Much ado about nuts
March 17, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
There was a bit of nut talk last week. Arduous illuminated for us what actions would label us eco and what actions would have mental clinics wait for us with straight jackets. I swear I have never drunk-dialed the Governor and sung “You Oughta Know,” into his voice mail. Sensing most people are not aware and/or are too distracted to give a hoot, Green Bean found solace amongst the blogsphere eco-nuts.
I totally get it.
My ever so nice and helpful sister-in-law drives her Chevy Suburban everywhere – I mean everywhere, including the Starbucks 3 blocks away from her house – and her family of five owns 3 of those monsters (don’t ask me why); my less than classy nouveau riche brother-in-law’s family overhauls their home so often that we are not able to absorb their castaways fast enough (3-year old double convection oven no longer having the right color for the new kitchen paint, 2-year old leather sofa not matching the brand new rug, etc., etc.); A friend down in Houston often cranks down the AC to “winter temperature” so he can light up his fireplace for atmosphere (makes you wonder who the real nuts are)…
I get a headache just to think about it.
But I have seen hope, really, not through wishful-colored lens. A teacher at my daughter’s school goes through trash from 11 classrooms everyday to pick out recyclables. He then hand-carries them to the recycling bin out in the packing lot. I asked if he was tired of doing it by himself all the time while it wasn’t even tangentially his responsibility. He smiled and replied, “a little. But I gotta.” He does it with such cheerfulness that it is positively infectious.
A couple a few houses down from us are in their late 70’s. I don’t know them well until my dog somehow snuck into their backyard one day. Embarrassed, I called her from their drive way. Instead they invited me in and sat me down with a cup of tea and a cookie. White sheets and colorful towels lined their backyard. Al was turning their compost as I walked in and promptly “complained” about how he was too old for this. When I marveled at their natural drying method, Audrey simply said, “my dear, the sun is the best, just the best.”
A couple of weeks ago, my kids and I walked to our neighborhood park. On the way, we saw a woman mowing her lawn with a small manual mower while reading a book. A bit geeky, yeah. But with the beautiful afternoon sun, spring warmth, a noiseless mower, why not a book. She said hello and went back to her book (and mowing).
They are not eco-nuts. They are everyday people who give a damn. Who knows, perhaps they do these thing because they truly enjoy them.
Yesterday a good friend came to visit. She was someone I would label as a thoughtless shopper – “oh, this is so cute, I gotta have it; oh that is so adorable, my son would love it.” Before she realizes, she will have bought a houseful of junk. Never in my life would I expect this from her, “Cindy, I am done buying bottled water. I feel really guilty about all the plastic bottles.” Here was a woman who lived on bottled water. “Really?” I was not convinced. “Yep. I had a discussion with my husband. He thought I was nuts. But I have put my foot down. He’ll just have to get used to it.” Though not buying bottled water would not earn her the eco-nut label in the blogsphere, I was still so glad. Baby steps, baby steps.
That’s how it got me where I am. Three years ago, I bought crap from Target on the weekly basis, rarely set foot in the farmer’s market, drove everywhere, and could not conceive composting anything (“only hippies do that” was my thought).
Three years later, I am well on my way to becoming a full-blown eco-nut. As much as I get depressed, disgusted, and dejected with the people who don’t seem to care, I am seeing eco-nuts in the making everywhere.
Happy Monday.
CindyW
If you enjoyed this entry, please subscribe to the Organic Picks Blog
Copyright 2007 Organicpicks
Find More Green Products & Reviews..
Comments»
Beautifully written, Cindy. My favorite line: “you gotta wonder who the real nuts are.” I agree with you - even outside the blogosphere, enviro-nuts are cropping up everywhere. My journey also began with the small step of starting to bring canvas bags. You realize how easy that one change was and then it goes on and on.
And I too have hope. Another mom in my son’s class told me that she has proposed selling reusable bags instead of See’s Candy for her son’s 4H because she has just become aware of how bad plastic bags are for the environment. My mom - who thinks I’m an eco-nut for line drying clothes and worrying about local food - told me she has started looking where her produce comes from. “I just couldn’t buy the cantelope from Mexico,” she said, “but I did give in and by the grapes from Chile.” It’s a start.
Other friends and family members now pay closer attention to “Green News” just because they now how into it I am. Change is coming - thank you for the uplifting post.
What a great, hopeful post! I agree, people are slowly catching on. For me the trick is to let everyone find the things they want to change for themselves without my getting all judgemental about it. (You ride your bike to work , but you still use plastic shopping bags???) Some things will just eventually reach a tipping point and become part of the culture. Isn’t that wierd to think about? And then I’ll have to quit being all smug about being counterculture!
I was in a grocery store in Koreatown yesterday (outside of my usual hippie hood) and I was amazed that everyone in the line was buying organic milk and organic produce. I was the only hippie who had brought my own produce bags (why the bring your own bag only applies to shopping bags in most people’s minds but not produce bags is beyond me) but I was suprised at how much organic is taking off even in less affluent neighborhoods.
I just hope it’s not just a “California” thing. I would like to think that in other parts of the country people are starting to “wake up” as well….
I think I might just qualify as an eco-nut these days as well, given how excited I was today when my organic cotton mesh produce bags finally arrived in the mail!
It is hard to bite my tongue some days when I hear one of my coworkers talk about how he and his wife built a huge house with a ton of windows and now they have to install an air conditioner because it gets too hot, in the Spring, in Canada. But then there are the other things, like my mom trying a veggie burger for the first time, and my brother and his wife starting to compost.
Arduous: Last night I watched King Corn at the WHYY building and the event drew a large crowd. I looked around and was very, very please to see a very diverse crowd (all races, and ages) for once. Most of the enviro events tend to attract a certain race with me being the only one suffering from a overdose of melanin.
The Q&A afterwords was also very encouraging, people wondered if food stamps could be used at Farmers’ markets (yes), what else a regular person could do (arm chair activism, buy non-processed foods).
So its spreading…but everytime I do pop in the local Acme to get something like Borax, people’s carts are filled with so much junk. And then there is double and triple bagging with plastic. And the clerk gives me grief about wanting to stuff my backpack with my purchases. But I’m keeping my eye on the positive though…
I am always on the defensive about my environmental actions…and I suspect it has to do with my own history. Low self-confidence also plays a role here…so while I know and I’ve convinced my husband to come along with me for the ride, I don’t have the ability to convince others. I am very judgmental and have a horrid temper - a bad combination, so I usually bite my tongue because if I do say something it will come out worse than I intended.
Often my glib response to questions on my environmental actions is that I’m lazy. But you’re right, I do give a damn. I may not have kids, but I don’t want to play a part in your kids’ future where there the air is unbreathable and the water undrinkable and security is something one reads about in history books. There is also an egotistical element involved: I want to be blameless. I don’t want anyone pointing their finger at 60 year old me saying I could have done this or that to ruin everything.
Fellow econutters, thanks for being a part of life! You make my nuttiness seem more and more normal everyday. I really really really hope that our “abnormal” behavior will soon become the golden standard :). So people like my sister and brother-in-laws will stick out like sore thumbs.