The world is abuzz with Michael Pollan’s article from Saturday’s NYT Green Edition titled "Why Bother?” (This was the same issue that featured the Dervaes family). I have already seen many of you already post your reactions to it! Well done friends.
It’s long, but like everything Pollan writes, a joy to read. I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE those of you that haven’t read it to do so now.
I’ll pause while you take the time to read it…
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On this Earth Day, some points to take away from the article:
It’s not technology that will save us from our earthly predicament. It’s people taking responsibility for the way they live their lives, and the IMPACT their activities have on our environment. (Just because you CAN buy a new TV every year doesn’t mean you SHOULD).
The more people that care about the environment and talk about it will lead to a viral movement that changes this consumer lifestyle which has caused much of the problem in the first place.
More people will want to change based on seeing those that already do live differently and are incredibly happy.
Start a garden. It’s the best way to combat climate change. Calories created by the sun are damn near free. Calories created by synthetic fertilizers and tractors aren’t.
Take the garden a step further and turn your front lawn into a community garden. Now there’s a wonderful act of civil disobedience.
And most importantly, don’t be dissuaded by the naysayers. Spin doctors have you believing that riding your bike to work is worse than driving there (you will actually consume more calories, presumably from meat, meat takes a lot of carbon to make and be transported to you, and you might as well just drive in the first place).
Or my personal favorite is that it takes more energy to make and reuse a mug a thousand times than it does to make a 1000 disposable paper cups. You HAVE GOT to be kidding me! That’s it folks. Keep putting your head in the sand. It’s easier that way, isn’t it!? As the garbage and stuff piles up around us, you’ll be wishing you’d used that mug.
A friend once asked me why in the world do I buy organic ketchup. I told him because we can’t make our own until this summer when our tomatoes are ripe. This obviously was not the answer he expected because (I think he was trying to make us feel stupid), but frankly, I hope that my decision to make my own ketchup weighs heavily on him.
The ketchup story is actually a metaphor for the way Chris and I live. Your life is made of thousands of decisions every day. Little ones. Big ones. Medium ones. If everyone made decisions for the good of the planet, like choosing to use reusable grocery bags and foregoing the plastic ones, by walking or biking whenever possible, or by growing food in household gardens, you can see the impact “one” decision applied in aggregate has on the world.
Like the butterfly effect.
Or a viral social change.
My favorite quote is “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Ghandi). This has become my mantra and creeps into all decisions I make. Walking to grab a bite to eat from a local lunch place yesterday, I picked up trash on the way there and said hello and smiled at a gentleman painting a new railing - all part of this newly discovered mantra.
It’s long, but like everything Pollan writes, a joy to read. I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE those of you that haven’t read it to do so now.
I’ll pause while you take the time to read it…
-----------------------------------------------------------
On this Earth Day, some points to take away from the article:
It’s not technology that will save us from our earthly predicament. It’s people taking responsibility for the way they live their lives, and the IMPACT their activities have on our environment. (Just because you CAN buy a new TV every year doesn’t mean you SHOULD).
The more people that care about the environment and talk about it will lead to a viral movement that changes this consumer lifestyle which has caused much of the problem in the first place.
More people will want to change based on seeing those that already do live differently and are incredibly happy.
Start a garden. It’s the best way to combat climate change. Calories created by the sun are damn near free. Calories created by synthetic fertilizers and tractors aren’t.
Take the garden a step further and turn your front lawn into a community garden. Now there’s a wonderful act of civil disobedience.
And most importantly, don’t be dissuaded by the naysayers. Spin doctors have you believing that riding your bike to work is worse than driving there (you will actually consume more calories, presumably from meat, meat takes a lot of carbon to make and be transported to you, and you might as well just drive in the first place).
Or my personal favorite is that it takes more energy to make and reuse a mug a thousand times than it does to make a 1000 disposable paper cups. You HAVE GOT to be kidding me! That’s it folks. Keep putting your head in the sand. It’s easier that way, isn’t it!? As the garbage and stuff piles up around us, you’ll be wishing you’d used that mug.
A friend once asked me why in the world do I buy organic ketchup. I told him because we can’t make our own until this summer when our tomatoes are ripe. This obviously was not the answer he expected because (I think he was trying to make us feel stupid), but frankly, I hope that my decision to make my own ketchup weighs heavily on him.
The ketchup story is actually a metaphor for the way Chris and I live. Your life is made of thousands of decisions every day. Little ones. Big ones. Medium ones. If everyone made decisions for the good of the planet, like choosing to use reusable grocery bags and foregoing the plastic ones, by walking or biking whenever possible, or by growing food in household gardens, you can see the impact “one” decision applied in aggregate has on the world.
Like the butterfly effect.
Or a viral social change.
My favorite quote is “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Ghandi). This has become my mantra and creeps into all decisions I make. Walking to grab a bite to eat from a local lunch place yesterday, I picked up trash on the way there and said hello and smiled at a gentleman painting a new railing - all part of this newly discovered mantra.
It’s such a beautiful way to think, really. And Pollan’s article boils down to it at the most basic level.
You DID read Pollan’s NYT article, didn’t you?
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
You DID read Pollan’s NYT article, didn’t you?
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
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11 comments:
This is a great post,with a lot of good thoughts. (I remember some classmates of mine discussing the mug vs. disposable cups issue, back in 1999 or so--not in context of climate change but in context of chemistry and physics.)
I like that Gandhi quote a lot. I think my favorite is Margaret Mead: "Never doubt the ability of a small group of concerned citizens to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
That is a great post; I enjoyed it very much. You don't have to reply to this, I just wanted to add my two cents worth.
I am on my way to read the article. Happy Earth Day!
I definitely read it, and directed other people to it, too. Great post -- I'm glad you synthesized it for people!
Great post!
Think of 'naysayers' as people who are afraid of what you're doing, because it's different and they don't understand it. So... feel sorry for them!
I am so with you on those dumbass arguments for not doing totally sensible, environmentally friendly things. Great post!
I'm linking you as a cheap way to get out of writing an original Earth Day post ;)
Errr, I was skipping writing an Earth Day post just so I could write about how Earth Day is everyday. lol. I guess it's really not a new concept...Oh well, I'll just post about what I did for earth day then...lol.
So much to learn... Maybe(?) I do not publish a feed. What do you get when you add a feed to Google Reader? What can I do so you can add my feed?
Yesterday I was dismayed to see how soon the shade overtook the backyard... almost as bad as the front and side... arrggh! I may have to keep the tomato barrel strapped to the hand-truck and keep moving it through the day... not likely.
I like that Ghandi quote (and your whole post), it reminds me of a life-changing concept I got ahold of as a kid: "If you want to HAVE friends, you need to BE a friend". It helped me get over my anger at being teased and just get on with it...worked like a charm. Sounds like you have a good start utilizong Ghandi's concept, too! :)
seeded - thanks for the Margaret Mead quote. I'm a sucker for get off your a$$ quotes that rock.
barbee - thanks for leaving a comment letting me know how much you liked the article/post. :0) You make my day!
Natalie - did you read it? PS - Sent you an email.
garrett - I thought your earth day post was just as relevant and excellent as mine. :0) Good job spreading the word.
Lisa - Thanks! I live by that Ghandi quote anymore. It's such a great way to live your life. I doubly love YOUR quote about kids. So true. I would have no friends if I didn't seek them out and befriend them in college.
Some of us "keep putting [our] head in the sand" if only because we have to garden in Zone 5 vs. warmer zones where one can garden and grow fresh produce practically year round.
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