So what would a green, sustainable society look like… if we didn’t have to alter our lifestyles too much?
– Cars and trucks would run on sustainable, clean-burning, cleanly produced, alternative fuels such as algae-produced fuel, and those fuels would be cheap and not require too much in the way of food to eat
– Plastics would be made of compostable bioplastics instead of petroleum
– Because we could power vehicles cheaply and cleanly, we wouldn’t contribute to greenhouse gases or peak oil by eating foods that aren’t local, so we could choose non-local foods, or local foods simply because they taste better
– Technology would aid the mass production of food in a clean, sustainable way, with no toxic waste, no decimation of the soil, etc.
– Solar panels and/or wind turbines that produce all of a house or office building’s energy needs and not just some would come standard
– Most of the items we buy, plastic or not, would come from renewable and sustainably produced resources, and the items would biodegrade in a reasonable amount of time or get recycled easily
Do I think we can attain all of these, and keep our lifestyles the same? Probably not. Maybe I should ask for world peace, living wages for all, and a pony while I’m at it? The last two are particularly unrealistic, given the state of technology today. It takes a lot of roof real estate to get enough solar panels for all the needs of even a house, and wind turbines are often unrealistic on a small scale.
Can we achieve some of those things? I hope so. I think alternative fuel for cars and wide use of bioplastics might happen, maybe soon, even though I’m a little skeptical because of the environmental impact of growing enough corn and potatoes to fulfill the American plastic habit. In the meantime, many fewer cars on the road because of viable mass transit, intercity and intracity, really appeals to me.
Unfortunately, I think that real change is likely to affect the lifestyle to which we are accustomed, in most cases. One reason I don’t eat meat is because of the environmental impact – it takes lots more space, water, and resources to produce meat than it does anything plant-based. Americans eat a lot of meat, and cutting down is either unappealing or even unthinkable to many. We don’t currently have viable mass transit in most of the country, but in many uncrowded places, even viable mass transit won’t be nearly as convenient as a car. It also takes a lot of work to cut down on food miles, costs a lot of money to install solar panels, and is often quite expensive to buy items that aren’t made overseas. And right now we don’t have the circumstances that would make those considerations unnecessary.
But it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?
Have anything to add to the list? Let me know in the comments.
