Eco-evangelism

With all this talk of global warming and how we are all heartless bastards not doing enough to save the Earth, I have to admit that I am starting to question a lot of the everyday things that could be contributing to this problem. That post I put up about Swiffers and other disposable household products started to hit home when a couple people mentioned why there were bad for the environment. Since then, I've come to realize that hey, maybe I am being careless about it, and I should try to use reusable products.

After that Swiffer incident, I started to hesitate in doing practically anything. "Am I polluting? What cute baby seal am I indirectly killing by wiping my ass with this bleached toilet paper? How many icebergs am I melting from flushing this toilet? Should I ever flush again??"

I'm happy to report that I did indeed flush that toilet. My point is that it is easy to make yourself so paranoid about what you are doing to the environment that you can convince yourself to practically stop living. It seems that every time I go to throw something out, I have to triple guess myself, wondering either about how I can reuse or recycle it, or how I could have been more responsible earlier and not bought it in the first place. It drives me insane.

However, what is even easier to do than worry about your own waste, is to complain about the waste of others (which is really the reason for this post). Sure, we can all do more for the environment, and pointing it out can be a good way to generate awareness, but pointing the finger and screaming bloody murder can often 1) oversimplify the issue, 2) shame the 'culprit' rather than educate them and 3) ignore the zillion other things the person might be doing to help the environment.

This is what I call eco-evangelism (an apt term, in my opinion). The majority of environmentalists complain because they care, but a few do it simply because it is easy to complain, without presenting any reasonable alternative. Let's just all complain that others aren't doing enough for the environment, without some practical and viable ways of reducing waste, to the point where it's forbidden to move or breathe.

TRUE STORY: I once bought a fruit smoothie from a Vegetarian restaurant in Toronto, and was asked whether it was to go or to drink in the restaurant. I ordered it to go, but my friends and I decided to stay and order some food. The guy at the counter saw that we stayed and made a comment saying that I should have told him that it wasn't to go, so I wouldn't use a plastic cup.
I said sorry, and he replied, and I quote, "It's ok, I just care about the Earth."

I won't spell out completely what I think, but what a douchebag.

OK, this is an extreme example. But there is a middle ground, people. A middle ground where we can all be concerned about the environment, but where we can be prescriptive about what to do, rather than just point the finger. I was looking through digg.com (awesome site I just discovered) and found this list of 50, practical things you can do to reduce the effects of global warming. The last 10 get a bit hippie, but some of them are rather simple and effective.

http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips.html

So there you are. Now if you'll excuse me, I had a big dinner, and have seals to kill and icebergs to melt. Some things cannot be saved.

Man's Greatest Invention

When was the last time you came across a household product that really changed the way you do things? Something so simple, but that has really changed the way you think? Forget about the iPod and the Internet/blogging/Youtube revolution; I'm talking about the Swiffer.

Anyone who has used a Swiffer knows what I'm talking about. The amount of dirt you pick up on one of those Swiffer clothes is incredibly... gross (don't worry, no photos this time). The dust and dirt just piles up on it, clinging to it safely. No insidious 'line' of dust from that broom. To think that before the Swiffer, I was wallowing in this amount of filth. It really makes me want to hunt down that dirt right now, in fact. Right...

Huh? Oh, yah, Swiffer friend me good. Gotta go.