Pollution and Depletion

I don't like buying things that pollute and deplete. Other than food and building maintenance, I try to keep track of things I buy that are material or cause polluting and depleting. I haven't kept track of subway and bus fares, but I ride them a couple times a month. April 16: Yesterday I bought an envelope to send a tax form. It cost fifty cents plus four cents tax. I gave them sixty cents and let them keep the change. I probably could have bought a box of fifty for a not much more, but I rarely use envelopes. I bought a round-trip ticket on Amtrak to Harrisburg, where I'm leading a leadership talk today. To get from Harrisburg to the conference center, I'm…

Living in Greenwich Village means receiving tons of mailings from democratic politicians. For years I've contacted people and companies that spam me with paper mail. I've gotten it to near zero, except political mail. Any time there's an election, they send me tons of their polluting, depleting mailings, unsolicited, unwanted. I don't know how to stop it because it's different people each time. Here are a few pieces of pollution from my mailbox yesterday. Similar amounts have been showing up for years, none solicited. It's tempting to say it's just a piece of paper here and there. They chose to pollute and deplete. They are in their behavior opposing sustainability. They are exposing the actual problem: they feel what they are doing is worth the…

I recently met with an environmentalist. The name isn't important, but this person founded an organization devoted to justice around climate. The person and organization are highly regarded in their fields. Our conversation followed a common pattern. This person is pursuing standard practices of legislation, market incentives, and innovation to promote things like more scientific research, innovating efficiency and new legislation, but most of all, a transition to "renewable" energy. When I talked about ending pollution and depletion, this person balked at what seemed to them impractical and undesirable: "how would we feed eight billion people without electricity?" and "But I have relatives on the opposite coast. How will I see them?" I suggested that we would all enjoy more freedom. The response: "I want…

I was in Chinatown for the Chinese New Year celebrations scheduled today. Some traditions may go back hundreds or even thousands of years, but plastic pollution doesn't. Vendors sold these factory-produced tubes that launched plastic confetti into the air. That is, that polluted. The confetti lingered in the air for a few seconds. The plastic will pollute the environment for millennia. Parents buy these polluting tubes for kids, who learn to pay to pollute and associate it with fun or some cultural traditions that plastic pollution has nothing to do with. We have become a society where we celebrate in garbage. It's tempting to think, "Oh but it's fun! Josh, don't be such a spoil sport." People were having no more fun with these polluting…