Ah, the internet: enlightening, inspiring, and time-sucking. Today we share with you our favorite online places—sites that are never a waste of time—with a short description of why we love them so much. They can always be found on the front page of the site if you scroll down in the right-hand column.
It finally stopped raining this week, or as Cheyenne put it, the sun isn’t broken anymore so I was able to get out to my garden. It had gotten pretty weedy since I planted and I began to realize that with some of the plants, I really don’t know what is a weed and what is a seedling. The mesclun was obvious. The entire square is carpeted in small, pretty lettuce leaves. The summer squash, zucchini and carrots were pretty obvious too. After wandering around the garden looking at other people’s stuff I figured out what the pea shoot looked like and rescued it from a tangle of other vines.
In 2000, I read The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken, and it blew me away. This book was the first exposure I had to the idea of redesigning human society and industry in nature’s image, where the concept of waste doesn’t exist and human potential is as important a raw material as anything that comes out of the Earth.ﾠ
For several years, I held these ideas in my heart, but I didn’t do much with them.
Even though the site was down last week, I held strong to my challenge. I ate out only a few times—no delivery—and really enjoyed the experiences. Friday lunch was antipasti and pizza from Sette, a little Italian restaurant around the corner which has fabulous food and really great prices—our lunches were only $10 each from the prix fixe menu, and the roasted veggie pizza with ricotta was so good it literally left me speechless. This is something that never happens!
Sunday morning was one of the more amazing brunches of my life at the Rosewater Restaurant—I had potato gratin with sweet yellow pepper sauce, 2 perfectly poached eggs, and a radish salad. It was out of this world—I’m still fondly playing this meal over in my mind several days later.
Delayed gratification is not a concept that conjures up pleasant images in most people’s minds. I know it’s odd, but the image those words bring up for me is me sitting at the breakfast table as a kid eating all the boring cereal out of my Lucky Charms and saving the marshmallows for last.
It’s not a concept we like much in our culture. We want what we want and we want it now. Want a new TV? Put it on a credit card. Want fresh strawberries in Minnesota in the dead of winter? Sure. Why not?
It’s easy to point out the downsides of an “I want it now” attitude—for example, the credit crisis, foreclosures, the negative environmental impact and the crazy number of hours people have to work to afford that lifestyle.
We had our monthly Sunny Way staff meeting in my backyard on Saturday, and it was a gloriously bright and breezy day. Normally, we brainstorm and talk about details of where the site is going, but at this point, a few months into the project and after sorting out the tech problems that kept us offline for a week, we thought it was a good time to step back and re-assess from a larger, more holacratic perspective—What does The Sunny Way want to be, and how can we work together to allow that to happen?ﾠ
It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day reality of coordinating content, finding relevant links, posting, writing ... and bogged down is exactly how we were starting to feel. But when it comes down to it, The Sunny Way is not about posting every day on the internet. It’s about experimenting with new ways to live, talking to people who have all kinds of different perpsectives, and sharing the whole struggle with each other.ﾠ
So—to refocus on the big picture, as we all need to do sometimes, we put our attention on our mission statement: Bring the possibility of a magnificent future alive for ourselves and our readers, and awaken responsibility for creating it.ﾠ
This project is about creating a new world! And creativity, like life itself, is messy. So what came out of our discussion is the need to let it all hang out a bit more around here. We want to break down ideas of what environmentalism is, try on new ways of being, and bring some surprises into the mix.ﾠ
You can read about how to make homemade cleaners and buy local foods and drive less at about a million different sites. What we want to contribute is something different: we want to build a new context for living, where we question and experiment instead of assuming we already know the answers. Creating the future is not a done deal—there’s no Google Maps printout to tell us how to get there. So if we need to stumble around a bit, so be it. Instead of striving to be great, we’re striving to learn, even if it means messing up and looking stupid from time to time.ﾠ
As it turns out, building a new world ends up having a lot to do with personal growth and development, so we will also continue to share our trials and errors as we take on projects around research and activism. Whether we hit the wall or break on through, we will keep going as transparently as we can.ﾠ
We’ve also found it very important to think more impersonally about what we are trying to do. As the editor of the site, I’ve taken a lot of missed deadlines and dropped balls quite personally, which is understandable and a very common pattern for leaders to fall into. But it’s not productive.ﾠ
Ultimately, when we make commitments, we are making them to The Sunny Way, to ourselves, and to the future. So I’m quite happy to relinquish my role as mom and allow myself and everyone involved to govern ourselves and discover what kind of order rises from the chaos. To make sure we’re all clear on what we’re up to, we’re trying on a new process to share with each other our commitments and our progress on them every week.ﾠ
Creating The Sunny Way is a microcosm for creating the future at large. We are learning how to commit, how to work with each other, how to use obstacles to help us grow and improve, and how to fearlessly share what we are going through. So far, focusing on the big picture and constantly reassessing/navigating seem to be serving this project well.ﾠ If we keep our eyes clear, our minds open, and our hands on, we can’t help but get closer to our goal.
(video by Nogwater via flickr)
Just wanted to put up a quick note to apologize for the downtime over the last week. We are in the process of resolving all the problems, and will be back on our regular posting schedule starting on Monday.
Thanks for standing by.
Until we return with more of The Sunny Way, here’s a terrific video to tide you over—a TED talk by one of my heroes, Alex Steffen of Worldchanging, explaining what bright green ecology is all about.
When I first had the idea for this site, it was called Sunny—embodying both an attitude and the ultimate source of renewable energy—and my friend James was one of my favorite people for idea-bouncing. We’d drink tea and daydream about what we could create: a vibrant online community, a place for people to connect in a positive way, a new environmental conversation focused on possibility instead of despair. Flipping pessimism to optimism was our goal and our mode of operation.
As the weeks went on and our plans grew more detailed and real, the phrase “the sunny way” started creeping into our conversations. For instance, when James wanted to take up yoga but didn’t have a whole hour to devote to it, he decided to start with 10 minutes. “I’ll just take the first step,” he said. “It’s the sunny way!”
I started looking at life through a sunnier lens, too. As I worked on plans, I sometimes grew discouraged by brick walls that seemed to rise up at inopportune times. But I’d remember what I was up to, which was creating an inclusive, positive space for people to learn and recharge and act. Remembering that opportunities to make things better abound everywhere, not just where I hope to find them, helped me let up on the self-doubt and simply get back to work.
As luck would have it, I couldn’t get the domain name sunny.com (I think it’s owned by the city of Fort Lauderdale, and they are not giving it up). I cast around for a few weeks for a better name—the Sunny Review? Sunny News?—but nothing quite seemed right.
Then, one night, another friend was talking about the Way of the Warrior, the samurai moral code, and it hit me ... The Sunny Way! It works on a few different levels:
The Sunny Way begins where we stand, but it has no ending. We will never run out of puzzles to solve or opportunities to grow. As we’ve discussed before, the nature of this particular universe doesn’t seem to be closure. The game seems to be change, then change some more.
How do we do all this crazy changing? The same way we get anywhere—one step at a time.
Of course, we need to take a lot of steps. But the best way to get anywhere is to have a general idea of the destination, then start the journey. As long as we keep our eyes open and remain flexible enough to change course as needed, we can get to where we want to be.
In our case, there are a lot of obstacles, and the path is unclear off in the distance. But we know the destination—a magnificent, clean, just future that supports all life—and we know the general way to get there—stop using fossil fuels, eliminate the concept of waste, emulate the elegance of nature. So let’s embrace the attitude, the code, and the path of The Sunny Way and get going.
One final note: In focusing on the positive, we are not trying to sugarcoat or gloss over any realities. Everyone knows things are effed up pretty badly. But we think it’s more effective to put our energy into expanding ideas of what’s possible, rather than lamenting what’s not.
And, really, when I look back over the history of humanity, I see lots of leaps forward that probably seemed impossible at the time. Freeing slaves, enfranchising women, integrating American society—none seemed likely or workable before they became reality.
But some did believe. Some took responsibility. Some took halting steps. Then, as others joined in, the path became clearer. And, together, these heroic individuals expanded the circle of possibility for all humankind.
Those of us who are alive right now are the descendants of these brave souls, and we are challenged with an even larger task. It’s almost as if the new world that wants to emerge is egging us on—C’mon, get to the next level already! Make things as they should be! Figure it out! Daunting, sure, but also HUGELY exciting, don’t you think?
The Sunny Way exists to support, inspire, and connect us as we take on this challenge, and I for one can’t wait to see where the path leads. Can you?
(image by James Jordan via flickr)
Before The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food brought him to a larger audience, Michael Pollan wrote a book called The Botany of Desire, which looks at the relations between humans and four plant species whose genetic success has been determined by the ways that they suit our needs: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. (He discusses similar ideas in his talk on the human relationship with corn in this video.)
Pollan begins with a hypothesis that plants play upon us even as we believe that we are using them for food and beauty: “We have spent the last few thousand years making these species through artificial selection, transforming a tiny, toxic root node into a fat, nourishing potato and a short, unprepossessing wildflower into a fat, nourishing tulip. What is much less obvious, at least to us, is that these plants have, at the same time, been going about the business of remaking us.” There, I thought, is a very intriguing take on our relationship with nature.
Then, there are the off-kilter moments of humor, such as the description from the Marijuana chapter on Pollan’s old cat, Frank, and his little catnip problem: “Every summer evening around five, Frank would lumber into the garden for a happy-hour sniff of Nepeta cataria, or catnip. He would first sniff, then tug at the leaves and proceed to roll around in what seemed to me like paroxysms of sexual ecstasy. Frank would crash-land in the dirt, pick himself up, do a funny little sidestep, then pounce again until, exhausted, he’d go sleep it off in the shade of a tomato plant.” I’ve often thought of this image of poor Frank reacting to the catnip while watching people at parties, and smiled to myself.
I first started to pay attention to where my food was coming from after reading The Botany of Desire. While the author clearly has a certain point of view, Pollan wooed me to the greenmarket not with a populist guilt trip, but with his combination of beautiful language, history, scientific approach, and humor. The book doesn’t beat me over the head with what is wrong, but reminds me of the loveliest of what is right.
When he describes some of the hundreds of apple varieties that used to be available in America, I felt driven to explore the less-familiar apples at the greenmarket. For years I had thought of apples as a boring winter fruit, until I discovered the wonderfully spicy winesap.
This is just one small example of the way this book made me want to commit with my money and time towards a positive vision. Out of all of the books that I’ve thought would change me, this is the one that produced a sustained result.
Pollan isn’t trying to convert you—he doesn’t have to try; he just can’t help himself. When I compare boring red delicious apples to the unusual types I’ve sought out since reading The Botany of Desire, it’s a no-brainer which one I’d rather eat. Ditto for the Monsanto newleaf vs. peculiar blue or red potatoes, as described in the potato chapter. It’s not a question of guilt, but pleasure—I am intrigued enough to search out better, more unique food, which is native to my area and produced as part of the local economy. Everybody wins.
One last anecdote: On Avenue of the Americas, I once saw an unusual tulip that looked very similar to his description of the tulips with color breaks that once incited tulipmania in Holland. These tulips had supposedly disappeared except for freak incidents, so I hurried back the next day to photograph this rare specimen.
Pollan’s fascinating, upside-down way of looking at the relationship between humans and plants charmed and disarmed me, and got me seeing everything around me from a completely new perspective. I can’t think of any other book that would inspire me to seek out strange new fruits, or run around the city photographing flowers.
Which books have altered the way you see the world and inspired you to do slightly crazy things? Let us know in the comments.
(image by jslander via flickr)
This is a bit of a newsreel about things I have come across in my part of the universe just this past week in relationship to climate change. There is so much information out there—both scary and encourging. I am actually beginning to wonder what our view and sense of the world would be, if those good, inspiring bits of news were put together in the same way and given the same weight as the frightening ones are. What IS the real picture???
There is an incredible amount of innovation and research going on, and much of it right here, in my own (Massachusetts) backyard:
... From a young friend studying Chemical Engineering at U Amherst, I heard about her team’s efforts to turn forestry and agricultural waste into biofuel.
... Also here in Massachusetts there are wind turbines being tested by a company called Flodesign. They resemble jet-engines in their design and are three to four times as efficient, especially in lower wind, and significantly cheaper to build than the traditional wind turbines. The company just won two prizes (from MIT and from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative) for their development.
... Jim Hansen, the NASA scientist and one of the most outspoken voices for urgent climate action, came to give a talk up the road in Lexington. The material he presented wasn’t new, but what an opportunity to ask questions of one of the most knowledgeable people on this subject in the world—there were many more than he could get around to answering. (Strangely, there were very few young people in the audience of about 700 people.)
... Have you heard about the Automotive X-Prize? In a 2009 competition, the X Foundation will award 10 million dollars to the builders of a fully marketable car, built to all relevant standards, that gets 100 mpg. Lots of information about this online: Progressive is keeping a blog about the contest, and Popular Mechanics has done a thorough analysis of the early contenders.
... This is fake news, but still good for inspiration: Google News the way we want it to be! Via Worldchanging.
... And finally, the other day, while chatting with a woman who runs a community garden here in Pittsfield (manosunidas), we discovered that both of us had spent time in Bogota, Columbia—I worked there in 1983. “It’s changed so much since then,” she said. I was bracing myself for some bad news, but she didn’t have any. In fact, Bogota, the city of thugs and drugs has started to become, over the past decade, a model green city that many look to as an example. They actually have the longest single purpose bicycle lane system in….the world!
Yes, biking! My car is getting more and more breaks and so is my wallet and my stomach since I am not following every whimsical thought and desire to drive to the store, 3 miles down the road! Thanks for the article, Megan, about the relationship between individual action and systemic change! And maybe here is something for the city dwellers among you!
(image by Roberto Garcia-S via flickr)
Okay, so I didn’t fall down seven times this week, but I did eat out a few times. These were mostly planned occasions, with the exception of Sunday brunch, which wasn’t even that great for the cash, honestly, and Sunday dinner, General Tso’s Fake Chicken, ordered from my favorite Chinese place. It was delish, as always, and the packaging is reusable.
The Sunny Way is a self-flagellation-free zone—just keep trying, right?—so I won’t dwell on my slips. Instead I want to talk a bit about the stuff that is working great.
Last week we had a pounding middle-of-the-night rainstorm in New York, in which I laid awake in my bed praying for the survival of my seedlings. They all came out okay with the exception of the beets. I figured out why—the beet pot was under a broken part of the rain gutter—so I moved it and am hoping they will bounce back. If not, I still have time to replant them—they are ready to harvest in about 60 days.
Otherwise, everything’s growing wonderfully. My spring mix lettuces are even turning different colors—it’s such fun to see the little red and light green and dark green leaves start to form.
The worms are happy as well. Every few days I push aside the bedding in their bin to find them happily wriggling around making useful soil out of my fruit and veggie clippings. I see a few fruit flies here and there, but have heard about some great tips for battling them, and have started freezing my scraps before putting them in the bin, so I hope to have that managed.
This week I have a couple of meals out planned—tomorrow night The Sunny Way will be at Greendrinks New York interviewing people about their fabulous environmental projects and there will be food there (included in the cover price). Wednesday I have lunch with a dear friend. Friday I will be hanging out and having dinner with some other friends.
Other than that, I have a fridge full of fruits and vegetables and a pantry full of Indian foods so I should be good to go. I’ve been really fond of green smoothies lately—just throw some frozen fruit and some fresh greens in your blender with a little water. Bananas + spinach is my favorite. It’s a great way to get some nutritiously dense stuff into you while also cooling off.
How are you doing with your challenge?
(image by faster panda kill kill via flickr)
It was a gloomy and rainy week here in Minnesota, so the garden planting didn’t happen until Saturday instead of Monday as I had hoped. I guess that’s the thing about nature. It doesn’t really care what your schedule is.
Saturday morning the girls were overtired and I needed a break so I decided to plant the garden myself. I decided to use the square foot gardening method since it seemed easier for a beginner like me and good for a small plot like mine. Here’s how I laid it out. There is a fence on the back of most of my plot, so I put the climbing veggies there. The only small thing I put in the back row was a couple of marigolds and that is because that particular square was a bit irregular in size and I knew marigolds would fit.
| Summer squash | Zucchini | Lemon cucumber | Lemon cucumber | Snap pea | Snap pea | Tomato | Marigold |
| Bell pepper | Bush cucumber | Bush cucumber | Tomato | Ground cherry | Gypsy pepper | Tomato | Tomato |
| Leeks | Leeks | Purple carrots | Lettuce | Thai basil | Parsley | Chives | Flowers |
| Scallions | Carrots | Purple carrots | Lettuce | Thai basil | Cilantro | Dill | Flowers |
There is also a patch of lemon balm growing in the middle of my path. I left it because it isn’t in a spot that will be too in the way and I like lemon balm for tea. The chives, dill and flowers were left from last year’s tenant and they were in almost perfect square foot garden formation, which makes me wonder if that person used this method too.
It took me about two hours to plant it, but that included a lot of time pondering what should go where. I tried to think about what we like to eat when deciding how much of which vegetables to plant. We eat tomatoes like they’re going out of style, and I want some for canning and freezing, so I planted more of those.
The lemon cucumbers were a favorite of both my girls when they were smaller. I am friends with the Dervaes family of Path to Freedom and we would sometimes buy lemon cucumbers from them. They would usually be eaten within 5 minutes of getting them home. We also like regular cucumbers and pickles.
Cheyenne is going to freak over the purple carrots, so I planted more of those than I did of the orange carrots. We all like leeks, so I made sure we had quite a few of those. I may have more Thai basil than I need, but I do like to eat a lot of spring rolls on hot summer days. I limited the summer squash and zucchini as everyone has told me that they are supernaturally prolific here.
The garden as a whole is looking really pretty. The lilacs are in bloom and the perennial garden near the street is blooming. It’s such a nice little oasis in the city.
(image by Lorri37 via flickr)
In which a Country Mama moves to the big city with her new baby, freaks out, and figures out how to deal, moving past the freak-out and into the inspired creation of a future that works.
I try not to be one of those totally freaked out over-reactive moms that everyone is worried I’ll be. At the same time, I’m 38 years old, which means I’ve had plenty of time to cultivate my intelligence about the world and where I stand on the many issues facing humans at this juncture.
Maybe my world-sense age has less to do with age (I’ve met tons of young moms who are pushing the edge with cloth diapering, elimination communication, co-sleeping, nursing, vaccinations, etc.) and more to do with attitude—namely a freely-expressed difference of opinions and impatience with grandparents and their two cents. Nonetheless, I try not be too controlling and reactive with my crunchy green dispositions.
Late last summer, when the Munchkini was about 8 months old, I heard about the fiasco with the recall of those collectible train-sets for toddlers. Lead in the paint, made in China. I guess those Chinese manufacturers didn’t get the memo about the lead-thing and babies. Oh, the irony, I say to myself. But I didn’t have those trains, and although the Munchkini puts everything in her mouth, I let it go.
Then I heard about off-gassing plastic baby bottles and the little rubber bath duckies made out of vinyl, a serious neuro-toxin, which the Munchkini has been fond of gumming. Holy Crap! I say. Enough is Enough. Time to stop worrying about being uptight and to get rigorously compulsive!!!
First step: get rid of all the crap. All that plastic junk that people have gifted from Target, Babies ‘R Us, the Dollar Store? The neon psychedelic bunny, all the plastic, anything from China with paint? Into the garbage. What remained were the lovely natural items that I’d been collecting here and there. The whole playroom suddenly shifted in appearance. With all the glaring colors and weird stuff gone, the room came together in a simple natural vibe.
Next: Her First Birthday. This scrumptious baby was born a week before Christmas—yep, she’s a Christmas Elf. Her dad’s family is urban to the core—born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Being Italian, they are big on gifts.
Scenario #1: I don’t say anything and they all bring lots of plastic, bleepy, battery-operated toys that have limited functions that the girl will play with for a week before moving on and that I will gnash my teeth over, wondering what’s in them and what it could be doing to my girl.
Scenario #2: I research the Internet using Mothering Magazine as a resource and find several wonderful imagination-play Waldorf-inspired all-natural, small family American-made toy sites.
I decided that the Munchkin’s health was more important than ruffling a few family feathers, chose my favorite—A Toy Garden—and created a gift registry under the girl’s name. I emailed the invitation to the girl’s party with the registry information and waited for the response, namely from Grandma, who was very upset because she didn’t understand it. “It’s just pieces of wood, what will people think, they won’t know what to get!” She subtly refused to use the registry, and so I gave her a couple other options (she opted for a trike).
The party itself proved educational for all of us. Not only was the Munchkini delighted with her toys—Grandma and the rest of the skeptical family were delighted watching her delight! So, for the price of weathering a couple of hippie jokes, we got wonderful gorgeous safe toys for the little one, no returning-stuff hassle, and slightly more open minds in the extended family. No one wasted their money on stuff that I would donate or return, and our little play area is now glowing with special items that are open-ended (imagination-based), so they will grow with our play for years to come. And she can chew chew chew to her hearts content without me having constant maternal nightmares. Not a bad tradeoff in my opinion.
There is enough toxicity all around us, especially here in the density of our current urban living situation. The more vigilant I can be about cutting out and managing the toxicity levels in our home, the more I believe I support her little body in handling the stuff I can’t do anything about (like jet-fuel soot).
And, in my opinion, when addressing toxicity on a physical level in the mini-world of my home, there is a holistic macrocosm of many dimensions at work. Something that is toxic for the girl’s body is often made in a way that is toxic for the planet—both in materials used and in the human and commercial systems that create the item. So when I step away from participating in that level of commercialism I end up bringing my family into an emerging world of local, low-impact, small family businesses, organic, sustainable, and nurturing for body and spirit. What could be a better model for my daughter and all our children, who are growing up in the new world we create for them?
Next time: The Clothes
(image by Seth W. via flickr)
When I first picked up Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, I was a little put off by the author’s use of the term “nature deficit disorder.” Just because something is bad doesn’t make it a disorder, but he did acknowledge that the term is not a medical diagnoses, but a way of explaining a phenomenon. I get that. Sometimes you need a concise way to convey a concept and “Nature Deficit Disorder” does get the point across.
I heartily agree with the basic premise of the book, that children spending time in nature is critical for both the development of children and the preservation of the environment. You don’t have to be an expert to realize that time spent in nature has a profound effect on children.
I wasn’t raised in an outdoorsy family, and yet memories of my experiences in the natural world rank as some of the best, most vivid memories of my childhood. They introduced in me the concept that the world was much bigger, more intricate and amazing than I had ever thought possible. They inspired awe.
To me this was the most important concept in the book. The amazing sense of wonder, awe and curiosity that children are introduced to through their experiences in nature are invaluable—both essential components of happy, successful lives and cornerstones of ingenuity.
While it’s easy to see how time spent in nature is good for children, it may be harder to see how it is good for the environment. The basic idea is that if you love something, you will strive to protect it. You will want to understand it better. You will care for it. Only firsthand experience can foster that kind of love and passion. It’s all well and good that you and I are passionate about protecting the environment, but it can’t stop with us.
It’s cheesy and cliche, I know, but today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. If we lock them away in our homes and schools, we make “saving the environment” an abstract concept like “saving the starving children” was when you were six and didn’t clean your plate. You may pay lip service to an abstract concept. You may even donate a little money to an abstract concept, but you don’t alter your life for it the way you do for something you love.
The one thing I felt this book lacked was concrete ideas about what you can do today to get your kids out in nature. There were a few mentions of fishing and camping, but most of the solutions were about organizing our urban landscapes to include natural areas. That is a worthy goal, to be sure, but I think parents need solutions that work within our existing framework too.
My husband and I do a decent job of getting our kids out in nature, but this book inspired me to want to do more. I checked out the website associated with this book, but I didn’t find much in the way of ideas there either.
In my search I stumbled on a few other sites that seemed to have some great ideas. Here are a few to get you started:
Green Hour is a campaign by the National Wildlife Federation to give your kids one hour a day of unstructured interaction with the natural world. Their activities, Discovery Journal and forums had some great ideas.
The National Resource Defense Center’s link page for kids has lots of fun stuff to check out here. I especially enjoyed the Environmental Club Projects on the EPA Student Center website.
EcoKids Canada is a great site with homework help resources and online games for kids to play (although the games might be counterproductive to the goal of getting your kids outside!) The coolest things on this site are the Eco Field Guides, where kids can learn about insects, fish, mammals, birds, etc. It would be a lot of fun to read about creatures and plants native to your area, then go outside and find and observe them.
Even though Last Child in the Woods left me wanting more, I’m inspired to make the commitment to get my kids outside as much as possible. And so far, we are doing great—living across the street from a gorgeous park helps a lot!
What are your favorite ways of getting outside with or without kids?
(image by CLMinc via flickr)
The last few years, I’ve spent a significant chunk of time educating myself and trying to alter my own habits to be more environmentally friendly (as well as more frugal, and healthier to boot—more on this happy triangle in the next few days).
There’s no doubt that planting seeds and watching them grow is a lot of fun, and a much better hobby than watching TV as though it were a second job (which I used to do). And I feel good about the other choices I’ve made in my life, such as going mostly vegetarian, buying mostly organic, and living without a car.
In fact, if everyone made choices like these, we would be better off in terms of food and energy independence. But at the same time, I realize that victory gardens and driving less are not going to get us all the way to the magnificent future we envision. To make it over the hump, we need large-scale, systemic changes to the way we design and produce and consume and govern and live.
So then why do I eat beans and veggies, walk everywhere, and recycle like a fiend? If these changes aren’t enough anyway, why bother? There are several good reasons, I think.
First off, I need to be able to look myself in the eye and not be ashamed. After all I’ve read and learned and discussed, eating factory farmed meat and driving everywhere would just feel wrong. If we want to continue to grow and develop, we need to live up to the highest knowledge we have attained so far. So my day-to-day activities need to reflect what I’ve come to understand.
This is not to say that everyone’s day-to-day activities need to reflect what I’ve come to understand. We each have our own decisions to make, and I’m not in the business of telling people what to do, or looking down my nose at their choices. (I stopped being Hermione Granger a long time ago!)
But, this leads us to the second reason that individual action is important. Whenever we undertake activities that are a bit outside the norm, we stand as an example that it can be done, and it gives us an opportunity to share what we’ve discovered with others in a relevant, personal, and powerful way.
For instance, last Friday my company spent the morning volunteering in Central Park, cleaning and painting benches and fences. That was the same day I was going to pick up my worm bin, and I was excited about it. So when people asked me what my plans were for the weekend, I told them about my worms. Some folks thought it was really cool; others surprised me by having advice and stories about their own efforts at composting.
Of course, some of my colleagues looked at me like I was crazy for voluntarily bringing worms into my home, but that’s cool, too. These folks know me and know that I’m not a total kook. So my actions stand as one more drop in the bucket of what’s possible. Maybe the next time they hear about worm composting they will have something to contribute to the conversation: “Oh yeah, this girl I work with does that!” Seed planted = mission accomplished.
The last and possibly most important reason that individual action matters is what it does to the individual who undertakes the project. I have been changed by what I’ve learned and what I’ve done with that knowledge. Three years ago, before I got all up in this eco thing, the idea of going off the grid and urban homesteading would have sounded nice, but very far out of the realm of possibility for my life. Now, they are very real options that I am considering in the near future.
Every step we take widens the circle of what is possible. Today we recycle; tomorrow maybe we grow food on our rooftops, or live in beautiful communities where we don’t need cars, or use tiny little antennas to heat, cool, and replace power plants. There’s no telling where we will end up as we investigate and experiment and fail and succeed. But in order to get anywhere, we need to get started. And individual lifestyle changes are where most of us can have the most impact immediately—both on the planet and on ourselves.
So please don’t think that recycling and buying green and paying attention to food miles are going to save the world. But please also don’t wait another minute to open your mind by looking at your habits, deciding which could use a re-vamp, and committing yourself to making changes.
This is why we are running challenges at The Sunny Way, and a large part of why we started this site to begin with—not because changing our habits is THE solution, but because opening our minds is. We need to support one another as we do the hard work of expanding the circle of possibilities in our own lives, and therefore in the world at large. As individuals, we can make changes in our own lives, and we can also choose to come together to change things on a larger scale. Stay tuned to The Sunny Way for both kinds of challenges.
(image by STOUTCHIE via flickr)
