1980s Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your television away?? I reused it. I sold mine at a yard sale, or donated it to a charity.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater!"
1990s Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your television and computer away?? I reused my computer, and the television was recycled back into a new television, the plastic, metal and glass reused.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater!"
2000s Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your TV, PC and cell phone away?? I reused my cell phone. The TV and computer were recycled back into new metals, plastic and glass products.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater! Or worse, got shipped to a country with poor people."
2010's Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your TV, PC and cell phone away?? I sent mine to a shredding machine. The metal and some of the plastic were recycled back into new metals and plastics.
The leaded glass from mine went on top of yours, as wind cover. Like yours, it will be blown by the wind and seep into groundwater.
But mine will be on a layer on top of yours today. Tomorrow, when the landfill reopens, another CRT will be dumped on top of my "yester-daily cover". And another layer of shedded CRTs will be placed on that. And so on..."
Environmental Moral superiority just ain't what it used to be.
In certified programs, almost nothing gets reused anymore.
This is "moral relativism" not across geographic boundaries, but across decades and their relative economies.
What does this "moral environmentalist standards evolution" tell us about Environmentalism? Harken back to the Priestatollah Blog ("E-Waste Whiplash"). Beware moral fetishes attached to scientific environmental problems. Environmental health studies, like human health and medicine, need to stay firmly in the science camp, and let's keep our ears, eyes, and minds open to scientific method, healthy reasoning.
"You threw your television away?? I reused it. I sold mine at a yard sale, or donated it to a charity.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater!"
1990s Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your television and computer away?? I reused my computer, and the television was recycled back into a new television, the plastic, metal and glass reused.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater!"
2000s Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your TV, PC and cell phone away?? I reused my cell phone. The TV and computer were recycled back into new metals, plastic and glass products.
Yours went into a landfill where it will be blown in the wind and seep into the groundwater! Or worse, got shipped to a country with poor people."
2010's Moral/Environmental Superiority
"You threw your TV, PC and cell phone away?? I sent mine to a shredding machine. The metal and some of the plastic were recycled back into new metals and plastics.
The leaded glass from mine went on top of yours, as wind cover. Like yours, it will be blown by the wind and seep into groundwater.
But mine will be on a layer on top of yours today. Tomorrow, when the landfill reopens, another CRT will be dumped on top of my "yester-daily cover". And another layer of shedded CRTs will be placed on that. And so on..."
Environmental Moral superiority just ain't what it used to be.
In certified programs, almost nothing gets reused anymore.
This is "moral relativism" not across geographic boundaries, but across decades and their relative economies.
What does this "moral environmentalist standards evolution" tell us about Environmentalism? Harken back to the Priestatollah Blog ("E-Waste Whiplash"). Beware moral fetishes attached to scientific environmental problems. Environmental health studies, like human health and medicine, need to stay firmly in the science camp, and let's keep our ears, eyes, and minds open to scientific method, healthy reasoning.
