The Tug of War – Ethical vs. Economic Decisions
Are your Eco Decisions for You or for Others?
This is the first in a series of articles on connections between the environment and our personal life choices. As a twenty- five-year macrobiotic, my mind and heart are fused in belief. I will examine eco-lifestyles, the green washing phenom, the paper plate or dishwater dilemma, and the new evolution of triple bottom line for corporations. As the words “green / socially responsible / vegetarian” disappear and become redundant to “life”, change will have charted the right course.
Eco/Health/Animal rights are just a few of the dialects and lifestyles people choose. You never know when you are sitting next to “one of those” crazy left wing, sign carrying hippie beatniks of lore. NOT. That crazy may just become you. Or President Clinton in his recent disclosure on repairing his health.
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I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about “eco-pieties,” the perceived “wisdoms” accumulated by people who want to make the world better, but don’t want to think too hard or put themselves out too much while doing it.
There’s a constant push-pull between what is environmentally “best” and what is economically sensible. Sometimes, I’ve found, the “best” environmental solution isn’t as obvious as some might think, or isn’t best in all situations. On top of all that, money does matter for lots of folks, and affects the decisions they can, or want, to make. What decisions are hard-coded in your life? Ought there be at least one?
I am forever sick of sensationalist media outlets and brands touting propaganda and subsidy driven marketplaces intended to change our perception of healthy choice in food, drink and practice. Where’s the beef Clara? Everyone knows dairy kills.
So, how to make the world better, and do it in a reasonable way? To start, you should gather information, real and scientifically defensible information, so you have a better idea what you should do given your personal circumstances. It’s a lot like what my company does for its clients for data centers, gathering hard data about the market they’re interested in, so they can make rational decisions based on evidence, not emotion and hearsay. But too often, people don’t do the homework. They want the easy answer, not the right one.