Environmental guilt

Over the weekend I had the privilege of attending Activist Camp in Algonquin, IL hosted by ForestEthics and Greenpeace. It was a great opportunity to learn new skills and network with activists from around the continent. For more info, check out the Greenpeace Activst Blog.

One topic that was not brought up, however, was the offsetting of our air travel. Many within the environmental movement seem to disregard carbon offsets because it accepts that which is unacceptable: the use of fossil fuel. However I believe that offsetting is better than not and according to one carbon offset company I consumed 1,310 lbs. of CO2 for the round-trip flight to Chicago from San Francisco. For $11.90 I was able to displace 2,000 lbs. of carbon by investing in clean energy, farm power, and landfill gas capture.

Returning back to the City yesterday, I had the opportunity to pass out fliers promoting the send-off next Thursday. The first stop was the San Francisco Vegetarian Society's weekly vegan dinner at the Red Victorian B&B. After feasting, two friends and I rode down to the bike-in movie sponsored by the SF Bike Coalition.

"Isn't passing out fliers about climate change contradictory," one fellow member asked me. Indeed a question worthy of a thorough explanation.

The fliers were printed on recycled paper that was taken out of a downtown office recycling bin. I sincerely hope that the fliers end up in others' recycling bins but I will regardless take comfort knowing I was able to give the papers one more use before disposal. Now the ink, I must admit, was not necessarily soy-based. With that being said I just hope that the net result of this petition brings more attention to the cause with far-reaching results.