Meeting up with my form 6 friends never fail to be mind and thought provoking. This time around, we went to UM's Eco Film Festival. It is basically a festival for films that are related to environmental issues (as you can probably tell from the event's name ^^) and there are also booths and stage activities with the same theme. There were talks, informative booths as well as sale of items such as natural hand made soap.
While I was walking about the booths, this girl was talking about how producing a pair of jeans takes 11 gallons of water to produce *glance down at the pair of jeans I was wearing*. Then there was a banner that show photos of animals and the words "love us, don't eat us". Mel then said that she could never give up meat, pretty much like my sister who does not consider a meal complete without meat. In line with that argument, by looking at our teeth, we are born to be omnivours and not herbivours. But on the other hand, environmental fanatics would tell everyone about how it is cruel to eat meat and how damaging it is to the environment with the amount of methane gas produced from the meat farming industry. So does that make us a lost cause environmentally? Even if we save electricity and water, separate all our trash for recycling, and car pool when possible?
Back to the jeans, jeans are one of the most hardy piece of clothing that I own. My pair of jeans has been with me for years and years. It has also protected me from then surroundings and insulated me from cold. And here she is telling me that we should not be purchasing jeans because it is bad for the environment? Her alternative is organic cotton. While cotton may be lighter and breathable, it is hardly practical for rough use. Imagine if producing asbestos suits for firefighters is bad for the environment, are we going to ban that and make them wear organic cotton suits instead?
It is not that I disagree with being environmental friendly. I do my part of recycling and reducing plastic usage as well as try to get people around me not to consume shark fins. But to what extent should we go to protect the environment? Where do we draw the line? How much is enough?
*ponders*
1 comment:
Good topic to think about. For me, I think it's not so much about drawing a line, because then it makes it seem as though the environment is separate from our day-to-day lives, and we have the luxury of 'choosing' when to care. In fact, the environment is part of everything we do. So the issue for me would be to be aware of the impact of everything we do, and make decisions from there.
The pair of eco-friendly, organic jeans is a great idea to reduce consumption of resources in the production of a new pair of pants, but the question is, do you need it? The fact is that the jeans we're wearing now and its effect on the environment is a sunken cost -- no way to gain back all the water used from making it. So in effect, to be more environmentally friendly in this situation, I think, is to not buy a new pair of jeans but use the old one out.
In that same way, I think it's important to be consciously aware that our every action has a consequence and impact. Understanding the impact of our doings helps us make more informed decisions and take responsibility for the choices we make, be it to eat meat or buy organic jeans. It shifts us away from being apathetic, which is what got us in this whole mess in the first place.
That's my two cents. Sorry so long hehe.
p/s: Wish I could have been there to watch the festival with you guys!
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