2: What are we Willing to Sacrifice?

In his article, “I Am, Therefore I Pollute,” Stanley Fish discusses the assorted difficulties and annoyances associated with living in an environmentally friendly manner in the United States. He discusses how difficult it is, for him, to use washable rags instead of disposable paper towels (the rags often become soiled, whereas you can throw out the paper towels after use); how fluorescent light bulbs are expensive and offer poor lighting; how eating local meat is also expensive and of a lesser quality because it was not processed by a major, corporate meat processing plant; and other assorted personal problems he has faced with recycling and remodeling his home. In the end, he concludes that, while he supports the environmental goals of politicians such as Al Gore, he does not feel he is capable of living in an environmentally friendly manner.

While I am often unimpressed with the argument that people do not want to change their habits to assist the environment, I must confess that I have had several problems changing my own habits to become environmentally friendly. Though my family uses fluorescent lighting in our house, I agree that they are dim, and that the amplitude of the lighting often gives me a headache. I could never use washable rags over napkins or paper towels, only because paper towels are far more convenient to use and require less attention. Recycling is one of the only complaints Mr. Fish has which I feel does not affect me; it is not hard to separate items into recycling bins before the garbage is collected on a weekly basis, nor is it too hard to me to put my recyclable items in recycling bins here on campus.

But I do understand that living in an environmentally friendly manner is “better said than done.” Our society prefers things to be easy and luxurious; sadly, that is just who we are. We like our SUVs big and our produce ripe with pestici-- excuse me, flavor. Because our culture is also stubborn, I do not expect people to personally become environmentally friendly.

This, of course, is why I believe regulations and laws are the only way to enforce environmentally friendly behavior. Phasing out incandescent light bulbs in favor of fluorescent light bulbs seems like an intelligent idea. Banning bottled water in certain cities and promoting faucet filters seems like an intelligent idea. Phasing out full size SUVs in favor of compact SUVs or crossover vehicles seems like an intelligent idea. However, these regulations and laws would require a sacrifice on our part. Sadly, our willingness to give up some of these luxuries for the benefit of the planet is something which has yet to be seen.