Is There a Perfect Green?
Image: Alesina DesignHow much is enough? How much is too much? How do you figure out whether something is what you need or just something you want? Should you switch out your incandesent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs now, or should you wait for a better option that doesn't contain mercury?
CBC Radio producer Richard Handler wrote a very engaging article a couple of months ago that took a look at the idea of perfection ("Facing up to imperfection"). He starts with men's razors (are five blades really necessary for shaving?) and ends up at the philosophy of Jacques Derrida in a one page essay. He cites Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice
Schwartz recounts how he used to walk into a Gap and spend a couple of minutes buying an ill-fitting pair of jeans. Now he spends an hour or so trying on all the different kinds. The jeans he purchases fit much better, but he feels much worse about the entire experience.
So, yes, choice is good — but up to a point.
Schwartz divides consumers into two categories: Maximizers and satisficers.
Maximizers want to make the right decision, every time. They want the best, most perfect pair of jeans offered. They drive themselves crazy.
Who hasn't felt these fits of indecision when faced with 25 varieties of off-white paint or 100 different styles of kitchen tile?
But satisficers buy merely what is "good enough." What that means, for each person, well, that's the problem. But the take-home message is this: The perfect pair of jeans (or job or plasma TV) doesn't necessarily lead to the perfect life.
I think this can be applied to green issues equally well. We can try to find the perfect green product, but often, it doesn't exist. I tend not to be an absolutist when it comes to green issues. In most cases, there are tradeoffs between the different options, and a whole nest of issues and values needs to be considered when making these choices. I think it's more important to make an informed choice than it is to make the perfect choice. But, if all you know is the corporate marketing side, it's hard to know what is really going on.
I think a lot of green choices should be more about becoming an educated consumer, and understanding the choices available, not just as they appear on the store shelf, but looking at the wider picture of where things come from, and what will happen with them after we have finished with them, what William McDonough calls "Cradle to Cradle." It may not be perfect, but I think a lot of greener living is simply a matter of learning. Paying attention and shopping smarter is what more of us need to do.
(Lloyd Alter introduced me to the Need Glass a few months ago in an article on Treehugger. I was imediately struck by how cool it was and thought I needed to get one right away. But, I've restrained myself. I only wanted it, and I can wait until it's appropriate and I really need one.)
