why did they stop giving the option of paper or plastic? Paper is recyclable...plastic is not. Now WE have to buy a bag to put all of our groceries in. I'm not saying that buying bags to put your groceries in is not smart...yet it also seems like another status symbol.
3. Is it a ploy to make one feel better about oneself? See number one.
4. No matter how hard you try...you can not be perfectly "green" If you want to completely eradicate the effect you have on the environment..you mine as well cease to live. For example...Al Gore is a great advocate of greeness..or is he?
So these are a couple of thoughts that have been provoked over the last week after talking to a couple of people. Don't get me wrong....I'm all about saving the environment...I'm just a little confused as to why "going green" seems to be another area of life that separates the poor from the rich. Am I totally wrong? What do you think about it?
2 comments:
Oh, I SOOOOO LOVE THIS POST!! We used to have a roommate who was SO self-righteous about buying organic and local, thing was that she would DRIVE 45 MINUTES to the farm market where she bought her "organic" and "local" milk and stuff. Urrggh. I do what I can, and we do ok for ourselves, but we're still in the place where if the organic tomatoes are $3.99/lb and conventional is cheaper, guess what we're eating?? It's pricey to be a green consumer! We definitely recycle as much as possible and make it a point to think about how much we drive etc.
Speaking of the not-practicing-what-he-preaches Al Gore… When he won the Nobel Peace prize last year he came to Oslo, Norway to accept it. At a press conference Mr. Gore applauded himself for even taking the public trains to his hotel… It was not so impressive since he had a chartered flight to Norway and his luggage took a private car to the hotel.
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