Earth Day 2008
Apr 22nd, 2008 by Laura
Today is Earth Day, but somehow I feel like all the hoopla, all the commercials, all the “things you can do” being bandied about somehow misses the point. Changing the way we interact with our planet isn’t just about thinking about the environment for one day. It isn’t just about buying the “green” version of something instead. It isn’t just about buying organic Oreos, or the natural dish soap or the recycled pulp toilet paper. All of these things matter, but do they really make enough of an impact?
If I could wish for one thing today that would make an impact it would be that a Roosevelt or a Mandela or a Churchill or a Steve Jobs or an Abraham Lincoln would emerge to fundamentally change the public discourse we’re having. To inspire us all to make the changes and the cultural shift to a more sustainable way of life. To move the discussion from one of sacrifice and self restraint to one of opportunity and enlightenment.
Because it isn’t enough to get people to drive a more fuel efficient car or use a longer lasting light bulb. To recycle their old computer or buy the organic / natural version of something. All of the companies jumping on the green bandwagon are missing the point - but then how can they get the point when they’re out to sell you something in order for them to survive. We cannot rely on them to reduce our impact on the world, we need to change our impact on the world in spite of them.
We need to understand that sometimes it’s about not having the thing at all. That it’s about choosing a simpler way of life not because it’s moral or just, but because it is an opportunity to move beyond the “things we want” to the things that make us truly happy. Societies have existed for thousands of years without all of the trappings we now consider necessary to our way of life and our fundamental survival. We are a society that feels entitled to the things we want without ever considering their impact on the world around us or whether or not we truly need them.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating that we all give up the things that we’ve already acquired. That we commit to the pact or that we turn off all our lights and move off the grid. It would be great if we did, but I’m a pragmatist at heart. Paris Hilton isn’t going to go live on a farm and you and I aren’t going to start driving a cart and buggy everywhere we need to go.
But before you buy that new ipod or cell phone or SUV or newer dining room table, think about it. Are you buying it because you need it? Or because you want it? If you are going to buy it are you buying a quality product that will serve you for a long time to come? Or a cheap version that you’ll just have to replace in a month or a year.
When you go to the grocery store, are you choosing whole ingredients to cook with? Or are you buying pre-packaged, pre-made foods that consumed much more energy in the form of fossil fuels and packaging? Are you choosing produce that was grown as near to you as possible? Or are you buying asparagus from Chile when you live in Alberta? Are you visiting your local farmer’s market? Are you stopping at roadside farm stands? Are you asking questions about where your meat, poultry and fish came from and how they were raised or caught?
Are you consciously aware of the impact of your day to day consumption choices? Or are you going about your life moving from moment to moment on auto pilot? Making decisions based on what everyone else is doing and what the celebrities or the “Jones’s” have and not what matters to your or this planet we live on?
It’s easy to despair. To feel that no matter how much you or I give up it will always be outweighed by the unsustainable choices being made by other Americans, by people in developing countries, by our own government. But if we move beyond feeling like making the sustainable choice is a sacrifice, to feeling that it is an opportunity to connect with the world around us, our enthusiasm and happiness can be contagious. They can be an inspiration to our friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers. We can become the change that we want to see in the world.
But if we move beyond feeling like making the sustainable choice is a sacrifice, to feeling that it is an opportunity to connect with the world around us, our enthusiasm and happiness can be contagious.
What a wonderful perspective!! Your post described exactly what issues I’m also having with earth day, but you said it so much better than I ever could.
What a wonderful and thought provoking post! Great Job Laura.
Great thoughts Laura!
There was a psychologist on the local radio yesterday who cited studies that show that people who have decided to live their lives more simply (in this regard, they are rejecting a consumer oriented life style) are happier.
He goes on to suggest that when we chase the next materialistic thing, or adventure, or something that “keeps up with the Jonses” happiness declines. The thought is that this ‘race’ contributes to a feeling of being less than your neighbor.
I like your approach to realizing and pursuing things from a positive perspective.
Dad
I love what you wrote, especially about not expecting companies that are trying to make a profit to be the answer we need…”be the change” is exactly what WE need to do
Huge kudos for this excellent post!
Fabulous, start to finish.
I’ve put this snippet on my monitor:
“it’s about choosing a simpler way of life not because it’s moral or just, but because it is an opportunity to move beyond the “things we want” to the things that make us truly happy.”
We’re in the midst of a massive budget crisis at our house, and it’s forcing me to realize how many things (and experiences) I buy because I haven’t had to exercise impulse control in a long, long time. Even before this happened, I’d been grumpy for months because I don’t have enough vacation days to take the trip I really want to make this year. I keep telling myself that I have a fabulous life, am fantastically lucky, and having to postpone travel for a year or two is such a good problem to have. I keep hoping I will learn to believe it. Thank you for the reminder.
Thanks all - I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put it up or not. Glad that I did.
Great post - glad you put it up, too! I have spent way too much time reading other people’s blogs today. Well, just a few minutes ago I was struck by some comments I read. Someone whom I had inspired with one of my ‘challenges’… had inspired someone else on their blog. It’s easy to get discouraged, because there is so much that we’re up against. But it is important to remember that it takes one person at a time, one family at a time. Then that one person provokes a friend, and that family provokes changes at a child’s school. That school provokes a hundred families, who tell their friends and change other systems.
And slowly a movement grows. A movement of conscientious thinkers making conscious choices.
“Moderation in all things, including moderation” (attributed to Pretronius).
I, for one, am glad that you have a PC, a blog, and a digital camera. I get inspired by your life and without you having those things, I wouldn’t “know” you.
But yes, I do see your points.