Saving the Earth and Ourselves: 3 Ways We Can Be the Solution
Renaissance Housewife
Some rights reserved by net_efektWhen it comes to saving the earth, preserving our bodies, and simplifying our lives, “we are the solution,” says Joel Salatin, one of the most compelling and graceful voices in the sustainable food movement.
We’re also the problem. The way human beings have been doing things since the advent of the industrialized age is starting to take its toll on our earth. Mankind’s stamp is beginning to show and not only in positive ways. Yes, progress can be lovely – beautiful architecture, medical breakthroughs, efficient technology. But progress can be a four-letter word, too. Think: deforestation, pollution, genetically-modified food, depletion of natural resources, etc.
The question arises: are we as a civilization growing too fast? What is the culmination of a civilization that gets too big for its own good? Our culture pushes fast and hard economically because there is money in pushing fast and hard. Our government allows it because it is backed by those who make money. But what about the silent victims in all of this? Nature can’t tell us it’s getting thrown out of whack from man’s industry. Our bodies don’t signal alarm until we realize we as a culture are unhealthier than ever before (with stress-related problems like high blood pressure and depression and eating-related disorders like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer). Our future great-grandchildren can’t communicate to us the wasteland our earth may someday become.
We all say “it’s a shame” and run races and donate money for these causes. But what are we doing – really doing – to personally see an end to the destruction of our earth and bodies?
Many people have long ago learned to be cautious with how they live, spend, use, and eat. I’m ashamed to admit this is all somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I will admit I’ve been ecologically ignorant and taken what I have for granted. I had no awareness of my environment. I moved like a zombie through my life, doing what I perceived everyone else was doing, without any careful thought or true intention. I took the easiest path.
Oh, once in awhile, I’d buy something “organic” and feel like I was doing my part. But lately I’ve come to realize that even products labeled “organic” may or may not be good. With a Master’s degree in marketing, I understand that every company is trying to sell you something and you have to watch what you’re being sold.
But lately I’ve been putting together the puzzle pieces life’s throwing at me. I’m learning a new way. I’m using my own instincts and common sense to determine how I live. I’m recognizing my own responsibility to my earth and my health.
We are the solution. This is not something our mommies will fix. This is not something our government will fix. This is not something we can buy our way out of. This is something only we can fix, individually and collectively.
So, what can we do to join this “quiet revolution” and follow Salatin in “healing the land, one bite at a time”? Below are three small changes the average person can make to help heal our natural world.
1. STOP TAKING IT ALL FOR GRANTED
Think of the riches we enjoy: healthy bodies, natural and healthy food, clean air, clean water, uncut forests, rich farmland, minerals. But what if these riches went away? We shouldn’t worry about this merely because it will be bad for the earth, but because it will be horrific for we humans who live on the earth.
According to Richard Wright, author of A Short History of Progress (2005), we have such a thing as “natural capital.” Until 1980, we’d been living on the interest of this capital. Since 1980, however, we have been dipping into the capital. Think of it like this: you’ve lost your job and have no income at all. You start using your savings, but eventually those savings will run out. Then what will you do?
Our natural capital will run out, if we don’t start doing things differently. We live in a world of finite resources. We can’t afford to continue on, business as usual. Civilizations have collapsed before. The problem now becomes a global one. We’re a people of one earth, thinking globally, doing things on a massive scale. This means all the citizens of the earth (in theory, certainly not in reality) can experience growth. But it also means we can very well globally suffer – economically, environmentally, and physically.
Sounds like end-of-world rhetoric. Ok. But the dominos, one by one, are getting stacked. Who’s to say they won’t one day topple over?
2. INVEST IN YOUR LOCAL FARMERS
Best solutions are typically best for everyone involved. Investing in your local community has a long list of advantages. One of the most significant is that you’ll minimize the resources needed to truck products from across the country or world. Agriculture and food production, the way we do it now, consume a massive amount of fossil fuels (farm equipment’s use of petroleum, pesticide and fertilizer production, and even the production of packaging materials.) But the biggest waste of resources is the trucking of our foods and other products from across the country – so-called ‘food miles.’
According to Barbara Kingsolver in her wonderful book, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, 17% of America’s energy use goes to agriculture, followed by our use of vehicles. It takes 400 gallons of oil per year to feed each American. “Getting the crop from seed to harvest takes only one-fifth of the total oil used for our food,” says Kingsolver. “The lion’s share is consumed during the trip from the farm to your plate.”
I live in Pennsylvania, where apples grow indigenously. So why, when I go to the grocery store, are the apples from Peru and California? And why have I bought them, year after year? Because it was easier than finding the farm that grows them. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with farmers’ markets.
Invest in your local community. Find the farmers that work hard to provide you with local produce and meats. Buy things when they are in-season and enjoy the heck out of them until they’re done growing. If you want to eat them in the off-season, start preserving things so you have them when they don’t grow naturally. The added benefit to saving these food miles is the fact that local food tastes better, is healthier, and often costs less than food from far away.
Consumers are the solution. In a culture that is led by money, money will lead. So vote with your wallet when deciding where and from whom you will purchase (or not purchase) products you need.
3. THROW LESS AWAY
(First, don’t purchase products you don’t need!)
Since I’ve started on this path of food and earth awareness, I began to realize how many pieces of plastic, paper, glass, and other materials I touch in my day-to-day routine. And, worse, how many I threw away. I found myself swimming in stuff and its packaging and wasting hard-earned money in the process.
Use less packaging. This might mean using cloth grocery bags, rags instead of paper towels for cleaning, cloth instead of paper napkins, and cloth sandwich and snack bags for school lunches. Maybe instead of buying a product that comes in its very own container, make it. Homemade salsa is easy, cheap, and delicious. And no jar to throw away.
Our local landfill only has three years left on the space it has available. After we run out of space, the plan is to expand. Just what we’d all love, right? More landfills on the horizon. Did you know that plastic and glass take 200-1,000 years to decompose? That’s a long life for a Gatorade bottle (and how ironic it will last that long since it wasn’t really that healthy for you to ingest in the first place).
Compost your kitchen scraps, yard waste, and other materials right in your own backyard. This reduces waste and makes a great natural fertilizer for your veggie patches, flower gardens, and potted plants. I recently learned at a local composting seminar that 65% of all waste that goes to the landfill IS COMPOSTABLE. Composting is an easy way to do something to help preserve our natural environment.
Kitchen scraps add up to the total waste a family throws away. This bucket gets filled up every night at dinner prep.
Give containers a new life after you’ve used their contents. Make a piggy bank from the coffee can. Or put a homemade face toner in an old jar. On our kitchen table, we currently have a caterpillar awaiting his transformation into a… well, I think, actually a moth, haha… in a Kramer-sized pickle jar. And, this morning, I just handed the farmer who delivers my farm-fresh eggs six egg cartons to reuse.
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Okay, I’ve ‘fessed up. I’m new to this lifestyle and still have a looooong way to go until I’m where I want to be. I know many of you have been doing all of this – and more – for years. For those folks, bear with me as I struggle with these uncomfortable – but freeing – truths. I’m working on it. I’m growing. I’ve never felt more aware of my environment or more alive.
For those of us who hadn’t been thinking of these things, we must now consider how we might be contributing to the problem of shrinking natural capital – and how we can be the solution.
Questions, comments, fresh ideas?
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