Small changes can make a big difference
The green life style isn’t anything new to Ben Abbott, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t advocating for it.
“To me a green living person lives deliberately,” said Abbott, “and understands the environmental consequences of their life”
Abbott, senior in water shed science at USU, is familiar with the green movement. Abbott said he has been on the band wagon for years as an environmentalist and community citizen trying to eliminate his own carbon footprint from riding his bike to living outside.
In 2002 Abbot was 18 and living at the Student Living Center in Jones Hall, enjoying his life as a freshman. The next year he came up to school fully expecting to find an apartment close to campus with great roommates but things fell a different way.
“It was poor planning,” he said, “and partially out of trying to reduce my carbon foot print, I ended up outside.”
Abbott doesn’t live outside any more but is into a more pragmatic environmentalism. Abbott said small changes in people’s lives are what can help reduce every ones impact on our environment.
Quoting his favorite environmentalist Paul Hawken Abbott said, “Environmentalism is viable, socially, economically, and personally” adding that people must look and see that our economy is based on environment.
“There’s a lot of suspicion and confusion of what really are environmentally good decisions,” Abbott said. “But, if people will try them we will see the positive impact.”
With a majority of pollution in Cache Valley coming from agriculture and emissions, Abbott encourages people to try alternative ways of living.
“Experiment. Live a month being a vegetarian, live a month without opening your car door, or try living outside,” he said. “There are lessons that continue to stay with you even if you don’t continue to live that way.”
With the subject of cars being touchy for some people, Abbott brushes aside any tension that may be associated with it, opening up his idea on the betterment of people’s lives without cars.
“Cars reduce our quality of life. People would be healthier and healthier without cars,” Abbott said. “It’s not outlandish to talk about this. Most people don’t have cars worldwide and I would say most people are happy and well adjusted.”
Living life without a car himself, bike advocacy is something familiar to Abbott, who uses bicycles as his sole means of transportation in Logan and advises that students should do the same
“Most people who commute to Utah State could do so by bike easily and more efficiently,” he said.
Abbott said he believes the small and simple actions are best.
“If people would put a basket on their bike it would change how people would look at their bike” Abbot said. “When you bike you start to look at distance differently, finding more efficient routes.”
Abbott’s green life style to him is just the way he lives but doesn’t brush aside the green movement.
“If going green is a fad,” he said, “it is still accomplishing the goal of preserving the environment.”
–ch.jensen@aggiemail.usu.edu