oh dear. i am supposed to write something about the environment today as part of blog action day. be warned! i am almost cynical when it comes to this topic. don’t get me wrong, i still try (after more than 20 years) the best i personally can to be mindful of the precarious ecological situation we are facing; i recycle, minimize my usage of water and electricity, try to avoid cars as much as possible and feel very guilty each time i do use one, eat vegetarian, and, hell, i even vote green. mostly.
but i have no illusions about this, i do not see this is as any kind of a solution. in fact it goes even further, i do not believe it will make the slightest difference. i am well aware that for all the resources that i may save, the next guy, probably my neighbor for all i know, wastes three times as much. and the truly big polluters – industry, agriculture, air travel – are not about to change. so yes, i still recycle, but at least i am honest about it and i acknowledge, that this is only to calm down my own guilt. i do this for my own peace of mind. what a joke, right?
al gore just won the nobel peace price for a model of ecological thinking, that is based on such superficial motives. he does not advise people to change their lifestyle and to be more mindful of the resources they waste, but instead feeds them with an utopian belief in technological solutions and asks them to support ecological projects in the third world and elsewhere. his message in short: keep driving your SUVs, but then buy some shares in a third world ecological development to calm down your guilty conscience. silly.
no. i think we are doomed. i believe the metaphor that some deep ecology thinkers and earth first! activists have coined is right, humans really are a cancer of the earth. and it is already too late now, we will manage to take this planet down with us. i am not as radical with this thinking as some people are, i don’t think we have to help things along. the ship is already sinking on its own.
after all, i do need to keep living with some sort of peace of mind.
Keep on recycling … 😉
Grüsse aus Arlesheim vom Wanderer
i will i will, till doomsday cometh
Kepp up the good work! Your an inspiration. 20 years on and still recycling. Its something our family is big on, its hard work with the kids sometimes though, much easier for them just to throw stuff in the bin.
PS Al Gore has shifty eyes. (sorry)