That may be a different book because this one very clearly goes into a
pretty explicit discussion of how concerned citizens worry way too much
about choices that make a very insignificant difference, and he talks about
not feeling guilty about decisions like cloth vs disposable diapers and
using paper products here and there. He disses books like "9,999 things to
do for the environment" because they say they make people feel guilty about
all the things they are not doing, and says instead we-who-care should focus
our energy and efforts on the most important choices, and
influencing/teaching others about the value to society in making those
choices.
Anyway it's very interesting reading, very well documented, and he explains
the way the methods used etc. I'm sure the model is simplified in some
areas, but at least it is based on real data rather than just hand waving.
Wendee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wendee Holtcamp, M.S. Wildlife Ecology
Freelance Writer-Photographer
http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com
Bohemian Adventures Blog
http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CRIKEY!
-----Original Message-----
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Vicky Hollenbeck
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:51 PM
To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
Subject: Re: Consumer Choice & the Environment
I read that book some time ago, but from what I recall I believe they were
making comparisons of impacts of different forms of resource consumption,
such as 'paper or plastic?' and disposable vs. cloth diapers. I don't
really recall them implying that doing things that make a small impact
should be discarded. As a matter of fact, on the back cover of the book
(from Amazon's site), it says 'if we all recycled our Sunday papers, we
could save 500,000 trees every week'. They did go on to say, though, that
for those who feel simply overwhelmed about what to focus on, that they
can focus on BIG impact behaviors, among them: not living in a bigger
house than one needs (quite subjective, I know), making major appliance
purchases count by buying as energy efficient as possible, etc.
Personally I would recycle the can even if it only made a minuscule amount
of positive impact because it really is just as easy as throwing it in the
trash, assuming curbside recycling or other convenient locations exist.
Vicky
----------------------------------
Vicky Hollenbeck
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Corvallis, OR
541-738-4136
On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, JM M wrote:
> I am not familiar with this book, but I think that I will go and read it.
>
