From Eco-cars to green computers – I keep wonder if buying green really is green?
To buy green is so political correct now that many producers add new features, lower the energy consumption or change the materials of their products to something marginally more green. But if you throw out your old working tool, lawn mover, kitchen appliance or TV and buy a new slightly more green version, will that really help the environment?
When I hike along highways (only when I can’t avoid it) I often see “eco” commercials for everything from cars to air travel and I keep wondering if it wouldn’t be much better if people just hiked in their neighborhood, kept the old thing, car, appliance and went for something more simple, and more local.
But what would happen if we didn’t buy new stuff
Lately I have tried hard to do this more: Only walked or used my bike or taken public transportation. Used my own muscles to make bread or get up the stairs. And for the last months I have just gone to the library and grabbed a book and a chair, instead of turning on the TV… And lately I have noticed that there is a whole community of other people who do this, and I can see how they help to keep the café and the local library open and the square and small paths alive, just by being there close to their home, instead of waiting in line out along the highway.
And maybe if even more of us did this, more new trails would appear, inside and between the towns
Drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt, HikingArtist.com
Frits Ahlefeldt: sketchbook and stories 