I am a Simpler

I’ve decided what to call myself: i am a “Simpler”. I can’t say that I’m a hippy since I don’t smoke weed and I like to bathe. And I can’t call myself a crusty for the same reasons. I am certainly an environmentalist, but that only describes part of the picture. Likewise with the labels “liberal” and “progressive”, which describe me as well, but only really my political leanings. So, simpler, that’s what I’ll call myself. Yes, I know it’s an adjective, not a noun, but its the only thing that seems to work.

I like things simple. I despise technology, can’t stand email. I think many of the solutions to so many of our global problems is in fact simplicity, or perhaps better put, returning to a simpler way of doing things; and I like simple foods, simple pleasures. Everywhere I see simple solutions to complex problems; and I deplore the complicated ingredient lists on my foods and cosmetics. Aftershave does not need a list of a dozen ingredients! It needs one: ethanol. Ice cream, does not need Xantham Gum or any other additives; it needs cream, sugar, and salt… with maybe a little vanilla extract or real chocolate.

Our lives have become too complex, for no reason at all. Email makes our work more complicated that it need be, and only functions as a distraction. News… is no longer even news, but a distracting mess of unintelligible nonsense. And mayonnaise… mayonnaise does not need sugar and guar gum and… it only needs egg, oil, vinegar, and salt.

I am a simpler… if only I’d been born in a simpler time.

Let’s get philosophical

Taking a break from my usual environmental rantings, today I’m going to write about some philosophy… movie-style.

Let’s start with a not-to-old movie, “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise. If you’ve seen the movie, think about the ending for a second; at the very very end of the movie, the narrator explains about where the lead character ends up and he says something about him perhaps “finding the peace that we are all searching for.” Well, I don’t know about you, but that resonated with my simple mind. Ever since reaching adulthood, I think “peace” has been on the forefront of my mind. Essentially life has seemed a non-stop struggle since… well, forever I guess… with school, work, relationships, finances, and so on and so forth, on top of the ever-present challenges faced by cities, states, countries and communities, in the forms of poverty, homelessness, health care, safety, etc., on top of geo-political challenges like war and terrorism, on top of more menial challenges like getting to work on time, paying the bills, and fighting with traffic. The struggles never seem to end, thus it seems only natural to seek “peace” at the end of the tunnel.

But, the other night watching an anime series, of all things, I was presented with a new argument or idea… or philosophy, whatever you want to call it. The main character–a bad-ass sword-fighter–was for all intents and purposes, tired of fighting. He wanted peace. And since he wasn’t getting it, he was on the verge of giving up–which would have cost him his life or at least his sanity. So, in an epic struggle with himself, he gets into a debate–a sword-fighting, action-packed debate–with one of his defeated enemies (this is in his head remember). He goes on about how he doesn’t want to fight, and fighting isn’t the way, and so on and so forth, to which his enemy argues that you can’t escape from it. After all, once you defeat one enemy, a stronger one will undoubtedly appear; if you defeat him, then another, and another, and so one–there is no end to the process.

And suddenly this all made sense to me, not just as a fight for this embattled warrior, but as an analogy to life itself. There’s a reason why you never seem to be able to have a minute’s peace; as soon as everything is in order something else has to come up–once you’ve gotten a good groove going at your job, say, something has to mess it all up! It’s because that is the way of things; there is no light at the end of the tunnel–there is only the tunnel that is life. Life is a journey, not a destination–I’m sure you’ve heard that one before. And it’s not an easy journey. But, you should slide into the end with cuts and bruises and warrior’s tales to tell, rather than in one piece–you’ve probable heard the cliché that goes with that one too. But now all these clichés make a little bit of sense. You have to enjoy the ride, not just be on it; you have to BE happy, not just strive for happiness. It’s actually too bad that the Founding Fathers of this country said that we all have the right to the “pursuit of happiness.”  We have the right to BE HAPPY, the pursuit be damned.

No matter what, your happiness is up to you, not your experiences, not what you own, not your career, and not your so-called accomplishments. Being happy means being happy despite the bumps in the road; it means facing those challenges as they come along, as they undoubtedly will, and facing them with strength, courage and dignity (whatever all that really means). And it means all the hogwash about being rich, being successful, or being accomplished, doesn’t mean a damned thing–because the struggles that really matter are those within.

How’s that for a summary of movie-style philosophy?

Water…

Water, water, everywhere… but not a drop to drink. Afterall, it’s only really there for the big agribusiness companies and for the tech industries and for … everyone except for you and me. Have you ever noticed how when cities and counties and politicians — even NGOs – talk about water “conservation” they’re only talking about you and me. Not agriculture, not industry, just us everyday users. Turn the water off while you brush you’re teeth; take shorter showers! But the problem is that the majority of water is used by agriculture and industry. And here’s something you probably hadn’t thought about yet: when I say “industry” I’m mean all those sodas, juices, and bottles of water that everyday Americans drink! And I don’t just mean the water they put in those bottles and cans; I mean all the water that goes into washing all the raw materials, into keeping facilities cool, and so on.

Lots of wasted water. And lots of wasted water that’s subsidized by you and me, the tax payers. Especially out West, our water is outrageously subsidized, especially for agriculture… and those little factories filling up water bottles with our water.

Elizabeth Warren recently stated openly that “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody.” She highlights the roads that are paid for by us, the public education that is paid for by us, and she should have added the water that is paid for by us. Next time you drink a Coke or a bottle of Dasani–please, please, please if you are still drinking bottled water, stop–think about how much they are charging you for that Coke or that water vs. how little they had to pay for the water to wash that bottle, produce the plastic or aluminum for that bottle/can and then fill that bottle with water. And please, please stop drinking bottled water. Not only are the manufacturers ripping us off twice–first by charging us ungodly amounts for a resource that we should be collecting on our own from the atmosphere, but then by charging us so much for a resource that we’ve already paid for with our taxes–but that plastic is not good for you, and the water in that bottle is no good for you either… it doesn’t go through hardly any testing and can contain volatile organic compounds, BPA, pthalates and only god knows what else.

And try to ignore those signs that say “Food Grows Where Water Flows”.  The farmers are just angry that they are no longer getting water for free… which why should they while we pay for our water and theirs?

We need MORE environmentalists

Developers hate us. Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh despise us. My relatives complain constantly about us. We are given derogatory nicknames, like “treehugger”, “hippy” and “crusty”. We are students, teachers, volunteers, volunteer coordinators, advocates, lawyers, and even farmers.

We are environmentalists. We are hated because we get in the way of “progress”; because we point out the flaws in our society; because we go against the grain and do things differently; because we don’t always think technology is the best solution; and because we sound warnings that often come true — no matter what the media spin machine may say otherwise.

We’ve had our moments — banning of DDT, passage of the Endangered Species Act — but our victories are few and far between. We’ve protected millions of acres of land, but still more millions are paved over every year to build parking lots and shopping malls or sprayed down with toxic pesticides.

Our numbers are growing but they are still too few. Your friends are still more likely to be accountants, architects, nurses, or even miners than they are to work for an environmental nonprofit as an outreach or volunteer coordinator. We’ve made an impact on the market, driving the use of “green”, “eco-friendly” and “sustainable” throughout your shopping experience, but there is still little validity in most of such claims. We’ve forced the government to assess every environmental impact of their activities, but their destructive practices continue. And we’ve been successful at banning certain harmful chemicals, but the chemical industry creates new ones every day.

The Right-Wing even declare that we have powerful lobbyists in DC that are pushing environmental policies that would “kill jobs”. But while we may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a chance at equal representation for the trees, the animals, and our own health and wellbeing, our competitors — big agribusiness, oil and coal, and the chemical industries, just to name a few — spend hundreds of millions of dollars (even billions when all is said and done) on campaign contributions, lobbying, and political spin.

Today, a half-century into what we could call the modern environmental movement, there are still more developers, coal miners, chemists, accountants, doctors and lawyers that there are environmentalists. If we are to make a difference, we need more organic farmers; more environmental writers; more environmental advocates; and more environmental lawyers. We need “environmental” to penetrate every corner of our commerce. We need more eco-friendly stores; more eco-friendly manufacturers; more products that really will not harm our environment or us. We need more green building; more renewable energy investment. And we need less stuff — more “less is more” attitudes. We need more “live simply so others may simply live”; more “everyday is Earth Day”; more “be green”.

Simply put, we need more environmentalists.

This guy thinks things are as messed up as I do

It’s rare that I find anything written that shares my view of how messed up things are right now, so when I find something that does share my viewpoint I get really excited… then I get really depressed. It’s really easier to dismiss all the bad things out there sometimes, so of course it’s easy for me to think that maybe I’m nuts, and then I read something like this on Alternet that says no I’m not nuts, it really is that bad, and maybe it’s even worse than I imagined. Anyway, enough babbling, just read this article: http://bit.ly/ng1DFf.

The best part though is that this guy has a plan! While I’m still at the feeling sorry for myself stage, this guy is sounding a battle cry! Fight on man!

The lessons of tobacco

As an environmentalist I’ve spent a lot of time trying to convince people of the importance of wildlife and wilderness, the impact of conventional farming, and the harms of plastics. And when people are receptive — i.e., not yelling at me — they may actually listen to what I have to say. But, there’s rarely an opportunity to follow-up to see if the people I talk to actually make any changes in their behavior, and when you look around there just doesn’t really seem to be that much change going on – everywhere you look someone seems to be figuring out some new way to pollute the environment, for example (e.g., http://bit.ly/o3n7fK).

Then today, as I maneuvered my way around the cigarette smoke outside the local market, I realized something: people have been trying to communicate about the harms of smoking cigarettes for years, and people still smoke. I also realized that even though many people do still smoke, there are indeed a lot fewer of them today than there were a few decades ago, meaning something is changing. People are getting the message, just not everyone. So, as for communicating about the environment I guess I just have to keep working at it and hope that over time people will change.

More on the Congressional assault on the environment

Earlier this year the House Interior Appropriation Committee passed a spending bill that would cut protections for Endangered Species, put more pesticides in our waters, and cut funding for our national wildlife refuges. This bill is nothing short of an all-out attack on our environment and natural resources, a sacrificing of our wildlife, our environment, and our children’s future in the name of some “fiscal responsibility”. It is unacceptable! If Congress really wants to cut funding, I suggest they first look at the defense budget! Stop fighting wars, and maybe we can protect our wildlife and our environment, our national heritage, and our children and communities.

The House Interior Appropriations bill will soon be up for a vote on the House floor. We need to stop it there! Please, contact your Representative and let him/her know that we should not be sacrificing the health of our environment and our children in the name of the budget. You can take action here: http://bit.ly/o85Tpz.