The arrogance of Cancún | Gustavo Esteva | Comment is free | The Guardian
We must look down and to the left, as the Zapatistas of Mexico say: to the people, and what we can do ourselves. For example, stop producing waste, rather than recycling it. This requires a lot of things, from rejecting plastic bags and packaging to radically abandoning the flush toilet – one of the world's most destructive habits, absorbing 40% of water available for domestic consumption and contaminating everything in its way. And instead of overusing polluting vehicles, let's reclaim auto-mobility, on foot or bikes. Just as we strive to eat and drink sensibly, let us live our whole lives in a different way.
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4 comments:
So, let's take a big chunk of our productivity and spend it waking or peddling. What a waste of man power!
They are assuming that flush water is not treated. Indeed, in the undeveloped world this might be true, but not in the developed world where we have quite effective water treatment methods and plants.
The cure for environmental pollution (not including CO2 which is plant food and quite good) is to help and encourage the undeveloped world to develop.
However, this does not mean funneling money to them. The only way they will truly develop is to do it themselves. (Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, he eats for life.)
You cannot buy real development and funneling wealth to corrupt governments or dictators simply makes them more powerful and less likely to be replaced by more people friendly rule and proper implementation of more advanced methods and technology.
Nope, the toilet is good, safe, and does not consume the proportion of water that is claimed here. I put that down for patent alarmism.
@chuckhigley:
Ironic, your use of the "teach a man to fish..." homily, considering that destruction of the ocean ecology starting at the phytoplankton level by overpopulation, overfishing, ocean acidification, waste dumping, etc. by BAU advocates and practitioners will soon make the possibility of eating for life by learning to fish a pipe dream.
Rob Ryan
Clearly, this shit won't fly.
DOPE!
Take a look at Haiti if you want to see the reaction to "Not Flushing" the toilet.
Can't burn it. Fuel issue.
Can't bury it. Pollution.
What are going to do, make sweaters out of poop!
The world no longer exists only a bike ride away,and I am sure that the developed world does not want to be dragged down to the level of the 3rd world.
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