Today I ate Joe's O's for breakfast and PB&J on a hotdog bun for lunch. This probably wasn't very good for me. However, I ate the hotdog bun because it's what I had left over from a party, and would feel unsustainable buying a new loaf of bread before using up my existing carbohydrates.
But now I might not live as long, and that's pretty unsustainable for me.
So, did I do better for the world by not wasting a hotdog roll, or worse because now I might die sooner and take away that much happiness from all the people who think I'm awesome? :)
No, seriously...how we each define sustainability determines the actions we make every day (or at least hyper-aware, OCD people like me.) Because sustainability requires social and well as environmental equality and stability, they have to work together. But how do you feed the world's hungry or erradicate malaria without using GMO crops and DDT?
I just started Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, (summary here at NRDC's website) which chronicles the effects of DDT on planet earth in the mid-20th century. Maybe she has an answer, let me know if you do!
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You might have shaved 15 seconds off of your life so I wouldn't let worry you. As for Rachel's book, it's been awhile for me, but I don't recall her positing an answer. However, make sure you take a look at Pollan's works (start with Omnivore's Dilemma. This gets topic gets a bit of "air-time". You should also take a look at Lester Brown's Eco-Economics.
ReplyDeleteThese trade-offs will always be a challenge. Oh, what's a progressive to do?
Oh no, carl! "These trade-offs will always be a challenge" is total PR speak, it almost sounds like and Oil Executive said it! :) I plan to find a single unit of measure. We have greenhouse gas measure for enviro stuff, I'll merge that with a social measure, multiply together, and that'll be the common score! 1-10. Good vs Evil. So easy!
ReplyDeleteIf you compost, I don't believe chucking the roll would be a waste. I think we should be careful in our purchases even when they are for speical occasions. I cringe at purchasing hot dog rolls and the like, so I make other food for a cookout like tofu, veg and fruit skewers. But then, I lean toward being a vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't read the book "Ishmael," I suggest reading it. I have always believed that we are acting inappropriately by killing everything that might possibly eat our food, and Ishmael puts it in context. Additionally, the feeding of the world's hungry is addressed in Ishmael, and as cruel as it may sound, it is a bad idea and only hurts them more in the long run.
The choices, for me, are fairly simple. Grow as much as I can (organically from heirloom seeds collected by a company in Oregon first and then collected by me as my own produce is consumed), and then purchase what I can't grow that is grown locally or at least in the PNW, and last choice is to buy/eat imported food.
@harmansingrenada: This is great info, thanks so much, will add to reading list and thought sessions!
ReplyDeleteAh, but only looking at GHG's oversimplifies environmental issues. We could build a full equation, capturing all the negatives and positives of a particular product. The challenge would be weighting each of the terms. So subjective!
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