A Return to Simplicity

I’ve been finding it difficult lately to write here on The Scoop. It’s partly due to my somewhat broken keyboard, and partly because of the weird hand cramp that makes my right hand spasm whenever I type. But mostly, it’s because I recently started wondering if what I’m writing here is really making any ind of difference. Sometimes it feels like there are so many “green” products on the market now, but nobody’s offering a real solution. And, rather unhelpfully, there is so much conflicting advice out there about how to live sustainably. Take this post about short hair versus long hair. I wrote it as sort of a silly Friday post, but it got a serious response from you guys. I think it shows how many different opinions there are about how to be “sustainable” in your everyday life, and how strongly people react to those opinions.

Yesterday the NY Times had an article about what’s being called “green noise.” The article points out the landslide of information that consumers have to weed through in order to make the best decision, which may not actually be the best move for the environment. One good example from the article is, should you buy a used car, or get a new Prius? While the hybrid would have been seen as the correct choice a few years ago, information is now being passed around that says that the energy and carbon dioxide required to create the hybrid battery cancel out its gas-saving qualities. So, do you buy a used car instead? Or are the facts about battery manufacturing coming from dubious sources, such as large American car companies who can’t (or won’t) make cars that compete with Japanese imports in terms of fuel efficiency?

Therein lies the problem. While many people from within the “green movement,” myself included, have the best intentions in the recommendations they make, everything gets so clouded when Big Business comes into the picture. I’m a big believer in the power of business to do great things for both people and the environment; I started this site for the very purpose of pointing out the businesses that really do make a difference. So, there are no anti-business sentiments here. But what can’t be ignored are the thousands upon thousands of companies who are trying to capitalize on the so-called “green movement,” rushing to develop and release products that take advantage of consumers’ good intentions without really making much of a difference. I receive countless press releases every month about these products: books about how which celebrities drive a Prius, organic products for dogs and babies, recyclable clothes hangers, green home listings, and tons of natural and organic drinks… You name it, there’s a PR company pushing it. Some of these products are good, it’s true, and I try my best to write about all of the products and companies that I thin you guys will be interested in. But there are SO MANY crappy products out there! Everyone’s got a “green” product for sale these days, and consumers are burdened with the task of figuring out which ones are legit and which ones aren’t. Where the problem a few decades ago was that there weren’t enough alternatives, today’s problem is that there are too many of dubious quality obscuring the viable alternatives. Add to that the hundreds of causes and non-profits out there, and you’ve got that “green noise” the NY Times was talking about.

In this kind of world, I question whether what I’m doing is actually helping, or if I’m just adding to that noise. When The Sustainable Scoop began two years ago, I was so excited to write about things like organic toaster pastries and hair products. But now, when it’s become obvious to me that those kinds of products are just stop-gap measures, band-aids on the wounds of a seriously sick system, that enthusiasm has waned. Organic products are surely a step in the right direction, and I don’t intend to discount their value. But in order to buy those organic products, you still have to buy into a system that involves manufacturing, pacing, shipping, distributing, and consuming. Our consumption hasn’t waned, it’s just shifted.

In response to these thoughts and emotions about our future, I’ve responded by having my own little backlash of sorts. I’ve been trying to stay away from packaged goods when it’s possible, though this has made me realize just how reliant upon packaged goods I am. One recent example from my life is the fruit on our loquat tree. (If you don’t know what a loquat is, just roll with it.) The tree is bursting with fruit, which is delicious raw, spiced, or in preserves. I recently had the idea that we would preserve our loquats so we could enjoy them throughout the year, so I set out to find some canning supplies. But I realized that someone had to manufacture the jar lifters, pan insert, and lidded jars that I was going to buy. The wax that would seal my loquat preserves was made somewhere, and it was distributed to the store where I was going to purchase it. So, making my own preserves suddenly felt a whole lot less “sustainable” than I originally thought.

But I can’t just revert to living in a yurt and growing my own food. Well, I certainly could, but I’m not at all prepared to do that. I make a living by being a graphic designer, creating digital and printed media for my clients. That involves manufactured electronics and software, processed paper goods, and lots of electricity. I’m not willing to give up my profession, so I’m reliant upon modern manufacturing and power systems for my livelihood. I’m also not yet willing to give up other manufactured products I love, and I’m certainly not willing to give up my modern life.

I recently too a trip to Ecology Action, a fantastic biointensive garden and research organization in Northern California. The day involved a basic tour of the garden and several short but intense mini-classes on things like compost building, seed propagation, and double-digging. We also got a brief synopsis of garden planning, and I loved the mini-class where we got to listen to John Jeavons talk about crop “personalities,” or the properties of what to grow where and when and how based on his own hard-won experience. But the part of the experience that affected me the most was the first hour of the day. Seated in a small classroom where the walls are covered in things like posters about the caloric outputs of various crops, our small group sat along with the Ecology Action interns and listened to Mr. Jeavons relate several scientific facts about where our world is headed. He didn’t do so to scare us, or to shock us into action. Rather, he presented the information in a calm and assured way, more like a scientist than an activist. I took copious notes while he spoke, and here are a handful of the information presented that morning.

In the United States, only 15% of the chemical nitrogen fertilizer applied to commercial farm fields is absorbed by crops; the rest goes into the air or down into the groundwater.

Per pound of conventionally farmed food consume din the U.S., six pounds of topsoil is lost due to erosion and wind. In California, it’s 24 pounds; and in organic farming, it’s still somewhere between 3.5 and 5 pounds of topsoil lost per pound of food eaten (This is mostly due to the importation of good soil from another site, thus depleting that site.) Topsoil takes 500 years to create in nature.

In just a handful of years, American farmers will be literally farming for nothing, unable to make any money using the current methods.

Across the world, 80% of water use goes toward agriculture. In America, most of our agricultural land is used to grow food for animal feed.

There is an estimated 32 to 56 years left of farmable soil in the world.

These predominantly agricultural facts may not seem connected to the products in your pantry, but they are in fact inextricably connected. Those organic toaster pastries I once loved are made from refined flour, sugar, and fruit, which, though raised organically and without pesticides, still contribute to the loss of topsoil. And, when you take into account the fuel needed to produce those crops and process them into toaster pastries, plus the materials required for the packaging, not to mention the shipping and distribution of those toaster pastries… Suddenly the reality of those organic toaster pastries becomes all too real. We tend to think of being “sustainable” in American terms, meaning that we limit our thinking to include only those things that we can change while still allowing us to live our big, costly American lives. I know I’m guilty of this. So, the question I’ve been asking myself is, how do I respond?

Like I said, I’m not quite ready to give up my modern American life. We live in a house within city limits and use city water, electricity, and gas. We go to the market to buy products and produce shipped using a vast system of trains and trucks, and our trash is removed every week by whichever refuse company has won the contract with our city at any given time. Our life is thoroughly modern, in the broad sense of the word. We do buy recycled paper goods, and organic food, and local produce, and shower with products that don’t contain chemicals that are polluting and damaging our waterways. But, it’s hard to just stop at those measures when I know we could be doing so much more.

I find myself in this conundrum, and my quandary is certainly not being helped by all that “green noise” buzzing in my ears everywhere I go. To alleviate this building pressure, and since I’m not willing to live in a yurt yet, I think my best answer is to consume less and live more simply. We’re canceling our cable TV. I’m going to take up playing the piano again. I’m adding additional square footage to our current garden. I’m waling as much as I possibly can, and simply driving less. I’ve been reading more. We’ve been eating more whole grains, things like pearl barley and amaranth. And we’ve significantly cut back on the amount of meat we consume, which in turn reduces the amount of represented topsoil lost every time we eat. None of these things will change the world, it’s true. One compost pile will not solve the growing water crisis or empty the world’s landfills. But these actions will at least allow me to live a modern life while being less of a hypocrite. Until I’m willing (or forced by necessity) to go live in a yurt and grow all my own food, this is really the best I can do.

I think a return to simplicity is what we really need. Doesn’t sound fun, does it? But the real question is, how happy have our modern lives really made us? I’m much more satisfied after spending a few hours in the garden than I am after watching a few hours of television. I can’t tell if I’m just having a knee-jerk reaction to my experience at Ecology Action, or if I’m starting down the path to something more meaningful. I really don’t know. But I’ll keep you updated on how I progress or regress, because even though I’m not sure what the future will hold, I’m pretty sure that most of you are feeling what I’m feeling. So let’s get started.