sustainable eating.
I could tell you about becoming a vegetarian in the past year, about working my way through the pantry to eat our stockpiles so they don't become food waste, shopping at the farmer's market, buying local produce at the grocery store, choosing food with less plastic packaging, bringing my own bags and jars to fill at the bulk bins, adding new items to my diet, packing my kids' vegetarian lunches, enjoying eggs from my students' front-yard chickens...
But what's on my mind today is an email that my husband read to me yesterday morning. You might have seen this one floating around. Jim Knowles ranting about how there was no "Green Thing" when they were young, and growing up green by necessity, listing all of the green things they used to do. A little Google search turned it up here.
Here's what bothers me about it.
1. It is just one more example of the politicization of environmental issues we all have to deal with.
2. It manufactures conflict between generations.
3. It assumes everyone who is into the "Green Thing" blames their parents and grandparents for everything, and hollers at old ladies in the supermarket for not bringing their own bags.
4. It assumes that the "new" green we are looking for is different from the "old" green.
Bottom line. I love everything in this article. Take away the angry tone, and it sounds just like a "Green Thing" wish list.
- return bottles for refilling
- walk up the stairs instead of using the escalator
- walk to the store instead of driving
- cloth diapers instead of disposables
- dry laundry on the line
- hand-me-downs instead of new clothes
- one (or fewer) TVs in the house
- more handmade, homecooked, locally sourced, healthy foods
- ship packages in reclaimed materials instead of styrofoam and bubble wrap
- fewer lawnmowers (neighborhood share), push-type lawnmowers, and less lawn to mow in the first place (hello front yard gardening!)
- exercise outdoors
- drink from the fountain when you are thirsty
- refillable pens, razors, etc.
- Take public transportation
And I'd add a few more things I admire about your generation...
- houses were smaller
- closets were smaller
- garages were smaller
- no one had a storage unit
- neighborhoods were friendlier
- parents expected their children to behave, learn at school, and respect their elders
- kids did extra jobs for spending money
- the rag man came around for old cloth to be turned into paper
- people made their own just about everything
- almost nothing was made of, or packaged in, plastic
I could go on... Point is, I respect that you lived much greener back then. Let's get back there, okay? And how about we work together?
Teach me how you did it, help me figure out how to grow some vegetables in my back yard, let me watch and help out the next time you're canning tomatoes, tell me how to build a root cellar and tend a flock of hens, how to repair my sewing machine. Because I want to learn! And if we are going to figure out how to feed and clothe 7 billion people, we are going to have to all work to sacrifice some of our wasteful and unsustainable habits. All of us. Let's do it together.
Please ask John to hit delete IMHO it was a slam at how serious the green cause has become We all have an interest in saving our earth. When did we forget to laugh? I remember my grandmother laughing at me when I asked her how she exercised. Duh! She laughed and explained that she did enough physical work that she was too tired to exercise. She teased me for years about how my generation had the time to exercise. This became a joke between us even when I visited as an adult. Laugh Tiffany no offense was intended Unless you were the arrogant young kid slamming his elder for not being green LOL BTW John has a green thumb I think it skipped my generation His grandfather grew bountiful gardens and kept our freezer and fruit cellar filled Take care and please hit delete unless you want to get on another soap box LOL
ReplyDeleteNo offense was taken - it was really great food for thought! I'm just making a call for recognizing that we are all in it together, and each generation has a lot to bring to the table. <3
ReplyDeleteGreat article Tiffany! I have often thought about that darned escalator but then I also thought, its on whether I take it or not so sometimes I do and sometimes I don't...unless you point was getting exercise instead of electricity usage lol. My kids are scared of escalators so we usually skip them. I mentioned you in my blog today : )
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