As I wrote in a previous post, I bought a car, often drive to Hamilton, and wonder if it was a smart choice or not. It saves time, costs more, and obviously bad for the environment. Owning a car and driving it is fun, but I dare not to count it for now.
China is a tremendously honest country; they focus on economic growth of today and do not care about the environment of tomorrow. An internet article, Politics of pollution: China’s oil giants take a choke-hold on power, describes it very precisely. They know how to reduce pollution, but do not do it because it costs and slows down the economic growth. They do not admitting that compensation will cost a lot more or even impossible.
I still remember that one of my in-class presentations in the Faculty of Environmental Design triggered discussion on ethics of products. I used an example of Fair Trade products; they are generally more expensive than other products of the equivalent quality, but people choose to buy those products for some reasons, and probably many of them choose it because they feel they are doing the right thing. The advertisement titled Follow the Flog probably targeted those people like me.
You must do something about it.
This advertisement makes me feel better; I don’t need to launch a movement. But, dose it, really?
Some companies in more ethically-advanced countries have found that business focusing on sustainability is also profitable. An internet article, 5 Lessons From The Companies Making Sustainability More Profitable Than Ever, describes how those companies make profits while providing “green” products. To make a long story short, the users of those products do not have to be environmentally-conscious people but can be cost-reduction-conscious people to be environmentally friendly.
OK, now, what should I do? Can I keep using my car if I follow the flog and use sustainable products to save money? Not really. This discussion continues.