Enviro-mental

Happy Earth Day!

And in the spirit of an “Earth Month”, I’ve been leaving my computer off more and more…at least that’s my excuse for the sparse blog posts lately. But it is true. With nice weather finally here I’ve found much more to do than play around on the Internet.

Getting out and about has also showed me all the new “Green” products there are. Previously dark store windows have sprung natural spring cleaning products (classics like Ecover and newbies like Method brand from Shopper’s Drug Mart); reusable containers and green pet care products. Outside, I see car sharing; people walking, biking and blading; a stand with fresh fruit and veggies from the same continent I’m standing on. It’s refreshing, in so many different ways.

Behind the clarity of sunshine, however, I see a battle brewing between eco-friendly and green.

That’s the best way I can put it. There finally seems to be a consensus among businesses, the government and the public that we need to be more environmentally accountable. It’s how to do it that is the problem. Should we focus on cars or packaging?

Corporate and industry support is great, but it seems some are putting on a green front to gain business.

For example, pretend you’re in dire need of a special ingredient for an outdoor garden party tonight. You can buy either locally-produced but wrapped in Styrofoam, or imported but packaged in biodegradable wrapping.

This past year I took a course in Food and Nutrition Policy. It really opened my eyes and got me thinking about the future – urban agriculture, sustainability…these were all new terms to me.

But one of the most memorable items came from a professor who introduced the term local trap: the assumption that local means better.

So now I try to remember that there are costs and benefits to every technology; every product and every purchasing decision. For now, I find it incredibly difficult to decipher which choice is best – but at least now there are choices.