Hidden Costs in a Modern World

Courtesy of Sprol. I came across a link to this site recently, from one of my daily blog checks. I've bookmarked it at work. Last week one of my coworkers asked me to bring in my copy of Arthus-Bertrand's "Earth From Above". I bought this book a few years ago because having glanced through it, I knew that it would be a fantastic source of imagery for the work I do.

So it makes me slightly ill to check the Sprol site. To see what happens when it all goes wrong. Who are these planners and politicians that have no conscious or care for the planet? Who thought that these things were a good idea?

It takes a lot of energy and resources to run our modern lives. The blame is not 'the city' as that is a concept which has existed for thousands of years. It's the waste and consumption that's galling. And we all do it. However, mostly the refuse product of our world-hunger is hidden from view. On the outskirts of town. People don't see it.

A week from tomorrow I go to teach on a course. The focus of the course is advanced environment and energy studies. There are a lot of hairy-legged tree-huggers who show up. And I take some joy in breaking down some of their idealism. You don't have to wear your environmentalism on your hand-spun fourth hand hemp rainbow skirt. And solutions don't always look the way you expect, and often involve new technology for the specific purpose of being able to have technology to begin with.

I know that I'm a cynic. But I'm not so jaded as to think we should kill the planet. It's so easy not to think about it from day to day. It's so easy to think that one person doesn't make a difference. I know I don't do enough. Do you?