Because incremental change wins the race.

With so many people out there fighting for going green, especially out on the streets of Berkeley, it creates in my mind the question, "How much of this is real? How much of this is creating a positive difference?". Maybe I'm just an idealist and a skeptic at heart, but I don't think I'm the only one wondering.

Hello everyone, I'm Esther See, and I'm a sophomore majoring in Economics at UC Berkeley. You're probably wondering what an Economics major is doing creating a blog post about the environment. But no worries, I'm not going to say that the earth is for us to exploit for the sake of a growing economy. Although on the surface, it seems like our system works, we have to realize that we live on a finite planet. We're running out of places to dump all the waste we create, and it's about time we stop turning a blind eye. Obviously, we'd like a good economy as well as a healthy planet, but how can we have both? I believe that one way to move in this direction is through incremental changes that add up, specifically changes that benefit both the environment as well as businesses.

Small steps count in the big picture, because ultimately the big picture consists of all these small details. Taking these small steps seems to me a better approach than trying to have perfectly green business all at once, which has the danger of trying to claim something that's not entirely true and losing the public's faith in the possibility of eco-friendly business (e.g. Is The Body Shop as animal friendly as it claims to be?)

So maybe we can't make all the waste in our landfills disappear in a blink, but we can sure reduce what's going in there.

Recently in February, the Daily Mail in the UK launched a "Banish the Bags" campaign to get rid of the free one-time use plastic bags we take home every time we go shopping. Already, businesses are catching on. Take a look at B&Q, who now charges 5 cents for every plastic bag used. Previously they were providing these plastic bags for free as well as clogging up the environment. Now that they provide less of these bags, B&Q produces less waste and lowers their costs, as well as makes a little bit of profit off of any person who still wants to have the plastic bag around. The profit goes to environmental charities who strive for litter free and sustainable environments. So far, B&Q reduced the number of plastic bags given out by 88%. Nice.

Here's an example of a small change, charging a nickel for every plastic bag, that benefits both the business and the environment. The business doesn't have to attempt to make loops around some self-imposed regulation, because the step they took towards environmental sustainability is inherently beneficial to both society and themselves. The environment is also helped in a simple way-- we use less of these plastic bags that potentially suffocate animals and create less waste in general.

I guess my only question is, what are people going to use for their trashcan bags if they don't have these plastic bags? I know in my house, we keep all the plastic bags we get and use them as trashcan liners. I guess now that they come at a price, carelessly throwing away a lot of trash will come at a price too. Hmmmm...

But seriously, I wouldn't mind getting one of these cloth bags and carrying my groceries in it..