A friend who was learning to drive recently was surprised to get some environmental advice from her instructor
"Think," he entreated, "of the polar bears." So she does. And the thought of those cute bears rambling across an ever-decreasing acreage of ice reminds her to put on the handbrake when she is stopped at traffic lights, thus reducing emissions from her exhaust. She isn't quite sure how much of a difference it makes, but her polar-bear tactic assuages something that's been creeping up on her for a while now. Eco-guilt is a powerful force.
It used to be another kind of guilt that motivated us. In the
bad old days economic guilt had us turning off lights and
conserving heat all over the shop. When this friend was growing up,
her father was tyrannical about this, and so the reason she turns
of lights, removes plugs and closes doors and windows as an adult
is more because she still hears his exasperated voice - "Lights.
Doors. Windows.
Amanda!" - and less because of any grown-up desire to
conserve energy.
In this respect, being more flathiúlach is turning out to be bad for the environment. Do parents these days nag as much as ours did about turning off "that bloody immersion heater"?
Having more money means we can afford to shop in farmers' markets using local producers, allowing some of us to feel virtuous about food miles. Do you know how much carbon is released into the atmosphere through flying a kilogram of kiwi fruit to Europe? Five kilograms. That figure isn't off the top of my head, but still: five kilograms! I remember when, as a child, kiwis seemed a bit of a luxury and were eaten slowly with a teaspoon, to savour every morsel. Now I wouldn't have the yokes in the house even if you paid me. And if I did crumble and buy a few I certainly wouldn't be showing them off in the fruit bowl. Bad eco-manners. Dreadfully rude, don't you know?
We recycle, though. Well, one of us does. I checked with my boyfriend just now and discovered - cue much rolling of eyes and shaking of the head - that, yes, the waste is still separated and brought down to the recycling centre every week. This made me feel warm inside, even though I have very little to do with it. And although we haven't worked out our compost situation yet, that is the next thing on our eco-list. Apparently.
I reckon I'm pretty eco-friendly by default. I don't drive, so I can't be blamed for that kind of atmospheric pollution. I cycle even if my bike has been languishing on a lamp post somewhere in the city since before Christmas - I am convinced it's been stolen, so haven't collected it.
I send unwanted clothes to Oxfam, put the washing machine on an
eco-setting. We get locally produced
vegetables delivered every week, and I've even been known to
go for organic wine in a restaurant.
Also, if I could fit into jeans I swear I would stop buying clothes fashioned by small children and splash out on Ali Hewson's eco-friendly and socially conscious Edun range. Unfortunately, my fitting into Edun clobber is unlikely.
For all these reasons, when I did a how-green-are-you quiz recently I expected to emerge the colour of Kermit. The verdict was initially good. "You believe that our environment is in danger and feel that we should 'tread lightly on the earth' in all we do. You identify with the green movement and think that we ought to act in a precautionary way with regard to risky issues." Yes, that's me, I thought, feeling the way Sting must have done when he was out saving rainforests.
There was another kind of sting in the eco-tail, though. "However," the green-quiz types tutted, "you do not appear to put your beliefs into action: perhaps you don't have enough time or energy, or you don't believe that a sprinkling of individual actions makes a difference. Your head and heart are in the right place - but you've not translated this into the routine choices you make every day."
Gulp. They had me bang to rights, and the eco-guilt started to
set in. No, I don't check if packaging is
recyclable before I buy. Yes, I do leave lights on all night
sometimes. No, we haven't replaced all our light bulbs with the
energy-efficient kind. Yes, we did go to the US on our holidays
without a thought for the carbon the aircraft was spewing out. Yes,
I do sometimes leave the tap running when I brush my teeth. And,
yes, I often wonder whether my little eco-actions or my gross
inaction will make any difference to the planet.
Still, tiny acorns make big trees. This magazine is full of suggestions on how and where to plant them. Think of the polar bears..