Eco-chic?

Ah, trends! In my youth, I followed them all. From elephant pants in the 70’s to neon colour hair-bows in the 80’s to the Rachel haircut in the 90’s, I never met a craze I didn’t like. Until recently.

I understand that we are having a serious and detrimental effect on planet earth, but I am cautious to jump on the eco-chic bandwagon for a few reasons:

1) The global-warming trend is too filled with exaggeration and misinformation. Al Gore predicts, in an Inconvenient Truth, that water levels will rise 240”. This number is 17 times higher than that of the United Nations International Panel on Climate Control. This week, we will be reviewing An Inconvenient Book, by Glenn Beck. He devotes an entire chapter to debunking Gore’s exaggerations. I encourage everyone who has seen Gore’s movie to read this book and judge for themselves.

2) I’m finding it difficult to get worked up about the supposed impending water crisis. It falls out of the sky. Enough said, for now.

3) Recycling. I believe that recycling works and is important. I also believe that recycling needs to be paired with more conservative usage and alternatives to “recyclable containers”. As an example: I’ve heard it said that recycling water bottles is better than nothing. But really, using a travel mug or reusable water bottle is a significant improvement over recycling cases of water bottles. I feel recycling needs to be held up as a last resort, not a trendy, gold-star-worthy activity that even Tim Horton’s is engaging in.

Quite simply, to get me to admit to becoming eco-conscious, the Al Gores and David Suzukis of the world will need to do one thing:

1) Stop the lying. Exaggeration, in my world, is akin to lying. Give us the facts, not the worst-case, over-the-top, extreme examples and maybe I’ll consider taking your advice on how to implement changes.