“In calculating how ‘green’ a product or technology is. One must calculate not only the carbon footprint of manufacturing and transporting it but also of recycling it. Further yet in a capitalistic society one must also calculate the carbon footprint of what it took for the buyer or user to earn the money to purchase it.”
(Wise words from Climate Change Gardening. In my book, and elsewhere on this blog, I encourage people to include their own very precious and finite human energy, and that of others, in considering the cost and footprint of a thing. Human energy includes the time we spend working to earn the money to buy this or that. It also includes the mental overhead of something we’re choosing to put our attention on.)
When you take this deeper view of footprint, does it change anything for you? Are there things (tangible or intangible) in your life that might not be worth keeping around? And are there things you don’t have, that you would want to bump up higher on your priority list?