Today I’m going to talk a bit about the environment. This isn’t going to be as in-depth as most pieces I’m attempting to write, as (catch your excuses…) I’m fucking BUSY. In a week or two I should have more time, but during this period I still wanted to produce something for you guys.
So I’m going to briefly discuss the environment and its impending collapse™. Let’s start.
Climate Change
I’m just gonna say it. I don’t think the planet is about to hit judgement day and end all life on Earth any time soon.
Climate models have been warning about this moment of reckoning for decades. It’s still not come. This isn’t to say the environment isn’t changing – perhaps it is (although if we’re relying on models, not events, to tell us this it probably isn’t changing too drastically). Our planet isn’t some static block of rock, it’s dynamic and goes through cycles of warm and cold – and we may well contribute to them.
But we are not separate from nature. We are part of it, and therefore are an extension of the Earth’s cycle.
Now, I understand that an attitude of we can’t do anything, so we shouldn’t try isn’t productive. As a result, if some new technology came out that could power a green evolution I’d support it. But as it stands I have serious problems with the proposed solutions to global warming.
It seems to me that solving climate change would require worldwide economic restructuring and global strategies to counter. These often involve putting carbon restrictions on the very developing nations which, if they continued to economically develop, may threaten the current global order in the future. Whilst I’m not against the West maintaining their global dominance – after all I’m Western and that suits me – the propagandising of this issue bleeds into my daily life.
It’s clear that any potential negative surrounding our environment is misappropriated and over emphasised (at best) to push agendas. Just look at how the vegan movement has piggy-backed on climate change in an attempt to force people off eating meat.
Much like diversity initiatives, jumping on the ecology bandwagon happens because there’s an implicit understanding that the culture war around the issue has been won, and can therefore be exploited.
But despite my misgivings, this isn’t to say everything in hunky-dory.
Problems
Living in Asia I deal day to day with plastic waste, plastic contamination and air pollution. Honestly, folks living in the West are absolutely fucking spoilt when it comes to these things. You don’t know how good you’ve got it – yet because Westerners are educated on the topic, they are the ones that most push for change.
This is a good thing, and likely why plastic waste and air pollution isn’t as prevalent in the UK (using my own anecdotal experience – I can’t talk for America) than in Asia.
Here in Thailand there is awareness of the issues – but no care. Likewise in other Asian countries I’ve spent any significant (or insignificant…) time in. As a result, the Western view doesn’t begin to touch the surface of the problem. Most of human life is centred in Asia and anyone who’s been here will know plastic waste in particular is endemic and unavoidable. It is in these places that educational programs are imperative.
Air Pollution
There is also the small issue of air pollution. Air pollution is something that is undeniably harmful. For 4 months (!) this year the area I live in was the 10th most polluted place in the world. It’s barely a town, let alone a city. That’s because ecological issues are not as simple as big population = bad pollution, as is often portrayed; how we manage our waste is every bit as important as how many of us there is living in an area.
For example, the standard practice here is for farmers to burn their fields in order to increase fertility and improve yield. They also raze forests to clear land. In doing this, they created a level of smog that you would not believe. Some days when riding my bike I couldn’t see 10 feet ahead of me and the mountains only a few miles behind my house were entirely shrouded by a cloud of smoke… for months.
I dread to think the damage this did to my lungs.
A brief look at the history of London tells us that as recently as 1952 this was a day-to-day occurrence there too, but environmental protections, education and governmental regulation (1956 Clean Air Act) changed this. The revolution in industrial practices that resulted was necessary for residents to be able to have a positive experience of life. This provides a precedent to work from showing that governmental curbing can work to improve lives.
For issues like this legislation must protect the population from human nature taken to its extreme. We all operate from a position of self-interest, so when a group has too much power and acts in keeping with this, there is the potential to harm vast swathes of others. If we can see, feel and noticeably suffer as a consequence of an issue, action must be taken.
Legislation isn’t for wishy-washy, let’s create a (intrinsically biased) model to support our stance, issues. It should only be for hard, visible and undeniable concerns such as plastics and air pollution.
So let’s take a more in-depth look at plastic.
Plastic
Plastic’s discovery was absolutely revolutionary. It changed the world.
But not for the better.
It ushered in the ‘button push’ era where putting in work was no longer a necessary part of life; a change which fostered endemic laziness.
Nothing is more symptomatic of this than the convenience of buying a microwave meal, heating it in said microwave, eating it and throwing away the plastic container. There is no work involved and no effort expended.
Beyond engendering laziness, heating food in plastic releases phthalates and bisphenol-A (BPA) which are both poisonous to our system. These compounds have been linked to cancer, infertility and lowered testosterone in men.
It seems sloth really is punished.
Because of this many enter a vicious circle where sickness lowers energy, leading to picking the convenient option which in turn makes us sicker, leading to choosing convenience…
And these plastics are virtually impossible to avoid. They’ve infected our water supply, are contained in bottled water, receipts, clothes and everyday housing items. As a result, plastic is constantly leeching into our systems.
This is the true price of convenience.
Beyond human problems, these have similar effects on animals too. Ironically enough this seems to get more attention than human damage – an indictment of the endemic misanthropy of modern life.
Beauty
But beyond the physical suffering of man and beast, plastic is visually scarring. It’s tragic the amount of times I’ve visited an idyllic spot in Asia, only for there to be piles of the stuff littering the place.
Now humans are always going to leave waste, the same way any animal does. But plastic is different. It’s virtually unrecyclable (recycling plastic just weakens it every time. It’s not reusable like metal or glass) and it isn’t biodegradable.
In the past humans used materials which fitted in with their environment. For construction we used local woods, local stones and local minerals – or whatever other resources were available. Containers would be made from plants from the locality etc. You get the point. Human waste would be from, and therefore fit into, the environment.
Think to an Asian beach – if there’s an abandoned bamboo shack, or some left over coconut husks used for water carriers, whilst they are waste, they fit into the aesthetic and would, over time, biodegrade.
In contrast, plastics are garish in their alienness, destroying any natural aesthetic they come into contact with.
As someone who is a proponent of beauty and its essentiality to happiness, this is a tragedy.
Endemic
The problem is we’ve become entirely reliant on plastics, they’re cheap and convenient to make, they’re malleable and, as such, are endemic in our culture. Because of this malleability, plastic is necessary for the construction of certain products, but absolutely nothing mass-produced or single-use should be made with plastic.
At my last house in Thailand we received water in glass. Once the bottles were empty, they were picked up and replaced full of water. This was labour intensive, but environmentally friendly, recyclable and satisfying. This isn’t some crazy new model. In Britain this is what used to happen for both soft-drinks and milk.
If we returned to this, not only would it help the environment, but it would put us back in touch with our communities. Milkmen, soda collectors and water carriers would provide the small human link which is so lacking in our fragmented society.
If people are just willing to put in a bit of effort – and let go of their lust for convenience – it would have a huge impact on the world.
Here in Thailand, every time you buy a (plastic) bottle of water they provide you with a (plastic) straw (wrapped in plastic) and put it in a (plastic) bag. And this is the same for every purchase, water or otherwise. You can personally refuse it, but scale this up to a country with a population of 70 million, and understand the depth of the problem. These things are NOT necessary. People don’t need to drink water with a straw and whilst a plastic bag is convenient, there are other options which are available for use.
I normally argue against whole scale change for ideological reasons. But this isn’t ideological. It’s intrinsically felt in the human soul and subsequently crosses all political divides. As a result, it’s essential we remove ourselves from our reliance on plastic. This would cause some upheaval to facilitate, but it would NOT require an entire restructuring of the world economy (as stopping using all petrochemicals would. Correspondingly, I wouldn’t argue against continuing to burn petrol for this reason), but rather logistical reorientation and personal revolution of habits.
Phasing out plastics is necessary. Thankfully it’s already started in the West, but it must continue to be pushed and spread further afield.
Its removal would require people to put in a bit more effort; it would lessen convenient options and destroy the option for laziness.
This isn’t a bad thing. The path of least resistance has less resistance than ever before.
Plastic enabled this. Removing it would go some way to changing it.
Thanks for reading.
I recently recorded a podcast with Bill Masur (@futureinmindd) on Faith’s Demise. If you fancy listening CLICK HERE.
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