How I deal with the unbearable hypocrisy of being an environmentalist

It's not easy living green without going completely off the grid, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can - and accept that sometimes we'll fail

I consider myself an environmentalist, yet last weekend I spent five hours in a car dealership going through the rigamarole of getting a new car - arguably one of the most polluting devices in modern-day life. I advocate buying second-hand, but I leased new. I encourage walking and biking and public transportation, and I do take advantage of these options on a regular basis, yet there I was, taking the keys and driving away with a shiny new ride and a sinking sense of discomfort.

Likewise, I recently met an environmental lawyer (and a car-less one too, I might add). He came to his profession amid a deep and decades-long affinity for the lakes and rivers which make Canada beautiful, and a strong desire to protect them. Yet the same work, in which he makes great strides to protect these natural landscapes, also prevents him from enjoying them. He works 50 to 70 hours a week in a downtown office, spending hours staring at a pixelated computer screen rather than the starry sky. When he tells me about it, he sounds vaguely helpless. He's torn between the change he wants to create, and his ability to see the natural world for more than the odd weekend between cases.