Not green, just rich

Very interesting piece from George Monbiot in the Guardian, which expresses my uneasiness at the idea that buying green products can somehow solve the climate change crisis and my dislike of the new fascism of greenies over non-organic shopping choices.

He writes about a new organic bible by Sheherazade Goldsmith - married to the very rich environmentalist Zac – on how to "live within nature's limits".

“It's easy. Just make your own bread, butter, cheese, jam, chutneys and pickles, keep a milking cow, a few pigs, goats, geese, ducks, chickens, beehives, gardens and orchards.” A fellow commuter sums up to Monbiot the fundamental problem with this approach: "This is for people who don't work."

I think that consumers can reduce their impact on the planet by choosing wisely when they shop.

But how helpful is it to approach life with an all-pervasive eco-guilt when often the government doesn’t give us the tools to making green choices easy?

It is often easier and cheaper to make the choose grey, so it is disproportionately difficult for people with less money to be green. A trip to Somerset for two on a Friday night costs £100 return (if you don’t book in advance) but £40-60 by car. Flying to Europe is too easy and too cheap – we should take the train. A friend with a new baby told me that to buy a complete set of washable nappies costs £300, quite apart from the cost of washing etc.

It can also be difficult to determine which option is greener - especially given the lack of clear labelling on how much energy is used producing something - eg food miles are not obvious. Even then, the best option for the environment difficult to see. For example, when green beans are out of season, it is apparently better to buy beans shipped from Kenya than organic ones those grown in Europe, because the energy costs of hothousing the beans in Europe are so great.

I really resented the government pushing eco-guilt around five years or so ago when consumers were told they should “take responsibility” for recycling when services provided by local councils was so poor. “Taking responsibility” for me meant manically storing up any recyclables until I could borrow a car, or struggle with them on the bus. Now improvew local services – including advent of doorstep recycling - have made it much easier for consumers to take action. (Although there are problems with this approach – it is more energy intensive than separated-at-source recycling and results in lower quality product.)

I agree with Monbiot that we should buy less not just buy green and his conclusion: “Green consumerism is another form of atomisation - a substitute for collective action. No political challenge can be met by shopping.”