David Peat

Re-envisioning the Planet 159Shopping for the EnvironmentThe problem is even worse the moment we step into the supermarketfor the week’s shopping. Aren’t supermarkets, with all their packaging,creating waste? Are we using too much gasoline when we drive to them?Suppose we have arrived and begin to shop. Things are not toobad at the meat counter, which now features a special section of meatthat is free from hormones, and we believe that if the animals havebeen allowed free range the product will taste better. However, to producethe protein we get from meat, farmers need a great deal of availableland to grow grass and hay needed to feed livestock. But cropsgrown on that same area for direct human consumption would producefar more protein. Does that mean we should all become vegetariansin order to avoid having to turn yet more forests and land intocattle farming areas? After all, we now realize that, with large areas offorest being converted into grazing plains, the lungs (the forests) ofour planet are becoming compromised.Now we reach for a box of eggs and become confused at the conceptof “barn eggs,” “free range,” or even “organic.” Just what do theseterms mean in practice? Are these more expensive eggs any better forus? Does spending a few cents more on them have a beneficial effect onthe planet? Or is the whole thing no more than advertising hype designedto seduce shoppers into parting with more money in the beliefthat they are buying a more healthful product?If we have a baby in the house we reach for a packet of disposablediapers. These are a truly great invention because the semipermeablebarrier means that the baby’s bottom stays dry while the diaper itselfabsorbs urine, so no more diaper rash. On the other hand, millionsupon millions of disposable diapers are destined to be buried in landfillswhere they take hundreds of years to degrade. So why not go backto using cloth diapers and washing them out? But boiling the water,washing with detergent, and adding effluence to the sewage system putsanother sort of strain on the environment.And so we go from aisle to aisle, shelf to shelf, facing a host of tinydecisions without ever fully understanding the implications. And thencomes the last straw. We stand at the checkout and are asked, “Plastic