Michael Pollan, American author and environmental activist, discusses the reasons why people do not take measures to live environmentally-friendly and why it is important that our society begins to do so in his essay, “Why Bother?” His title concisely states why many people do not make an effort to make their habits and daily routines more friendly to the environment and eco-footprints smaller. He suggests that it is everyone’s responsibility to make changes to their daily lives, and that the way to do this is to begin by planting a garden in their backyards. Pollan also insists throughout his writing that “to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how we’re living our lives suggests we’re not really serious about changing” …show more content…
He explains that it is burdensome to become more eco-friendly when there is always a person somewhere in the world “eager to swallow every bite of meat I forswear and who’s positively itching to replace every last pound of CO2” (par. 2), simply put, undoing the sacrifices he has just made for the good of the world. It is difficult to make these sacrifices when it seems that no one else is, and it is easy to believe that just one person will make a difference in carbon dioxide output or electricity usage.
For this reason, Pollan wonders, “How did it come to pass that virtue...became a mark of liberal softheadedness?” (par. 3). Virtue, he believes is something that all must have in order to contribute to the slow and steady reversal of the extremely worrying global warming and many other environmental dangers. It must not become a concept of no worth in society, because it is necessary to the salvation of our planet. Self-discipline and willpower in today’s society seems to have diminished, and the basis of our environmental problems is a “crisis of lifestyle” (par.