Green Trends are getting "Fish-y"

On an annoying broad spectrum, I definitely consider consumption the most environmentally detrimental instrument in the U.S. Under my ambiguous definition, I include cars, food, and stuff. I see a twelve year-old walking around drinking a Starbucks latte and talking on their cell phone and I want to (among other things) vomit. What preteen crisis could possibly be so pressing as to cause the use of a personal cell phone? Honestly. BUT, in the US, since the post WWII economic policy of BUY, BUY, BUY!, a person's worth has been determined by their stuff. All kinds of stuff, but mostly big stuff, expensive stuff,and new stuff. This is the American trend that will be hardest to diffuse because we all take the things we have and the resources that seem to come so limitless to us, for granted.

Living in the French countryside, I learned pretty quickly the ground rules of public services: don't flush the toilet, don't let the water run while you wash your hands, shower every other day (at most) and lots of blankets are just as good as a radiator. I'm not trying to accuse us Americans of being intentionally careless, but we're unique because we're one society who has never really had to "go without" things. We've never had our cities ravished by war to the point of starving citizens and no transportation (Ok. I know. I'm not counting the Civil War). We've had our moments of misfortune, to be sure (like the Great Depression), but the middle class always seems to power on without too much disruption and environmental concerns have stayed low on the radar because when you think about it, it's pretty cheap to get by with the bare necessities around here. (Unless you start off poor, but that's a whole other issue that I can't distract myself with right now. One crisis at a time.)

Jordan is right on with his thoughts about the future of oil and the direction that cars should take. Yeah, ideally it would be awesome to be able to someday phase out cars all together. However, cars have allowed people to spread out and it's hard to reverse that kind of process. Just in my family: my dad lives 30 minutes away, my sister lives in Nebraska, and my brother lives in Virginia. That doesn't even consider extended relatives (although, them I think sometimes I could do without). The point I'm trying to make is that, like most issues involving the environment, what's done is done and we can't move backwards. I will fly (or, God help me, drive) to Nebraska at least once a year to see my sister because, while there are many aspects of my consumer life that I'm willing to sacrifice, my dis-functional family is not one of them.

Stan Fish's article amused me while also managing to piss me off. While I understand that change for most people is difficult and even a hassle sometimes, I can't stand those like our friend Stan, who probably won't live long enough to see the society reach its environmental end, yet resist and resent efforts by my/our generation to make a difference. Yes, being environmentally conscious is not easy for anyone and the little things we do aren't enough, but it's SOMETHING. We're expressing that we are willing to see and adjust to necessary changes in order to preserve a slightly less depressing future for everyone (all ecosystems included). And the wealthy ones are the worst offenders. I have no doubts that our friend Stanley could afford to pay twice as much for the kitchen that he bitches about and I give his wife credit for dragging him through the new deal, but what about the rest of us? Not all poor people want to shop at Wal-Mart, but it's not like they have another option. The difference of a couple of dollars might not seem like much to us, but when you're living on social security, it adds up. The US needs to make efforts to lessen the gap between the rich and the poor because, like it or not, being green takes some dough.

Okay. I apologize if my thoughts seem scrabbled and disjointed. I'm sure I've made some outlandish connections, but I hope that I've at least contributed something without sounding like a ranting fool. Go Green!