Making a Mockery of Green Living

Photo: BiggerPictureImages

There’s a group of people out there who get on my tits. Who? Eco-Yuppies, that’s who!

You know the type, twenty something female living a ‘successful’ life, clad in designer jeans and top whilst waving a hemp shopping bag in one hand declaring that she’d never accept a plastic carrier from a shop, and a Gucci bag in the other. Or the twenty something ‘successful’ male who drives his gas guzzling SUV home from the office to his solar powered pad in a new development that's been built on what was once beautiful woodland. You know the types, I’m sure.

“Hey!” they shout, “we’re trendy, we’re hip, and we’re GREEN!”

No they are not! They are doing a few things that are easily incorporated into their existing lifestyles because being green just happens to be trendy at the moment. And heck, they wouldn’t want to be seen as lagging behind, would they?

They aren’t all wealthy city types, though. No, far from it. Although they probably wouldn’t generally be described as yuppies, those who have to continuously live beyond their means in order to keep up with the latest trends are also jumping on the trendy green band-wagon. They don’t do much and what they do choose to do are invariably easy options, then they make sure everybody knows that they’re doing their bit for the environment although they’ll generally try to sound nonchalant about it.

“Well you’ve gotta try,” they say, smiling meekly. Try what? To sound sincere? Because you don’t, darling, believe me.

Yes, yes, yes… I know that every little helps and even if they aren’t sincere, losing the plastic bags and powering your home with solar energy is a GOOD thing, but I still have a problem with them because they’re giving a bad name to those of us who really DO care about the environment. People think we’re all either like them or we’re mad eco-warriors living in tents, eating only what we can forage for ourselves and joining every demonstration going without pause for thought.

They also do nothing to try reducing the impact of over consumption, either. Oh no… yuppies spend, spend, spend! Don’t they realise that this buy and throw culture we’ve developed is as damaging to the survival of the human species and every other living creature on this beautiful planet as plastic bags and wasted electricity? In fact, why don’t they realise that they’re deplenishing the earth’s natural resources every time they buy something made of acrylic, polyester, rayon and blends thereof? And that they’re supporting the plastics industry whenever they buy a new iPod, TV, computer, mobile phone, or one of the myriad other products they think nothing of acquiring and updating to the latest model?

Is it really any wonder that this has happened, though, when we live in a society where celebrities have become revered - deities to be worshipped - and so many of them are doing just this? What kind of example are they setting?

They jump on planes at the drop of a hat, their laptops, mobile phones and iPods at the ready, drive huge 4x4s or slick sports cars, spend their leisure time on huge power driven boats, and goodness knows what else. What are they really doing to reduce the effect of their footprint? It’d have to be a hell of a lot, that’s for sure.

Thankfully, there are a few celebs that ARE actually doing what they can for the environment. They’re driving hybrid cars, cutting their consumption levels, eating in more instead of frequenting the ‘right’ restaurants, buying Fair Trade, etc. These people are to be admired because, in the circles they move and work in, being faithful to an environmentally friendly lifestyle can’t be easy.

I’ve always said that we should all do as much as we can based on our individual circumstances but the very least we can do is be sincere about why we're doing it.

Sharon J

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