Oprah's Green Episode

I watched Oprah's "Going Green 101" episode today. It was pretty good: many of the practices that I've been implementing in our own lives were discussed, and many of the product recommendations were extremely useful.

What struck me the most was how the reasons cited for making some of these changes were sometimes confusing. I'm sure this was primarily to err on the side of simplicity for the audience and the format. But what tends to happen in these types of forums is that the "why" becomes trivialized to something like "Save a polar bear" or "Save a tree". 

Paper recycling, for example, was cited as a great way to save a tree. But a ton of paper comes from trees that are planted specifically for paper harvesting, so it's not like those trees would just sit around if we "saved" them: the paper companies would just plant less.

The more interesting story to tell is the one about the energy that goes into creating that paper the first time, and how significantly less is required for recycling. Also, that energy is likely coal-fired, creating greenhouse emissions. And then there's the greenhouse gas that gets emitted when that paper decomposes in a landfill. There's a hidden energy/emissions tax in nearly everything we buy and throw away.

There was a nice moment in the show where Oprah sat back and had the audience watch some satellite imagery of the Earth turning. She spoke about how this image inspires her to want to do something, because it gives her a sense for just how fragile and finite our world is. I couldn't agree more.

But what are we saving, exactly? It's not the Earth - we probably couldn't obliterate the giant block of rock we spin on if we tried to. It's not trees, and it's not polar bears. Nature is nice, and wonderful to look at, but it's not the reason we're doing this either.

The reason that I make these changes is to preserve humanity. I believe in preserving a way of life, and to make enough room for that way of life for every human on the Earth. We're facing two very real crises: global warming, and peak oil. The potential impact if either of these crises hits in earnest is loss of life, and certainly major changes in the way life is lived.

Imagine how your life would change if gas and electricity became too expensive for you to purchase, or became unavailable alltogether. Imagine how your life will change if countries begin warring over the remaining carbon resources. Imagine how millions of lives will change if sea levels rise and cities are displaced. Imagine how many people could go hungry if a major ocean current changes, and weather patterns alter significantly enough to turn geography that was previously a breadbasket into a desert.

These are worst case scenarios, but they are real scenarios that we face. And we hold the power in our hands to prevent them. We have the smarts and the technology to get it done. We just need to find the commitment.

Comments

[Phil]

You're right. We definitely have the resources. I believe every solution begins with individual conviction leading to larger and larger movement. You may be interested in this article http://makemeaware.org/?cat=4.

[Anna Hackman]

Well stated! I watched that episode too for a little bit. I just wish they would have explained what to do with your burnt out CFLs (real pet peeve of mine!). Anna www.green-talk.com