Economic downturn - a boon to the environment?

So gas prices have hit all-time highs, food shortages are plaguing various countries, and prices on just about everything are inching up due to higher fuel costs.

I submit that this economic downturn may help the environment.

With less money, people must make decisions as to what is most important. We all must eat and keep a place to live, but also must travel at times to work and find clothes to wear to said work. With the rising costs of gas and clothing, we must work around it. For clothing, let's hit the thrift stores and the Goodwills. As for decreasing the amount of gas used, let's try to forgo A/C when possible (hard in the summer, but if you travel during the evening and morning it's not that bad), bike when we can, keep our tires inflated, and if possible, downsize to smaller, more efficient cars.

The interesting thing is that the less we purchase and use, the more helpful it is to the environment. The less fossil fuels we burn, the better. The less clothing that is produced means less energy consumed. That's just those two things though. I haven't even touched upon starting a small vegetable garden or eating less pre-processed and packaged food.

I wonder if we will see an increase in thrift store shopping or vegetable gardens over the next year or so, or however long this recession lasts.