Easy is the American Way

While I completely agree with Michael Maniates' point that the "easy" ways to be green are not going to solve our environmental problems, I disagree with the idea the most Americans want to/will work harder to be green.

Americans like doing things that are easy and they do not like making sacrifices. Just ask a Hummer owner, they are not going to want to give up their giant, gas guzzling monster of a vehicle in order to drive a tiny, eco-friendly hybrid. Of course there are many Americans who do want to be green and do recycle and do care about the environment, but even then many of them will not be willing to give up their air conditioning during the summer for a greener earth. It is not that Americans do not care, recent polls have showed that Americans really believe that we must become greener, its just that too many of us are not willing to get our hands dirty for a better tomorrow.

And in part I believe that this is a cultural thing, Americans believe we are entitled to our large cars and six bedroom houses, we are a consumer culture. So of course we love the "easy" way to be green, recycling is easy when there are clearly labeled trash cans and that bulb that lasts for five years and cuts down on energy costs? Those savings might encourage more people to turn their air conditioning on a few weeks earlier.

Yes I completely agree that we do need to be told what we really can and must do in order to save our planet but I also think that we still need to keep in mind our consumer based culture. We will need more a cultural change before Americans will be willing to make those sacrifices, we really need to make the environment everyone's problem. And I know that people have been saying that for years and that being green is more popular then ever in America, but its not enough. If it was then there would be more people demanding change and more changes being made by the government. Americans need to stop following a culture of "gimme, gimme, gimme" and want to live simpler, greener lives, before real change will occur.