I must admit the only Television I watch these days is online. Of course even online T.V involves commercials (how else will people get paid right?). One of the commercials revealed the new "Cascade Extreme", a 100% recycled, chlorine free paper towel which will change your "environmentality". The purchase of this towel is apparently going to clear the air, save the trees and protect the lakes and rivers, says Cascade.
I brought up this commercial for two reasons. First, I would like to applaud Cascade for being "environmentally friendly". However, why can't we all just use a washable cloth instead? If Cascade truly wanted to save the trees, clear the air and protect the waterways they would realize that paper towels are absolutely wasteful. They should learn a thing or two from the people over at www.greenlivingtips.com
Now, before you go and call me some freaky hippie chick- hear me out.
The main reason for blasting Cascade is not to boycott the company. I've used them as an example to capture the ever growing Environmentalist movement in Canada. it is all around us, in both the public and private spheres. Carleton University, for example has just implemented a new policy where printers now print double sided sheets to save paper and ink. To bring environmental awareness into the private sphere, the city of Ottawa has decided all it's residents must compost. Now, I am sure most students at Carleton do not mind the double sided printing, if not for environmental reasons than surely for it's economical advantages. The same cannot be said for the Composting project however. Many angry citizens wrote letters to the editor and called into CFRA complaining that it was yet another money grab from the city. Where there was opposition, there was a handful of people who jumped on board with the project. These are the people I am interested in (Sorry Lowe Green).What is it that entices the public? Could it be that people are sincerely concerned about Mother Earth? Or are people merely jumping on the band wagon in fear of what other will think of them if they do not? I believe there is a mixture of both motives when it comes to environmentalism.
Brian Treanor (2009) argues that both public and personal virtue is involved in one's environmentality. The author suggests that there is both personal and public gain to becoming an environmentally virtuous person; to be personally virtuous would involve a community member recycling, consuming less, and so on. These acts become public when the entire community develops similar habits. Soon, local municipalities will notice less trash at the local garbage dump (which has been a eyesore for years!).
Treanor proposes that personal and public virtues develop a dyadic relationship (2009). what he wished to explain is the interconnectedness between a personal choice and a communal project. Simply put, if I were to bike to school everyday instead of driving, there would be one less car on the road. Now, if many people began to bike, there would be less traffic on the road and less fumes in the air. That would benefit me personally, I would have more space on the road as well as in my lungs! Personal virtues becomes public virtues, which in tern benefit the personal lives on many (Treanor, 2009).
Back to the Cascade commercial now. I would argue that this campaign reflects a national environmental consciousness, where individual's buy environmentally friendly, recycled products in the hopes of preserving the Planet Earth. This public virtue continues to grow nationally and globally and could arguably be movement which will fill the religious void of our secular society.
Okay, now you can call me a freaky hippie chick. If you can manage with all that extra exhaust fumes you've got in your lungs!
References
Treanor, Brian. (2009). Environmentalism and Public Virtue. Journal of Agricultral and Environmental Ethics , 23(1-2), 9-28.
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