I've been thinking a lot lately about this modern fad about " being green " and ways for you to actually accomplish some of it. Turns out, it is pretty hard , if not impossible, to do anything that will relieve the Earth from some of the poison you excreting as you go with your visit on this planet. Whatever you do, no matter how big or small , makes an impact on the planet. Whatever you choose not to do is also making an impact as it creates opportunities for other people to do it. If you spend any money in any way, you create pollution. If you don't spend any of your money, you credit everyone else's buying (read polluting ) ability through inflation. If you hedge yourself against inflation by buying... no matter what-- again you are causing pollution by supporting gold-diggers, silver traders, wheat-growers or whatnot... and thousands of other people along the way.
Now what happens if you quit your fancy job/business/inheritance and will go live in the forest/subsistence farm/homeless shelter and whatnot. How much of a difference will it make? 0. Big fat ZERO. Other people will get your jobs/market shares and will keep riding the wagon and whipping the horse till it dies.
Lets look at a few projects that are peddled now days as a Gaia-saving measures.
Plastic bags: where I live , in US, there is a huge onslaught on the customers by supermarkets in order to make them give up free plastic bags. Having less plastic bags around is an admirable idea, but a few questions remain.
1) Stores spend insane amounts of money on plastic bags. What are they gonna do with all that money that they will be saving? Something tells me they wont be buying rain forests for conservation purposes. They will spend it, in one way or another, causing additional pollution.
2) Many are using these plastic bags before throwing them away--cat litter, some temporal storage, I use them as regular trash bags. If they are gone, these people will be forced to use something else for this purpose--read buy more plastic, cause more pollution.
3) What exactly will happen with NG and oil that is used to produce these bags? Will it be left alone in the ground? i somehow doubt it. It will be used anyway.
4) What about alternatives--will it be a pollution-free production and recycling? Is there such a thing at all?
Solar panels: everyone is daydreaming about using them as an alternative to coal.
It is pretty obvious that these panels are either money-making, or money-losing project. If its a money-losing project , then you support an entire new industry that will be polluting through production of these panels and spending their profits. if its a money-making project then let me ask you this, what are you going to do with the money you just saved? Most likely you will spend it as your other income causing additional pollution and additional need for energy.
The only way to have "pollution-savings" through solar panels is if the new industry will employ LESS people for LESS money, than whats needed to dig a comparable by energy output amount of coal.
to be continued
Now what happens if you quit your fancy job/business/inheritance and will go live in the forest/subsistence farm/homeless shelter and whatnot. How much of a difference will it make? 0. Big fat ZERO. Other people will get your jobs/market shares and will keep riding the wagon and whipping the horse till it dies.
Lets look at a few projects that are peddled now days as a Gaia-saving measures.
Plastic bags: where I live , in US, there is a huge onslaught on the customers by supermarkets in order to make them give up free plastic bags. Having less plastic bags around is an admirable idea, but a few questions remain.
1) Stores spend insane amounts of money on plastic bags. What are they gonna do with all that money that they will be saving? Something tells me they wont be buying rain forests for conservation purposes. They will spend it, in one way or another, causing additional pollution.
2) Many are using these plastic bags before throwing them away--cat litter, some temporal storage, I use them as regular trash bags. If they are gone, these people will be forced to use something else for this purpose--read buy more plastic, cause more pollution.
3) What exactly will happen with NG and oil that is used to produce these bags? Will it be left alone in the ground? i somehow doubt it. It will be used anyway.
4) What about alternatives--will it be a pollution-free production and recycling? Is there such a thing at all?
Solar panels: everyone is daydreaming about using them as an alternative to coal.
It is pretty obvious that these panels are either money-making, or money-losing project. If its a money-losing project , then you support an entire new industry that will be polluting through production of these panels and spending their profits. if its a money-making project then let me ask you this, what are you going to do with the money you just saved? Most likely you will spend it as your other income causing additional pollution and additional need for energy.
The only way to have "pollution-savings" through solar panels is if the new industry will employ LESS people for LESS money, than whats needed to dig a comparable by energy output amount of coal.
to be continued
