I know I’m preaching to the choir. Another blog about the weather and how it’s killing me slowly along with the rest of the world - not just those in France.
You might be like me; curious about nearly everything that touches me directly or indirectly and ‘expert’ at nothing or very few things. One of the things that I have always been fairly sensitive to is the environment, though by no means a resolute fanatical - which isn’t a bad thing either, in this case . Recently, My Husband has been teasingly accused of the same by his friends what with the bird saving, constant peering through storefronts of petshops, harboring empty jars (some large ones, in which store leftover soup) in the cupboard that leave no room for the gorgeously simple crystal glasses and precious silverware from Mamie and Papie, and long walks through parks as we try to discover some nature in this concrete jungle. I’ve always been a more or less conscious, even arguing with a friend once while camping because he wanted to use paper plates for dinner when I was adamant that we use the plastic camping ones, later to be washed with the biodegradable soap that he insisted be used when washing pots. By no means am I as responsible as I should be, but at the risk of sounding like an evangelist, I’d like to share my concerns.
I’m concerned about my sweat stains that call out my preference of underwear when I stand from my seat. I’d like to be able to sit like a lady on the metro, with my legs together, not splayed in my skirt. I’m concerned about metro perves peeking and then maybe not wanting to take a second look because sweat between your thighs is gross. I’m afraid that they’ll meet up with their friends and in French, tell them about me, “Those American girls have zero class and lots of sweat, lemme tell you, bro.”
Even more so, however, I’m helplessly concerned that we’re all burning up. A friend back home said to me, “It’s Spare the Air” day again, but how will I get to work if I don’t drive?” And she’s absolutely right. It’s difficult to get around most of the SF Bay Area without a car if you don’t live and work in the same city where there may be low to medium end public transportation, at best. Anyway, I’m not nearly the perfect environmentalist, but I try my best in that lazy city way. I wanted to preach to no one in particular who may not know, that it’s all connected. It’s not just driving. It’s not just recycling. One thing that we don’t consider, is that damage is also caused when we buy, upgrade and discard unnecessarily/irresponsibly. This simple act contributes to the the depletion of the earth, which in turn lends to global warming and this unnaturally hot weather across continents. When we purchase, we:
- Deplete resources (cutting down trees in rainforests, as a very simple example). To make the products, the materials are transported to:
- Manufacturing factories that use energy and release poisons/toxic into the air (ever see the smoke stacks from factories?). After the products are completed, they are:
- Transported again (more fuel) to distributors. After the purchase and use by customers, they are later:
- Discarded for an upgrade (computers, electrical appliances) and the items are usually dumped, get into our soil or incinerated in a foreign country.
These are just the basics and they include everything from electronics to other appliances to unnecessarily pre-packaged purchases to jars and plastic bags* and everything …..Has anyone ever questioned the produce people at their local supermarket (Inno on Montparnasse, for example) about why it’s obligatory to put your produce in a bag? I wrote once about buying bananas that don’t need a bag, and was forced to take one. It’s a complicated network that involves life as we know it. Its not easy to avoid without a lot of effort and a bit of sacrifice; I haven’t mastered it myself.
It first hit emotionally - and I realize that it’s strange to think that this is an emotional issue - while traveling in Burma for the very first time. I wandered quite a bit and observed and got lost quite for long periods on end. On a long walk leading from the Shwedagon Paya back into town, I passed a large ‘crater’ on the side of the road. In this ‘crater’ was a mountain of plastic. Plastic bottles and plastic bags. Efficient systems to discard of these types of non-biodegradables do not exist in such places, and so it collects somewhere - perhaps on the side of the road like this, to be burned at a later date when that hole isn’t big enough anymore. I stared, reflected, kept the memory and kept walking toward ‘home’ with my own plastic bottle of clean water packed in my backpack.
On that same trip and the many that followed, I witnessed Reduce, Reuse and Recycle at it’s core in areas of poverty level where upgrading and replacing were simply not an alternative. Sitting at the window of a a local bus on a different trip to Burma where air conditioning was not an option, I stuck my head out the window to see what the unbearably long delay could be as I suffocated, even with the windows open. I saw nothing, but as I looked across the other aisle, I saw a big machine bobbing slowly across the windows. I stood to see what it was, and was informed that it was the transmission of a car that needed to be repaired. This transmission was riding on the back of a small man as he prepared to load it to the top of the bus with the help of a few others who were already poised and waiting. Everything is repaired. Nothing discarded and again, I was reminded of my frugal mother, who tried to instill these lessons in us through our childhood. Buy nothing unnecessary if you can help it, keep reusable items, but spend as much as you ever need on food. Frugal does not not equal “cheap.”
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Please feel free to send me more information. I’m still learning and I’d love to learn along with you.
For parents, nannies or charge of young children, please consider incorporating parts of lessons from the following links into your day. It’s easiest now, when there’s context and you’re looking for indoor activities….
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
BARTER.FIND.SELL.GIVEAWAY.FREE
- Craigslist.org. As an example, you can find almost anything in the San Francisco section, while the Paris section has yet to ramp to it’s full potential. This requires our participation. When I moved to Paris from SF, I sold nearly everything by advertising on CL, including my great 2001 model automobile.
- Freecycle.org
