Sustainable consumerism — i.e., buying greener stuff — is a hot topic these days. Opinions range from "hey, it’s a low-impact way of drawing people into the sustainability movement” to “it’s perpetuating a horrendous illusion, that the modern American consumer lifestyle can ever be sustainable.” I’ll admit to having some sympathy with both these perspectives. I go back and forth.
I think Alex Steffen’s got the right basic idea in this post. To wit: let’s not fool ourselves that any currently available consumer lifestyle is truly green. But consumer power is real power, so let’s use it strategically to move things in the right direction.
Worth reading the whole thing.
