Practicalities of "GREEN" thinking

To "Go Green", the idea behind it is to reduce and reverse the way we have polluted the earth.

Take for example an argument I heard, (though I have not verified the facts, they sound true), regarding electric vehicles. The negative effect on the environment from the manufacture of the batteries is more significant than years of petrol consumption... This makes you think.

I recently investigated getting solar panels for powering a part of our house. The expense ranged from R50,000 to R250,000... depending on how much I wanted to power. I came to the conclusion that if the alternative costs significantly more than using the grid, then it probably is causing more damage indirectly to the environment. Someone has to work to pay for it, and in performing that work, a lot of coal is indirectly being consumed, and lots of plastics, etc being manufactured...

My conclusion is that the best way to save the planet is to simply consume less. If possible, plant and harvest your own vegetables. Live simply. But if we can't do this, then work out how to clean up our mess as we go. Fast growing young trees are probably 90% of the answer. I.e. Pine forests... and keep cutting them down and replacing the old trees with new ones which are more efficient at converting CO2 to Oxygen... and plant Spec Bush or other hardy plants in the deserts. Eucalyptus for example.

Obviously, solar water heating is a good idea. Wind generators probably are also. But... lets not just think about electricity. Eat less meat: animals, and their waste, produce methane, which is a large contributor to greenhouse effects. Use pine wood in constructions: Pine forests are very good for the environment, because young trees are being replanted all the time. Young trees produce oxygen faster than older trees. Plant trees on your property, insulate your ceilings, put awnings on your windows, and thick drapes inside.

I'm not convinced that buying a modern (fuel efficient) car is necessarily going to help the environment, because of their complex manufacture process that probably does a lot of damage to the environment, plus the fact that if you are spending money on cars, you have less to spend on things like insulation in your ceilings, etc...