Earth’s environmental well-being, I think that everyone can agree that it’s growing increasingly “hip” to be environmentally conscious. 

Depending on the amount of money in your bank account, you may make a variety of life decisions to make you appear more “sustainably” minded.

These may include, but are not limited to, buying a Prius, the highest rating and most expensive Energy Star-certified appliances, organic food products, fluorescent light bulbs and being sure to purchase the bottles of water by Aquafina, which are implied to be morally equivalent to saving baby seals because they use less plastic. 

Good work, everyone. 

In only 40 years since the push for sustainability, we now consume only 32 times the natural resources of Kenya, according to Jared Diamond, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who contributed an op-ed piece to The New York Times in 2008. 32 times? Seriously? 

And as another Christmas season comes around we will continue business as usual — driving back and forth to the grocery store 30 times to get butter you forgot, then to get the salad dressing you forgot.

I’m not trying to be “holier-than-thou” here although I guess 90 percent of the people who read this will consider me so, regardless. I mean, while I don’t drink bottled water, nor wrap gifts in wrapping paper — but instead use newspaper — my consumption factor is still probably 31.9 compared to Kenya or something like that. 

There was once something known to ancient cultures as “virtue”. But you see, scientists, in the beginning of the 20th century, after thorough experimentation, discovered it didn’t exist… “just an illusion,” they chuckled to themselves. So that’s what I’m calling for this new year, “virtue” when it comes to resource use, and anything that we’ve managed to create another pill for… call me an old-fashioned tunic-toting Greek, but instead of buying that bottle of water with less plastic, don’t be a lazy (insert expletive). Carry a water bottle from home around with you.