As I wrote in my column yesterday, a direct boycott of BP as a resposne to the gulf oil spill is badly flawed because it ignores the larger impact that oil has on society and that the oil industry has on the environment and the economy.
My friend Rob Stolzer, who lives in Wisconsin, commented to me on my Facebook page that the boycott also would have the unintended consequence of harming small businesses, the mom-and-pop owners of the service stations that sell BP gas.
But environmental columnist Jeff McMahon offers what seem like rational and potentially effective alternatives to a direct boycott, one that attacks BP but also the other oil companies while moving us toward a new paradigm of energy use.
McMahon (who quotes my blog in his piece) provides “Five ways to boycott without helping Exxon“:
- “Boycott bottled water,” which is responsible for the use of about 50 million barrels of oil a year “just manufacturing the plastic bottles for bottled water” plus an additional amout for transportation.
- “Avoid plastics and other petrochemical products, including chemical pesticides and fertilizers,” which are manufactured by BP and other oil companies.
- “Buy bulk foods and put them in reusable bags” — we could save 120 million barrels of oil worldwide annually by switching to reusable bags and loose produce, bulk items and nonprocessed foods use less oil.
- “Be a locavore,” which cuts down on energy used for transportation and the need for heavy fertilizer and pesticide use.
- “Boycott aluminum cans,” about a third of which are made by BP subsidiary Arco Aluminum.
And — this is his sixth suggestion:
Don’t buy something new just to boycott BP. Some in the green-lifestyle press have advised people to buy aluminum water bottles instead of plastic, unaware BP may have supplied the aluminum. Others urge glass food containers instead of plastic, or petroleum-free cosmetics, etc. The green-lifestyle press often falls prey to the consumerist impulse to buy, buy, buy. But unless it grew in your back yard, every new product arrives with oily footprints. If you use plastic containers now, replacing them with glass will only burn more fossil fuels.
These are sensible suggestions; follow them and stick it to BP.
- Send me an e-mail.
- Read poetry at The Subterranean.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Hank Kalet 