I heard a really good quote today relating to environmentalism: “When the last tree has withered, when the last fish has been caught, when the last river has been poisoned; man will know that he can’t eat money.” It’s a very good sentiment, and summarizes what will happen we people finally realize the effects of mass deforestation, pollution, overfishing, and everything like that. It’s a true sentiment that sums up the motivation and consequences of large companies creating all these problems in our environment.
See, I’m not a crazy yuppy environmentalist or anything like that, but if forced to chose a side, I’d most certainly side towards the environmentalists. I’d like to believe that I’m very environmentally conscience as it is, and more specifically, I get really annoyed when people take a very apathetic approach when discussing it. I know a few people who are most certainly on the opposite side of the fence I am on their issue, and what bugs me about them is that they provide no reason why they are against it. They just claim it’s a myth and leave it at that.
Discussions on the validity of some of the claims can be left out of here, but I like to take a simple approach when looking at the situation – I’d rather simply take the extra precautions and have those precautions be proven unnecessary than to not take them and suffer the consequences afterward. Admittedly, I’ve taken that approach in a few other ways that just the environment, but there are a lot of benefits that come from being environmentally conscience that make it worthwhile. Walking instead of driving is a good way to stay active and keep in shape; eating organic and/or local foods are a good way to change your eating habits to something more healthy as well as to boost the local economy; reducing the electricity you use will save you money on your power bill.
So regardless of your stance on global climate change, remember that helping out that cause can also help yourself out too. Plus, you’re positively impacting the environment for generations to come – I consider that a happy bonus.