At that moment a young girl behind the protester quietly checked her own phone, then leant in and whispered in his ear, “Charlie, I just checked. Renewable energy really does account for 98 % of electricity generation in Northern Europe…”
The man’s face flushed red, but he quickly recovered and snorted coldly. “So what? Do you even know where your car was made? If I’m not mistaken, your Tesla was very likely produced in Germany. Tesla building a factory in Germany has severely damaged our ecological balance. Countless small animals lost their homes. And nearly half of Germany’s electricity still comes from coal. So although you, you hypocrite, drive a Tesla in Northern Europe without polluting the air here, the German people polluted their own air and harmed their own wildlife just to build your Tesla! And the real culprit is hypocrites like you!”
“I…” The middle-aged man was speechless for a moment, then demanded angrily, “Do you people even understand reason? I paid for this car with my own money. It wasn’t a gift from the German people. I paid Tesla the full price, Tesla paid the taxes they owed to the German government, and they paid wages to German workers. Even if greenhouse gases were emitted during manufacturing, I bore the financial cost of that!”
He pointed at the hoodie the protester was wearing and demanded, “You accuse my car of emitting greenhouse gases during production, but what about the clothes you’re wearing? Weren’t greenhouse gases emitted when those were made?”
The protester was once again rendered speechless. It was the young East Asian woman who reacted fastest. She rushed forward and shouted, “You hypocrite! Instead of reflecting on your own problems, you maliciously slander us! Do you have any idea that every piece of clothing we wear is made from recycled, biodegradable materials? The raw materials all come from old clothes donated by people all over the world. Even if greenhouse gases were emitted when those original materials were produced, the culprits were the previous owners, not us! And to avoid burdening the planet further, we never buy new clothes. We only wear recycled and reused clothing! Now look at yourself, all suited and booted like some big shot. What brand is that suit? Boss? Armani? Do you have any idea how much extra pollution the Earth has to endure just to produce that outfit?”
Her sudden torrent of words not only stunned the man in the suit but even shocked her own comrades.
Charlie wade overheard two of the protesters whispering behind her.
“Are our clothes really recycled? That would be bloody disgusting…”
“Shh, don’t listen to her nonsense. These hoodies were bulk-ordered online by the president. How could they be recycled? I checked the wash label, made in Vietnam, 100 % cotton. Relax.”
“You sure? We did receive tons of donated old clothes from around the world. What if they actually took some and reprocessed them?”
The other laughed quietly. “Don’t be daft. Being an environmental activist is just a business. All those donated clothes are supposedly for recycling and reuse, but in reality the higher-ups pack them up and sell them by the container to Africa. There are people there who specialise in buying second-hand clothes from all over the world. They buy by the tonne, then distributors sort them and sell them by the kilo. For us it’s pure profit. We shift thousands of tonnes a year. Otherwise where do you think the money comes from for us to protest all over Europe, eat, drink, travel, and cover accommodation and expenses?”
