Let me tell you about my sister-in-law and her husband, who are both college professors at a major University. We spend every family get-together listening to them lecture us about the evils of our "high carbon footprint" lifestyle. Meanwhile, they think they are "pure as the driven snow" as they both drive long daily commutes to campus in their gas guzzling luxury cars.

This summer these two committed "eco-tourists" flew to Norway and cruised up to the North Pole in an icebreaker so they could get up-close and personal with polar bears and the shrinking polar ice cap. I wonder what their icebreaker's contribution was to the shrinking ice cap.

That is the hypocrisy I see of some people on this issue. Guys like Al Gore may be sincere, but their self-absorbed, opulent lifestyles say far more than their words -- or expensive ad campaigns.

In my business we make products for quite a few multinational companies and we have had to change our manufacturing processes and use more recycled raw materials to satisfy our customers. It’s written into the contracts we have no choice if we want the business. Changing our manufacturing processes has been expensive and of course our clients want us to eat the expense and not pass it along to them.

I’m all for saving mother earth but at what cost? Our employee’s jobs?

Wulf

Yes, that is the cost if you can't be more efficient or find another way to do it.

Apparently someone is doing it, they are getting their parts, I assume.

You are right someone's doing it. One of their current suppliers is in India.

I’ve been in that supplier’s factory, environmentally friendly it is not. They are using early 1900’s technology. Hey but they signed a contract and said it was.

Wulf

I understand the problem. They produce cheaper due to less restrictions and lower wages, primarily.

Whereas you can not ignore the environmental friendliness. Yes?
How about the re-cycle?

I can’t and don’t want to ignore environmental issues.

We only have one earth and I would like to leave it in good condition for my children and grandchildren.

As for recycled materials, both my company and the Indian company use them. Now if you compare apples to apples our recycled materials are of a lot higher quality than theirs.

Most of the steel they use comes from old rusty junk ships that are towed into a harbor and cut up by 500 workers with cutting torches.

Wulf

Jobs are good, money is good, buying nice things to eat is good. I don't think that taking care of our spaceship earth is at odds with having a viable economy. Your customers are making unreasonable demands, I agree, but that is not the fault of people trying to conserve resources. I have seen the effects in my own lifetime. When I was young in rural PA, there were amphibians all over the place: frogs of many varieties, fat toads under every piece of wood, salamanders and newts that were bright yellows and reds. They are all gone now. Amphibians are in rapid decline across the globe, because they are the most susceptible to the effects of pollutants.

I remember a bumper sticker a while ago, from the Pacific Northwest I believe, that read "Hungry? Out of Work? Eat an environmentalist."

Thanks anyway but I’m trying to quit.

I tried eating greens once and was sick for a week.

Wulf