The
other day I saw an article about a replacement to plastic shopping
bags.
(I
should point out that I didn’t read the article. I only read the
blurb. But the blurb is where the content appeared that bring
this essay to a start, and not the deepest and detailed specifics.)
Without
sharing what the replacement was, the general idea presented was
that you would need to use it hundreds (and likely thousands)
of times in order to balance out the environmental impact that
compared the impact of one plastic bag against that of one replacement.
Within such a concept is where people begin ticking me off. Because
this is a great example of a problem.
Isolated
and narrow-minded thinking, designed to support one’s opinion
and then come to a full stop. Get the information that defends
what you think, then ignore anything and everything else.
Let’s
step away from bags. Let’s talk about organic produce.
Did
you know that when you find vegetables labeled as organic, it
doesn’t mean anything about the quality of the vegetables?
True.
Organic
usually comes with requirements about the use and presence of
things like chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides would be examples).
Organic usually considers that the lands used for growth have
been free of specific items for a number of years. Organic can
move into paperwork, where there are records concerning the production
and ultimate distribution. And, organic usually means that facilities
have been subjected to occasional inspections.
Organic
is not a word without some meaning behind it. It does have some
weight and power when it gets awarded. Still…
Organic
does not mean any specific levels of nutritional value. Organic
does not mean that it is healthier for you to consume. Therefor
you cannot issue as fact a blanket statement saying organic produce
is better produce. That would be false.
I
occasionally bring out an idea that people tend to forget the
reaction part of an equation. Take any action, and there will
be a reaction. A second event will occur. But people tend to rush
to judgement, those rushes are always limited by early details
and a lack of depth to available information, and then once opinions
and reactions are in place, they don’t keep in mind that there
could be additional parts of the story. (Back to the bags.)
Are
reusable bags a bad idea? Yes. They are. But that reality does
not mean that every reusable bag is good, or that every reusable
bag is better than a plastic bag. It’s two separate ideas, with
the result measured out by both the action and reaction elements
of the story for every candidate in consideration. Not as simple
as saying it’s not plastic, it is reusable, so it must be good
and better.
The
dangerous part is that this truth… all actions are not necessarily
improvements… is generally ignored by some of the loudest to shout
and quickest to jump. No thought… no discussion… no education
becomes involved. It’s “I’ve got an opinion so I’m inserting my
fingers into my ears now and can’t hear you” at its finest. It’s
good against bad and you need to pick a side.
Electric
cars. (Oh yes, hold on, because I’m going to electric vehicles.)
Are
zero-emission vehicles better for our planet? Seems like a no
brainer of a question. But…
When
considering each vehicle and company making them, what did you
look at? Did you consider how much energy is used to recharge
the batteries on that vehicle, how often it needs to be charged,
and how that energy is produced? Remember, once you plug the car
into an outlet, even when that power is not coming from a vehicle’s
gas tank it is still being produced in some way. And, yeah, then
those pesky batteries…
How
were the batteries made? How long will they last? What was the
production of the vehicle like?
Now,
I’m not going to wander down paths such as cost or how far you
can drive on a single charge. That’s not the point. And the reason
it’s not is because alternative fuel sources are an amazingly
important subject. We do need to improve how we do things, from
broad sweeps of ideas to very specific items. Electric cars… zero-emission
cars… are good. But every electric car, every zero-emission car,
is not automatically less harmful to the environment than every
car running on gas. We all need to understand and admit that they
are good when done properly, and that they need to be even better.
Take
off the blinders. Learn the realities. Understand that it’s great
to want to do things better. Understand we need to do better.
Just realize that not every alternative is an improvement, because
it’s not.