Your Town is Probably a Rube Goldberg Environmentalist (and It’s a Problem)
We're all trying to do our part, right? Recycling, maybe you've got a fancy reusable water bottle, perhaps you're even thinking about getting an electric car. That's awesome! It's great that we're all waking up to the importance of taking care of our planet. But lately, I've been thinking… are we sometimes getting caught up in the shiny, gadget-y side of environmentalism? Are we building these complex, roundabout solutions when simpler, more effective ones are staring us in the face?
Let’s talk about what I’m calling “Rube Goldberg Environmentalism.”
Now, if you’re not familiar with Rube Goldberg, imagine a ridiculously complicated contraption. You know, a marble rolls down a ramp, knocks over a domino, which triggers a pulley, and ultimately…opens a birdcage. It’s ingenious, it's entertaining, and it's incredibly inefficient.
That’s the vibe we get with some approaches to being “eco-friendly” these days. Instead of tackling the big, systemic issues, we're often pushed to focus on individual actions and expensive technological fixes, which often feel like we are solving the problem but usually just create more issues.
The Shiny New Toy Syndrome
We're constantly bombarded with messages about the "next big thing" in green living. Electric cars are cool, right? Definitely a step up from gas guzzlers. And what about the cost? Can everyone afford an EV? What about the mining of the minerals for batteries and their toxic waste? The same goes for solar panels on your roof and home battery systems. Great if you can swing it! But are they the most effective way to reduce our carbon footprint? Are we overlooking grid-level renewable energy because of the draw of individual solutions?
It feels like we are getting caught up in a game of "buy your way to sustainability." The focus becomes on the latest smart thermostat, the most efficient water filter, or even those fancy reusable food wraps. While these things aren’t bad, they're like putting a band-aid on a broken leg. They make us feel like we’re doing something, but they often don’t address the real root causes of our environmental woes.
Why Does this Matter?
It’s like trying to solve a math problem with a slide ruler when we have calculators (and sometimes better math).
Well, lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how this plays out in our own backyards, literally. And what I’ve realized is that our towns are often the biggest culprits when it comes to perpetuating this Rube Goldberg approach to sustainability. And frankly, it's blocking real progress.
The Town-Sized Rube Goldberg Machine
Think about your own town, or the towns you’ve lived in. What’s the vibe? Chances are it's something like this:
Sprawl, Sprawl, Sprawl: Single-family homes on big lots are the norm. You have to drive everywhere. It’s like the whole place was designed to force you into a car. This car-centric design is a major contributor to carbon emissions.
Public Transit? Barely: If your town even has public transportation, it probably isn’t frequent, reliable, or convenient. It’s an afterthought, rather than a priority.
Buildings That Leak Energy: Most homes and buildings are not built to modern efficiency standards. Think leaky windows, poorly insulated walls. It's an energy drain.
Now, what are we often told to do to be "green"? Buy an electric car! Put solar panels on your roof! Get a smart thermostat! And there’s nothing inherently wrong with these things. It’s the equivalent of a Rube Goldberg contraption that uses a series of complex steps to perform a simple task.
Why Your Town is Holding Us Back
Here's the tough truth: our towns often actively resist the very changes we need to see:
Zoning Laws from Another Era: Outdated zoning laws often mandate single-family homes, making it difficult to build dense, walkable neighborhoods. This prevents mixed-use development, the kind that would allow us to live and work in the same place without needing a car. They often limit or prevent accessory dwelling units (ADUs), effectively preventing density.
The "Not In My Backyard" Brigade: When someone proposes a new bus route or bike path or affordable housing, the "NIMBYs" come out in force. They claim it’ll ruin the "character" of their neighborhood, but what they're really doing is fighting any change that would disrupt their car-dependent lifestyle. They are often concerned about their own property values, not the needs of the broader community.
We Can't Build Efficiently: Many towns resist adopting modern building codes like Passivehaus, which mandate incredibly high energy efficiency. Instead, they let us build inefficient homes and buildings, only to tell us later to spend a ton of money on solar panels.
HOAs: The Gatekeepers of the Status Quo: Your neighborhood Homeowners Associations (HOAs) are often one of the largest roadblocks to sustainability. Their mission is often to maintain the current status quo, preventing any changes that could disrupt "property values". This leaves us with complicated individual band-aid solutions that are often less efficient.
It’s a mess. And it makes it really hard for states and the federal government to make real progress. They can pass laws, offer incentives, and push for sustainability, but if towns are blocking the changes on the ground, those efforts often fizzle out.
Stop Building Rube Goldberg Towns
So, what's the solution? We need our towns to become part of the solution, not the problem. We need our leaders to prioritize:
Smart Zoning: This means allowing mixed-use development, higher density housing, and walkable neighborhoods. This would be a game changer for sustainable living.
Transit, Transit, Transit: We need to invest in public transportation that’s reliable, convenient, and frequent. We also need bike paths and pedestrian-friendly streets.
Progressive Building Codes: We need to mandate Passivehaus standards and other high-efficiency building codes to create buildings that actually conserve energy.
End Single Family Zoning: This relics of the past must go. These outdated laws lock in car dependence, and destroy sustainability efforts from the start.
Listening to Everyone: Decisions should be made with input from the entire community, not just a select few.
We need to push our local leaders to adopt these systemic changes. We need to call out the NIMBYism and the resistance to progress. We need to show them that a truly sustainable future is one where our towns are walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly. Not one where everyone has their own expensive electric car.