Earth Day Eve

Earth day is tomorrow. Did you know? Michael Pollan wrote an op-ed called Why Bother? on the subject. It shows, first of all, why I’m writing here and he’s writing books, and it also explores a tough question. It’s hard to see how anything I do is going to have an effect on the world, so where do I get the motivation to do it? In my case, I don’t. The gap between what I profess to care about and what I do about it, or what Pollan, quoting someone else, I think, calls the difference between what we think and what we do, is enormous.
I drive my car more than I need to, I buy conventional lightbulbs and use plastic bags when it’s convenient, I don’t spend the extra cash on organic food – the list of what I don’t do is endless. But the article makes several arguments why we as individuals should still do things we believe in even if there’s no evidence, not even real hope, even, that it will make a difference. Partly so we feel good about ourselves, and even more to be a model for others. None of this is news, and none of it has worked for me so far.Thinking about this today I was reminded of something one of my fellow authors here participated in back in his church days. A small group of individuals who got together to hold each other accountable. Not unlike AA meetings, I guess. Supportive peers help. So why not get a little environment group? If I were in a small group of six or eight people who met every week or two to discuss what we’d each done in our fight to conserve the environment, where we failed, how we’d move forward, I might feel more accountable. I’d know someone was paying attention, and I’d feel a part of something.

Sadly, this is what I think, but I think what I’ll do may be far different.