Apathy and environment: An Environmental Lacktivist writes
“Look, I understand that I’d reduce the pollution I create if I left the truck at home and took the bus. But come on, I can’t spend all day waiting at bus stops, walking from the terminal to the office, getting hot and sweaty. And who knows who you end up sitting next to. I’m not a morning person, I need my space. Never mind the environment, you can’t expect me to go to all that effort.”
“And alright, in the office I don’t use recycled paper, but there’s a good reason for that. Non-recycled paper is cheaper and better quality, so never mind the pollution it causes or the trees cut down to make it, I save money. And the paper looks so good it sends out such a professional message, (it also sends out the message that I don’t care that much about the environment, but this is business, is that really important?)”
“So long as the trees cut down for the paper I use come from a forest on the other side of the world, so I don’t have to see the hills they used to cover washed away by rain, and Seychelles stays beautiful, why would I care.
And the fumes that my car produces disappear into the atmosphere and are gone straight away. Maybe they do contribute to global warming, but Seychelles is already warm and I like the sunshine. A few more degrees centigrade won’t hurt. What does sea level rise matter, I live in the hills, and my boat still floats.”
“Don’t worry, if they try to build a power station next to my place I’ll be the first one in the protest line. But if it’s away from where I live, if I don’t smell the smoke and my kids don’t breath the fumes it’s acceptable. I’d rather have a bit more money in my pocket than pay more for electricity from a “clean” source.”
“So if it’s all the same to you I’ll leave the NGO’s and the government and all those funny little guys running around in the forests and on the islands to save the environment. I’ll be using my weekends to go fishing instead. It gets me close to nature, that’s why I like it.”
Until we all play our part environmental sustainability will remain a pipe dream. But we all need support to live sustainably. Combined with a willingness to make the right environmental decisions we must have access to recycling facilities, energy saving light bulbs, hybrid cars, recycled paper, low energy refrigerators and all of the other environmental options necessary to walk the earth with a soft step.
