Question: Environment Vs Convenience

[I'm Jim Too]

Roinks! My keyboard is feeelthy!
http://www.jhillier.clara.co.uk/filthydirty.jpg
Simply put - do I spend nowt and go at it for hours with a damp clothe, spend £4 on keyboard cleaning fluid or simply spend £6 to buy a new keyboard?

Or in other words: At what level does an easy life become environmental damage?

In this particular case neither of the later alternatives is amazingly attractive from an environmental perspective. Cleaning fluids, their packaging and production processes are potentially devestating to the environment but then the storage of growing mountains of plastic ex-computer parts which will never degrade is another problem.

But take a look at what you eat, what you wear and what you use. To some degree everyone - every human being - is a black smudge on the face of the earth. It's the nature of organic life to feed on the things in its environment. In humans I'd say that aspect is totally out of control give our ability to understand the consequences of our acts.

At what level do YOU say - hang on a fucking mo.
Do you find that your every meal purchase investment is ethical?
Do you indulge a little or a lot?
Does it really hurt to treat yourself once in a while?
Or do you honestly never think of these things - 'cause if it was all going to go to shit then at least it (probably) wont be in your lifetime!

Me: I'm somewhere in the middle. I have a few nice things that i want but I'll never buy a car - not till they run on wind power. I do eat meat but prefer free range. I hate litter and recycle everything i can and buy recycled bits where possible but not exclusively
I live comfortably but do make sacrifices.

[KualaLumpur1997]

I wouldn't consider myself eligible for the Green party, but I like to think I do a bit - I recycle most stuff (cans, bottles etc), I definitely do not believe in fly killer sprays, why should an animal die because it's pissing you off? I have great respect for natural beauty. I will, however, eat meat, because whatever protests take place, the meat industry will never be overpowered, and meat will always be consumed.

So yeah, I'm somewhat equivocal with this issue.

[Dr-Electro]

I won't be giving up my computers any time soon. I try to avoid using styrofoam products and recycle my paper, plastic and aluminum. (Our local recycling center won't take anything else.)

I use electric lights. I have air conditioning. I use a microwave oven. I have to have a car to get around where I live. I take care of my car and drive sanely. I watch television and I eat meat.

I guess I am in the middle of the mess or close to it. I have no personal interest in spotted owls, but I believe the world is a better place if they are allowed to live in their natural habitat. I feel the same way about all living creatures, but I am not against the concept of animals as food.

Everything you eat has an impact on our environment. It doesn't matter if you eat plants or animals or even rocks and stones. What you eat is removed from the environment to be replaced with waste products. If our waste products can be reused for the benefit of the environment, no harm is done. However, if our waste products contaminate the environment, we will all suffer the consequences together.

Just try to be as conservative as your personal environment will allow. If you have to ride a bus to get to school or work, then ride the bus. If you have to drive to get across town, then drive across town. If you can share the ride with someone else, don't hesitate to share the ride. Recycle your newspapers and phone directories. Turn your aluminum in for scrap. Turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms, even if they are someone else's rooms. Don't stand on front of an open refrigerator and browse, get something out and shut the door. Donate to your favorite environmental charity when you are able to. Use common sense in your everyday life. Each of us can make a positive impact even if we only do little things.

[I'm Jim Too]

Hey-ho. I guessed that may be the general feeling.
However I'm not sure that having people share a similar view on the issue actual makes me feel better at all!
I know its still early but not one person so far who really cares?
Thats more of a worry than if we had one person who didnt give a shit.

The pervailing mood in western culture seems to be:
"If our impact on the environment was really having some horrible effect someone would stop us"

The lack of responsiblity people feel - i feel - in this regard is truely wretched.

Is it that there is just too much to be worried about? Too many charities? Too many trees being torn down? Old ladies being murdered for their pension? Animals being forced to smoke cigarettes till tumours eat them alive?

Maybe thats it. There are just too many straws to clutch at and nothing solid and simple that a person can do.

If you were given something simple to do for a couple of hours a week and this thing would make everything a little better for everyone (perhaps in a way you might never percieve) could you find the time to do it? Or would you think that enough good people will already have signed up and you need not bother?

[Dr-Electro]

That's exactly what I am saying. I take the time to do the little things I am able to do. I encourage others to do the same things in their own lives. I care about the environment, but I am only one old man. I can only do what I can do so I do it. You should do the same and not feel badly if it is all you are capable of doing.

I lament all the stupid people who think that they need to drive gas-guzzling Hummers and Ford Escursions and the like just because they can afford to pay for the fuel the monstrosities use. They fail to see the impact they are having on the rest of us because they are stuck in their own "Just-World Syndrome."

The "Just-World Syndrome" is the concept that everybody else gets exactly what they deserve, whether it is wealth or starvation, thereby allowing the individual to grab anything and everything he or she can, regardless of who else gets hurt in the process. The syndrome extends to all other creatures and things in the Universe. I can't abide the people who are like that. They have absolutely no consideration for anybody or anything but themselves. This inconsideration often extends even to their closest family members, including infant children left to starve.

[I'm Jim Too]

Then let me ask this:
Do you believe that the "Just-World Syndrome" is a natural state; a result of a selfish gene that we all carry which vindicates anything that we do?

I think that it must be. babies and children are naturaly selfish until they are taught to share and to consider the feelings of others.
By the same measure we are taught to be considerate of our environment but (perhaps) not by our parents. It seems to me that each person is forced to teach themselves where the Environment Vs Convenience balance should lay. There is no formal education which covers this aspect of life and no governmental structures in place to strictly guide us.*
There should be, of course, if only to facilitate the delevery of essential facts. Where are we really going wrong? What should we do first?
Fair trade, Free-range and Recycle should be terms kids come home from primary school with and every home should be given a Recycled goods bin.
Obvious stuff maybe, but why doesn't it happen?



(*although in the uk cars with large engines have a higher "road tax" than smaller cars)

[Dr-Electro]

There is an ancient tradition known as "passing the buck." With this tradition, you get the "it's not my job," reply. The schools think it is the parents' traditional responsibility. The parents think it is up to the schools and churches. The churches don't care as long as they get their tithes. Nobody did it because somebody was supposed to do it but everybody assumed someone else would take care of it so it never got done.

Yes, it is a personal responsibility we should each take upon ourselves. I taught my kids to recycle. Now, they live 2,000 miles away and have kids of their own. Do they recycle now? I don't know, I haven't asked. Do they teach their kids about recycling? If they know what's good for planet Earth, they damned well better.

You teach your kids. Hopefully we can start a chain reaction. You tell a person. I tell a person. They each tell somebody else. It grows from there.

[I'm Jim Too]

Amen, good Doctor.
Me and you.
Me and you.
;)