Buying Green & Eco-Junk
December 23rd, 2007 by Ann Link
In his essay Eco-Junk George Monbiot writes about the current fad to embrace everything “green” without addressing the problem of overconsumption:
“The middle classes rebrand their lives, congratulate themselves on going green, and carry on buying and flying as much as ever before. It is easy to picture a situation in which the whole world religiously buys green products, and its carbon emissions continue to soar.”
The constant desire for new possessions is a persistent feature in our society. In the cartoon movie “Spirited Away,” a character named “No Face” engorges himself with everything and everyone but never seems happy. Advertising is geared toward making us feel that something is missing and a product will fulfill it. By promoting “green” consumption, advertisers assure a continuing market for goods and services.
One of the key values of the Green Party is “Future Focus and Sustainability.” How can this be achieved in a culture where buying “green” means depleting resources, generating emissions, and creating waste? I welcome your comments below . . .
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Although I agree that it’s important for all of us to “live lightly” and use fewer natural resources, I also think we have to be careful not to blame individuals. Most Americans have been taught since birth that more “things” will make them happier–the most important thing that we can do is to expose the fallacy of this “reasoning.”
A key fact to remember is that almost everyone who encourages you to purchase more material goods has a conflict of interest: he or she will profit (directly or indirectly) if you buy them.
This goes to the idea that people are using resources’ at a rate that is harmful to this planet as the only place in the universe where humans can live.
The main reason why people are using these recourses at the above rate is that there are to many humans. That is right there are to many people. We are having to many children and that is that.
Less children is less use of resources.
I feel conflicted talking about issues like Eco-Junk. Bloggers who blog about being green do so using computer servers that are very destructive to the environment. Solar panels are built in factories that often use fossil fuel to construct them. Unless we chose to live in an existence that is completely isolated from the immediate block in which you live, we are stuck with some technologies that harm the environment. The fact that stores and businesses — many that in the past have completely ignored the damage being done to the environment — are even paying lip service to green initiatives, can be seen as a step in the right direction.