From "Caution: Killing Germs May be Hazardous to Your Health," in the October 29th issue of Newsweek (what can I say, sometimes I get a little behind on the news):
Americans have been obsessed with eradicating germs ever since their role in disease was discovered in the 19th century, but they've been partial to technological fixes like antibiotics or sanitizers rather than the dirty work of cleanliness.
(And by the "dirty work of cleanliness," the authors apparently mean washing "in all the spaces between the fingers and under the nails and rubbing for at least 20 seconds.")
I agree. Although I cringe a little when I hear broad generalizations about "Americans," as though we're all of one mind, I do think that many people put a lot more faith in technology than in time-tested, low-tech remedies for things like disease and climate change. Maybe there's a feeling that simple, old-fashioned solutions--soap rather than sanitizers, clotheslines as opposed to Energy Star dryers--just can't solve our weighty problems. Or that technology will save us. Or that taking the bus is just less glamorous/fun/enlightened- looking than driving a shiny new hybrid.
I don't say this to be Greener-Than-Thou. I have a car (not a hybrid); I have a computer; I just got a flu shot. I'm a fan of technology. But I find it reassuring that research is now showing that the simplest and cheapest ways of doing things--cleaning with baking soda and vinegar, buying less, walking more, drinking plain ol' water right out of the tap--are good for our health and good for the planet.
