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5 Ways the Recession is Good for the Environment

Happy Earth Day! When this day was started 39 years ago, we were all flush – with plastics, with carbon emissions, with massive waste visible from the parkway to the playground (remember the Crying Indian?). Since then, recycling has picked up and carbon emissions have dropped — but we’ve still got a long way to go (acknowledgments, Al Gore).

Scarcity, to look at the bright side (if there is one) of hardship, may be the mother of this invention.

Here’s how these tough economic times are doing ecological good:

1.    Fewer carbon emissions. With 5.1 million fewer people commuting to work and families cutting back on vacations, the number of cars on the road has dropped, so we just might see a drop in the amount of carbon emissions.
2.    Less waste. As consumers cut back on spending, excess purchases are reduced, and so is their discarding. Coincidentally, recycling as an industry has dipped, as overall waste has dropped.
3.    Awareness of the environment. After years of profligate spending with little regard for the long-term, the recession is slowing people down and giving them a new view on the future, including the future of the planet.
4.    Fewer greenhouse gases. As demand for industrial output has fallen, the closing of polluting, toxic-air plants around the world have reduced the amount of pollution in some cases up to 85 percent.
5.    Bluer skies, bluer seas. Cargo ships produce twice the amount of CO2 as airplanes. And with global demand for goods down, shipping has taken a serious hit – and so has their release of carbon emissions.

But we’re not so green to think that the squeeze on our personal resources is the magic key to a perfect, eco-healthy future. China, a huge polluter, is now speeding up environmental reviews to get the economy going, and rolling back controls they put in place for the Olympics. Here are a couple of other ways the recession might be bad for the environment, too:

1.    Greater demand for cheaper goods. So-called “green” products are usually more expensive and while more consumers are turning their attention to these products than before, the demand for budget-friendly goods also is believed to mean more mass products manufactured in anti-green ways.
2.    Less corporate cash to invest in green strategies. Many companies look at the long-term, regardless of the current environment. But a squeeze on profits means research and development and new strategies also could get the squeeze, or even the boot.

Tags: China, Earth Day, environment, Olympics, pollution, recycling, scarcity