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Sean MacEntee via http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/5982086509/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Column Our ‘green’ ideals fizzle out in the face of everyday life

We may think we care about the environment – but our commitment stops as soon as we’re asked to pay, writes Dermot McNally.

EVERYONE SAYS THAT protecting the environment must be foremost in all future decisions. But it isn’t. It’s not even close to being the foremost priority. When it comes to the sacrifice of short term fulfilment in the name of the planet, the eco-warrior in all of us often seems to fizzle out.

Many of the major ‘eco’ decisions consumers take are influenced by a financial motivator, be it a carrot or a stick. For example, increasing domestic insulation to reduce long term heating costs; recycling waste to reduce domestic collection charges; choosing a more environmentally sound car (with less tax and higher fuel efficiency); using reusable shopping bags once the plastic bag tax came into being. We’re pro-green when we are forced to be, or when it saves us cash. Otherwise green thinking rarely enters our decision-making.

For example have you reconsidered booking a holiday to Australia or Spain because of your guilt over the immense level of emissions the flights will generate? Do we consider the packaging on our shiny electrical goods or the inability to recycle much of what is purchased? Eco-activists say we must consider these decisions because although the use of resources is inevitable – unsustainable use of these resources is not.

Play dumb

Nor can we play dumb and say we didn’t know. Many products carry labels and certificates to enhance their green credentials and transparency (FSC, Rainforest Alliance, 100% recycled etc) and help us to ‘choose green’. But to call a spade a spade, the uncertified option often costs less – in essence, workers get lower pay and/or the environment gets polluted more.

The ‘upside’ is that there are lots of cheap goods for mise agus tusa. Hurrah…! Who was it that famously said, “Free trade is both fair and green”? Who was it? Nope. Nobody said it. Because they’d be lying if they said it.

Capitalism basically asserts that the ingenuity and innovation of the free market global economy (which is driven by the greed for profit…) will eventually find a way to fix all our environmental problems while simultaneously making someone or some corporation(s) very rich. I’d interpret this as (1) Hopefully there’ll be a miracle gizmo to fix the planet but in the meantime let’s make money and (2) Don’t introduce any restrictions to reduce pollution immediately as that would reduce the money we can make now.

With respect to progressive companies, they are often slow to take the lead in environmental protection for a valid reason – if they incur heavy costs relative to their less ethical competitors they become uncompetitive. Therefore you will never read the epitaph:

He was CEO for thirty years of BigCo Inc and we never once distributed profit to shareholders – but by God, we were by far the cleanest company in our sector.

The exception to this is in products where the customers have the disposable income to pay the additional price – or because a minority of consumers want to buy ethically, despite the higher price, and will make do with less elsewhere.

Similarly, our own Government’s hands are somewhat tied – if they try to do anything far-reaching it could well put Ireland at a competitive disadvantage relative to all other nations (and incidentally it could put them out of office. Note the elected opposition aren’t screaming for environmental action at present). So with international emissions targets falling by the wayside and influential policy makers like those in the World Trade Organisation unbending in their strident belief in that the capitalist philosophy solves all, there is little immediate likelihood of leadership from above.

But awareness is at an all time high. For those interested in doing more, the first step isn’t painful– there are hundreds of enjoyable YouTube films (such as The Story of Stuff) and websites documenting the environmental problems we face. It’s easier to think clearly when you fully understand what’s going on.

Throwaway

Buying local goods and edibles is almost always the best environmental option because local produce offers a low carbon footprint and ethical working standards. Try and distance yourself from the contemporary throwaway mentality; when it comes to household goods, investing in durable long lasting products is better in the long run for your pocket and the environment.

And for fear of sounding like my father, live within your means – the excessive consumerism that wanton borrowing produces stretches you financially (forcing you deeper into the rat race) and hurts the environment as new cars, bigger houses, more holidays are the typical outcomes.

None of this is easy – I can’t even convince my wife to stop buying multiple cute woolly hats for our infant girl (how many cute hats can a wee girl wear at once?). But in the interest of domestic bliss I resolve myself to pass the goods onto the next parents or to charity shops.

If you are a closet activist, it’s time to get out there. Eco-warriors are starting to unite both locally and on the internet to pursue their passion. Similarly organisations like Fair Trade and the World Development Movement are growing in strength. But a word of warning: if you plan to join them, you will need your heaviest coat. The days of the fair weather eco-warrior are coming to an end.

Dermot McNally is the owner of a long-established family furniture business in Monaghan, FurnitureFair.ie, and a regular participant on radio discussion panels on Shannonside Northern Sound.

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17 Comments
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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Dec 29th 2012, 9:43 AM

    I would like to think I care about the environment but in reality I buy according to my very limited budget . I buy the cheapest I can as its a struggle to get by like a lot of other people in this country . My one contribution to recycling is I haunt local charity shops for bargains for household and clothes needs . As for foreign holidays …. What are they ?
    I think that is the reality for a lot of people in Ireland today !

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    Mute Trish Forde-Brennan
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    Dec 29th 2012, 9:59 AM

    Not being environmentally conscious is now hitting us financially.€12,000 a day is not insignificant for our reluctance to implement EU environmentally friendly legislation.Then there are the effects of Climate Change such as food shortages, rising sea levels and increased flooding.Our short term gains will haunt the next generation.
    On a positive note, growing food locally makes a lot of sense.Why can’t local authorities be pro-active by making Allotments available particularly in suburban areas ?

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    Mute Gordon Lucas
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    Dec 29th 2012, 10:44 AM

    For me a big problem is that it takes eveyone to care and I’ve become very cynical about how much difference I, as an individual, can make. A similar thing is true for politcs. The naivety of the 90s is well behind us.
    My cynicism was helped along by the Green Party’s neo-liberal attitude to solutions. We pretend that wind-farms, recycling, etc are part of the solution – yet the main problem is that we have a consumerist society. AFAIK the recession is far better for the environment than policies have been – but look at the ecconomic cost. If people still want the latest iCrap, which many do, then the economy does well and the environment (and Foxcon workers) suffer. When the Green Party were in power they brought in policies that benifited the well off. Eg low car tax for those who can afford new eco-cars. It costs money to be Green, and I think its true to say that the more money you have the less Green you’ve been.
    We consistently confuse the word “sustainable” by using it in an ecconomic and environmental way interchangably. For me it’s lost all meaning. The level of change need is astromomical. The planet is pretty screwed and we’ll only change when nature forces us to, imo.

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    Mute jim ahh jim ahh jim
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    Dec 29th 2012, 10:01 AM

    Recycling glass and charity shops are a load of me arse.

    Close one power station in China and the problem is almost solved.

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    Mute Shane Bradley
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    Dec 29th 2012, 10:46 AM

    Providers of products & services prioritise cost cutting … Customers (especially in the present economic climate) have the same priority. This is a basic principle of the marketplace. Sadly costs are only considered in terms of money and both parties are encouraged to overlook the real costs (environmental and social) and so the former continues to exploit labour and ignore (unseen) destructive consequences of the means of production and the latter will always look at one label (the price) over and above all other labels.
    Unless or until the market place is forced to take account of the true costs and price accordingly..nothing will change…How mad is it and how distorted the market is when it costs the consumer less to buy a product that has been transported across half the globe than it is to buy the same product, produced half an hour away.
    The true costs of products and services are hidden and remote, while the benefits of the distorted market are immediate and obvious. The environmentalists truly have their work cut out for them.. especially in these economically restricted times.

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    Mute Nydon
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    Dec 29th 2012, 11:05 AM

    If you want the majority of people to behave in a certain way, then it has to be the Easiest, Cheapest or Quickest way.
    If you can’t arrange for that to be the case then you have to make it the only way – usually by passing a law or removing the alternative way.
    It’s human nature to seek out or eventually revert to the ECQ way.
    For that reason..
    The Smartest of technology under the control of a not so smart human is a waste of time and money- it needs to be autonomous and unobtrusive in order to be successful .

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    Mute James Ó Cianáin
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    Dec 29th 2012, 10:06 AM

    Interesting article, some very good points made! It would be nice to somehow convince people not to shop from the likes of Tesco but unfortunately we’re always going to go for value, (lower costs) before thinking about the environment.

    Being realistic if the government taxed the crap out of imported goods there would be a better incentive to shop local.

    The only way people are actually going to choose local sources is if there cheaper.

    One good thing we do is actually charge for plastic bags. The UK don’t even do that yet!

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    Mute Gordon Lucas
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    Dec 29th 2012, 10:50 AM

    I avoid Tesco too, but in fairness I think they are quite good at getting local stuff. Perhaps I’m mistaken?

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    Mute John Everyman
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    Dec 29th 2012, 2:34 PM

    I actually don’t know anyone who really cares about the environment and I certainly don’t. I know a lot of people who say they do but still drive big cars, buy beef and turn the heating up to max when it gets a bit cold.

    At the end of the day, what I buy is going to be dictated by quality and price. If the best fruit in the world comes from the other side of the planet, I’ll buy it once the price is good.

    Or to give a different example. I was in a shop few days back buying a birthday card. Ones printed in China were good quality, had a funny message and cost 2 Euro. Picked up a card with a “Guaranteed Irish” sticker. Crappy paper, blank inside and cost 3 Euro 5 cents……

    Take my money Beijing!

    12
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    Mute Jammy Dodger
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    Dec 29th 2012, 7:45 PM

    I call myself an eco-warrior but I live in a big house and drive a big car and own a business so of course its in my interest to tell people to buy local, durable products. So does owning a few energy saving lightbulbs make me a bff of the environment or am I just masquerading as one????

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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Dec 29th 2012, 12:40 PM

    The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

    — Thomas Sowell

    Those that believe government regulation can provide the solutions to enviromental problems are as misguided as those that believe governments can effectively manage economies, the financial services sector or that politicans are not influenced, or captured, by vested interests.
    The true costs of all commodities have been distorted by government interventions. Following decades of the promotion of consumerism through deliberate policies, we now find the interests of the environment and capital at odds with one another.

    “… Member Countries shall take necessary action and/or shall establish negotiations, individually or in groups, with the oil companies with a view to adopting ways and means to offset any adverse effects on the per barrel real income of Member Countries resulting from the international monetary developments as of 15th August 1971.”
    – OPEC, Sept. 1971, in a communiqué sent out after President Nixon severed the dollar’s link to gold

    The first crisis of the fiat currency era should have left nobody in doubt as to the fallacy of excessive government economic intervention and Market manipulation. However, western governments have suceeded in manipulating oil prices through military interventions and aggressive diplomatic manouvering, while pursuing illusory domestic growth by inflating a succession of economic bubbles culminating in the current crisis.

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    Mute Dermot McNally
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    Dec 29th 2012, 1:02 PM

    Sean – to generalise all government intervention as all misguided is bizarre and I’m not sure what overall point you are making? Alternatively, can you show how a removal of government intervention would actually help the environment? Yes, capitalism and environmentalism are at odds – how could this be different?

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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Dec 29th 2012, 8:13 PM

    “Without the primary inputs of the earth, there would be NO secondary or tertiary wealth for us to divvy up (via a money-driven rationing process) or develop exotic derivative products around. Economics should be the study of energy and resource flows as well as money.

    Today we find the world’s central banks mystified as to why trillions and trillions of freshly-printed fiat units, be they dollars or euros or yen, are not resuscitating the world economic system. The answer might just be grounded in the observation that we are out of cheap and easy oil. The very food of the economy is no longer as packed with calories as it once was, and the patient is losing weight.

    What I am describing here is nothing less than a complete and utter paradigm shift that is so profound and so large that it will, paradoxically, escape detection by most people. That’s just how gigantic shifts seem to happen: They go largely unnoticed, perhaps because they are too big to internalize.”
    Chris Martenson

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    Mute Reginald St Worthing
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    Dec 29th 2012, 11:38 AM

    @Gordon Lucas. I agree. Have you read Derrick Jensen? Here’s an interview: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4801/

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    Mute Gordon Lucas
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    Dec 29th 2012, 12:25 PM

    Thanks for the interesting link. :)

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    Mute Dermot McNally
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    Dec 29th 2012, 12:56 PM

    Very good link. Worth a read for anyone interested in the subject

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    Mute Reginald St Worthing
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    Dec 29th 2012, 11:01 PM

    Yes and no. The system is such that the odds are stacked against you. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as being responsible, it’s more to do with the outside forces – economy, agriculture, military, etc. All the quick showers in the world won’t wash away the sins of the takers. Municipal water usage accounts for less than one tenth of the total – 70 percent goes to agriculture, and 20 percent to industry. So, essentially, it’s not your fault. But when are we, the aware, going to stand up and say: this must end? Because it’s destroying our world

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