Eco-nut thought of the day?
March 21, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
A couple of weeks ago, our family went up to Tahoe for a short getaway, during which my 5 year old took a ski lesson. Much to my surprise, she really enjoyed it and was quite good at mastering the basic skills. This got my husband all excited and immediately saw the vision of them skiing the Haute Route in the Swiss Alps together someday (if there is any snow left). “We need to go to Tahoe this weekend, so she can take another class and get better,” he announced.
I, on the other hand, am digging my feet. Laziness is one reason – all the packing, unpacking, extra laundry. But I do have an eco-nutty thought that is nagging me. We try to eat local, compost, minimize trash, reduce consumption. But it seems hypocritical that we are not willing to make sacrifices in other areas, mostly about traveling.
A round trip to Tahoe is 530 miles, about 10 weeks of my normal driving coverage. That would erase some of the local food advantage, even in a Prius. I get that skiing is really fun, I do. But it is a privilege, not a right. If I sit here lamenting about my sister-in-law making multiple Chevy Suburban trips to the Starbuck three blocks away, does it not make me an eco-fraud by driving 530 miles for the arguably similar frivolous pursuit?
To go even further, I have tremendous amount of wanderlust and it hasn’t abated since the arrival of my children. I don’t care about having a big house or fancy stuff, but I do like to travel internationally once a year to “see the world”. However when it comes down to resource squandering, flying 10,000 miles is probably equivalent to cranking up my heat and down my air conditioner (we actually don’t have AC) for a whole year. Perhaps I am just cherry picking the convenient green actions that do not actually impact my enjoyment in life?
When I related the thoughts to my husband, he stared at me as if I had gone mad. Perhaps I have. “Are you ready to only operate within a 5-mile radius of our house from now on?” he finally asked. No, my immediate answer was a definite no. I hummed and haed about various less energy-intensive traveling options, like biking, sailing or riding public transportation. But at the end I could not rationalize my way out of it without acknowledging that I might be an eco-hypocrite.
So what is one to do? Should I tell myself that I just need to do my best without worrying about the big picture? Should I reach some sort of compromise like having one long trip instead a few short trips? Unfortunately there is no perfect answer, not yet. It may come down to case by case analysis.
In the case of this weekend, we are staying put, and yes, partly because I am too lazy to pack and unpack.
CindyW
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Comments»
I think what you are doing in your daily life could be considered as off-setting the things that would happen on this trip.
Also, if you think about it, your daughter will be enjoying the out of doors in a way that will connect her with the mountains, etc. Perhaps while you are there you could take her for a walk “off the beaten path” somewhere and show her things she wouldn’t see around her home. Travel is broadening for all of us. Anytime you get children outdoors, in our society, is just a plus for their growing environmental awareness.
This reminds me of debate we have on the church staff on which I work. Should we travel to impoverished areas (like Honduras, for example), at great expense, to help with service projects there, or would it make more sense just to send that money to the area and stay home? We found that when we take people on the service trips, and they see the true needs for the first time with their own eyes, and live in it and meet the people, they actually wind up becoming much more generous in giving toward those needs. I think the same can be true for envirnmental concerns.
Aren’t there programs where you can buy ‘green credits’? If you really want to minimize your impact, you can do the math and figure out how much those trips really cost, environmentally speaking. Then donate to those programs for every trip. Just knowing how much one trip ‘costs’ may help your family choose to do it a little less often.
That’s the ideal answer. The less perfect answer is this… I understand the importance of many of my actions, but at the same time, I won’t modify those actions to the point that I’m miserable. I’m impressed with everyone who’ve turned down their heat this winter, but I just don’t want to live in a house that’s set at 55 degrees. My family would revolt and see being environmentally responsible as a bad, unhappy thing. So, we have it set to 66 in the day and 60 at night. Everyday the steps I’m willing to take become more and more drastic, but I am so very very far from perfect. And I’m OK with that. I know I’m setting a fairly good example for those friends and family that rarely think about the environmental impact of anything they do. I believe that changing many people (by making it look enjoyable) will ultimately make more of an impact than only changing myself.
I agree with all of the above. Some of the greatest gifts we can give our kids come in the form of experiences that teach them to love life. It is the love for life that will hopefully drive them to care enough about the world and its inhabitants to take up their own causes in time. Also, if we make being green feel like this horrible cross to bear kids are not going to see it as a viable lifestyle. There needs to be balance.
So pack up your reusable cocoa mug and hit the slopes… Right after your husband does the packing and promises to do all the extra laundry.
Oh, Cindy. Sigh. I have the same feelings you do, the same conflicting emotions all the time. I have (sorta) curbed my travel a little, but I just … I can’t curb it really. I have very close family on three separate continents. I have dear friends all across the country. I have a sig o who is halfway across the world who I haven’t seen in forever and ever. And travel is one of my dearest passions.
So, basically, I don’t know what the answer is. I’m struggling with this too. But I know that at the very least, if I AM going to travel, I better be doing other stuff for the environment. And frankly? Wendy kind of has a point. If people see environmentalism as kind of an unhappy thing, they will be less likely to try all the wonderful things that actually make you more happy, not less.
Keep doing what you’re doing. If you decide to take a trip to see the world, it doesn’t make you a hypocrite, it makes you a human being. And even if it did make you a hypocrite, as Vanessa at Green as a Thistle said, “It’s better to be hypocritical than apathetic when it comes to the environment.”
I mean really. If everyone in the world cared as much as you did, and was as willing to alter their lives as you have been (or even willing to alter their lives in a superficial, cherry picking way) the world would be in a lot better shape than it is now.
Anyway, I know I’m rambling, but basically what I’m trying to say is, it’s okay to have weaknesses. Everyone does. Work on what you can, and then let it go. I for one, would never think any less of you if you decided you needed to see the world.
Thank you so much for putting in your perspectives. Seems like you all agree that it was a nutty thought
Call me weird, I rather enjoy contemplating this kind of dilemma, thinking things through, laying out the logic (though I do get stuck in the logic maze sometimes), making the best decisions possible, and then living with the decisions made. The conflicts in life make it difficult but interesting.
Joyce: walking off the beaten path is a great suggestion. And yes, seeing and being in the natural beauty make all of us want to protect it more.
Wendy: way to be confident about your priorities while doing your best!
Needle: Hot chocolate, yum, makes me want to head to the slope right now
arduous: I love the quote: “It’s better to be hypocritical than apathetic.” thanks for that.
Cindy
I’m late to the party but my husband and I have had similar talks (me being the eco-nut). He wanted us to go to Australia, I said no. He wanted us to go to China, I said no. He wanted us to go to Hawaii, I suggested an eco-resort in Mexico because it was a bit closer and a little less travel. A compromise but it turned out we didn’t go after all.
One thing I’ve found is picking places closer to home. There is so much local beauty - including Tahoe - that it’s easy to go on a wonderful vacation for us Northern Californians. I’m sure we’ll venture beyond Northern California at some point and we might even go to Disneyland which seems the height of hypocritical.
There has to be a balance, I guess. I’m just a bit nutty!
My fiance and I faced this same dilema when we started planning our honeymoon. Originally we wanted to go to Greece on a cruise which just seemed so bad for the environment so we started looking for compromises. We found a bike tour of the Southern California Coast but none of the dates worked for us. Now we are looking at having our honeymoon on the Oregon coast and combining it with a job search trip. We don’t want to give up the idea of a honeymoon entirely or restrict ourselves to the Colorado area, it’s all about compromises. I agree with people that you can’t make changes that are going to make you miserable because you won’t maintain them. Life is about balance and you and your family need to find a balance in your green actions.
N.
http://badhuman.wordpress.com
I have the same dilemma! I’m taking public transportation, bike as much as I can, do the “one trip does it all” and yet…i have to travel twice a month internationally for my job! It drives me mad! However, my company raises awareness and they decided to offset their miles this year by entering a green credit program. I know those green credit are controversial (planting tree doesnt not offset as much CO2 than conservating old forest), but at least it’s something!
Same problem here too!
For the past few years, I have not made travel a priority because I didn’t have money or the money was tied up some place else. However now with the upcoming move to the W. Coast I know one or both of us is going to fly for a job interview. We’ve already decided on taking the train to move there (we’re not bring any of our stuff which isn’t worth anything), but can’t figure out what to do about a job. We also decided that we’ll move if one of us gets a job.
One idea I had for world travel was using ships and bikes…go by sea to the continent I want to visit and do a bike tour for the rest. People with kids have done it as well as couples and single people. But its challenging.
I also read that curbing flying doesn’t do that much to save the planet…but I don’t know if that’s true or not. I don’t know what scales are being used to arrive at such a conclusion.
I missed this message because we were in Tahoe skiing. Unlike you, I LOVE skiing! It was amazing to see my girls cruising the slopes with me and so I took them as a special treat (my 50th!). But I also share both your “inner eco-nut brain” and sense of dilemma about what to do. Human nature kind of works against our awakening realization of what we really need to do, to clean up our planet. I’ve taken the analysis a little further and I’ve realized that, while those of us on the fringe may be willing to be self-sacrificial about our life-styles, the masses will not. This spells doom for humanity except for three things: our likely technological progress (ie clean energy that will have a huge impact when it finally arrives), the current efforts to preserve nature and the remaining forests, open spaces, habitats and species and continuing to educate the masses to move them in the right direction. Thus, cut down as much as you can, “offset” as much as you can (especially by contributing to those groups working to preserve the environment), and keep up the good work educating people about organic living! (A small NGO group working to reduce clear cutting and burning of rain forests in Panama is called CREA. I just learned about them and what they are doing is critical on many levels!)
Valerie, Happy Birthday! I am glad that you had a great time on the slope. Spring skiing in Tahoe is awesome - warm, sunny, and great slopes. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I totally agree with you in terms of working on three fronts - technology, conservation work, and collective individual effort. I will throw in government policy as well. It is urgent that our government and the international governments have clear climate strategies and policies to promote businesses and encourage individuals to move toward the right direction. Oh thanks for mentioning CREA. Will check it out