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"ego" rather than "eco"
Jun. 7th, 2007 08:08 pmIt's absolutely fascinating how prevalent "eco-awareness" has become. I am horribly cynical about the whole consumer eco-boom since in many ways seems to be more like a consumer fad. It's so...trendy, with so much talk about consuming things less harmful to the environment instead of talking about just consuming less in general. When will the eco-awareness reach our trash?
In any case, it's fascinating to see so much about the environment profiled on Japanese TV programs as well, done in such a Japanese way. The other day, two programs showed how bio-ethanol is made at the same factory/lab/I'm-not-exactly-sure-what-it-was somewhere in Tokyo. Today, I saw part of another show that profiled a writer/artist who has lived a very environmentally friendly lifestyle for about 30 years--she hasn't put out any trash in all that time. She avoids making trash by doing things such as not picking up plastic bags at the grocery store (I loved how she whipped out a furoshiki--how to use one shown here--to take the goods home, as opposed to a re-usuable bag like we'd use here. Very nifty!), covering a bowl with a plate instead of plastic wrap, and putting up solar panels to generate electricity for her house and sell to the power company when there's extra. She pointed out that rather than focusing on big ideas such as "saving the environment" or "preserving things for the next generation," it is easier to do things for oneself--motivations such as saving oneself the hassle of taking out the trash or saving oneself money on electricity support continuation of such practices. She put it as "more like 'ego' (for oneself) rather than 'eco' (for the environment)."
In any case, it's fascinating to see so much about the environment profiled on Japanese TV programs as well, done in such a Japanese way. The other day, two programs showed how bio-ethanol is made at the same factory/lab/I'm-not-exactly-sure-what-it-was somewhere in Tokyo. Today, I saw part of another show that profiled a writer/artist who has lived a very environmentally friendly lifestyle for about 30 years--she hasn't put out any trash in all that time. She avoids making trash by doing things such as not picking up plastic bags at the grocery store (I loved how she whipped out a furoshiki--how to use one shown here--to take the goods home, as opposed to a re-usuable bag like we'd use here. Very nifty!), covering a bowl with a plate instead of plastic wrap, and putting up solar panels to generate electricity for her house and sell to the power company when there's extra. She pointed out that rather than focusing on big ideas such as "saving the environment" or "preserving things for the next generation," it is easier to do things for oneself--motivations such as saving oneself the hassle of taking out the trash or saving oneself money on electricity support continuation of such practices. She put it as "more like 'ego' (for oneself) rather than 'eco' (for the environment)."
