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The Little Things

It seems like almost every time i attend an environmentalism/sustainability meeting or festival, i leave feeling very disheartened.* This is because, though there are many creative ideas expressed, most of the solutions to environmental problems are just products you should buy, there is little talk of "doin' it yourself" or the subject of resourcefulness, and a lot of guilt is used to try to motivate people.Most people i know can't afford to just buy all those things- they are expensive things- wind generators and pv panels, and electric cars... and though they are great ideas and helpful tools, i don't believe that replacing conventional products with environmentally friendly ones can completely solve the problem, because the problem lies much deeper- it is in our every day habits, and in the fact that we consume way more than we need.Rather than using large amounts of effort and money to try to change the whole world, i think what we really need to do is to scale down, to change our every day habits- because it is the disposable coffee cups that we throw away day after day, from our 1 cup of coffee a day, that piles up in the land fill. And because the only person i really have the power to change is myself. And it is all the "myselfs" that change and inspire others to change, which combine to make "many".
As mentioned in other articles, our "way of life"* in the U.S. is to consume 80% of the world's resources. We obviously don't need to consume this much- it's just a bad habit. We need to change our habits to live in a way that is respectful of the earth, our home, as well as our brothers and sisters around the world. We can decide for ourselves that we want to contribute to the problem as little as possible. We can view our own "homesteads" as miniature ecosystems- small scale earths, and treat them as such. I don't want a landfill outside my own back door! (And i don't want to make someone else live in my garbage...)Maybe we don't need to live in such big houses which cost so freakin' much to heat. And again, it's the day to day habits that make the difference. We can choose to reuse as much of the packaging that comes into our homes as possible- and then maybe decide to start purchasing products that come with less or more reusable packaging. Or maybe we don't need to buy as much stuff. Maybe we can eat the healthy beans & rice hiding in the back of the cupboard before we go to the store to buy more food. Maybe we can repair broken things instead of buying new ones- or build new things out of old broken things.To me, one of the most important aspects of living sustainably is to "do it yourself"- to be creative and resourceful, to employ friends & family to do what you can't do yourself, and to work together. Anything that's life giving is community oriented- and to be self- sufficient and work together with people you know is sustainability. If you can afford a small plot of land, you can have your friends help you build your house. You can build it with straw bales so that it's insulated and hardly needs any energy for heating. You can grow a small garden... or a community garden. You can have so much fun trying to do anything yourself that you can.It's all about what you can do, not what you can't do. It's not about feeling guilty. If you are able to ride your bike somewhere rather than drive, that's a great step! If you can grow your own food, great! If not, don't despair. You can buy or trade for food from friends' gardens, or food that's locally grown. If you want to compost but don't have room or time for all the turning and everything, you can still do passive compost (just put it in a pile and let it decompose slowly) - because compost happens! Or save it for a friend who does have room- our soil really needs the nutrients. If you're on a tight budget, instead of buying an insulator for your water heater, you can rig one up out of an old sleeping bag. It still works! Maybe you could start making your own clothes, or repairing old ones. Or build your own furniture- or bike- or anything! Or just bake some bread! Maybe when the holy- days roll around, you could find more meaningful, less consumptive ways to celebrate- like baking together, or making cards and gifts from recycled materials, or even buying gifts that have been crafted humanely and sustainably.There are so many things that we can do, there is no reason to stress about what we can't do. I think we just need to encourage each other to be creative, and to do away with our every day bad habits- one at a time. And we can begin to do this by having respect for each other and creation.*with exception of the People Against Poverty and Apathy Festival in Tennessee, Summer 2006*GWB said, "a way of life is being threatened...", speaking about the 9/11 incedent... hmmm...