I hate to admit it, but this article did resonate with me. While I understand the merits of recycling, organic and locally grown food, green cleaning products, energy consumption reduction, these things are far from my mind on a daily basis. I don't have a wife hounding me about my habits, but as I sit here and reflect on my behavior, I can claim no valid excuse. As Stanly says, I just want to go about my life as comfortably and conveniently as possible.
I suppose convenience is my excuse, or at least the best most prominent behavioral influence. I, and I think most other people, have way too much to do in the allotted time frame, and engaging in an environmentally beneficial lifestyle is not automatic. It requires time to separate the garbage, wash old cans and bottles, go to a less convenient and more expensive grocery store, or spend 45 minutes to walk to a location that would take 15 minutes by car.
It appears that in answering the second question, I also answer the first. The biggest threats to our environment are people like me with too much to do and too little time. At the very least, I don't plan to produce more people in my likeness.
Alli Gerhart
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for getting the ball rolling Alli. I appreciate your candid reflections. It's true that as a society we seem to have become slaves to convenience. The easiest route seems always the most attractive route, even if it may not be the BEST option for us by a variety of other measures. Something for us to try to make sense of during the semester.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of your group makes of Fish's article, and of your response.
Best,
Simon