In the past couple of days I've heard a couple of segments on the radio about "eco-friendly" products and how to recognize them. And I can't help thinking how no matter how eco-friendly a product is, it's still a product, and the people that sell it want to sell MORE of it. No matter how eco-friendly that product is, I can't think of a single one that wouldn't do less damage to the earth by not being there in the first place. Hybrid cars still use literally tons of metal and plastic to create, and the most benignly green household cleaner still comes in some sort of packaging that took materials and energy to create and will use energy to recycle. The cotton in organic cotton clothing is still harvested using some sort of petroleum-fueld machinery and is most likely woven on some sort of electric or gas-powered loom.
What this comes down to is that the best way to be green is to simply consume less STUFF. Do you really *need* a new car? Do you *need* that super-cool organic cotton hoodie? Do you *need* that copy of Mother Earth News? Do you *need* that calendula-scented all-natural bathroom cleaner? No, I didn't think so. I'm pretty sure the single most damaging thing for the planet is simply human greed. Making that greed more green causes less damage, but I don't think it's actually fixing anything. It's a sad comment on how consumer-oriented our society is, when the thought of just not using certain products never crosses our minds - we just look for someone to sell us a "greener" one.
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1 comment:
Very well said!
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