The New York Times’ Freakonomics column reported today on a new ad campaign in Brazil being run by SOS Mata Atlantica, an environmental organization imploring Brazilians to pee in the shower in order to flush the toilet less often. The cartoon ad features a variety of animated silhouettes urinating in the shower while the voices of excited children exclaim that peeing in the shower can save the rainforest.
Adorable? Yes. Progressive? Certainly. Hilarous? Definitely. But will it change the future of water conservation?
Probably not. Toilets only account for a tiny portion of water consumption, and the individual consumer has a relatively minuscule sphere of influence compared to the action necessary to change the course of our planet’s future. This is a typical example of the Al Gore style of consumption-based “empowerment,” deluding people into believing that they can maintain an extraordinarily high level of resource consumption as long as they buy “green” products and turn the spigot off while brushing their teeth.
That is not to say that people need not make these small changes in their habits. It is important for individuals to take responsibility for their role as consumers, and those small changes do have an effect, both material and symbolic. However, and far more importantly, it’s time to recognize that we actually have to change almost everything about the way that we use resources, especially as Americans. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, but we have to stop telling people that hybrid cars will save the world.
This video, The Story of Stuff, is a great explanation of how consumerism is inherently unsustainable. Because sometimes the most serious messages require a good cartoon.
