The Tech Fix Mirage

Solar Panels Don’t Erase Shopping Carts



(This post follows Blog 4: Why We Keep Consuming — Even When the Planet Can’t, where I explored how overconsumption isn’t just systemic — it’s personal. This time, I’m asking: what if the solutions we trust aren’t really solutions at all?)

I’ve always wanted to believe in tech as a way out.

Electric cars, solar panels, AI-assisted recycling — it all sounds promising. In a world that feels increasingly fragile, these things offer relief. A sense that someone, somewhere, is solving it.

But the older I get, the more I feel uneasy.

Let’s say we replaced every gas-powered car on the planet with electric ones. That’s 1.45 billion vehicles, overnight. Would we have solved the problem? Or just swapped engines and kept the machine running?

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, 65% of available water now goes toward lithium mining. That’s what it takes to power those “clean” cars. One of the driest places on Earth, and we’re draining it to keep driving.

That’s the part I can’t ignore anymore.
The system looks cleaner — but the habits haven’t changed.

We still design cities that force people into cars. Grocery stores are miles from homes. Sidewalks are optional. Public transport is an afterthought. Solar panels can’t fix that.

Then there’s the idea of “smart living.” Thermostats that learn your preferences. Trash bins that message the garbage truck. Refrigerators that reorder food. But behind all of that are bigger homes, more devices, more energy use. Between 2020 and 2023, new homes in the U.S. averaged almost 2,500 square feet — the largest they’ve been in decades.

We’re calling it smarter. But it’s still more.
Just better-packaged.

Recycling gets the same treatment. AI promises to make it cleaner and faster. But the volume keeps growing. We generate over 2 billion tons of waste each year. That number will almost double by 2050. And only 9% of plastic actually gets recycled. No algorithm can undo that math.

It’s not that tech is useless. But it’s not the answer we want it to be.

The uncomfortable truth is that we keep reaching outward instead of inward. We’re betting on gadgets instead of changing how we live. I know I’ve done it. It’s easier to download a solution than to ask myself what I’m willing to give up.

But the planet doesn’t care if our solutions are clever. It responds to what we extract, what we burn, and what we waste.

So maybe we let tech be the backup, not the plan. Maybe the real starting point is: What are we willing to live without?

What would change if we designed communities for connection and simplicity first — and only then figured out which tools to use?

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t a technology crisis.
It’s a human one.

And no matter how advanced the machine, it can’t fix what we’re afraid to face.

I’d genuinely welcome your thoughts — whether you agree or disagree. But if you feel like sharing, I’m especially interested in your personal reflections… how you navigate these questions, if they matter to you. And if this resonates, feel free to share it with others who think or wonder along similar lines.

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