The main environmental issue of our day can be easily summarized as the unsustainable conversion of natural resources into waste. The consumption of natural resources is problematic on two counts: 1) all resources are limited, and we can reasonably expect resource depletion to be painful, and 2) the extraction of those resources can itself be harmful to the environment (think strip mining, deforestation, etc.). The generation of waste is a further problem whenever that waste is toxic or otherwise harmful to our environment (contamination of air, water, soil, and wildlife, for example).
This view of environmental damage as the conversion of resources into waste leads naturally to a simple but useful approach to limiting this damage, known mnemonically as the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce means reduce the consumption of natural resources directly, that is, consume less stuff. Reuse means that once a natural resource has been converted into a consumable product, use and reuse that product for as long as possible. And finally, when the product is no longer needed, recycle it, turning the product into the starting material for the next cycle of consumption. The order of the three Rs is important – we should first look to reduce, then reuse, and only as a last resort recycle. We must never use recycling as an excuse to increase consumption – something that frequently happens when the first two Rs are ignored.
The three Rs have long been a mantra at my house (and in my life), though I admit that I sometimes fall victim to the fallacious, preeminently American concept that success is best measured by the quantity of one’s consumption. Nonetheless, I can say with some certainty that by thinking about and applying the three Rs I have measurably reduced the environmental impact of my life over the last several years.
All of this is just background for the following story. I took my kids for the first time to Disney World this week. It was a blast, both because my two girls had a great time indulging in the fantasies that are Disney’s specialty, but also because going there gives me permission to become child-like in my attitude and behavior for a few days. After two days at the Magic Kingdom, our final day in Orlando was spent at one of Disney’s newest theme parks, Animal Kingdom. While of course the explicit purpose of the park is to entertain, much of the peripheral messaging of Animal Kingdom promotes protecting the environment, especially wildlife. For example, the Conservation Station section of the park provides various suggestions for how we can protect wildlife and the environment at home.
It was within Conservation Station that I saw a large display promoting the two Rs: reuse and recycle. That’s right, the Disney version had only two Rs – reducing the consumption of natural resources was nowhere to be found. It seems that Disney takes environmentalism only so far – so far as it doesn’t conflict with its core corporate mission of increasing the consumption of Disney products. In hindsight, the lesson learned seems obvious. While corporate goals and environmental goals will occasionally be aligned, the conflicting goals of increasing versus decreasing consumption will never be cooperatively resolved. Environmental degradation through increased consumption of resources is an unavoidable consequence of fully successful capitalism.
