One of the biggest problems of environmentalists is, to my mind, the fact they don’t explain their cause too well. They don’t evangelize people and they don’t educate. Let’s face it, being green and environmentally friendly is expensive. You either have to buy more expensive products, which have been manufactured in manners friendly to the environment. Or you have to pay for the damage you produce.
The environment is a common good. Like any common good, it suffers the tragic fate of common goods. Everybody wants to use them, nobody wants to pay for them. Unless people are shown step by step why building an eco-house is beneficial and even wiser from an economic standpoint (at least in the long run), they will never build one, despite an abundance of providers of such constructions. I recently concluded, with a friend who runs the most comprehensive awareness raising programme on corporate social responsbility in Romania (http://www.responsabilitatesociala.ro), that we have to bridge the gap between manufacturers of green products, green policies and the regular consumer.
Take a very recent European development, for instance. Today, the European Parliament is reviewing its stance on the Eurovignette - environmental charging for trucks. Because of the economic burden, this “internalization of external costs” will most likely evolve in a non-mandatory directive. As strange as that might sound, I know… Naturally, the overall goal of improving the current status of the environment will be affected, because few will pay. You can read more details about this on Euractiv.
The same discussion around road taxation for environmental purposes brings in the debate another interesting aspect, which could perhaps mitigate the risks of making the tragedy of environment as common good even more tragic. I am speaking about earmarking, which policy-makers reject, thus turning environmental fees into regular fees that people of course oppose. A good example is the Romanian “first registration” tax, whereby registering a car in Romania requires the owner to pay an environmental feel, which however is not earmarked. There have been protests against this, but the result is that Romanians register their cars in Bulgaria in order to avoid taxation 
To conclude, much more should be done if policy-makers want to make environmental protection really effective and supported by people. Which also brings me to a question. Dear Th!nkers, would you be willing to pay more just to be green?
A screen shot of a Google-sponsored link (http://www.inmatriculari-auto-bulgaria.ro/), a Romanian business that's all about registering cars belonging to Romanian owners in Bulgaria, in order to avoid environmental taxes
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Sure, being an environmentalist could be expensive, but it could be cheaper as well, depending how you see it. But anyhow, isn’t it worth it?
It doesn’t have to be necessarily expensive. You don’t need a car to go everywhere you want. Sure it’s much more easy! But take the bus for once, okay I admit, they might need to get more busses so it’s easier to take one. But still you make it as expensive as you want! Being green can be much more then just a car, for example, you can plug out the appliance out of the socket. It’s that easy. Being green might be the way to go…
Hi Corina,
For me, living green hasn’t been more expensive than the less environment-friendly life I lived before. Banning meat and animal products from my daily menu, replacing them by fresh local, seasonal vegetables, grains, beans, etc. reduced not only my ecological footprint, but also the price on the bill of the bio-shop.
Taking the bike doesn’t cost anything, except the effort and sometimes the neglectable reparation costs of my beloved old bicycle.
Using less water and less electricity means paying less too. Same goes for the energy bill if you don’t heat your house too much during winter.
But yes, I would be willing to pay more for Green solutions on a global and European level, like for example environmental taxes.
By the way, Corina, I am always looking forward to your posts. Like them very much. Good luck!
“One of the biggest problems of environmentalists is, to my mind, the fact they don’t explain their cause too well.”
It is certainly true for Romania and quite a few new EU members. But I am not so sure whether that can be said for all European countries. Take for example Germany: environmental debates have been going on for almost 30 years. Today there are many awareness raising campaigns, the green party is well established, environmental issues are covered in schools. So I don’t think there is an education problem here.
In my opinion, there is still a problem with the implementation of green policies. Lobbying and close relations between politicians and the traditional industries seem to be a problem…but that is another topic.
To answer the question: yes, I would be willing to pay more to be green.
One of the most outstanding, self-evidently excellent green initiatives that I’ve seen is ground-pump heating. Using the temperature difference of ambient air and the ground to drive a climate control system, heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. A complete system costs about 1500 Euro in Estonia, and is enough to cut down the heating costs of a single-family house by maybe two thirds, or more. It’s green - greatly reducing the amount of fossil fuel used on heating the house - and it saves people a lot of money. Between ground-pump heating for individual houses and modern insulation for Soviet tower blocks, that’s one green initiative that has been justifiably popular here. That’s the right way to do it.
The other green thing that I’m a big fan of is biodegradable plastic bags. You go to a supermarket these days, you’re likely to find that the shopping bags have a little logo saying they are made out of a new kind of plastic, that can be burned safely, or just left to decompose quickly. They’re a little more expensive than regular polyethylene bags, but well worth it.
But environmental taxes? Sod off. I’ll pay for innovation and common sense, not bleeding hearts.
@Athena - in the long-run it’s definitely worth it, but in times of economic crisis, who pays attention to the long-run?
@Veerle - thanks for the appreciative thoughts! the same with me and your veggie-oriented entries. your cheap, green solutions are definitely feasible, yet you cannot deny it’s difficult to levy taxes on issues such as the environment
@Andreas - you are quite right… I am naturally influenced by my Romanian background… I was trying to refer, partially, to the same idea of ill-implemented policies, such as road tolls
@Andrei - you certainly do come off as a right-winged person
i have a friend who dislikes plastic bags not because of global warming (he doesn’t believe in it) but for hygienic reasons… they are not biodegradable, so they don’t rot, which means they stay out there and are a source of dirt and germs… i do understand your point on paying for green innovations, but how about environmental issues that you have to pay for, such as carbon prints and so on… would you pay a tax knowing that each penny you invest goes directly to planting a tree, for instance?
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