blog i: summary, (pollan)

Michael Pollan’s “Why Bother?” debates the core issues involved in our ecological state, offering solutions for the common man to personally combat their carbon footprint. Pollan references the thought that many American consumers share: how will this one small deed counteract the damage already done, and the damage still being done despite my efforts? The structure of Pollan’s essay allows the reader to question the logic of our everyday purchases and actions, as well as our dependency on industries for energy and food. Pollan strongly supports the idea of a sustainable lifestyle, particularly regarding our own food resources, in his article. The main solutions he offers are to correct the problem of “the cheap energy mind” and its dependency. According to Pollan, our problems are essentially a product of our mindset. “If we could just get the incentives right…the economy will properly value everything that matters and nudge our self-interest down the proper channels. The best we can hope for is a greener version of the old invisible hand. Visible hands it has no use for.” Pollan’s most elaborate example of how we can change our habits is to start relying on our own gardens to feed ourselves, and how that will have profound effects on our economy, energy crisis, and health. Much of Pollan’s essay also expands on the idea of our small changes making a difference, rebutting the reader’s mindset. “If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture.” Pollan makes a point of being somewhat pragmatic (yet still subjective) when evaluating his utopian ideas for our sustainable lifestyle. “Going personally green is a bet, nothing more or less, though it’s one we probably all should make, even if the odds of it paying off aren’t great. Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will.”