I didn't blog Week 3 because I had no idea what to say. Or, rather, I had too much to say. I still do. This past week - the first week of the new administration - has been very worrying, from environmental deregulation to immigration/refugee bans to unprecedented conflicts of interest, and I am struggling with staying aware and alert about what is going on and not going crazy with concern for my neighbors, clients, and home (that's earth). There are 1000 things that many of us want to get involved with, but that is not only unrealistic, it's fatigue-inducing. My #1 concern, as is probably evident by the fact that this blog exists, is the environment. Without a healthy environment, nothing else exists - not civil rights, immigration benefits, healthcare, or a viable economy. So I will continue to fight - with my daily habits, free time, and MONEY - for environmental protection and a sustainable future.
If you're ever called yourself a nature lover, mountain/beach person, hippie, etc. - YESTERDAY IS WHEN THE EARTH NEEDED YOU. Today is good too. Stop defining yourself by your deeply held ideology, and start living out your ideology in real life. Our planet needs you. Earth doesn't have 4 years to wait.
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "The weather is so lovely, but it scares me a little" over the last 2 months, I might have enough to become Education Secretary. IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS WARM IN JANUARY. THIS IS ALARMING. 2016 was the hottest year on record. 2015 was the second hottest year on record. 2014 was the third hottest year on record. If you don't believe that climate change is real, or is a direct result of human activity, please look at this graphic by the EPA (which was, not coincidentally, muzzled by the Trump administration last week):
There is nothing "natural" about this. This is a result of irresponsible industrialization and unsustainable consumption. This is our fault, which means it is also our responsibility to fix.
Someone told me last week that anger is not a helpful emotion to have. I disagree, wholeheartedly. I think anger is a very powerful motivator. I'm angry about what kind of world my children and grandchildren will inherit if we continue to ignore what we're doing to our planet. I'm angry that the environment is not a top concern to most voters, both Democrat and Republican. I'm angry that we have an administration that believes environmental protection is bad for the economy, but is preparing to build a $15-20 billion wall between us and our southern neighbors (which, by the way, will cause serious ecological damage by cutting off the flow of water and wildlife between the US and Mexico).
Our country was founded on anger - anger at a government that did not represent them, at an overlord the people did not appoint, anger by immigrants and children of immigrants that led them to fight and die for the freedoms that we take for granted every day. Freedom of assembly. Freedom of the press. Freedom of religion.
Anger is an extremely powerful emotion, BUT - it is what we do with it that matters. Anger does not necessitate hate. Anger should lead to constructive action. Don't just fume quietly (or loudly) at home. Don't post on Facebook and think that's enough. DO STUFF. Get involved with local environmental organizations. Join the Sierra Club. Go vegetarian. Carpool. Turn down the heat and put on a sweater. Call your representatives and tell them that climate change is NOT a hoax (I am devastated that this is a discussion we are having in 2017), that environmental protection is a priority, and that Scott Pruitt must be held accountable. Start a vegetable garden. Plant a tree (or 10). Teach your child that everything she has, and everything she needs, comes from the earth, which must be protected at all costs. Volunteer with the Department of Natural Resources. Go Zero Waste. Give your money to people who are fighting everyday to keep Earth green.
Here are some organizations that really need a boost right now, because they are on the front lines in the fight for climate science and environmental sustainability:
The National Resources Defense Council
Environmental Defense Fund
World Wildlife Fund
My usual thoughts on our ZW week, which seem small potatoes to me right now but I will post anyway:
1. We went to the farmer's market last week and got 7 sweet potatoes, 7 apples, and 7 tangelos for $5. Honestly, I don't know how anyone can afford NOT to shop at the farmer's market! It's kind of slow right now since it's winter, but I can't wait until the spring when we can buy most of our food there.
2. Since we are doing so well with our incremental trash goals this month, I treated myself last week to these bad boys. There is nothing I miss more than prepackaged vegan "meats." If you are trying out vegetarianism for the first time, these are a great way to ease into it.
3. I made tempeh this week from scratch and it was the coolest I've ever felt in my life. The most common way to seal it for fermentation is with ziplock bags, but I used banana leaves as wrapping which means zero waste. Tempeh is SO MUCH easier to make than tofu (which is cool since tempeh tastes better than tofu IMO). I will post my tempeh recipe later this week because I drew from several different recipes to get what we have here.
4. Common Question: What are my snacks? POPCORN. I buy popcorn kernels in bulk and make popcorn on the stove. If you're still eating microwave popcorn, please stop - it's terrible for your health. Without even going into the chemicals and additives in the actual popcorn - the bags contain a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which is the same toxic ingredient found in teflon. When heated, it's linked to infertility, cancer, and other diseases, which is why the EPA classifies it as a carcinogen. This is a real fact, not an #alternativefact.
5. We've unplugged the dryer. On average, dryers account for 12% of household energy consumption. They're just not necessary. Austin is making a drying rack for us to use in the future, but in the meantime, I have clothes, blankets, and linens hanging up all over the house. We made our four-poster bed into a fort as we dried our sheets. It was fun. Everything dried. No electricity required!
6. Things I miss: Salt and vinegar chips, Mitt Romney.
7. This is our trash for the month of January. Wanna know a secret? It is not hard. We rarely feel deprived (see: Things I Miss), and when we do it is a stark reminder of just how privileged we are. Our "deprivations" (if you can call them that) cannot begin to compare to the very real deprivations experienced by the 3+ billion people around the world living in poverty. This is what I meant in my very first post about re-thinking our needs, and it is changing our perspective in ways we did not anticipate. It is extremely humbling.
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| January trash. |
I've talked a lot about trash as waste, but you know what else we waste so much of? Electricity. Gas. Water. Time. These bear addressing just as much as physical trash, and I will be addressing all of them throughout this year with mini-initiatives designed to make us more aware of how we use these resources, as well as the challenges faced by people without adequate access to them. But for now - How much time do you spend watching TV, or even just having the TV on? It's a significant source of energy waste. My family didn't watch much TV when I was a kid, but over the years I've had it on more and more, to the point that over the last year or so my husband and I would put on old sitcom episodes every night to "wind down" with. The result? We didn't talk as much. The time passed quickly, and dully. We didn't spend as much time sleeping, or cuddling, or reading, or playing games. For the past few weeks, we've kept the TV off unless there was something specific we wanted to watch (THIS IS US, you guys) - no more spending a half hour on Netflix trying to find something decent. We've been talking, reading, listening to music, snuggling with our animals, doing yoga. Life is nicer this way. Life has more life in it this way.
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| This is what family time looks like AND IT'S ADORABLE |
Environmentalism is not an isolated ideology. By its nature (no pun intended), it goes hand in hand with egalitarianism. In a broader sense, this is why environmentalism and vegetarianism are linked. No one can own the earth or any part of it. No one can own another person; no one can own any living being. We are caretakers, only - Stewards of the earth and all its bounty, including all people - the hungry, the thirsty, the prisoners, the foreign-born, the homeless, the orphans, the widows, the depressed, the weary. We are meant to take care of each other. To reject this call is to reject our human purpose and pursue a course of disharmony and desolation.
Most who know me know of my love of the fantasy genre, and Lord of the Rings in particular. As I am turning off the TV in favor of books, I plan to revisit Tolkien's WWII-era classic this year. While the world we live in is not quite so dualistic as Middle Earth, I am reminded of a Tolkien musing that the greatest danger to the world is not Sauron, evil incarnate who wants to destroy the world for his own gain. The greatest danger is Saruman, the "wise" wizard who found it politically expedient to join Sauron, thinking he could ally himself with evil for his own ends and then later discard the Necromancer. Through his alliance with Sauron, Saruman led a campaign of deforestation, industrialization, and fascism in service of great evil. He was eventually brought down by nature itself - Ents - because, in Tolkien's own mind, nature joined with man has the greatest power for good (@AltNatParkSer, I SEE YOU). Environmentalism (and by extension, egalitarianism) is an important theme throughout Tolkien's work that is often overlooked, but it shouldn't be. It's one of the most important messages of this timeless saga that follows the path of small people joining together to defeat evil forces against great odds.
From Finding God in the Lord of the Rings (Bruner/Ware):
Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.
Environmental protection, education, healthcare, immigration, refugees - everything we are debating on an international scale - this is not just about us. We should not be thinking about politics and policy in terms of "What's good for me?" This is cowardly self-preservation, and it's exactly the opposite of what every single public servant from Christ to Nelson Mandela to Gandhi to MLK to Pope Francis preached. We're better than that - or we should be. WE HAVE A HIGHER CALL.
That higher call challenges each of us every day and sometimes pisses us off because we are self-interested creatures. But a love greater than us compels us to be more, to search beyond the reflexive defensiveness of our lifestyles and personal politics. We all have work to do. We all suffer from a lack of awareness that stems from our disconnect with the earth. We are broken. We've forgotten that we are all linked; we are all one. Environmentalist living heals this divide.
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