Planetary Paradoxes

It is critical to make good choices about money, time and the environment. At times, the conventional wisdom must be inverted to maintain sane behavior. A product sent across a vast ocean may be less expensive. However, giant ships pollute and requires tons of petroleum to cover these great distances. Can we make do with less or without? Can we afford to buy a version from this continent? Can we improvise with what we have at hand? Bearing future generations in mind, these alternatives may be prudent. Jets have enabled the upper middle class to travel throughout the world. Commuter flights  such as Chicago to Detroit, "save" time with an almost inconceivable ecological impact. Would several "extra" hours on a train really be that bad? Is the hassle and stress of the airport worth it? Could half a book be read by rail instead? I recently caught myself before driving half an hour to a medium box store to save several dollars on a tool. The time, gas, stress and more shifted the equation. The local hardware is five minutes away, has staff with good advice and costs a little more on some items. We need this place and its kin for our identity as a community. If every store is a chain, then life is not only dull, it becomes pointless to have place names at all. We could use numbers for towns because they would simply be repetitions of sameness. There was probably a science fiction story sixty years ago with this theme. Sadly, many "outer ring" suburbs already embody this mind- numbing blandness. Food choices must be included in this discussion as well.  With modified, long storage or off season produce such as the college created square tomato, is it any wonder many children don't cherish their fruits and vegetables? Are we trading off ease, profit and "efficiency" for the loss of all that is truly vital and delicious? How we choose to spend our time and money is powerful. Sometimes, we have to stop and think. The most powerful bumper sticker I saw as a child was "Malls Kill Cities".  Nationally, indoor malls are dying and this is encouraging. I feel for all who lose jobs, but this model is unhealthy. Public boycotts of products and practices can have an impact. I can recall growing up without grapes and this changed work conditions for thousands.  Our everyday thinking and choices can create incremental and cumulative improvements. Sometimes the obvious choice needs to be turned on it's head to really make sense.