Beware moral self-regulation. Doing good works, it turns out, may make people feel justified in doing ill. A new study from psychologists at Northwestern University suggests that “affirming a moral identity leads people to feel licensed to act immorally.” In other words, as Ryan Sager points out, acting green one day might leave you more willing to indulge your planet-destroying consumption impulses the next. [%comments]
Did Celebrating Earth Day Make You Pollute More?
TAGS: environment
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Or like going to church on Sunday might make you support torture on Monday.
I got an email on Earth day to “Celebrate Earth Day with Savings.” I thought the idea was to not consume.
I didn’t do anything for Earth Day, so I sorta doubt it.
Makes complete sense. When people eat well one day, they will often have an extra portion the next.
My company celebrated earth day by giving us swag (i.e. landfill fodder). Oh, the irony.
There is a form of excess earnestness with all the Earth/Green stuff. We have a townhouse in Whistler and Whistler is gonzo on touting how “Green” it is – never mentioning the billions of gallons of jet and auto fuel used to get people to “Green” Whistler.
Sort of like consumption smoothing.
I went to the store to get some chemicals to Green my lawn. I got stuck in earthday traffic. I stopped and partook in the festivities. Lots of garbage everywhere and people peddling loads of overpriced junk.
Nothing produces irony like global warming.