“Green Guilt” is a sweet, and engaging piece from The New York Times about serious environmentalists and the personal weaknesses that bug them the most.
Using disposable diapers ranks high on their lists. Others include SUV’s and powerboats, glue, insufficiently dirty water down the drain, and plywood.
I have a lot of empathy for these folks … we all have our guilty pleasures.
But the inability to recognize that their negative externalities can’t be that big does bug me.
Take disposable diapers – maybe you’re going through $3 a day of these. No, they’re not the best thing for the environment, but do you really think the costs that the manufacturers avoided are large compared to the ones they passed on to you? If you don’t … how did you get so frigging blessed? The whole role of many people involved in the production process is to make sure they they do pass those costs along.
And then there are the costs we add to those diapers. Again … what exactly is your baby putting out that is so costly compared to the amazingly high-tech diaper that you’re using? What are you feeding the munchkin? Gold?
Alright … I’m done. Back to the empathy. I loved this story, and I do feel for these people. My gosh … I compost dog poop because I don’t want it going to my landfill … so I get it. Everyone’s got their secrets, and some are dirtier and smellier than others. And other are … pathetic sometimes.
