September 29, 2009 4:45 AM

First they came for my toilet paper....

ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. -- There is a battle for America's behinds. It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for "soft" (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective). It's a menace, environmental groups say -- and a dark-comedy example of American excess. The reason, they say, is that plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. They want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods.

In my more cynical moments, it's easy for me to view our recent emphasis on things green and environmentally friendly as just another way to assuage our collective guilt over our ever more acquisitive and materialistic lifestyle. When I step back and think about it with a bit more clarity, though, I begin to see that there really is a growing awareness that the environment we have is the only one we've got...and it's not as if we've been great stewards of that reality. Whether you happen to believe, at one extreme, that we're killing our planet with our SUVs and plastic grocery bags, or, at the other extreme, that global warming is a hoax conjured up by weenie tree-hugging Libruls, at least we're talking about it, eh? Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, it should go with argument to hold that being good stewards of what we have is a good thing.

The question, of course, is how do we go about being good stewards while enjoying our American lifestyle? "Reduce, reuse, recycle" isn't merely the mantra of dope-smoking woolly-headed Berkeley Liberals. When you look at the world's exploding population and our ever-expanding consumption of the Earth's limited resources, it's simply good-old garden variety self-interest to step back and take a look at the impact we have. When you examine the issue in that light, talking about what kind of toilet paper we use becomes much more than the source of embarrassed snickers. The realization that we're all responsible for the condition of our habitat is no longer merely the subject of academic debate. There's reason to believe that we may well be reaching a tipping point. While we have it within our means to dial things back and live and consume in less impactful ways, the question remains of whether or not we as a species will take that responsibility seriously. At the moment, it's not looking good.

There's research available that the Earth's average ambient temperature will increase by 6.3 degrees by the end of this century. No, none of us will likely be around. (Well, not you, perhaps, but I'll only be 140 and, with any luck, still chasing tail.) That in no way lessens our responsibility for our behavior and our consumption. It's not exactly a stretch to say that we owe it to future generations to hand off a planet that can sustain life and provide them with everything they need to thrive and prosper. When you look at what some politicians are doing these days, though, one's left to wonder if we have a case of the fox guarding the hen house (a pox be upon Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)).

I've been reading Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded, which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in environmental issues. While no eco-warrior himself, Friedman paints a disturbing picture of where our world is heading as developing nations like South Korea, China, and India race to achieve the glorious, boundless American lifestyle we've all long enjoyed. You can't really blame them for wanting to achieve what we've modeled to the rest of the world since the end of WWII, but when you consider that growth rates in both consumption and population- particularly in China and India- it's not hard to realize that we've created a monster. Until and unless we begin to set an example for responsible, ecologically-friendly consumption, things will only continue to worsen...and more rapidly than you might have thought.

I'm not trying to be alarmist (Hell, some folks are even trying to find the humor in this dilemma), but from where I sit, I see only good emerging from the growing awareness of the impact of our lifestyle on the environment. No, I'm not suggesting that we all move to Berkeley and live in trees. Nonetheless, what harm is there in taking a serious look at how we're living and what we're consuming? Even something as simply as how (or if) we wipe our butts can yield benefits not previously suspected. Life, when lived thoughtfully, doesn't have to be an exercise in self-denial. It can start with something as simple as an examination of your workplace. Change, when truly effective, is rarely created with sledgehammer blows. No, real change often comes from tinkering around the margins with a rubber mallet. A little here, a little there...if enough people and their governments get behind change, perhaps there is hope. RIght now, though, it's hard to see any collective motivation for making truly effective and impactful changes in our lifestyles. We have an opportunity to ensure that we hand future generations a world that's, if not in better shape than we found it, than something as close to it as we can salvage.

Like it or not, the responsibility for set a positive example for making those changes starts right here in on our shores. We created this monster...and we have the tools, the creativity, and the ingenuity to lead the way. I'm just not certain we have the will and the ability to look past our own narrow self-interest. And so one day the history of our time will be written...and I fear that it will be nothing if not a recitation of lost opportunities, ineffective leadership, and rampant, unchecked self-interest.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on September 29, 2009 4:45 AM.

Well, it does get the government out of the health care business, no? was the previous entry in this blog.

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