Lessons from Literature

Okay, so in response to a post on my blog's Facebook page about 350.org's 10/10/10 day of climate action someone posted an article about a Nobel Laureate who, though he agrees that we are ruining the planet, our efforts like renewable energy and eating local are useless. So we should just have fun while we can.

Okay, I have written a couple of blog posts on this space myself bemoaning our distraction with buying green and quick fix-its. This problem will not be solved without anything short of a complete makeover of our society. Or else it's game over. Furthermore, I know we've already inevitably bought a fair amount of climate change, and mass extinctions. But I won't accept that that gives us some go ahead, as in "since we already fucked up, let's make sure it's as royally as possible."

And I certainly take issue with the "since we're screwed, let's just have fun and put all the recycling in the trash and let's just let our SUV's idle overnight."

Here's the thing: we're all going to die one day. You, me, your dog, your kid. But does that mean we should jump off cliffs, smoke three packs a day, and shoot some people while we're at it, because we know the inevitability of our demise? If you are diagnosed with cancer, and your chances of recovery are slim, but possible, are you going to say "screw it all," and just do nothing, or are you going to fight like hell for that recovery, to extend your life--whether it be 2, 20 or 50 years?

We should try as a species to survive as long as possible, and to fight like hell for the extension of our fellow species. Whereas recycling and living a lower waste life as one person can address the larger issue isn't the point. It is one less person contributing to a problem.

Maybe my actions, such as abstaining from using plastic straws, won't save all marine life or even come close, but that's one less straw (and hundreds or even thousands over the course of my lifestime) spared from the sea. And that is certainly one, or even a dozen, less seabirds and mammals who will NOT choke to death on my personal waste. I owe it to myself and to other human beings and creatures to be the best person I can be, and not look to the mob for a cue or a pass on how to behave based on convenience or laziness.

Here's a favorite quote of mine to further illustrate this point:

Strolling along the edge of the sea, a man catches sight of a young woman who appears to be engaged in a ritual dance. She stoops down, then straightens to her full height, casting her arm out in an arc. Drawing closer, he sees that the beach around her is littered with starfish, and she is throwing them one by one into the sea. He lightly mocks her: "There are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see, for miles up the beach. What difference can saving a few of them possibly make?” Smiling, she bends down and once more tosses a starfish out over the water, saying serenely "It certainly makes a difference to this one."
-- From The Art of Possibility

As individuals, we must choose to not be part of a larger destructive force. We must stop excusing or justifying our destructive habits because it's part of some larger whole. This is how civilizations become undone.

Here's an old post of mine from a different blogspace a few years back, which I use samples of literature to show how dangerous such excuses and justifications are:

Today, as I sat in the sauna of my gym, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine this as the norm, a perpetual state of existence. What if, I thought, I was always encased in this heat, and could not open the door to coolness? Taking a sauna or a sweat lodge in and of itself can be a cathartic experience, but it is the baptism of cool air or a cool shower in the end that makes it complete. It makes it complete just as winter would not be worth it without the redemption of spring, or autumn without its bursts and blushes of blinding color followed by pristine, crystalline snow that makes one know the blessedness of utter silence, save for the low whistling of the wind. What, I thought again, if the seasons disappeared and I never again saw a snowflake or crimson leaf fall from a tree? What if we, (the collective ‘we’ as in humanity), knowingly or not, usurped from our children and our children’s children these things?

In August 2007, I relocated from Washington D.C. to Burlington, Vermont to begin graduate school at the Rubenstein School for the Environment and Natural Resources of the University of Vermont and a research assistantship with the Vermont State Climate Office as an assistant to the state climatologist. I was often asked by my friends why a poet, a former English major, would pursue a science degree as her age chafes 30. It is literature and poetry that delivered me to this path and I want to explain.

Only a few months before my departure from D.C., the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change—which is comprised of 2,500 of the world’s top scientists, climatologists, and meteorologists—issued a dire report and plea to our planet’s governments for a massive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions effective immediately. The report warned that over the course of the century, including now, millions of people will die as a result of droughts, floods and dwindling resources incurred by global climate change. It is the poorest even in our most prosperous nations who will suffer most. An extinction rate of at least 30-50 percent of our world’s species is likely to occur. This will include even the loss of many of our most gorgeous and charismatic creatures, such as polar bears, tigers, wolves, and whales. The collapse of our ocean’s fisheries is imminent, and the ocean is where life began.

I am not a stupid person and I am rarely spontaneous. I do not latch onto fads as the seasons change, nor do I cling to platforms without rigorously questioning each belief. My belief system is compiled of a fierce marriage between controlled emotion and stringent logic, complemented by the lofty love a poet usually possesses for the raw art of nature. In the end, I changed my career course, not in a 180-degree turn, but shifted gears slowly as I read and became aware through my studies of what the world is going through and how humanity is culpable. In the end, I put my writing (which to me was life itself all encompassed in cups of coffee and my keyboard) on the backburner, because what I earnestly think we are dealing with might be the death of poetry, the death of books, the end of species. And literature taught me to take action.

The most profound concept I correlate to climate change as seen in literature is Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery.” Most people read the story in junior high. The story presents a dystopian town that has managed its peace by picking a person for the lottery. Initially, you are led to believe she (the person picked for the lottery) has won something, but all she wins is a death sentence. To supposedly maintain peace and equilibrium in this fictional society, a person is picked at random and stoned to death. To me, the poignant part is the implicit rationality of this crime: everyone is stoning her, and yet everyone probably believes themselves as less guilty because s/he is merely a facet of the larger whole. “My rock isn’t the one that killed her” one of these characters is implied to think. Another might justify the action in that that “…if I put my rock down, she’ll still die.” Underlying this subconscious dialogue I imagine and ascribe to these mostly anonymous characters, is the theme of never questioning the rule of the society, a rule that offers up murder and destruction to keep it going.

Another literary work I often think of is Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In both the book and the movie there is a scene where a woman is hung. The most striking point is this “traitor” woman is hung by all the handmaids as the rope of the gallows is long and intricately woven throughout a stadium through hundreds of rungs. Each woman must pull at the rope in order for her to hang. I imagine a dozen inner-dialogues much like the ones above, where the women attempt to acquit themselves of the larger crime and dismiss her own part in the destruction of life.
How spontaneously small and large all of our actions are…sometimes I subconsciously wipe my hands on the legs of my pants, attempting to rid them of the blood of future generations, but the sour salty-taste of it sometimes stays in my mouth, and provokes dreams of red hot landscapes void of anything lush or soft. When I wake up, I go to work and school as if nothing is happening. When I come home again at night, when the whir of society has slowed down and the humming in my head softens to a lull, I think of the stone in my hand or the rope I am pulling. I want the strength to drop them both and say no. I want others to join me and to hear a million stones drop to the ground. I want our parts in this play to stop before the climax brings about the blood I fear, rising with the sea levels as the Arctic ice melts.

With climate change and the vast components of destruction that will accompany it in the coming decades, I see us all as co-conspirators with these same inner-dialogues as implied in literature. That is, for those of us who pause to think about it at all. If we continue to propagate and consume at our current rate, there may be children born to this Earth who will know very little or nothing of rain and there will be many others who will drown; the states of existence in between will begin to blur. There may be no leaves that burst like fireworks of color, no snow, no striped or furry animals to gush over. It can happen sooner than we think, and it will happen especially if we do not think. Both Jackson and Atwood were aware that society can wire itself the wrong way, and that for better or worse we all can get caught up in that wiring. They also both knew that such wiring can only be undone by the first brave ones to refuse the rocks or ropes they have been handed; just a few brave ones are needed in each town to start the ripple effect…

Everyday, there are a dozen different ways in which we can change. The greatest thing we can learn is to live in harmony with, instead of against, the nature of our planet. This means nothing less than completely reconstructing our entire society and perception of the world and our relationship with it. From the things we put into our mouths to how we process and dispose of all the various wastes we create, WE MUST CHANGE.
This means consuming much, much less and boycotting Black Fridays, buying things out of necessity instead of desire, and purchasing things that are either recycled, second-hand, made of sustainable materials and/or that will endure. It means canvas bags instead of “paper or plastic.” It means not driving whenever possible. It means replacing light bulbs. It means eating as locally as possible and eating low on the food chain more often since meat production is responsible for a large part of our greenhouse gases and the oceans are being overfished to the point where it will soon fail to recover. It means keeping small, sustainable families or drowning one’s self in the gene pool, as I am very seriously considering. Finally, it means speaking to family, friends, church congregations, gyms, elementary schools and universities. It means writing not only your Senator, but your local and state officials, and our President. It means partaking in public comment periods. What can you say? That you want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as the Supreme Court ruled it had the authority to do back in 2007. That you support mandatory caps on our emissions. That you want the government to eliminate oil subsidies and to switch those subsidies to promote and perpetuate renewable energy sources. That you would like a far-reaching public transportation initiative that is accessible and affordable to the general public. Though personal feats are integral to addressing this issue, governmental involvement and mandates need to be enacted to ensure that the industrial sector will be on board. And most of all, we need a paradigm shift in our society. We the people must begin to think and act within our planet’s means.

My intention is not to be alarmist, but what we are dealing with is alarming. This essay is an appeal for my future and that of the following generation. When one gets upset one is often told as comfort “It’s not the end of the world.”

In this case, though, do we really know?

DUMPED! How Not to Be an A-hole When Moving On...

Most of my adult life, I have lived either in college towns (New Paltz, New York; Amerhst, MA) or in the sections of cities that harbor large populations of college students (right now I live right near Tufts University in Somerville).

This is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it allows for progressive politics, a community that embraces the arts, and a generally youthful and vibrant atmosphere that can help keep us non-college students youthful and vibrant as well. It's a curse because you also get to deal with the sometimes drunken and often discourteous antics of late teens and early 20-something experiencing their first taste of freedom. For all practical purposes, they are adults, but their minds are more or less still adolescent. Yes, they pay rent and bills, drive cars, etc., but in many of those cases, it's not really them footing those bills, it's their parents. So, many of them get the freedom of adulthood while still being coddled like children.

Which is why, I suppose, they have no problem cluttering the sidewalk curbs with their shit at the beginning and end of every school semester. September 1st is an exciting day for my junk-raiding friends, who often find fairly newish stuff to take home for free. But no matter how much they raid, most of that stuff still winds up being picked up by the trash collector.

Here's the deal, college kids: I get that mommy and daddy bought you this stuff, and they'll probably just buy you new stuff again to replace it all. I get that you were too busy getting lit and catching up with the summer syndications of the Biggest Loser or whatever other trash is on television these days. Or maybe, since the Boston/Cambridge area is home to such uber-competitive schools such as MIT and Harvard, you were really just too busy studying, to be sustainable. I get that you have had most things handed to you, so you never think about things like the work it took to get something into your hand or mouth. But I say bullshit. It's high time you learned where your stuff comes from, and where it goes after you've barely used it.

The vast majority of your STUFF (i.e. your furniture, houseware, clothing, electronics/gadgets, books) that your parents purchased for you was created by resources like virgin wood, rare minerals, and cotton that was most likely harvested/yielded under not-so-nice circumstances, and then fashioned into the end product you used for such a brief period by the sweat of shop (and maybe even, slave) laborers (many of whom are children much younger than yourselves) for pittance wages overseas.

Then, when you leave it for the trash man, he takes it to the landfill, which is most likely situated near an impoverished community. Not only do the poor people then have to deal with the brimming lanfill down the block, and breathe in its stench, but they even will develop cancers from the stuff like your used electronics as the metals in them like mercury and lead leech into the air, ground and water and deal with the adverse effects on the resident ecosystem.

Let's take cell phones for instance: cell phones require a mineral called Coltan to make them work. This mineral is largely found in the Congo. Consumer pressures to come up with more Coltan to fuel the Western world's insatiable appetite to have a hip new phone every season is helping fuel a bloody civil war over there, and driving the Mountain Gorilla to extinction.

But hey, at least you get to text Tammy about the latest joke that made you LOL or your latest hot lay at any time of the day or night. What's a few dead bodies, raped teenaged girls and an extinct species in some hot continent overseas--as well as an increased risk of developing a brain tumor--in comparison for the satisfying returns of our constantly plugged-in culture?

I don't care if you have a "Save the Seals" bumper sticker on your SUV, and I don't care that you buy the fair trade latte at the Atomic Bean, if you are not walking the talk in your life in terms of your consumer choices, you are part of the problem. And I don't buy that you are too busy, that your intentions are good...blah blah blah. I bet if you clock in half the time into trying to be a more conscientious consumer, that you do texting and fooling around on Facebook, this world would be a much different place. A much better place.

So, if you actually care to make a difference, here's how not to be an a-hole come moving day:

1.) Consider storage.

Are you coming back next semester? Are you leaving only for a semester or year for an internship? If you are, please consider storing your stuff while you are away, instead of just throwing out to buy again. Check with friends and family first, to see if you can unload some of your stuff with them, in their basements/garages, or for them to use. If not, consider renting a storage space. Depending on how long you plan to be gone, and what service you use, the price might even be cheaper than refurnishing new when you return.

2.) Sell your stuff...

Most of the time, the stuff you are trashing is in good, if not excellent, condition. We're in a shitty economy, and chances are, unless your parents are Wall St. tycoons, even they are feeling the crunch. You may think that Harvard B.A. in anthropology promises you job security after graduation. You're wrong. So start thinking practically. If you really can't take your stuff with you, sell it at a discount. There are trendy consignment clothes shops that would salivate at the chance to resell your hipster wardrobe. I can tick off five off the top of my head here in Somerville & Cambridge. You can trade them in for some cash or store credit. Most stores that sell used books or CDS will also buy said items from you if gently used. For your college textbooks, virtually all college bookstores will buy back your books, even if you were liberal with your yellow highlighter with them.

Granted, all of these places will offer you a pittance of what you paid; the college bookstore in particular might offer you something like $5 for a $50 textbook even if it's mint condition...but it's something. Store credit is a better deal over cash. As for the college bookstore and its audacity at robbing you blind, at least take solace in that you are helping some poor sap of a kid whose parents can't foot his bills who can now buy your book at discount (this was usually me).

If you want a better deal for your goods without even the effort of stepping outside of your house, use the Internet. There's Ebay, Amazon, and of course, Craig's list.

You get to set your price, and people will not only pay it, but they'll come to you, and you'll get rid of that stuff pronto. Don't think so? I've sold things on CL like old tupperware and throw pillows (yes, throw pillows!). Everytime I've posted things on CL, thinking no one will want it, I get 20 emails in my Inbox an hour later. Usually, I am rid of everything with a day or less of posting.

3.) Give it away...

Unless you live in the bumblefuck boonies, you have either a Salvation Army in your town or a Goodwill. Most likely, you have both. As long as it's in decent condition, they'll take your crap, and pretty much anything you got, from furniture to books to a blender. Shit, Salvation Army will even come to you (arrange a pick-up) in many instances if you don't have a car.

Besides Goodwill and Sal's, most towns have their own local, independent thrift stores. When I lived in Burlington, Vermont, it was RecycleNorth (now known as reSOURCE). In Silver Spring, Maryland, it was the Unique Thrift Store (there is also a separate Unique Thrift Store chain in the midwest).

It just takes a few minutes to flip through a yellow pages to find these stores, or do a Google search. Easy-peasy.

And again, there's Craig's list. It has a FREE section. Just post and watch the people reply! You can even post what's called a "CURB ALERT," or "PORCH ALERT" for those last-minute giveaways. Just let the masses know you moved or are moving, and left items XYZ on the curb or your porch and it's first come/first served. When my neighbors move and leave their stuff on the curb, I always post a courtesy CURB ALERT on CL. And the stuff always gets snatched up before the trash man comes. Not only does this keep perfectly usable goods out of the landfill, this helps out low income people get stuff without wallaping their wallets.

I do have a reservation about curb alerts, though. Our cities are seeing an explosion in bedbugs. By leaving your stuff outside, it can become infested with bedbugs and then it gets passed on to the poor, probably low income, person taking it home. This especially goes for furniture with cushions, but even hardwood and electronics can get bedbugs. Which is why you should try to get rid of your stuff before it's moving day, or at the least post an alert right away, to reduce chances of infestation. On this same note, if you have things like a cat, or are a smoker, please be honest in your posting. People have allergies, and it's good to be honest. Don't worry, there are plenty of people who will still snatch up your stuff.

In addition to Craig's list, there's also Freecycle, which is an online forum for giving away and finding stuff in your community. You need to sign up for a membership account, but it's free and only takes a couple of minutes.

You may also be able to find an online forum for your town with a free classified section you can also post in. Seriously, this takes such a short amount of time...

4.) Recycle what you can't sell or give away...

Are your books too ratty or old to resell or donate? Do you have a a bunch of Playboy magazines you're too embarassed to sell and Sal's won't except them as a donation (I am sure there are some 14 year-old boys who would buy them off you)? A little known fact is that most cities and states now accept magazines and books in their paper recycling. So, when it comes time to get rid of these things, simply opt to put them in the blue bin with your paper waste, instead of the trash can (you can easily cover up those naughty PB's with newspaper and other paper waste). Check your state or city website first to make sure this is the case.

Is the problem that your printer or computer or stereo don't work anymore?
All BestBuy outlets now accept used/non-working electronics for recycling, regardless of where you bought them from. Additionally, most major cities, and even many towns have both municipal places that specialize in the recycling and refurbishing of electronics, as well as private companies or NGOs. Some of them will even arrange a pick up. For instance, here in the Boston area, there's a place that specializes in electronics recycling called Earthworm Recycling. There are even some national places you can mail your used electronics to...this is especially easy with cell phones. To find a place near you, check out this link by the EPA: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/donate.htm.

Some of these places may charge a fee, but many are also free. Shop around, but whatever you do, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, try to find these places and use them. Landfilling electronics is an awful thing. They are chock-full of carcinogenic metals and plastics that leak when they become wet, wreaking havoc on local ecosystems and endangering the long-term health of people living nearby.

5.) Buy second-hand or refurbished...or consider not buying at all.

We are obsessed with consumption. We always think we need another car, another phone, another item. At the same time, we're working more and harder, getting sicker, have shorter attention spans, and are less happy as a people than we were a few decades back. The truth is, we're exhausting our resources, we're exploiting other people, and even allowing people and species to die off to ensure the endurance of minor conveniences in our life. Recycling your stuff is a good start but you need to also support recycling from the other end, and reduce your consumption.

This doesn't go for just college kids, it goes for all of us. It goes for me. The truth is, I am targeting the college kids, because I feel their consciences are more active than us more mature adults. In Vermont, there were plenty of 18 year-olds who SCHOOLED ME about sustainability...about what it really means.

So, next time you feel the need to head to the mall, or buy yourself a new pair of shoes, ask yourself not only do you really need it (which of course you probably don't), but 1.) if it's worth all the suffering that went into it, if that kind of suffering is something you are willing to perpetuate with your purchasing power; 2.) if it will make you happier or your life better (and I am not just talking about that drugged kind of rush you get seeing your credit card swiped or using said item the first time or two, I am talking about a lasting sense of happiness and satisfaction), and 3.) If this is something you'll have awhile and invest in maintaining.

For those things you do need or want, please try to source them second-hand first. I made a pact with myself to do this. With the obvious exception of underwear, socks (which I buy from sweatshop-free American Apparel) and occasionally shoes (I have special orthopedic needs for my formerly clubbed foot), I buy all my clothes from thrift or consignment shops. I borrow books from the library and barter with friends, or buy at my local used bookstore and either resell or donate them when I am done. I now only use used cell phones (purchased from DotCells) and I recycle my old ones. When my at-home freelance writing business required a printer, I bought a refurbished one (whenever you search for an electronic product on Amazon, most brands will have used and refurbished models of what you are looking for).

I am not perfect. I still need to improve. I am mentioning these things not to be on a high horse, but just to show that it's more than possible to live a life prioritizing an heirloom (creating products that last a loong time, and reusing their parts) mentality, without being stuck in the stone age.

So, let's do it, let's stop dumping on other countries and communities in our relentless desire for STUFF.

Want to know more about the environmental and labor issues connected to the creation and waste of our electronic products? Please visit the website of the Basal Action Network (BAN) at: http://www.ban.org/