'Being Green', am I the only one who's not interested?

I'd like to start a discussion on the topic of whether or not 'being green' is really more energy-efficient than the 'normal' way of doing business, among other things.

A couple of topics and different branches of thought, for starters:

a. The replacement of the planet's incandescent light bulbs with CFL's: What % of the market that are buying CFL's to replace their bulbs, are doing it earlier than needed, ie. before the fuse breaks in the old bulb? What chemicals are used to create the CFL's as opposed to the procedures needed to make the old style lights? (This idea could extend to any replacement of a product/electrical device, in favour of a 'green' one)

b. Going 'off the grid' to minimise your 'carbon footprint': In my opinion, going off the grid to 'save the planet' is idiotic. Personally, I would do it simply so I could reduce my dependance on the multinational corporations, etc. (that discussion is for another thread!) If we reduced our dependency on grid-based fossil-fuel electricity by going off-grid, what would we use instead? Is the carbon footprint and chemical manufacturing of a solar panel network, outweighed by using electricity from the grid? Which is 'more green'? Isn't the third world currently burning more carbon per person for heating, than the average person in the west would use for the same thing?

c. The politicising of 'green industry': I believe that the current paradigm in business of 'being green' is the biggest load of crap to have graced this earth since income tax and a dual-party electoral college! It is the nature of business that companies lay off workers and downsize departments so that they can save money, but when it comes to 'being green', they will happily sacrifice workers in order to become more efficient. Once it becomes law that companies will NEED to offset their carbon emissions, who's to say that they won't lay off workers who don't fit their Nazi ideals of being in 'Obama's green corps'? Will we need to show our carbon-efficiency ratings on our CV's to get a job? Will we need to have demonstrated consistency with a company's ideals of emission reduction in the workplace in order to be hired at a company who wants to hire staff that fit their own 'green paradigm'? This feels like the movie 'Gattaca' ffs!

im not into the "green" thing either. i love nature and a healthy enviroment but this green movement is just a corporate cash cow, thats it. im sorry thats just how i feel. if humans have been creating global warming gasses that are going to destroy the world, its far to late to reverse it. the earth has unlimited power to reginerate and fix its self, thats what the msm and politicians like al gore dont tell you. what we are going through is a natural cycle...if the earth was so fragile and weak it would have been unhabitible thousands of years ago...but it evolves and cleans itself pretty effieciently....people are being fed a bunch of b-s so the government can make money through things like carbon credits...and people eat it up, not because they are stupid but because they want to make the world a better place....they are feeding on a false mentality

Nope I dont care either, I drive a 1979 2 1/2 ton Jeep Cherokee that gets ten gallons to the mile and can climb the empire state building if it was covered in ice. I love my jeep and even took the two barrel carb off and put a four on it just to suck that much more gas and Tim Allen grunts and all.

what makes nme angry is that many of the green movements leaders are absolute hypocrites.they tell you to do one thing and then do the exact opposite, and people still follow their message blindly...wake up these A- holes are trying to make a buck off of you and its working

I'm not into the green thing either. I have a really hard time getting into it it because
A) most likely future generations will probably have a better standard of living then we do: think about what life was like a few hundred years ago and compare it to how nice things are now. Why should I sacrifice for some future person that will probably be richer than me and..
B) I know for a fact that absolutely none of those future people will be my descendants.
C) By not having any children I'm saving 80 some years of resources that each child would have used. I'm guessing that saves way more than any green technology, etc.
D) Nature screwed me out of being able to have children to have descendants that would have given me more of a reason to care more about the future of the planet. Kind of makes it hard for me to get all worked up about 'our grandkids'. BTW I really wish people would stop saying that!

[edit on 17-2-2009 by FunSized]

[edit on 17-2-2009 by FunSized]

I'm rigtht there with you guys. My wife always gets on me when one of my bottles gets tossed (by me) into the "non-recyclables".
If I believed for one minute that I could make some difference by doing otherwise, I might consider it for a minute.

However, as I sit in traffic behind some bus coughing out black smoke, knowing full well that these vehicles have no requirement to pass emissions, well, it tells me it's a waste.

Anyone ever driven through Chicago, headed south, and passed the steel manufacturers there in Gary? Stacks like 300 ft. high, burning 24/7. Waste from the steel making process I'm told.

Any of us could go for hours on the hypocrasy, but come on.

Wait, wait, the best one is when they close all of the beaches in the beginning of summer, beaches remain closed all season, then blame it on large amounts of seagull poop. Whatever!

Who cares about the green movement and its leaders? Who benefits from this? The new green companies and the planet! At least the money goes to sustaining the planet instead of unbalancing it.

reply to post by 1xion325alpha


these new "green companies" arent new they are companies like GE and OPEC...they have noticed a miniscule shift in the earths natural climate and seized the opprotunity to make a buck. it has nothing to do with saving the planet...thats what they want you to think so you give them money and join the fake movement. its a farce

Flag for you! I would give you more if I could!! No I am not interested at all in "going green/being green." I drive a F150 with a V8 in it and love my truck. I personally think this going green crap was created by companies to open up a new market to make big money off of.

I have been interested in "alternative energy" ideas for over 30 years. I looked into windmills back in the 80's, solar cells, biofuels, etc.

I even fermented grass clippings in my back yard to make alcolhol fuel to run my lawn mower. I called the idea grassahol and I called a government scientist with the Dept. of Agriculture to share my idea. I did this ten years ago.

I also checked into government grants and loans to extend my idea. That was under the Clinton/Gore administration. You know what I learned? There was not one dime of government money available to fund alternative energy ideas like mine. So much for Al Gore and deep concern for the environment.

Anyway, I also see the "Global Warming" movement as a complete scam designed to line the pockets of Mr. Gore and his Socialist friends.

I have played with the idea of starting a website to sell "Carbon Debits" for everyone who would like to express their independence from the "Human Caused Climate Change" crowd.

My Carbon Debits would work like this, for a dollar I would burn some charcoal in my BBQ grill, for five dollars I would run my lawnmower for an hour, and for ten dollars I would run my SUV for an hour. I would also post additional ways to expand your carbon foot print. Like where you can get incandecent bulbs, coal mining and power companies that you can invest in, who makes the most comfortable SUV, etc.

I am sure that it wouldn't be long before some Left wing group would try to sue me. That would actually be the goal, because if these groups had to prove their case in court...well, they wouldn't want to do that.

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Nope I dont care either, I drive a 1979 2 1/2 ton Jeep Cherokee that gets ten gallons to the mile and can climb the empire state building if it was covered in ice. I love my jeep and even took the two barrel carb off and put a four on it just to suck that much more gas and Tim Allen grunts and all.

You should be worried, mate, as in the future you probably won't be able to afford petrol due to the fearmongerers forcing government to substantially increase the 'carbon taxes' on fuel.
Get angry, get even, otherwise your standard of living will decrease due to a few soapbox hippies making too much noise because the soap they don't use, killed off a species of tunafish that lives in the andes mountains and their food supply was washed clean so they died off... blah blah blah.

Originally posted by invisibleman11
what makes nme angry is that many of the green movements leaders are absolute hypocrites.they tell you to do one thing and then do the exact opposite.

For example, (given that candidates on both sides of the political opposame 'divide' are really in the same party), John Howard wasted millions of Australian taxpayer's dollars to fly around the world for 'Climate Summits', and now his predecessor is doing exactly the same thing, only going around FIXING what Howard did, by ratifying Kyoto, etc.
So much for reducing our emissions!

Originally posted by FunSized
I'm not into the green thing either. I have a really hard time getting into it it because
A) most likely future generations will probably have a better standard of living then we do: think about what life was like a few hundred years ago and compare it to how nice things are now. Why should I sacrifice for some future person that will probably be richer than me and..
B) I know for a fact that absolutely none of those future people will be my descendants.
C) By not having any children I'm saving 80 some years of resources that each child would have used. I'm guessing that saves way more than any green technology, etc.
D) Nature screwed me out of being able to have children to have descendants that would have given me more of a reason to care more about the future of the planet. Kind of makes it hard for me to get all worked up about 'our grandkids'. BTW I really wish people would stop saying that!

a. Does anyone actually believe that people a hundred years ago gave a hoot about 'saving the environment for future generations'? ... before you say it, NO, DO NOT blame those people for the current 'poor climatic paradigms', blame the politicians and corporate lobbyists who are trying to make normality seem ignorant. It's just another sales tactic, people! eg: "Hi, I'm calling from Premium Office Supplies, and I know that when calling you out of the blue you'll not be aware that you are destroying the planet... That's okay, but I can help you to fix that by supplying you a printer cartridge that will reduce your carbon emissions AND your expenditures on consumables, how good's that!"

b. I feel your pain, mate. Being unable to have kids really sucks the life out of you.

c. You've hit the nail on the head here, mate! I don't think anyone else realises, but eugenics and population control are the Final Solution to the 'climate problem'. Does my mentioning nazi germany as a similar paradigm, seem more probable now?

d. People like to boast that they're being 'green' for the future generations, so they can stroke their ego and make you feel bad for not doing the same. To hell with those people, I say. They're useless breeders who's only real reason for existence is to propagate their meager genetic lineage, so they'll try to sell the illusion that other people should care.

Originally posted by Oaktree
Any of us could go for hours on the hypocrasy, but come on.

PLEASE DO! That's why I started this thread!

these new "green companies" arent new they are companies like GE and OPEC...they have noticed a miniscule shift in the earths natural climate and seized the opprotunity to make a buck. it has nothing to do with saving the planet...thats what they want you to think so you give them money and join the fake movement. its a farce

FINALLY, somebody else noticed! In the future nobody else will be able to afford carbon credits anyways, so all these massive corporations are going to use this as yet another excuse to buy eachother out.

By the way, please don't get me wrong... I wholly believe that we are a wasteful society and that we have a long way to go before we are SUSTAINABLE. But reducing our 'carbon emissions' is a load of crap. We SHOULD be reducing our need for useless crap. ie. all the plastic packaging that we use for our groceries, when back in the day we just used old newspaper and that worked fine.

Corporations follow cultural trends and were/are more than happy to exploit the #$%^ out of this one in particular.

There is constant push for increased profit in all areas; materials, production, labor, and of course services.

I see this as a huge push for an increase in the profit of services, as a direct result of a cultural trend coupled with an economy shifting ever toward service based industries and away from production based industries.

This is very much a manipulation and exploitation, the question is will good things come of it?

[edit on 18-2-2009 by maus80]

reply to post by Oaktree


Well, there are social and economical benefits to separating your trash. Recycling centers create service based jobs. With most every other type of job going over seas, I'd see that as worth your trouble.

I really don't see much of a difference between "going green" and not doing it. Yeah hybrid's may save some gas, but it doesn't make much difference if they ship it by jet like they did Paul McCartney's hybrid limo. Not to mention all the waste created by throwing out perfectly good appliances and lightbulbs because they aren't "green".

I'm all about protecting the planets not dumping chemical waste in to rivers ect. ect. I just can't jump on this green badwagon for two main reasons 1 I think it is a way for the government to take more control i.e taxes regulations new laws agencies ect. 2 Like many others have said it's all about corporate profits I believe there already is alternative energy sources although I have not researched it so can't prove it,but the massive oil industry will not let them be implemented because of the huge profits they would lose. I bet when oil stops being profitable these same companies will have some new alternative available which they have a monopoly on just my guess.

you should care about being 'green' you could at least try a little bit..

we (humans) are parasites.. what happens when the parasite ruins the host..
we both die..

granted, you may not die or see a serious decline in life,lifestyle,air quality and water quality..
but what about your kids, grandkids.. they will be drinking your pollution..
they will have to figure out a way to fix OUR mess..
because you dont care..
you should care..

if you had a tick.. sucking your blood.. you would want it gone.. right.
well.. I hate to tell you.. were ticks on the arse of mother earh..
and I think shes getting tired of us..
if shes not now, she will be soon..

reply to post by KATSUO


I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's not that I don't care. It's just that the current cash cow that "going green" has become seems to be nothing more than a ploy to separate people from their cash. Buying energy efficient appliances is a great idea, however it also adds tons of crap into the landfills which to me defeats the purpose. Buying a new hybrid car is a great idea, except that some have been shipped by private jet which creates more of a carbon footprint than just driving the car you already have. Not to mention all the cars that end up in junk yards which doesn't help the environment. I recycle, I don't litter, and I drive as infrequently as possible. I just don't see how creating more waste and taking up more space in landfills is saving the environment.

Glenn Beck had a funny story about frances green program started 1 year ago and failed terribly becuase people stole or ruined the bikes they intended to rent, yet the news story still refered to it as succesful.

I think the solutions are terrible. MAGNETS and ANTIGRAVITY and LIBERTY through KNOWLEDGE for EVERYONE on EVERYTHING is the ONLY TRUE FORM OF LIBERTY.

I'm not completely into it, but I try not to waste when I can. I like the idea of going green, but it just seems like doing so would be too initially expensive and/or just too difficult.