Easy Doesn't Cut It When We Consider Real Environmental Damage!

I think that Maniates makes a very good point about how the easy things we can do will not be enough.  However, in a society that is so consumer-driven and, for the most part, ignorant to what the real environmental situation is, it is hard to ask for much more.  I think these little things are great, but I do not believe that this society is not able to handle more.  

I think that education about the environment and how the degradation process is proceeding is the most important thing.  Re-using paper, recycling cans, and turning off the water when we brush our teeth are all really great ideas, but maybe for ten years ago.  The main problem is that not many people know what is going on.  The environmentalists and authors of those books about the "lazy environmentalist" are distractions from what could really be done here.  I think that if these books took a more aggressive approach in blatantly telling the situation how it is and what it is doing would really help people realize that they each need to do more.

Sure there will be the pessimists that do not really care any more because they feel anything we do will not work and that it is human nature to be egotistical and to not want to give up anything that no one else is giving up.  If education about the environment becomes mandatory in schools and if these authors really did their research and aimed at educating, rather than making the lives of Americans easier, then I think that we would all want to do more and make more of a difference.  It is important to remember that not everyone knows what is going on, at least not to the full extent.

I think that what Maniates writes in his article really emphasizes the social forces that drive environmental change.  He mentions that the environmental elites and the government officials are not taking enough action.  This helps to highlight to social forces because if we are not all educated or driven by some clear-cut reasons why we should change our lifestyles then nothing will happen.  We, the people, need to hear something convincing and need laws and motivation to really make a difference in the environmental situation.  I think his argument really helps in promoting more political action and that it will only be effective if it is aggressive and pushy.