I feel like everywhere I look these days, all I see is excessive consumption, even when it’s not necessarily the case. On the bus, the person sitting next to me reads a magazine and my mind goes directly to the paper needed to produce it. The next step in my thinking is a tablet and how that may displace paper use, it needs a constant supply of electricity and lots of nonrenewable inputs for the device itself. I see a Prius driving down the street and think, “Wouldn’t you be better off without a car?”
This is what worries me. I’m getting to the point where I can only see the negatives, it’s harder and harder to see the strides. At some point, I lose sight of the fact that the person next to me is at least taking the bus. The Prius is a hybrid and could be a gas guzzler just as easily. I still, and probably always will, struggle with the contradictions, but that’s something I need to get over.
The shift to a sustainable society will not take place overnight. That’s the whole argument (as I see it) that proponents make for approving the Keystone Pipeline. I feel like shouting, “If not now, when?” When will we make the transition?
What will it ultimately take? Will there be a tipping point or will this just be a long, slow march (forward hopefully)? I’m not terribly old, but each day that passes brings me one step closer to death (and tax day). Whether we’re one step closer to a sustainable future remains a mystery.
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