Comments on: Are You An “Eco” Hypocrite?

By: Solar Powered Tiki Torches And Eco Hypocrites | A Self Sufficient Life

Solar Powered Tiki Torches And Eco Hypocrites | A Self Sufficient Life — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:56:14 +0000

[...] response to the article entitled Are you an”Eco” Hypocrite the answer in the widest possible sense is that we are all eco hypocrites or ecocrites. Just being [...]

By: Mrs.Dirty Boots

Mrs.Dirty Boots — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:11:24 +0000

“Tight” Mr Dirty Boots? I would never hint at such a thing!

Well…. mmmmm…. maybe just a touch…..

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:13:44 +0000

Lucy, well said. I just find it difficult at times to try to get a handle on the “eco” thing at all. The good lady would probably say I am more “careful with money” i.e “tight” than “eco”. I have just never wanted to waste things and spend when it is not needed, and now that means I am more eco than mean. Whoopee

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:10:56 +0000

Tamar, well said. No dirty boots in town? That would be us buggered then, ’tis a rare day when the boots they are clean!

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:09:34 +0000

Rosie , thanks for the comments. And I know exactly what you mean. I still slightly fume when I think about a house building program that I watched. The owners knocked down a perfectly well sized bungalow to build an “eco” home. Yeah right!

By: Mr.Dirty Boots

Mr.Dirty Boots — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:07:05 +0000

No problem Goo, it may even make us an extra 2 pence if someone clicked on it Thanks for the nice comment, I was feeling very contemplative at the time. Interesting about the eco products. I do wonder how many people buy such things because of their environmental concerns and how many buy them because it is simply the “in” thing, or even because of peer pressure because of the social circles they mix with.

By: Goo

Goo — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:49:57 +0000

Ok! I just submitted that in all innocence and it came up with one of those info links automatically! Whoops!

By: Goo

Goo — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:48:15 +0000

I expect we’re all eco-hypocrites to some degree. Buying eco-products is often a ‘lifestyle’ choice and as much part of the consumer circus as any other ‘lifestyle’ choice.

For what it’s worth I don’t see anything wrong with promoting compost tumblers, it’s not going to make the world a worse place! You could have just as easily (more easily) decided to build weightloss sites or pushed acai berries and any other number of dodgy web scams.

Whatever philosophy or beliefs underpin your desire for self sufficiency I think it is a way of life that is by default more environmentally friendly than most.

By: Rosie at Eco-gites

Rosie at Eco-gites — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:20:48 +0000

Hello – a very interesting post, from some-one who is setting up an eco-gite which people will travel to in order to have a holiday!? Lots of contradictions there. I have recently been thinking about these in relation to waste. People on some very high profile blogs are trying to create zero household waste yet in doing so some of the choices they make are far from eco. “Oh I bought product x because it is 100% recyclable but I had to drive an extra 20 miles in the opposite direction to get it.” or “I bought this jar of made pasta sauce and will recycle the jar and lid so that is good” but had they grown the veg and made the sauce themselves that would have been more sustainable/eco.

What I do know is there is no one right answer but if we lead our lives trying to be as eco as possible whilst being willing to change if you discover a better way then you are heading in the right direction….. I think!

Rosie

By: Tamar@StarvingofftheLand

Tamar@StarvingofftheLand — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:20:41 +0000

If the only way to not be a hypocrite is to have zero impact on the environment, we’re all out of luck. The only way to be truly ecologically neutral is to not be born in the first place, and it’s a little late for that. Luckily, the planet’s capacity for absorbing the byproducts of our endeavors, vehicles, and follies isn’t zero, either.

We’ve got chickens and will have bees. We have a big garden and we grow mushrooms in the woods. We hunt, fish, and forage. But I don’t hesitate to turn on the lights, wash the dishes in hot water, or drive into town (where, I was recently informed, I shouldn’t wear my dirty boots) to buy the many, many things that stand between us and real self-sufficiency.

I’m trying for a prudent use of resources. Given that I’m already born, it’s the best I can do.