The first time that realization hit me was when I first heard
someone answer the age-old eco-awareness question, "Paper or plastic?"
I'd
always assumed that, naturally, paper shopping bags were better,
because they biodegrade and plastic bags don't. But the calculus of
green is a lot more complicated than that; what people tend to ignore
is all the upstream cost of those end products.
The full paper-or-plastic discussion goes something like this:
"Why, paper, because it biodegrades."
"Yes, but we kill 14 million trees a year to make the paper. That's contributing to global warming."
"Yes, but the plastic bags consume 12 million barrels of oil and choke the oceans and sea life."
"Yes, but creating paper bags creates 70 percent more air pollution."
"Yeah, but plastic bags create four times the waste."
"Yes, but it takes seven times as many trucks to ship the same number of paper bags to the stores; they're much bulkier."
And
so on. (The real answer to that question, of course, is "neither—bring
your own reusable bags." But until U.S. stores start charging 15 cents
per bag, as groceries in Europe do, Americans aren't likely to go to
that trouble any time soon.)
As I do my best to be a concerned
eco-citizen, I'm constantly reminded of these upstream complications. I
recently wrote on my blog how much my wife and I love our 2004 Toyota
Prius, and how we tried to buy a second one to replace our old Corolla,
but were told that there's a 10-month waiting list.
Reader reaction was all over the map, but I was particularly surprised by the anger of the anti-Prius crowd.
For example: "The only reason to buy a Prius is so you can drive around like a smug eco-holier-than-thou."
Well,
no, actually. You might also buy one because it's a Consumer Reports
favorite in terms of ride, design and reliability. Or because it spews
out 90 percent less pollution than a regular car. Or because it gets 45
miles per gallon or better, which reduces our dependence on foreign oil
while we try to figure out a more permanent fix.
Calling names like "smug" is a playground-bully tactic that's not helping anyone.
"But it costs more than a similarly sized regular car."
Maybe,
maybe not. Our Prius gained us a $1,500 tax credit, and there's no
sales tax on hybrids in Connecticut. Plus we buy a LOT less gas than we
would for a regular car.
But let's say all of that still doesn't
equal the price premium—who cares? I'm not driving the Prius to save
money. I'm driving it because it saves a ton of fuel and pollutes a lot
less.
The one that really troubled me, though, was this: "The
Prius requires so much more energy to build and ship than a regular
car, it's actually an environmental disaster."
I actually saw
this one invoked on CBS News last Sunday. The correspondent stated "an
engineer figured out" that a Prius requires much more energy to build
than a regular car. Therefore, you're being more environmentally
responsible if you buy an old used regular car.
"An engineer?" Well, thanks for identifying that reliable source.
I
did a little research of my own, and I've found "several engineers" who
can easily debunk the first engineer's logic. Read this one, for
example (http://tinyurl.com/2oqkv7), and this one (http://tinyurl.com/5dt7f9). The bottom line: the overall Prius environmental impact is, at worst, neutral, and at best, still positive.
Besides,
none of these analyses take into account the market pressure that my
buying a Prius will create. The car companies have to manufacture
*something.* The more the public wants fuel-efficient, low-emissions
vehicles, the more the car companies will deliver. Every consumer who
buys an older, dirtier, gas-guzzling car is contributing to the status
quo. You're not only keeping that old, dirty gas guzzler on the road,
but you're also sending a message to the car companies that they should
*keep* building dirty gas-guzzlers.
It's become clear to me that
the math of greenness has become one of those endless Internet
morasses, like red state-blue state, Mac-Windows, or just about
anything involving digital photography. Both sides will make endless
creative arguments to make their points, and we may never find the
bottom line of the eco balance sheet.
Actually, on this Prius point, I think I may have come up with an approach we can all live with: buy a *used* Prius.
And then don't drive it much.
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