Happy belated earth day

Until I read a bunch of earth day themed blog posts, I sort of forgot that it was earth day at all. In my defence, it wasn’t earth day in Australia. Australians focused more on earth hour, which was started last year by Sydney. But reading everyone’s earth day posts got me thinking about the environment, consumption, and those sorts of things. And I know I’m preaching to the converted since most of my blog readers are already very eco-conscious, but hopefully I’ll mention one thing that you haven’t yet thought of. Plus, considering some of the random google searches that lead people to my blog, someone may have no idea about these issues (hard to believe, but…).

From the sounds of things, the US is similar to Australia in the push to ‘buy green’. The focus is on recycling and reusing, with little attention paid to actually reducing what we consume. I think they’re all important and I try to think creatively about all three Rs, but I think the possibilities for real change lie in that last R.

Recycle

Andy and I recently bought a worm farm. We haven’t had it long enough to get much more than a feel for it, but judging on first impressions alone I think it’s just great. Since most of our waste is food waste (and all plant-based and therefore compostable), we have seriously cut down on the amount of stuff that goes out to the bin. It doesn’t smell, and it’s quick: I’ve already taken a few scoops of dirt out of it. Plus, each week when we change the water in the fish tank we dump the bucket through the whole system. This has two effects—it keeps the worm farm moist, and it provides us with rich liquid fertiliser for all of our plants. I highly recommend a worm farm to everyone, regardless of whether you have a back yard or not. We’ve got a tiny patio, and it would work on balconies, fire escapes, or even laundry rooms.

Reuse

The majority of my wardrobe is second-hand (thanks especially to the amazing op shops in PNG). Everything except our mattress and Andy’s desk is second-hand, a combination of op shops, freecycle, garage sales, and side of the road finds. We also try to reuse food packaging whenever we can. Empty jars become containers for pressure-cooked beans or veggie stock. Plastic bags full of produce are reused as sandwich bags for lunches. Aside from reducing the amount of waste, and the amount of new stuff that needs to be made, reusing has the added bonus of monetary savings—or at least, it keeps money more local (i.e., garage sales) rather than supporting transnational corporations.

Reduce

As I said before, and as The Little One eloquently summed up on actual earth day, reducing is the most important of the three Rs. There are a number of ways we can reduce…

Energy usage—Andy and I only realised how much energy is wasted in the form of phantom load after visiting the Sustainability Expo in January where we saw a meter plugged into a stereo that was switched off. Since then we’ve been reminding each other to turn things off at the power point. (Australian outlets are greener than their American counterparts because of one simple addition: a switch. Instead of unplugging everything, we just need to flip the switch to cut off the power supply that constantly flows, even to appliances that seem to be turned off.) An added bonus is the semi-naughty jokes we get to make when we forget: “When I woke up this morning, the kettle was blowing its phantom load all over the kitchen.”

Waste—This one is a no-brainer. Buy in bulk as much as you can. Use green bags for groceries and anything else you buy. Reuse whatever you can—turn old sheets into rags for cleaning. Fix things when they break. Learn a bit of sewing so you can patch clothing and furniture. Make things from scratch. Freeze leftovers, bread and tofu to avoid throwing away food. And when you do need to buy something, spend the extra money to buy something of a higher quality—it will last longer and thus cost less in the long-run. The other thing that has cut down considerably on the amount of rubbish we have is a ‘No Junk Mail’ sign. This probably won’t apply for Americans, but in Australia the junk mail doesn’t go through the post. A simple sign that says you only want Australia Post to put anything into your mailbox will cut down on the amount of crap you have to throw away each week. Another benefit of the ‘no junk mail’ sign is that I don’t have to see fliers full of raw meat photos. Plus, I’ve found that looking at junk mail makes me want new things that I don’t need. Which leads me into the next thing we should reduce…

Consumption—When I was preparing to move to Australia two years ago I realised I had to fit a life’s worth of stuff into about 70 pounds of baggage. I really took stock of what was important to me (I really shouldn't have wasted so much space on socks. I never wear them.). Some of it, like shoes, I expected to replenish with Australian goods once I got settled over here. But, the first few months were really very rough financially, and we just couldn’t afford to buy stuff. In that time we spent two months in PNG where the lifestyle is much simpler and at some point, we just adjusted to a life without clutter. And without a television. I highly recommend this option to everyone. No tv means less energy usage, less advertisements enticing you to buy excess stuff, and better conversations and relationships with the people around you. We listen to the ABC tv station on the radio at night, and music during the day, and if we really feel like vegging we put a movie on the laptop. Instead of watching tv, Andy and I talk to each other, play with the cat, watch the fishtank… and when he’s gone I read in place of conversation.

When I do need to buy new stuff, I practice what I’ve come to think of as ‘considered consumption’. That is, I think before I buy. I don’t think I’m hardcore enough to identify as an ecotarian, but I try to choose items that are high quality, come from companies that are local and/or with good labour and social practices, and especially from small-scale operations. For instance, I prefer to buy dried beans from the Asian grocery rather than the big corporate supermarkets. If I do need to buy something from far away, I try to support vegan, anarchist, or small-scale businesses like AK Press, the Cruelty Free Shop, or The Purist Company.

Luckily, the greenest options are the cheapest—a very important consideration for a student surviving on a scholarship. But they require a bit of lifestyle changes; in short, we need to simplify. Because the world simply can’t support the lifestyle of the global north. Obviously we’re not all perfect, but everyone can make changes to reduce their impact on the planet.

Now for my earth day resolutions: to reduce our household water consumption (we take a lot of long showers), and to further lessen my reliance on plastic bags.