Green

Why is living green so expensive? If it is more natural, simple, and basic shouldn't it be cheaper too?

Example one: Organic food without preservatives
Normal bananas cost $.33 per pound, sometimes even as low as a quarter a pound. The organic kind cost $.79 EACH. Natural peanut butter (ingredients: peanuts, salt) costs around $1 more than the one with palm oil and chemicals I can't pronounce or spell. Shouldn't I get a discount if I'm not paying for pesticides or lab-created ingredients?

Example two: Electricity
In Phoenix, our electric power comes from hydro-electric and nuclear. Hoover Dam and Palo Verde Nuclear Power plant are pretty big deals. Maybe not as big a footprint as a coal burning plant or maybe burning up nearly-extinct animals but still, not so green. Well, my power company has a solution. I have can opt for electricity provided from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind...if I pay EXTRA every month for it.

Example three: Hybrid cars
Really? You want me to pay an extra $5000 to get a car that also runs on electricity but the gas mileage is about the same? What's my motivation to buy the Prius that 1. Costs more than most basic cars and 2. Still gets 15 mpg LESS than the Volkswagen diesel Jetta?

I'd like to think that I speak for the general population when I say that I am all for picking up after myself. I think God gives me instructions about being a good caretaker of His creation. But, seriously, for me to do it it has to be advantageous for both creation and me. One of the reasons I recycle is because it is easy and cheap: I put my stuff in the blue bin and the city picks it up for me. Selfish? Perhaps. But I'm betting that if hybrid cars cost 1/2 of a gas powered car, everyone would buy one eventually, even me.

So here is my advise to those promoting the "green" agenda: make it cheap and easy and you will get more converts than the "save the world" campaign ever got.