Labeling products with their carbon footprint seems like a pretty solid idea. If you can give people the option to choose one semi-destructive product over a not-as-bad or completely neutral one, then result could be really beneficial to our environment. But the author is right. So what? So you slapped some labels on some pears. What is that really going to do? What do those labels even mean? What is considered to be a “good” amount of carbon footprint anyhow!?!?
According to Michael Specter “ This is not an equation like the number of calories or even the cost of the product. There is no one number that works.” So what do we do? Do we overhaul our entire way of life? Do we grow our own wheat and sew our own clothes and kill our own beef? In a perfect 100% environmentally friendly world we do. However, in our fast-paces society no one actually has time to do any of that.
So really, how do we create change, is it even worth it to be eco-friendly potato chips? Specter is absolutely correct he writes, “Personal choices, no matter how virtuous, cannot do enough. It will also take the law and money.” We cannot consume eco-friendly products unless someone produces them for our consumption. We cannot make companies change their practices and products unless a) laws are passed requiring them to do so or b) there is some sort of monetary incentive for change. At the same time we definitely cannot have our economy and our current structure of living fall apart just to save the atmosphere 200 years from now. Until someone can come up with an answer I guess we are stuck with well-intentioned carbon-conscious potato chips from England. Who knows though, maybe carbon-consciousness will become the new Kaballa and be so damn trendy that celebrities and in turn regular folks jump on the bandwagon.
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