Not Everything Can Be Green
I’ve just heard about a man* who invented shoes that recharge
your mobile phone battery while you’re walking. Brilliant. I
want a pair, but they all look like rugged walking boots—
designed for areas where recharging equipment isn’t available,
such as jungles and deserts. I’ll have a pair when they make
them in Oxford brogues. Not everything can be green. Not
everyone can be as organic and as green as we would have
them be.
OK, we’ve gone through the rant about the state of the world
and what we’re doing to it. Now I’m going to give you a tiny
get-out clause. Not everything can be green. There has to be
by-products. There has to be some pollution. There has to be
some damage. We are vast in number—billions of humans
living on the planet have to have an effect—and we have to
live. There will always be some damage. Our job is to limit it,
but it is unrealistic to attempt to eliminate it altogether. It’s all
a question of balance, of priorities.
It is unrealistic to demand the immediate elimination of all
motor vehicles in the world; it’s not going to happen. But we
can do our bit by buying cars that use less fuel, emit cleaner
exhaust fumes, use recyclable materials in their construction.
But they won’t be totally green. They can’t be.
We might all rush off to disaster zones to lend a hand, but
we’ll fly there, and aircraft emit huge quantities of exhaust
fumes. You see, we are making choices all the time. Driving to
work, heating our homes, what we wear, what we eat. We can’t
*Trevor Bayliss—he also invented the wind-up radio.