With “green” being the new buzzword, everyone seems to be trying to figure out how they can be more environmentally friendly. Some people purchase hybrid cars, some people ride their bikes to work, some people use canvas totes for their groceries, and some people buy carbon credits.

I think it’s good to try to conserve and not waste - we need to take care of the earth. There are, however, some businesses that are trying to make making a lot of money by appearing to be earth friendly. Or perhaps they are earth friendly - their sole product is the soothing of consciences so people can feel less bad about not being as carbon neutral as our good friend, Al Gore. These companies sell carbon credits.

Basically, the idea is, if you feel like you’re not recycling as many soda cans as you think you should be, or you enjoy driving your H2 (which, personally, I don’t really have a problem with), you can buy carbon credits which offset the negative carbon particles you shoot off into the air. Or something like that. Basically, you give a company some money, and they’ll plant a tree or two for you, and you can feel guiltless about turning your heater up to 85 degrees in the winter.

I compare this to the old practice of purchasing Indulgences (yes, the same one Martin Luther protested with his 95 theses) because, really, it’s a very similar concept. Back then, if you sinned, you could pay the church some money, and your sin was wiped out, as if it never happened. (Of course, there are always consequences to sin, like if you rob or murder someone, that doesn’t take away the fact that the victim was still victimized. But the church needed money for a new bascilica, so they figured that if they could get people to pay in cash for their sins, they were still paying.) At any rate, the same goes with carbon credits. If you waste nature’s resources, you can pay someone else some money, and it’s as if the waste never happened, because they’ll plant a tree for you, and then you’re “carbon neutral.”

Personally, I think if you want to conserve, and that’s your thing, do it. I think it’s good to recycle and not waste - we need to take care of the earth. But don’t condemn me if I don’t use organic cotton (or hemp) recyclable bags to carry my groceries out to my car. I recycle cardboard and plastic and soda cans, but I’m going to enjoy driving my H3, and not worry about having someone plant a tree to offset the emmissions it released. I think the whole “green” movement is a bit of a fad, and there are a lot of companies cashing in on it. It will die down soon, but hopefully people will take lessons from it. Like it’s ok to drive an SUV, but you should recycle what you can.