Something feels off about my last post.
Too negative.
I forgot the important part about how being "green"
isn't really a sacrifice at all.
Because, really, a great many things that we take for granted
today, many of the conveniences and luxuries, don't really add much to life - in
fact, some take away from it.
Say, for example, you trade your car for a bike and your steak
for a salad.
Right off the top you are saving money. In the case of the
car, thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Then, after a few weeks, you are getting healthier, stronger,
losing weight, feeling better about yourself, feeling better about getting up
and starting each new day.
The same goes of you just take a partial step, say riding the
bike to work (or to the train station, whatever) once a week, and reducing
animal product intake by half.
You still find yourself with more energy, a more positive
outlook on the world. After a few months, maybe a year, chances are you are up
to 3 days a week, and meat only for special occasions.
Meanwhile you have this big ole stack of bills piling up in
your bank account - oh, and as a side benefit, you are doing a huge service for
the environment ("the environment" being short-hand for "the
future of all life on the planet, including ourselves")
Its like smoking. For a smoker, there really isn't any reward
to each cigarette, other than the cessation of the withdrawal symptoms. The
reward to giving it up is significantly improved health, both in terms of being
able to catch the bus that's just pulling away, and in terms of a long life.
Plus, all the money you save by not buying the cigarettes (and the health care
costs some day - because yall know we aren't going to get a nationalized health
plan anytime soon).
Its just habit (and chemical addiction) that keeps them going
back for more.
Our cars and diet and electricity use and all the rest are
basically like cigarettes. They don't make us happier in life, but we have a
lot of trouble giving them up.
(The good news is, no physical addiction!)
Other things that are good for the earth, which in the long
run are good for our pocketbooks, our health, and/or our happiness, include
buying the absolute smallest car you can find, buying less stuff (we all know
stuff doesn't really make us happier), living close to work (or better yet,
telecommuting), eating organic (more nutrients, less toxic chemicals), saving
energy (this should go without saying.) It does take more time to put the
clothes on the line. But not only do you save money, that is time spent outdoors
in the sun, instead of in some laundrymat or the basement.
Then, with all the surplus in good deeds, spend some of that
on the things that make life better, (but maybe aren't the best things
ecologically)
If you spent all year saving electricity, go ahead and put up
that elaborate xmas light display.
After buying everything on Craigslist.org or from thrift
stores, go ahead and buy a brand new high quality food processor.
After biking to work every day, take the car up to the
mountains for vacation.
And don't feel bad about it!
Enjoy life. Doing good should not be a sacrifice.
When people think about fuel economy, they usually think about small
cars, perhaps a mid-size hybrid. If they think about trucks, its
usually to contrast them with a more efficient vehicle (and perhaps
chastise truck owners for their wasteful choice).
