For the past two weeks I’ve been attending the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development. I’ve listened to in-depth discussions of everything from pesticides and fertilizer to mining and waste management. All the latest updates tell us the frightening truth we already know, but simply refuse to act upon in any meaningful way: our current way of life is flatly unsustainable, and if we don’t change our ways, the earth will soon be uninhabitable.
It’s not that “no one is doing anything about the degradation of the environment”—it’s just that 99% of the population (in the developed countries that are causing the most damage) aren’t doing enough. According to Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity Without Growth, the damage to the earth is so far advanced that if we want to stop or reverse the effects, we not only have to stop damaging the environment, we actually have to do the opposite—actively improve it. But that’s step two, and we don’t even see the need for step one. Not good.
One presentation really struck me. While the scientists bewailed the metric tons of carbon dioxide and the tens of thousands of ingredients in pesticides, Erik Assadourian of WorldWatch, deliberately avoided big numbers and fear-inducing facts. He knows that, for many, what is happening to the environment is overwhelming, almost incomprehensible, causing mental shut-down and inaction. He spared us the science, but his prescription for our ailing planet was perhaps the most revolutionary. Assadourian advocates for the transformation of our culture, so that living sustainably feels as normal as living in our currently consumer-driven culture. Shorter showers, recycling and buying organic aren’t going to cut it anymore. The problem is systemic and results from the status quo lifestyle.
Juliet Schor of Boston College noted that in 1991, the average American purchased 33 items of clothes per year. Fourteen years later, in 2005, the average had more than doubled to 69. She attributes this to the rise of “Fast Fashion”—we get things more often, wear them fewer times and get rid of them far quicker than in the past. We suffer a pathological obsession with new electronics and gadgets, the next “must-have” item. We trade up cell phones and computers before the shine has worn off. We just don’t seem to make the connection that for every single thing that is produced (and tossed), there is a consequence.
Our appetite is also a problem. We like avocados and tomatoes in December, strawberries and apples in February. We like cheap meat and eggs year round. Schor does say that the food community is one area where sustainability is making great strides, but still it’s not enough.
Yes, great responsibility lies with government, to control the use and after-effects of nitrogen-rich fertilizers, to concentrate on alternative energy sources and to put the kibosh on unchecked profit-seeking Big Business (whatever the environmental cost). But we can’t push all the responsibility off onto someone else. The onus is on you, me and everyone else on the planet. If we stopped buying these things, there would be no market for crappy meat or roses grown in hothouses in Kenya (flown to the US in refrigerated jets!). They produce it because we buy it. We want it. We think we need it. How do we teach ourselves and our children to change our destructive appetites in a consumerist culture?
I came home from this particularly powerful session last week and said to Andy, “We have to do more.” His response was surprisingly quick and defensive, “What else do you want to do? We recycle. We eat vegetarian two days a week. We buy mostly organic produce and meat raised with standards. We don’t own a car and we use public transport.” True, I thought. But none of these things are particularly difficult. We recycle because our building has a place to put glass and paper/cardboard. We eat vegetarian two days a week (not a bad start) but that’s not hard either. I’m a good cook and we hardly miss the meat (but we sure do enjoy it the other five days a week). And we don’t have a car because we live in New York City. Just two months ago, when we didn’t think we’d be living in the city, we were standing in the GMC show room drooling over the 2010 Terrain.
The fact that there are easy ways to live more sustainably is good. But the problem is, that’s usually where it stops. The minute it makes life more difficult or inconvenient, we’re not interested. We justify it to ourselves.
I don’t imagine that one blog post will change the world, but that’s never been the way things change. The world changes . . . one person at a time. And then if we’re lucky we hit a critical mass and universal change becomes inevitable. We can change now, or we can change later (when the picture looks a lot grimmer and there is no other option), but ultimately, we will have to change. I vote for now.
I am not perfect. Far from it. I love my dishwasher, love paper towels, love a good bargain on a cheap pair of jeans and sometimes (in a pinch) buy Perdue. I’m trying to figure it out too. What are your thoughts? your ideas? What are you doing to live more sustainably? What do you find are your biggest challenges? What don’t you think you could live without? What are the alternatives?
I think you’ve brought up a particularly interesting topic. I’m a mom of two, with one more on the way, on a fairly limited income. I recently made the switch to cloth diapers during the day, partly for the saving of money and partly for the garbage reduction. We’re starting our first garden this year. We only have one car, and use public transportation to make up the difference. But this is more due to our income, rather than the environment. We don’t buy organic food, because it’s too expensive and the same follows for the humane meat. We do compost in the spring-fall, but it freezes in the winter. And we recycle what plastic, etc. the city lets us. So I guess my point here is that we are aware of the environment and want to live responsibly, but are limited by the feasibility and economics of the options, especially because we have young children. I too would like to know what I can implement to reduce my family’s impact on the environment.
maggie, great thoughts! unfortunately, it is up to the individual, and most individuals won’t go for it because, as you stated, the inconvenience. we are a selfish lot.
mike and i were macrobiotic for several years, wore mostly cotton, and never shopped in malls, only second hand stores, yard sales and an occasional K-mart adventure. we didn’t cook in a microwave, buy frozen canned or otherwise processed foods. no eggs, no dairy, no meat unless it was in the winter and it was to build strength and it was organic. i went to macrobiotic cooking classes, which were not because i couldn’t cook, but rather, to get the inspiration from others to keep going. i attended a lecture by ice cream heir, John Robbins and bought his book, “Diet for a New America,” which was before it’s time really. i had my children in birthing centers without anesthesia, raised them macrobiotically as well. the “trouble” began once they were in public school, with other kids who ate McDonalds, cupcakes, candy, ice cream and at sleepovers in McMansions with people who had more than they would ever need. I can’t say we lost the war, but we lost many battles, and have been left with scars, such as allergies, the disease of “more” and several extra pounds, several less dollars. our kids are grown and make their own choices. They are realizing what they eat affects how they look and feel and also how they view the bigger picture.
all of this is to say I, like most people in the US, KNOW what to do, what is right, what is fundamentally nourishing to our bodies, minds, souls and to the planet, but we need to do it in community. we are not meant to do these things alone. the nuclear family is part of the problem. seek out others who are living and eating the way that is best. Cut out sugar. completely – it is a spiritual weapon forged against us by the same folks who brought us heroin back in the day, and continue to sell it to us in the west because they have us hooked. We here in America have perfected genetically modified corn and have added it to everything that is processed – literally. It’s not a complete sugar, but a frankenfood that destroys health moreso than white sugar! It weakens the immune system, makes us lethargic, it is highly addictive, much worse than heroin; chemically, sugar is the ingredient in nicotene that makes cigarettes so difficult to quit; alcohol boils down to sugar. just get rid of it. i challenge you to do a cooking series that does not contain white sugar, white flour, margarine or hydrogenated vegetable oil, alcohol… it can be done and it can be delicious! you are in a position to teach… sustaining the earth begins with sustaining our bodies. our bodies are God’s temple – why would we offer our Creator something polluted and weak and diseased and obese? if i had to choose between a clean, beautiful, healthy, vibrant, alive temple or the one next door which was filthy on the inside, i wonder which one i would choose. we are what we eat. after a few days on a raw or macrobiotic (polar opposites, but both health giving and leave out the processed sugars and grains), energy comes back, clarity comes returns and a desire to live simply and think globally permeates. do this in community and you have a movement. start a movement and you have power. power submitted to God and led by Him leads to freedom. it’s quite simple really! But oh so difficult. It starts with the food.
Mags, I hear you LOUD and clear. This is exactly what I’ve been thinking and reading about lately.
We can no longer separate the politics of the environment from our ‘private’ lives of food, clothes and cars. Politics become intimate and personal REAL fast as we start thinking of the kind of world we are making for ourselves and leaving for our children. It’s actually quite terrifying. Furthermore, as a Christian, I know (even if I don’t want to admit) what the Bible says about being good stewards of the earth we’ve been given. I’ve been reading some interesting theology that suggests we expand the concept of ‘our neighbor’ to include the whole planet. What would ‘loving our neighbor as ourselves’ look like then?
And I just keep waiting for someone to tell us what this oil spill in the Gulf is going to do for the world, but you’re right things are looking grim.
I hate to be so down on our usually light and fun website, but I think this is an important place for people who love to cook and eat to start thinking and talking and sharing about how to do it better.
This weekend, Tony and I drove up to a family farm in northern Connecticut. We got to meet the cows and pigs and chickens and see that they are living happy, healthy lives on hundreds of acres of idyllic farmland. And we got to talk to the farmers about how and why they raise their animals the way they do. We plunked down $82.48 and loaded our cooler with a lot LESS meat and eggs than you’d get for that price at Stop and Shop.
For grad students, 82 dollars is A LOT of money. But, we’ve decided that we need to do this. We cannot eat meat from any other places.
Last night we had sauteed cabbage and Mexican-spiced rice and beans for dinner. The meal was delicious even though there was no meat. We simply just can’t afford monetarily or environmentally to eat it more than a few times a week now.
Heather raises some interesting questions about money, too. What are we to do on a limited budget? Tony and I can spend that kind of money precisely because we don’t have children. I live in a small apartment, I recycle, I joined a CSA, I often turn the water off when I am soaping up or shampooing in the shower, I rarely drive, and I buy almost no clothes or other goods. But I don’t have a space to garden or compost.
Please do share what you all are thinking (even if it means telling us you hate what we’ve written), I am anxious for any more ideas.
You’ve echoed the line from the movie Food, Inc. that really stuck with me: we have the chance to make a difference three times a day (or every time we eat). My local grocery has started stocking mackerel and sardines, and it’s because people were asking for it. But there’s still so much educating to be done –I still see Chilean Sea Bass on menus. It’s not just not buying Tyson or non-local roses, but also asking retailers to stock local flowers and poultry.
Maggy I love your post! We eat meat about 2-3 times a week, I consignment shop for most everything.,we expanded the garden this year and we try really hard to live by Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I could do better on my recycling especially when away from home. I should can vegetables during the summer, there is no excuse. I would like to see a recycling bin set up for old plastic toys no longer played with. That would make my year! The monkeys know that we will not allow them to be men of the “Gotta Have it Now” generation. It will not kill them to wait before purchasing something and most times they end up changing their minds. My oldest will not be getting a cell phone until he has a job and can pay for it himself. Needless to say he is the only one in his middle school without one.
I like what you wrote about Assadourian. I often wonder what more we could do and he seems to be on the right track. We can live the way our grandparents did and still enjoy our technological advances. You have given me food for thought on what I can give up. Doing so may seem make my life a bit more hectic but worth it in the long run and I guarantee once I do it will not seem like such a bother after all 🙂
Thanks,
TR
Great post! We can all do more and it is good to have constant reminders. I don’t eat meat, we carpool when we can, plant our own garden, try to eat locally, recycle, etc…but you are right, we can always do more. I will keep on trying to improve, even when it may be hard. Every little change helps.
We need to get active an hold the people we elected feet to the fire! I wish it was one party but, it isn’t! Just look at who is incharge of the FDA in D.C.. What we are giving the kids in school is criminal! Follow the money! For every outbreak bad food more laws are wanted. Be Very Careful of What You Wish For? The small local producter will be regulated out of business! We have to get active or sit back and lose! No I don’t have an answer. But there has to be someone who has an idea out there? I just this morning found the “Organic Consumers Association” ? I’ll be looking into it?
I agree wholeheartedly that we can change things one person at a time. Like it was said in Food, Inc., we are the ones “voting” every day with our purchases. We can either vote for the items that are produced cheaply but potentially in environmentally unfriendly ways, or we can go out of our way and spend a little more to buy what is produced in a way that sustains and strengthens the environment, and what many times is available locally, which will in turn strengthen our own communities. Great post!
Should I put my kids in day care, and return to work just to be able to purchase organic produce and humane meat? No. That said, it is amazing that the choices you have to make to live on one income seem to be best not only for your family, but for the planet. Chosing to stay at home with my two boys means that we have to shop at thrift stores, we walk to the park instead of taking the car, we have a beautiful organic garden right in our own back yard, and we don’t use paper towel or plates.
The draw back is I really can’t afford to buy organic in the grocery store. And I’m okay with that. Seeing my son so excited that his cherry tomato plant is now taller than he is…. well, that is just priceless.
I would like to recommend a book to you, “Farm City: the Education of an Urban Farmer” by Novella Carpenter (what a cool name). She writes about her time spent farming in a not so nice part of San Diego, CA. She farmed an abandoned plot of land next to her apartment complete with chickens,rabbits, and pigs…that yes.. she killed herself. It is a great read and might inspire your own urban farming.
What a thought provoking post!
Maggy,
Excellent blog. I needed to hear it.
The title got my attention: Let’s Talk about our Appetites.
Appetite is a big word. It encompasses what we eat, what we drive, where we live and what we wear. And, speaking of eating, it’s not just what we eat but how much.
I read this recently from Sebastien-Roch-Nicolas de Chamfort: “Society is composed of two great classes: those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.”
When I was over 150 pounds overweight, my morality was primarily focussed on me, the lousy stewardship of my own body. Having dropped the weight and kept it off for some time, I realized that my morality was too limited. I now think of those who literally don’t have enough to eat. And so Kay and i give to an organization called Food for the Hungry–our small part in making sure that we take only our fair share.
Now we need to look at house, cars, clothes, meat….
Thanks for the nudge, Maggy.
Maggie, I completely agree with your points in this post. We are in trouble and, yet, most people are not willing to do anything. I am shocked by how many people around us refuse to recycle and I have considered doing a little neighborhood awareness program. However, I really need to stop and look at myself, too. There are so many ways that I could be doing more and I feel so disgusted with myself every time I brush the issues aside. Have you read Barbara Kingsolver’s book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”? It is well worth a read and rather inspiring.
Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. It’s a relief to know that so many people are taking a look at their life and know that they need to make change. I am certainly one of those people. I just wish we had some more direction – more clear cut goals. I’d like to know which changes would have the greatest impact.
I love what so many of you have said. Sharon, treating the earth as our neighbor. Tracy, the notion that we are “voting” each day with our purchases. Thank you for all the book suggestions (which I’ll certainly look into) and for sharing with us what you’re doing to live a more sustainable life and the challenges you face.
I’m taking one big step by joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) so that we’ll have local, fresh and seasonal produce over the summer and into the fall. I think it will be a challenge, to cook with what you are given as opposed to cooking what you want. But I think it’s an important step in the right direction. Organic seems to be the popular buzzword right now, but more than organic – I believe we need to be eating as locally as possible.
And I don’t think anyone needs to become a vegetarian – but eat meat consciously and purchase humanely raised meat. We eat vegetarian two days a week, but I find that in general I am eating much less meat, particularly at restaurants or when there is a vegetarian option.
These are the two things I’m focusing on right now. But I think a lot of these changes needs to be institutionalized by the government so that this becomes our new way of life. Sure it would be difficult at the start, but we’d adjust. Strange to think how years ago smoking was considered ultra cool, and today people who smoke are almost vilified. Our culture, our perceptions can change – they’re constantly changing – so by “voting” for what we want, we can help to make this shift to a more sustainable existence.
i love your comparison to smoking. change is possible. i believe change starts in the individual, but it seems that often times, it takes an entire community to implemement significant and measurable change.
thank you for choosing to discuss this here. and thanks to the other readers for great comments and ideas.
tell al gore to sell all of his large homes and rich people to sell their jets caring grandmother
I’m sponsoring oysters in the Chesapeake Bay – and for a midwest gal whose only experience with fish was a frozen stick on Fridays, this is a big step. But I’m not just writing a check – I’m driving to restaurants and picking up shells and taking them to a collection point for recycling into the bay.
We’re using cloth towels and napkins instead of paper. We make stock out of every carcass….the take the carcass to the edge of the property where a fox, raccoon or other critter takes it off. (and, when I don’t get the stock made, the critters still get the carcass).
we’ve put in raised beds this year, and are growing our own veggies…
we carpool, we compost, we use electronic bill pay, we collect rainwater to water our veggies…..and keep looking for how to do more. Until each one of us takes this as a personal mission to save what we’ve been entrusted with, then we’re waving in the wind….
I have found making one “change” per season (spring, summer, fall, winter) is easier on the family. It doesn’t have to be big, start small, ask your family for their suggestions, I have found they are more willing to help if it was their suggestion!
I agree with the statement that we need to change our cultural traditions so that living sustainably becomes the norm. We don’t even recognize our unsustainable practices anymore because they are so embedded. But once you make a dedicated effort to change, you realize how easy it really is to fall into more sustainable habits. Suddenly all that TIME it took to go to the market, understand local food availability, how to cook and get the most out of your food, make your own soaps and cleaning products… no longer seems unusually time consuming, but part of your daily and comfortable routine. Once you realize how many great things you can find USED (including clothing–you’d be amazed what designer wear people will drop off at your local donation centre!) you will be repulsed with buying NEW. Once you realize that planting a few lettuce plants in a container can provide you with more lettuce than you know what to do with and all you have to is make sure they have enough water, you’ll never think of buying pre-packaged lettuce again.
As for technology… we have to realize that we do not NEED a new phone, 1, 2 or 3 iPod’s… the latest gadget, though corporations like Apple want us to believe that we simply cannot survive without an iPad or an iPhone, we can reduce our waste, our impact on the environment, and find our communities again!
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later