Consumers Are The Ultimate Polluters

Those of you who complain about industrial pollution continue to drive your cars far more than necessary, continue to purchase clothes when you have a closet full of clothes, continue to air condition your homes when you could live without air conditioning (I grew up in a non-air conditioned house), continue to take unnecessary vacations, continue to consume fruits and vegetables shipped from around the world, use the internet (a data center for handling, storing and processing internet data can consume 250 megawatts of power), and enjoy a thousand other luxuries that you could live without.  Then, you complain that the ones who produce those goods and services, solely for your consumption, are the ones guilty of “polluting” the earth.  Consumers are the problem…producers simply respond to the demands of the billions of individuals who consume the goods and services they produce.   Without consumption there would be no production.