I was really intrigued with Stanley Fish's article about environmentally friendly living in the U.S. Fish seemed to argue that being eco-friendly in the U.S. was a major challenge, some extreme ideal, which he was unable to ever live up to. (i.e. finding new paper products because the ones he used were not eco-friendly). However I do not find that a majority or even half of Americans live in such an "extreme" eco-friendly lifestyle, let alone a "mildly" eco-friendly one.
Having spent a year living amongst the ecologically conscious Germans, I do not think the American lifestyle is nearly as extreme or eco-friendly as our European neighbors. Living with a German host family, I quickly learned that all trash can be sorted and recycled. Plastics, newspaper, colored paper, food wastes. Very little trash was actually just placed in the garbage can. Upon my return to the U.S., I began forcing my roommates to do the "bare minimum" and sort the garbage into three piles: plastics, newspaper/cardboard, and other trash. (Besides we pay for recycling so why not actually use it.) While my roommates comply (usually without complaint), not one of my four roommates actually had recycled before in their homes. I'm constantly reminding my roommates to simply turn off a light when they leave a room (admittedly as much for the environment as for our pocketbooks), let alone trying to get them to buy the more expensive, yet eco-friendly, light bulbs. On the other hand, my German college friends, so used to a life where there are sorted trashcans on every corner, think nothing of turning off lights, sorting garbage, and using public transportation or riding bikes on a daily basis. I cannot think of one friend at AU who rides his/her bike to class and I'm the only one of my roommates to use the Metro daily.
I do not think by any means that I live an extremely eco-friendly lifestyle, however my time in Germany really opened my eyes to various environmental problems and more efficient ways of dealing with the many environmental issues. The article by Stanley Fish, in my opinion, made it seem as though many Americans are already making daily sacrifices for the environment, in order to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. (Although the author does argue that he realizes he doesn't do enough for the environment.) However the reality is that Americans are a wasteful society, and we all have a long way to go before we can be considered an eco-friendly society, let alone an extreme one.
Amanda Schaeffer
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Thanks for the thoughtful post Amanda. I wonder, what makes Germans different? To what do you attribute the different approach to individual environmental responsibility you saw over there? Something for us to talk about as we get deeper into the course.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read what you wrote about recycling, it made me think about the fact that even in the U.S. there are different standards for recycling. Some recycling centers will allow you to recycle vastly more than others. I guess its just another example of how America really isn't as eco-friendly as our global counterparts.
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