My office recently switched from Styrofoam coffee cups to a "bring your own mug"
policy. Sounds like the right idea, but with all the water and paper towels we
now waste on washing mugs, I'm not sure this is a huge net gain for the
environment. What is the "greenest" way to drink coffee around the office?
That question in Slate, and the detailed response from Jacob Leibenluft show how complicated the relationship is between economic activities and impacts on the environment. Being "green" is not as easy as one might think. There are tradeoffs to be made every step along the way.
Of course, one big tradeoff in being "green" is about payraise itself. Why? Hey, a payraise that is above and beyond the inflation rate is nothing but asking for extra money to pay for additional consumption. And, consumption is the trigger for all kinds of environmental impacts--different impacts for different kinds of consumption, of course. Which is why ethicists try to figure out how much we should appreciate soccer moms for their rushing around in their vehicles in order to make lives better for their families, when pretty much everything related to that can be simultaneously identified as contributors for climate change!
If only answers to big questions were simple and beautiful equations like E=MC2 :-)
I love coffee. There are few things that can beat the wonderful feeling when I drink that freshly brewed coffee. Particularly after a good meal. More so with warm brownies topped by vanilla ice cream. Hmmmm ....
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