Eco-rection

I don't really get it... Eco-rections, that is.

I get THAT they happen. I can understand that people have reasons. I just don't identify with them. There's plenty of reasons why people get aroused over "green-ness", being eco-friendly, trying to change the world.

I can understand that people really and truly believe that the single most important thing to do "in all the world, right now" is to clean up the environment. That they believe it is more important than all other political, economic, religious, technological, etc. issues.

I can understand that the pleasure of a personal crusade. How it gets ones nipples pert and erect with excitement over having a project, doing something, affecting the world. Some people want to make the world better, some people just want to affect the world. Others want to preach to others from a position of superior piety about how they are pure and proper and right in the world and therefore better than someone else who they've deemed inferior due to their different choices, or life, or situation.

But the thing that I really don't get is why people derive personal internal pleasure from "being green". I roll it over, looking at it from different angles, and it still doesn't trigger anything in me. If you choose to live your life in a way that consumes less, pollutes less, etc... that's fine. It's the way you live your life, and everyone lives their life, neh? You can make choices or have a plan for yourself and make changes. But if you're not actively organizing, or advocating, or trying to be holier-than-thou, or preaching-and-screeching, then why does "reducing my carbon emissions" become a source of pleasure in and of itself?

Where does all this come from, you ask? I was emailing with a friend that also rides a bike, and as the topic diverged from the original conversation, I made some sort of comment that "I just like bikes, that's enough for me". And she came back with how she loves that when she's riding her bike that she thinks about how good it is for the environment, and how it reduces traffic congestion, and all of that.

I'm trying to put myself in her head and understand what it is about that - what kind of pleasure or satisfaction she gets and how I can understand it by comparing it to my own experience. There's all kinds of pleasure that I can identify - a lively discussion, a job well done, a good cup of coffee, an elegant solution to a difficult problem, pleasant company, a delicious meal, swimming in the aromas of fancy beers, a hard workout, a beautiful vista, sex, friends, cool widgets, cool friends with sex widgets...

But the "I enjoy my reduced carbon footprint" pleasure? I'm just not built that way.