Buy Local, Act Evil??? Discuss

I read an article today on Slate that cited a study in which participants who purchased "green" products were less likely to do good-samaritan types of things like give to charities. It posits that, essentially, we have a sort of moral bank account in our heads which leads us to participate in unsavory activities if we have balanced them with savory ones.

There are, of course, subtle nuances to this theory which the article takes into account. Still, based on my publicizing of my Local Food Obsession, my readers may be able to assume that I am an immoral, arrogant ass. This, I conceded, is entirely possible. I do an awful lot of talking about buying and acting "green", and I follow it up with action. This, according to the article, makes me the biggest jerk ever.

I write this tongue in cheek, but it is an interesting hypothesis. I consider my own actions and weigh them against those described in the journal. Last year, for example, I spent an entire year as a full-time, live-in volunteer. It was the most exhausting, draining year of my life and I left it in a state of severe burn-out. Now, I have moments where I think things like, "I have paid my debt to society for a good chunk of time and instead of doing X good deed, I will do X thing for me." This supports the article's theory, but I am okay with it for the time being. As I recover my sense of self and well-being, bit by bit, I also recover my spirit of generosity.

This line of thinking leads me to wonder, then, what people's motivations are for doing their so-called "good deeds" and "green buying." I buy green because I care about the planet and I know a lot about where the non-green products come from. And I buy local because living in a healthy, sustainable community is high on my list of priorities. And I cook local because it brings me endless joy to do so, and double-endless joy to share my local concoctions with willing dinner guests. It doesn't occur to me as part of my "moral bank account" because it is just what I do and who I am. I think the article fails to take this important aspect of values into account. If buying local is part of one's intrinsic value system, whether or not it is part of the cultural norm, then it ought not to add up in the moral bank account. If, on the other hand, one feels good about buying local simply because it is becoming "the thing to do", then maybe one should watch out for becoming an insensitive jerk....

I would love to know what you think on the issue. Read Here: Buy Local, Act Evil