What's the point?

The BBC has recently been running a series on climate change, accompanying the trailers with the in-no-way forboding REM tune "It's the end of the world as we know it". I can't work out whether this is part of the BBC's conspiracy to make people so scared to go outside that they stay indoors and watch TV the whole time -- witness its frequent shows on what would happen in the event of a terrorist attack in London -- but it is clearly part of its remit to be very depressing (along with EastEnders and Casualty). I'm faced with the prospect of large swathes of my fair county being wiped out (although the sea can have Gorleston and Hemsby, as far as I'm concerned). The recent US issue of Elle that I bought was also a doom-and-gloom "green" issue, albeit with a focus on helping the climate by buying more expensive make-up and suggesting everyone could make a difference if they made just one change: using energy-efficient lightbulbs or an energy-efficient fridge.

Now, I'm in no way the poster child for green living, but I thought about all the changes I've made with an eye to the environment:
Buying recycled toilet paper and kitchen roll; fair trade coffee and chocolate; organic milk and yoghurt; turning off lights when leaving rooms; turning the heating down and wearing an extra jumper (or two); not having a car but relying on my bike and public transport (mostly); offsetting long-haul flights at The CarbonNeutral Company; fridge, washing machine and tumble-dryer (we have no outdoors space so I can't air-dry clothes) having an A efficiency rating; recycling glass, paper, and clothes; buying organic/recycled cotton clothing from Howies; sponsoring a child in El Salvador via Plan International; turning off the airco at work and opening a window instead (ok, that's largely for my shoulder, but it still counts); not eating meat; remembering to turn the TV and video off at night so that they don't consume energy on standby; reusing the newspapers from work as litter tray liners on the Poezenboot; using bicarb of soda and vinegar to clean the kitchen instead of more toxic chemicals; and so on.

All these efforts don't seem to be making a difference -- which is both annoying and expensive. And the guilt! Oh god, the guilt surrounding every purchase and activity. For example: lovely new Minnie Mouse shoes don't contain any animal products -- so that's good, right? But they're made in China, which means supporting human rights abuses plus the environmental damage from transporting them to Europe, so that's bad. Is buying a newspaper (paper, printing, transport costs) better or worse than reading it online (electricity and not actually, y'know, paying for it)? And while I'm worrying about whether to buy the damn things or not, fat Brits and Americans are driving around in SUVs, completely ignorant of -- or uncaring about -- the damage they're doing! Until governments restrict car travel, there seems little point in turning my TV off every night.

On the plus side, the end of the world does mean that I won't have to worry about keeping my pension contributions up to date.