Just what will it take to make us ditch big cars? Asks “ A Mum” in the letters to editor column of 7 Days of November 1, 2006. One can easily tell “Mum” is furious with all those who are driving around in their 5 Litre cars. She is even “stunned” to see the number of “British etc” people choosing five litre cars in Dubai and wonders if they “had the same education as I did”
Dear “Mum” – I have the same concerns that you have regarding our environment and as indicated in my earlier post, I am a conscientious greenie… I drive a relatively smaller car ( I am not in the 5 litre league yet), but a gas-guzzler nonetheless. Yes I could do with a 1.6 litre Honda City, but alas, it doesn’t suit my self-image”.
“Mum”, People choose to own things that suit their self image.
If we start counting the things we do in excess there is no end to it; and all these excesses damage the environment in one way or the other. Gold is one of the most polluting commodity produced - not because Gold is poisonous - because it takes large quantity of poisonous chemicals like mercury to refine gold. Like wise, aluminium, glass etc..that are increasingly used in modern buildings are Energy Guzzlers…Honestly, these are things man can live without!!!
Why, the paper that printed your “voice” is more damaging to the environment than the 5 litre gas guzzler of your “British” neighbour.
In an ideal world, we should all be living according to the Gandhian tenets of “living from nature and living by nature”.
But reality is different. The human race is uniquely blessed with this urge that we call ambition.
Because of this urge, we are inclined to build bigger, live bigger and think bigger….Man got to where he is today because of his ambition to become greater and better. In our quest to be unique, we invariably damage the environment a little every day.
But the indulgence in bigger and expensive “toys” and its ostentatious display is not unique to individuals. The ambition of some modern societies to become greater and more powerful than the rest has caused much larger damage to the world than larger cars !!!
Cutting down on the size of car may be a start. But as I said before, the real answer to the problem lies not in compromising life style but in developing alternative fuel that is replenishable, efficient and clean. I believe, in the collective wisdom of the world scientific community, the know-how exists.
What is lacking is the political and economic will!!!
1 comment:
Hi !
It is interesting to read the debate by the greenie's ( !! ).
I beleive the debate on usage of big cars leading to damaging environment, is not reflecting true spirits. A car designed to comply with EURO 2 standards comparatively causes less damage to environment than the cosmetics & detergents used by these " mum's".
Sree.
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