environmentalism

Suburbia – Greatest Threat to the Environment

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When people think about what things cause harm to the environment they think of many things. They think of tall smokestacks pushing out sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, rusty metal drums leaking orange liquid, or the endless repetition of housing in suburban development.

Most do not think about attitudes and cultures that insulate people from the natural world. Yet, that might just be the biggest threat. Consumption without context, a lack of understanding of pollution, a distant natural world, and apathy all lead up to some serious environmental degradation.

Suburbia is grounded in consumption, often without context. They go to the mall and grocery store and buy things. The trash man comes by on Wednesday and takes away what they dont want. The people there have no idea where things came from, what technologies are behind it, and what the real costs of their actions are.

The landfill is well hidden from view. The methane from the dump and the landfill can not be smelled to the user. The factory in India spewing out toxic chemicals simply does not exist. Pollution does exist in suburbia from car emissions, phenalates from vinyl, and lawn pesticides, but it takes a different context from reality.

People in suburbia drive to work in an air conditioned sport-utility vehicle. They live and work in air conditioned vehicles that seal out natural air. Nature is little more then a place for camping. It certainly is not a place for living or making a life out of. If nature is anything in such a world it is always thoroughly controlled and regulated.

Life is suburbia is good, maybe too good. It breeds contempt and apathy. When life is so good, why challenge our status quo to protect some abstract environment so far away? Suburbs are non-political except for the occasional fight over grandpas fence, or parking. Real issues seem not ever to rise to interest.

Thrift Shops

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There is a view in our society that shopping at the Thrift Shop for clothes will somehow get you an inferior product, or will make you feel inferior. Yet, for some things, its make sense to look at a good thrift shop, and try to find out what you get can at a reasonable price.

Thrift Shops not only save you money on the clothes, they also save useful material from going to the landfill. Many people buy expensive clothing to wear for one or two occasions, only to stuff it in the dresser or hang it into their closet to be forgotten.

Some people have funny feelings about buy used clothing. It feels funny to think somebody else has worn a pare of clothing before you have put it on. Of course, our society is full of all kinds of creepiness and weirdness, if you only think about it. Be assured however, that used clothing places must either carefully wash or dry clean all their clothing before selling it.

When we choose to make do with what we have existing on our planet, and not demanding the extraction of new materials from the ground, its good for all of us. And while we cant survive entirely by shopping at the thrift shop, for the occasional blazer or suit pants, it might just fit the bill. And your saving the environment and a money at the same time.

Upwards

What Does It Mean To Be An Environmentalist?

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There are many people who consider themselves to be environmentalists. Yet, these people have very diverse beliefs and come from very diverse backgrounds.

On specific issues, environmentalists often disagree. One environmentalist might view the issue of providing pollution free power through hydroelectric as an acceptable cost to a damaged salmon population. Another might very well disagree.

What we can delimitate some fundamental processes that the environmentalist must go through to reach his rational conclusion:

  1. Carefully Observe The World
  2. Analysis What You Learn
  3. Question Why Things Are the Way They Are
  4. Act Upon What You Believe To Be Right

Deep Blue

In one way or another, you could argue that all environmentalists are seeking the best use of our limited natural resources and our limited land. In contrast to our natural resources, the human imagination is unlimited and we can find solutions to our problems.

Indeed, environmentalists seek the best use of the land. They want to see uses that are:

  1. Sustainable and protect our land for generations to come.
  2. Can be enjoyed and embraced without fear of being poisoned.
  3. Leads to human prosperity with diverse environments, smart cities, and prosperous farms.

We should seek environmental policies that not only protect our diverse species but also protect human dignity. We need an environment where:

  1. People can create, farm, and live.
  2. People can get away from urban life.
  3. People can live happy and productive lives in urban centers or in small communities if they so choose

What’s good for our environment is indeed good for our economy, as our economy is based on our environment. We must indeed be liberal in our quest to embrace new technologies and ideas that will improve our environment, but also conservative in respecting our natural environment around us.

Earth as a Pickup Truck

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We all like our pickup trucks. They are fund to play with off-road, use them around the farm, tow our boats, and so forth. They are built strong and are pretty reliable. Yet, like most things in life they have limitations and we must be careful how we use them and avoid serious damage. It seems like a similar analogy can be used for mother earth. Our planet is tough and resilient, but with the pressures of 6 billion people on it we can damage it seriously if we aren’t careful.

Big Red's Dent

On a truck we can do some pretty serious damage. We can run it into a tree, blow the engine by allowing it to overheat, grind up the transmission by accidentally shifting into reverse while driving, or rolling it over while driving on snow covered roads. We can do same thing with earth by carelessly allowing massive amounts of toxic escape into the air without control, dumping massive amounts of chemicals into our waterways, or consuming all of our fresh water for frivolous uses.

Control of State Government - By Percentage of US Population

We aren’t just talking about minor things that while annoying don’t actually do that much damage unless massive aggregated together. A minor dent or ding in your truck might be annoying, but it’s not going to make the truck less useful. A campfire might release some smoke into the atmosphere, or a cow may leave some dung in a pasture, but that to our environment.

Big Red at Petersburgh Pass