Christmas Presents

Ahh, the season is upon us. This weekend, after everyone stuffs themselves on turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes (mmmhmm, my favorite) and a variety of desserts, Americans will do what they do best. Shop! Black Friday (what an ominous name) and the newer Cyber Monday are the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Although, I have already heard Christmas music in Meijer and seen signs for the Biggest Sale Of The Year! That point aside, patriotic Americans will dutifully cram in to shopping malls and department stores to spend every last cent on Tickle-Me-Elmos, video games, jewelry and iPads.

I am sitting in my apartment procrastinating homework for my Media & the Law class by thinking about what I want to buy my family for Christmas presents. I was also thinking about my efforts to reduce consumption this semester and wondering how well I have done so far, when it hit me. Why should I participate in the consumerism-driven circus of the next few weeks? Do all of my friends and family really need brand new items? Why don't I purchase Christmas presents at second-hand shops? There a tons of cute little stores that sell used items - items that are perfectly usable. I could even not buy things for some people at all, I could use my newly developed photography skills and make personal gifts for each person.

I have to say...I am excited about this idea! It gives me a chance to give people more personal gifts than just another piece plastic-eye-candy from a department store! :D

Apartment composting....in the winter?

We have a garbage disposal in my apartment, which is a new appliance for me. At first, I really enjoyed it. No more throwing food scraps in garbage! I didn't realize that the scraps just went into the waste water for the sanitation plant to clean out and send to the landfill anyway. I had previously brushed off the idea of a composting area while I lived in an apartment, but I am revisiting it again. Apparently there are lots of people who compost while in an apartment:http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/apartment-compost-guide.html

I've done some research and I can either do vermicomposting (as system of turning food waste into potting soil by use of worm) or regular composting, which uses microorganisms.  Neither seem completely feasible in an apartment, especially since we don't have a lot of hidey-holes to stick a stinky bucket of rotting food. I could use our balcony, but I'm not sure how that works in the winter. Apparently, you should not let the compost pile freeze (especially if you have worms!).  They suggest insulating the compost pile, but that doesn't seem feasible on a balcony.

So if I can't compost on the balcony during the winter, here is the question for now: should I wait to start composting until Spring or should I coerce my roommates into letting me compost in the apartment? Opinions?

The power of change

I am inspired when I read or hear of stories of societal change. Stories like the effect of the condom campaign in Thailand (that's a link to a pdf file) or the dramatic increase in wind power as a source of energy in Denmark. In my lifetime societal change has always been fast. The advent of the Internet, cell phones and numerous other technological advances have all happened in my lifetime! I have lived a short 21 years, but already I have seen incredible change. I can only imagine the kind of change my parents or my grandparents have seen.

Given my experience with all this incredibly fast change, it is a struggle for me to hear so much about needed environmental change and see so little being done. Perhaps it's because I am now old enough to be conscious of the change as it is starting and the slow beginnings make me anxious to see more in the future, but I feel as if this movement is crawling. The three pillars of society that encourage change as discussed in our reading by Garder, "Accelerating the Shift to Sustainability" don't seem to be contributing like they should. I am unimpressed with the government - all I can see is partisan arguments and special interests in control. Businesses seem to be thinking in the short term. There are examples of businesses who have heeded the call to go green, but they are in the minority. And civilians, as far as I can tell are valuing quick and easy over long-term benefits. I, myself, have only just woken up to the fact that I need to make some sacrifices to help push change along.

With all these stalled efforts in the three main sectors of our society, how will change ever start? Doesn't at least one sector need to make a big push to convince the others to come along for the ride. In this one area I am feeling pessimistic. I have seen very little to convince me the government or businesses at large will make short-term sacrifices. Indeed, I haven't seen much of that in the civilian sector either. Alas, right now all I can do is lead by example.

Thinking long term

It occurs to me that any changes I make during my sustainability experiment are essentially useless if I don't continue them beyond this semester. Real change will only come from a lifestyle change. The changes I implement in these couple of months need to be practical for the long term.

The simple changes, like switching over to CFL bulbs is obviously long term, but what about my new commitment to shop as much as possible at the East Lansing Food Co-op? I can't just shop at the co-op a few times this semester and then continue on with life feeling better about myself. I need to make a commitment to myself to institute this change not just here, as a college student in East Lansing, but in any situation. Of course, this could just be all talk. How can I be sure I will follow through? Using some of the methods of changing behavior I discussed in earlier posts, I can be more sure of my commitment lasting throughout my life. But really, I think I need to make these changes a part of me. I need to become a person who buys local food rather than a person who believes buying local food would be good if it wasn't so expensive. I need to shift things around in my budget so there is room for this new change and simply make it so.  This is my new goal. Instead of a vague goal to become more sustainable, I have a goal to change my lifestyle and eat local food. I will do this in whatever city I live in, because I will make it work. Just like I find a way to make rent work, or find a way to make buying gas for my car work. I will find a way to make buying local food work.

I'm Co-operative!

Last night I shopped at the East Lansing Food Co-op! I like it, I decided. It was pretty interesting to see where all my food came from and kind of odd to imagine that the chicken was all from a farm here in Michigan. It was almost uncomfortable feeling closer to my food. I hadn't realized how far I had separated the chicken in my freezer from the bird on American farms.

As I shopped, I made a list of my apartment's commonly bought items and their prices. I will show them to my roommates and we will decided what we could buy at the Co-op and what we can't afford to buy there. Milk, for example, was too expensive for the amount we drink. But I appreciated the flour, cornstarch, granola and some pastas that were available in bulk. The vegetable supply was about what I expected. They weren't as pretty and shiny as those you find in Meijer (I picked through the bananas a bit) but there wasn't anything wrong with them. I am just used to my vegetables looking like a piece of plastic.

They also have a nice line of natural cleaning supplies, which I might have to take advantage of when we run out of our current supplies. The people were friendly and the food selection was pretty nice. All in all, I am happy and hope to continue shopping there!

I want an acre

After reading "One Acre" by Joy Williams I have decided it sounds like something I would like to do. Williams bought an acre of land on the edge of the Everglades and just let it grow. She had a house there to live in, but it was a humble house and she made few improvements on it. Eventually, she walled the property in along the road and nature grew wild. From her descriptions, it sounded like a very beautiful place.

It isn't just the beauty that attracts me, it is the idea of creating an area where nature doesn't have to be managed. It can just be. There aren't very many places like that anymore in this world. I understand the reason for that, I really do. I am human and I would like to sustain our population because I believe there are some wonderful things about the population. But as a consequence of population growth, the land around us is affected. Throughout this whole experiment of mine, I have realized, practicality aside, that it saddens me to see so much altered for our civilization.

Protecting just a small area from human change and letting it go through its own natural changes seems like a very nice way of giving back. In a way, it is not actively doing anything, instead it is actively doing nothing except what is necessary. Just as Williams realized, the most important part is making sure it is protected even after I leave it. She searched for the right person to sell it too and I would have to do something similar. I hope I get the chance to facilitate a piece of pure nature.

Sustain-a-what?

Today while at CVS Pharmacy I purchased Organic Wear blush and bronzer. I wasn't planning on purchasing green makeup until absolutely necessary, but I decided to buy it after discovering my prescriptions were suddenly covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and therefore only five dollars! But this got me to thinking, how is buying this green make-up making my life more sustainable? What is sustainability anyway?

Merriam-webster.com tells me that the definition is "of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged."  This definition, however, doesn't relate directly to my life. Traveling to CVS for supplies doesn't equate to harvesting a resource for me. The resources have already been harvested and I am simply using them. I don't have control over the resources harvested, except through the indirect power of the consumer. So what does sustainability mean specifically in my life? I've thought about it and while I don't have much control over the amount of resources being harvested right now, I do have control over how much of those resources I personally use and how much I "give back" to the planet in the way of recycling and being picky in my product purchases. 

I feel like the majority of the human population is living out of balance in their environment. Most creatures on this planet live balanced existences - if they don't, they soon perish. Nature is the equalizer who calls in the debts owed. I honestly think the theory of natural population control over time has some merit. The laws of nature are harsh and one population can exploit resources for so long before there isn't enough to sustain any population. Already our population is facing distribution and scarcity problems for many. Whenever I think about this, I think about the people of Easter Island. How can that situation not apply to the whole world - an island of resources in space?

The key to a successful population is balance. Give back to the system as much as you take out of it. The residents of Easter Island failed to give back as many trees as they took and they soon ran out of trees. I, personally, do not have the power to guarantee everyone individually will give back to the system as much as they use. I can, however, try and do the same in my life. This is sustainability to me. Giving back as much as I take out. If that means recycling as much as I can and paying a little more for "greener" products, then that is what I will do. I will recycle all of my paper (and there is a LOT of it). I will bug my roommates about turning off lights and unplugging electronics. I will continue to try to balance my lack of funds with my desire to buy local or eco-conscious foods. All of this, not because I actually believe recycling this one can will make that big of a difference in the overall scheme of things (except indirectly, as I discuss in a previous post), but because these acts balance out my equation. I am doing all I personally can, or at least as much as I am currently willing (I am not willing to give up my car quite yet ...). This whole blog is an experiment, really, to see how much more I can give back. Maybe, if I give back enough, it can not only equal out my equation but also someone else's!

The effect of one

Do you ever think about how tiny and infinitesimal you are? My entire life has consisted of Mid-Western Michigan, with a few forays out into the world. While in the midst of a busy day, it is so easy to get caught up in my life and imagine that everything I do has the utmost importance. I have to do this, I have to do that. I make it sound like if I don't do it, everything will come to a screeching halt. But the truth is, only a few people will even notice. My roommates will, because I chatter to them about everything, repeatedly (their patience is amazing). The professor or my boss (or whoever) will notice. My family will know. And that's it. Nobody outside of this tiny little circle in the middle of Michigan will ever know my life was upended (by good or bad circumstances). The things I do have such a small effect on the whole. I suppose it is something like ripples in a lake. Throwing a big rock in the lake will cause ripples to form and disturb everything on the surface, but I am more like a leaf. Or a feather. My life causes some disruption in others in the immediate vicinity, but nobody on the other side of the lake will ever know.


One of my very best friends (shout-out to Shelly!) is studying abroad right now in Belize and she keeps a bunch of people updated on all of her adventures, which are numerous. Reading her emails reminds me of exactly how huge this planet is and how many tiny little feathers are out there causing the tiniest of ripples in their own lakes. Nobody down there will know about my accomplishments and failures.


And then, think even bigger and you realize how all of these people on the whole planet are only a tiny speck of dust on the surface of one humongous lake in the enormity of space.

So my question for today is, do any of my sustainable efforts even matter? In the scheme of things, will changing all of my lightbulbs reduce energy usage in America? Will driving less and biking more reduce the carbon outputs into the atmosphere? Probably not. Nobody except me (and you, the faithful reader) will ever know I did anything. Why should I even try then? Well, for one, because I want to. Because it makes me feel like I am helping, even if my help matters not at all. But also, because I am an optimist. I believe that all around are tiny little feathers on the surface of my metaphorical lake doing their best to help out. And maybe changing one light bulb doesn't matter, but if a lot of people change their one light bulb then maybe we can push out that ripple of change just a little bit farther.

Success and introspection

I have installed CFLs in all but a few light fixtures in my apartment! Plus to save on waste of incandescent bulbs, I am keeping the old bulbs and will be putting them back in the light sockets at the end of my lease. This is also a plus for me since I spent the money on these CFLs and would be taking the savings they provide with me when I leave. That is more of an economical decision rather than an environmental decision, but one must wear many hats.

Also, I have purchased a few green body care products, including face wash, shampoo and toothpaste. I am replacing things as I run out of the product because I don't want to waste what product I already have. I have also decided I will purchase makeup (when I run out of current supplies) from Aveda. Their makeup seems to be good quality and green. The cost is a little more than what I normally buy, but I can probably swing it.

On a semi-unrelated note, I have been thinking about the class this blog is for and the issues discussed in it. I can't seem to decide on a particular issue. Should the human race act as if they are part of nature and everything they do is part of the natural cycle, or should we be cognizant of what we do as separate from the natural cycle? This recent sustainable movement seems to be calling for both at the same time.  All this talk of going green and making changes in our life so our actions don't adversely affect the environment strongly suggests that what we do is separate and bad. Or at least just separate. But at the same time it seems to be culling a following of people who appreciate nature and talk about it as if we were all part of the same cycle, similar to more Eastern types of thought.

Which should it be? Can I legitimately say I am part of nature and the environment when I spend so much of my time online in a virtual world that has nothing to do with nature. But if I follow that train of thought, then we are adversely affecting the world and it is selfish to continue doing so, so I should protect it. But do I want to be separate from my environment? Do I really want to see myself as superior from everything else? 

Is pollution from humans the same or worse than from other species.

If, on the other hand, I decide that I am, along with the rest of my species, simply an overgrown ape altering its environment just like every other creature alters their environment, then changes we make shouldn't matter, right? And I should just continue living, confident in the fact that changes happen anyway, anthropological or not.

I suppose I have found a solution after discussing this in length. Or a solution good enough for a fence-sitter like me. The answer lies in the middle, I think, as it most usually does. Of course we as a species are part of our environment. We can't survive without it, so we have to be affected by it and it affected by us. But, we are different from most species on this planet. We have the power of our brains, which have led us to create such civilizations that no other creature has managed. These civilizations, and the people in them, do have the power to change elements of the planet at large. Small changes, compared to the size of the planet,  but significant none the less. 

So what should we do? Overall, I think the goal of the environmental movement sweeping across the planet (somewhat at least) needs to be altered. "Save the planet!," people cry, but the planet doesn't need saving. It will remain for much longer than we can even imagine. Humans on the other hand, are ridiculously delicate. We depend on a certain set requirements for life on Earth. Clean air, clean water, space to live, enough food. As it turns out, we have the power to destroy not the planet, but ourselves.  If changes aren't made in our actions, then we may just destroy the environment we need to survive.

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey

Today I went through my apartment and checked all of our light bulbs (all 31 of them) to see if I needed to buy CFLs (compact flourescent lights). Of the 31, I need to replace 18. Supposedly our apartment managers (names shall not be mentioned...) have gone through the apartment and made it more energy efficient, but as far as I can tell, they changed the bulbs in the common area and ignored the ones in the back of the apartment. Actually, that is pretty typical of the follow-through in our apartment's office (except for the time I got stung on the butt -- but that's a different story!).  Anyway, the light fixtures were more difficult to check than I thought. A lot of them were sealed really tightly and I had to enlist help from a roommate's boyfriend to do the last one for me. Sadly, reciting the childhood phrase "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" does not mean you can untwist anything!

When will I buy the CFL's, you ask? Considering my schedule in the next week, I have no clue! But very soon! Or ... actually, maybe after my next paycheck. Finances are looking pretty slim after that Sam's Club run.

I need to come up with future projects to further this experiment, so here are a few I have thought of (with a little help from David Bach's book Go Green, Live Rich):
--Use greener make-up. I have always heard about all the toxic chemicals in make-up (here is an article from the Huggington Post) and David Bach says there are affordable brands of toxic-free make-up, so why not? Plus, aren't a lot of them tested on animals?
--Unplug appliances. I know this one is supposed to be easy, but my outlet is behind my desk! I can't reach it without contorting myself and shifting half the furniture in my bedroom around. I wondered if surge protectors still use ghost energy when switched off, but I think they do. There are, of course, special surge protectors you can buy...if you have extra $$$ to spend on a new surge protector. Also, does this extend to things like the living room lamps? Because I can see my roommates getting frustrated if I start unplugging those regularly. On the plus side, even though I use my coffee pot daily, I unplug it all the time!

I'll let you know more when I am struck with another genius idea!