But Why Shouldn’t I Drive?

One of the most difficult tightropes to walk in life is the one between owning and driving a car and being an environmentalist. On the one hand, you have worked and saved to own the vehicle and are justifiably proud of it, but on the other you know that by driving it you are not being kind to the environment. And then there are other people who seem to feel, and will even state, that for every tree planted by an environmentalist group, they will produce all the more pollution to make the difference.

Is it possible to be a motorist and an environmentalist? Yes, it must be said that it is. Yes, every car will after a certain point contribute to pollution, but responsible motoring is less problematic for the environment than a lot of things that are allowed to slide. If you are driving a car that gets about twenty miles to the gallon, then you are not motoring responsibly. But equally, you cannot be expected to walk a hundred miles to somewhere remote.

Think about how necessary the journey you are about to make is. Think about whether it can be undertaken, economically, by some other means. Think about how long it will take and how big a dent it will make in the environment. If it is necessary and cannot be done in any other way, then you are no traitor to the planet – but motoring is a privilege and we should not abuse it.

What is Sustainable Living?

The world has plenty of problems, and often you will find that friends or neighbors are skeptical that you choose the environment as one of your issues. When we stand at threat from terrorism, from crime in our towns and cities, and when there are potential new threats to our health from this thing or that thing, someone will always ask “Why are you bothering with recycling?”. The simple reason to give in response is that just because there are other problems, it doesn't mean you cannot deal with this one.

Sustainable living is a concept that is catching on among people, perhaps slower than would be ideal but there is no doubt that it is gaining currency. The idea is that, rather than just throwing away the old, or using fuel that cannot easily be replaced, one uses things which are replaceable and reusable. If you are finished with a pickle jar, why throw it in the trash when it could be used to hold something else? That is the concept, on a small scale.

On a larger scale it involves using fuel that comes from easily-grown crops or from the environment itself – things we cannot run out of. For the planet to produce coal, oil or natural gas requires decades, even centuries of movement, and once it's gone we cannot just go out for more. If we are careful with the things our planet bestows, we will have more of them for when we really need them.

Dealing With Skeptical People

There is an ugly vein of skepticism which runs through a large part of society. It's understandable, we all have our cynical side and that's important – no-one wants to be gullible even if we want to think the best of people and organisations. But skepticism for the sake of it is so pointless. If we all thought “What's the point?” about things that didn't immediately profit us then the world would be in big trouble – and not from global warming, but from global apathy.

If you start to be active in green issues, even if it is just separating your garbage for recycling, then there is a real chance that someone will look at you and ask “why are you doing that?”. Any answer that you give them will be met with a scornful remark and some laughter. And while you may feel like strangling the person who does this, that is not really in the spirit of looking after the planet and its people. You might also feel like giving up, but don't do that either.

It's not even about converting others. People will come to their own conclusions and very few skeptics will be won over by an impassioned speech on our planet and what we need to do to look after it. All you can really do is get on with what you are doing. In time, maybe the skeptical neighbor will come round to your way of thinking. Maybe they won't. But if you let the knee-jerk skeptics grind you down, they'll be insufferable.

It’s Your Planet

Green living is something that attracts enthusiasm and scorn in seemingly equal measures. For every person who embraces the idea as something that we all should do, there are at least a few who will view it as a “scam” and a way of getting money out of people by tripping their guilt reflex. For someone who is keen to avoid making anyone angry, it can be a difficult balance to strike. But when it comes down to it, the fact is that there is a lot of merit in living in an environmentally friendly way.

Now, this does not mean that you have to throw out your possessions and replace them with greener alternatives. You don't have to massively disrupt your life to make it green. What you need to look at is the ways that you may be polluting or contributing to an environmentally unfriendly world and thinking how you could change things for the better – every long journey starts with a single step. If it is a simple matter of recycling your newspapers or walking instead of driving short distances, that's fine.

What you will find is that living in a green way does not put you to very much extra effort. You won't be able to drive back global warming or air pollution all on your own, but the difference you can make in your own area without having to go to immense lengths is really something. And once you've got the ball rolling, you'll see a lot of other changes that you can make.

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