It's very, very hard not to get discouraged. All around me I see people 'doing their bit' to help the environment, to reduce the horrible suffering of farm animals, to help those less fortunate than us. They sponsor a child overseas. They buy a hybrid car. They go vegan. They feel they've done their part. And to some extent they have. Unfortunately, it's just nowhere near enough.
Take vegans, for example. They have taken a powerful act to both reduce the suffering of farm animals and to reduce the global warming gases and other negative impacts on this world of ours. Yet most happily drive around. And most happily fly from place to place, wherever their whims may take them.
Yes, by reducing the market for meat and other animal products, vegans collectively reduce the numbers of farm animals who suffer egregiously to satisfy our selfish pleasures. So does anyone who chooses to eat lower on the food chain. But in failing to see the bigger picture, most vegans (and everyone else who travels like them) are essentially guaranteeing that the vast majority of wild animals - and humans, for that matter - will suffer terrible fates. Without dramatic changes to so many of our habits, this planet will warm 4, 5, 6, perhaps 9 degrees in the next 100 years.
Study after study tells us that these temperature changes are what we will face if we don't drastically cut our CO2 emissions. And study after study tells us that such temperatures will convert enormous swaths of our planet into uninhabitable desert and bury most of our coastlines under meter after meter of seawater. Most of the world's biggest cities will be under the waves.
Do you want to be a part of that? Or do you want to do whatever you can to ensure that this does not come to pass?
Air travel is incredibly damaging. In terms of global warming impact, long haul flights compare poorly to even driving large SUVs similar distances, even if only two people ride in the SUV. Driving alone in the SUV matches the impact of those flights. Short haul flights are on the order of 10 times worse.
Hybrid cars, realistically, aren't a whole lot better. The energy used to produce them is comparable to that of a standard car; the savings in global warming gases and other pollutants are only incremental. Moving a ton or more of extra weight wherever we go is not sustainable, hybrid or not.
100 years ago, not even the richest of the rich could flit around the planet willy nilly like so many of us do now. Travel may appear cheap in dollar terms, but the real costs are enormous.
So take in the big picture. Consider what you are really doing when you make all of your decisions.
There are alternatives. Bicycling around town is one of them. Electric assist bikes are available and so are kits to convert your present bike. On an electric bike, no hill is an insurmountable obstacle. Electric scooters are even easier to ride and you can take a passenger along. Electric cars may one day make sense, if we can make them light enough. For long haul trips, take the train. Overseas travel must be rare. Ships are best for that purpose. Use your phone to connect with old friends. Running Skype on your computer is an inexpensive alternative.
Consider housing, too. If you live in a big house, close off areas you don't use often. Or rent those spaces to someone else. Wherever you live, think about the real costs of heating and cooling your place as you set your thermostat. Insulate. And if you're not eating low on the food chain, start now! Grow your own, if you can.
Take responsibility for your actions and take responsibility for their effects. Do you really want to fiddle around, materially contributing to one of the biggest disasters in the history of the earth? Or would you rather meet reality head on, respond appropriately and help humanity and all of the other life on this planet avoid some really terrible suffering? The starvation of billions upon billions of humans and animals? Deaths from dehydration and heat exhaustion? Choose thoughtfully. As Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
If we don't change our ways, we'll reap what we sow. Future generations and all of the other species on this planet, though, deserve no such thing.
Some internet sites that will help you on your way:
On flying: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/air_travel.asp
Electric bikes and scooters: http://www.jvbike.com/ http://www.e-ride.ca/
An electric car that could make sense: http://www.sunnev.com/ It's solar!
Skype to connect with friends: http://www.skype.com/
And don't forget that moving to a plant-based diet is one of the single most powerful choices you can make for the health of the planet: http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~gidon/papers/nutri/nutriEI.pdf
SUPPORT OUR
SPONSORS
Eating Low on the Food Chain Is Not Enough
-
By David Steele
The Canada Earthsaver, Summer 2009
Straight to the Source
