We are all outraged at the unholy mess that the sunken rig is causing in the Gulf.
Soooooo....
Maybe I should be boycotting BP? (even though I was born in Britain). Yes, that’s it….wait a minute, though….my next closest gas station is Lukoil, and if I buy there, I am supporting a newly oppressive Russian regime I don’t like. Citgo? Well, Hugo Chavez is determinedly anti-American and hardly a paragon of human rights…..Shell? Ah, but they supported an oppressive Nigerian regime….ExxonMobil? Hmmmm, they had the Exxon Valdez…..
I go to an anonymous sounding petrol station and hope that no ‘bad guys’ provided the oil……
This is the kind of kindergarten thinking that we can get ourselves into. ALL of these companies – putting aside when they prop up unpleasant regimes – have probably made a mess of the environment. But like the Greenpeace ad said at the time of the Valdez disaster, showing a picture of the ship’s captain – ‘Don’t blame his driving, blame yours’
Do not despair. A single person's action counts.
First - think - why were BP drilling here? Because mankind uses oil, a lot of it. We use it in our cars and we use extraordinary quantities to make plastic. And plastic is everywhere.
So, here's what to do. Your choices today and tomorrow will make a difference.
- Never use plastic when something renewable is available. This means plastic bags, plastic water bottles...all the detritus of our civilization. These things take oil and energy to make them - and then almost every darn one gets discarded to litter our oceans and landfills for an eternity. So PLEASE TRY to stop using these things! Use glass for bottles (and recycle). Use cloth bags like our parents and grandparents did.
- Drive less; drive conservatively. Most of us have nice cars we like to drive. Most of us commute to work. But just THINK - can you avoid using the car? Can you use something else, car pool...? And when you drive, drive under 2000 rpm when you can. You'll still get there......
......And you will be doing just a LITTLE to compensate for the suffocating Hell that the Gulf is turning into.
