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DCL
Slate.com has an article about dating locally. It's a good article, full of facts and figures that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that dating someone who lives far away is bad for the environment. Airplanes pollute a lot. I guess we'll all have to end our long-distance relationships and settle for someone who lives down the block.
But let's not stop with ending non-local love, Let's find other ways couples can save the environment. First, it would be a grand idea if couples stopped having babies. A baby uses up a lot of resources. You have to buy it food and clothe it and send it to school and it will want plastic toys from China. Then the baby will grow up and buy a car (probably not a hybrid), live alone in a McMansion and get into a long-distance relationship. The baby may also have more babies that will all get into long-distance relationships. So couples shouldn't have babies, because it is pure fact that babies use up resources. By not having one baby, you'll remove decades of meat-eating, plane-flying and car-driving. It's the greenest thing you can do!
Ok, so I'm joking. We can't and shouldn't stop having babies. That kind of goes against our nature-instilled biological imperative. And we should be able to date who we'd like to despite distance. I don't know why we're trying to save the planet for if we aren't allowed to fall in love and mean it.
From Slate:
What's the aggregate impact of all this travel? The Census tells us there are about 100 million single people in America over the age of 17. We don't know how many of those folks are in long-distance relationships, but the available research suggests that at least a quarter of all college students are dating out of town. Since the rate is going to be much lower among the general population, we'll make a conservative estimate of 1 in 15 for all single adults. That gives us around 6.7 million unmarried Americans in long-distance relationships. Add in the 3.4 million married people who told the Census that they live separately but aren't "separated," and our total rises to more than 10 million individuals?or 5 million LDRs.
The Slate article sort of slides into absurdist rhetoric. It claims that long-distance relationship will erode local, social interaction and civic duties because everyone in a long-distance relationship will become a social shut-in. Now, I don't know what kind of people the author believes long-distance relaters are. He must assume they are all introverted e-daters who met their faraway lover via chat room.
I think the reason why people are dating long distance isn't because they are losers who won't leave their computers. It is more likely that they are recent college grads, military personal and professionals who are trying to achieve their goals while maintaining a relationship with that beloved someone. They probably met that someone locally before taking an opportunity elsewhere. And as the job market becomes leaner, more people are likely to move in order to find employment. The upside is that most long-distance daters won't have the money to fly ten times a year.
And, of course, professionals will be active in their local community, what with their professions being part of that community. That argument is just silly.
Long-distance relationships are a reality of this modern world. Hopefully, more companies will allow telecommunication, and we'll all be able to live where we'd like, instead of where the work is.
The goal of environmentalism shouldn't be to stop doing the things we want. The goal should be to find sustainable ways of doing those things. As couples split spatially in order to pursue career goals, it is cruel to ask them to break off years-long relationships for the sake of the environment. It's doubtful that anyone would do it anyway.
How can we keep our long-distance relationship without destroying the environment?
- Start by avoiding the airplane if you can. Take a train or rent a hybrid to get across the country. It takes a little longer, but it's better for the environment.
- Think about quality instead of quantity. You probably miss your loved one, and you want to see them as much as you possibly can. Don't. What you should do is plan longer, quality rendezvous instead of trying to fly in for an eight-hour visitation period. You'll get more bang for your buck, and you'll save money and carbon emissions.
- Buy carbon offsets. Carbon offsets aren't going to save the planet, but they can ease its burden.
- Support green airlines. The problem is that we have a global economy. People and goods are being shunted around the globe all the time. Our system isn't sustainable, and it is the average citizens who are being asked to cut back their relationships for the sake of humanity, but airlines and corporations are allowed to thrive and profit even though they pollute so thoroughly. We need air travel. It is one the greatest achievements of humanity. However, we also need to work with companies who are trying to make air travel sustainable.
Be willing to compromise. If a job opportunity opens up near your loved one, consider taking it, even if it is not quite what you want or at lower pay. You'll be happier overall. Your beloved is likely to return the favor one day.
