Burdens of a Green Economy

Rather than commenting on Ms. White's post regarding confusion about going green, I have decided to dedicate another post in similar nature. In the midst of a climate change crisis, many Americans are not given useful information on going green or reducing their carbon footprint, rather they are subjected to fear campaigns and corporate marketing schemes. Companies that create green products are unaffordable for middle class families. Furthermore, the government does nothing to stop these ungreen practices

There are several things an individual can do to go green. You can change your regular light bulbs to hip and energy efficient spiraling light bulbs, you can drive a Prius, you can utilize public transportation services or start a carpool, and you can stop eating meat (although the government may never suggest that to you.) If everyone took these steps, we could greatly reduce human impact on climate change. So why aren't we? Well, because all of these steps are greatly more expensive than maintaining "normal" consumer practices.

It is a shame to think that when a company makes a slight switch in operation to go green (switching from styrofoam to recycled paper), they don't really do it to make a change, they do it so they can charge 50 more cents on a cup of coffee. Or when a car company releases a hybrid vehicle, it becomes more expensive than their standard model. Why don't they make their standard model a hybrid? And if public transportation is the way to go, why is the government okay with constant fair increases?

I first began to think about the inefficiency of the green movement when I sold out my cheeseburger eating youth and became a vegetarian two years ago. One can imagine that it is much less expensive to maintain a soy farm than a cattle farm, yet you can get a McDouble for a dollar, while soy based meat imitation products are incredibly expensive. When I experimented with veganism over the summer, I found myself spending six dollars for an eight ounce bag of fake cheese. For me, I don't mind spending the extra money because vegetarianism is important to me. However, I would never expect the majority others to do the same, especially those struggling to pay rent, cell phone bills, student loan debt, and health care bills. But if you are the CEO of organic food chain Whole Foods, you might just suggest that you don't need to have healthcare if you just shop at Whole Foods.

When will the government and green corporations understand that they will not convince any average folks to buy into the green lifestyle if it is just a more expensive version than the average lifestyle? Going green needs to be a global movement, not one that promotes consumer-elitism. The sale of green goods just creates another market, and does not really take away from the status quo. Some green companies may even be well intentioned, but lack financial resources to make an available and affordable product. This is where the government could step in and give subsidies to green companies, with the stipulation that they must lower prices.

In order to prevent the predicted damage that will be caused by humans in decades to come, we need to make going green affordable for everyone, and the government must be the ones to see to it.