Clarification about my lifestyle
Aug. 28th, 2009 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hmpfWhen I say that I'm doing what Beavan is doing I don't mean the full No Impact thing with no toilet paper and composting in the kitchen etc. He's not doing *all* of that anymore, either. What I'm doing is, I go as far towards sustainability as I can without making it a full-time job. ;-)
I.e., no car,
no flying,
no electric clothes dryer,
no tv,
no meat (with a very few exceptions - mostly when visiting my parents; but even they try to accomodate my no meat habit most of the time now),
no fish (exception: a Swedish potato dish that I make a couple of times per year, which requires a few anchovies),
using recycled paper,
buying 'green' energy,
generally being conscious of food miles reduction and trash (esp. plastic trash) reduction when grocery shopping,
and most importantly, extreme reduction of all kinds of unnecessary consumption (of goods, resources, energy).
So, no new clothes until old clothes begin to show holes, and when I do need new clothes (I need to get the basics of a 'professional' wardrobe soon), buy them used or at least buy them at Hess Natur. No new mobile phone just because they're cheap, when the old one's still working. And so on. Most of this I've been doing for ages, btw, it's not a fad or a phase. The no flying resolution is fairly new, though - a few years ago I still tried to tell myself that it was okay if I flew to Britain or Spain to see friends because it's the cheapest way and I was a poor student. (Yes, I know, it's a stupid excuse.)
Areas where I still need to improve:
- hygiene products (I don't see myself giving up toilet paper - but of course that's made from recycled paper, anyway, so it's not quite so bad - but I *should* try to find cloth handkerchiefs, I think. And possibly give menstrual cups a try. Sorry if this is TMI. *g*)
- books and cds. I can't live without new music and books, and my tastes are so strange that getting them from a public library is not an option; libraries don't have my kind of stuff. (Plus I have to admit to really liking to *own* books, in particular.) I do try to buy them used, if possible, though.
- computer use. Seriously, it would probably be better for me *and* the environment if I could restrict my computer use to a few hours per day... *g*
I.e., no car,
no flying,
no electric clothes dryer,
no tv,
no meat (with a very few exceptions - mostly when visiting my parents; but even they try to accomodate my no meat habit most of the time now),
no fish (exception: a Swedish potato dish that I make a couple of times per year, which requires a few anchovies),
using recycled paper,
buying 'green' energy,
generally being conscious of food miles reduction and trash (esp. plastic trash) reduction when grocery shopping,
and most importantly, extreme reduction of all kinds of unnecessary consumption (of goods, resources, energy).
So, no new clothes until old clothes begin to show holes, and when I do need new clothes (I need to get the basics of a 'professional' wardrobe soon), buy them used or at least buy them at Hess Natur. No new mobile phone just because they're cheap, when the old one's still working. And so on. Most of this I've been doing for ages, btw, it's not a fad or a phase. The no flying resolution is fairly new, though - a few years ago I still tried to tell myself that it was okay if I flew to Britain or Spain to see friends because it's the cheapest way and I was a poor student. (Yes, I know, it's a stupid excuse.)
Areas where I still need to improve:
- hygiene products (I don't see myself giving up toilet paper - but of course that's made from recycled paper, anyway, so it's not quite so bad - but I *should* try to find cloth handkerchiefs, I think. And possibly give menstrual cups a try. Sorry if this is TMI. *g*)
- books and cds. I can't live without new music and books, and my tastes are so strange that getting them from a public library is not an option; libraries don't have my kind of stuff. (Plus I have to admit to really liking to *own* books, in particular.) I do try to buy them used, if possible, though.
- computer use. Seriously, it would probably be better for me *and* the environment if I could restrict my computer use to a few hours per day... *g*
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-28 07:49 pm (UTC)I couldn't do the no flying. I love going to new places and have family all across the pond so, really, big no on that for me. I do try to off-set my emissions by giving money to organizations that plant trees or invest in renewable energies.
I also by green electricity and have picked a company that reinvests a part of the profits into further renewables instead of just keeping it all.
Family across the pond
Date: 2009-08-28 10:22 pm (UTC)Though I'm not sure if 'I love going to new places' is a valid reason... ;-) Or at least it's one I've decided for myself is not a sufficient reason to fly. But that, obviously, is a conclusion everyone has to come to at their own pace, and I'm hardly in a position to preach, having only recently given up flying myself. (I wasn't a particularly frequent flyer before that, either, but I did fly to Britain once per year - and back, obviously *g*. I think my last flight was in 2007; the decision that that flight would be the last one was taken in 2008. I'm willing to make an exception for New Zealand/Australia/Asia, some time in my life, but probably only once or, at most, twice. And I won't be heartbroken if I never get around to making that exception, either. Europe is nice, too. Plus, for some faraway places there *are* alternatives to flying... I recently met a guy who went to Japan, from Germany, by train and ship.)
I do hope the conclusion that I've reached is one that more people will come to, eventually, because even with offsetting, a lifestyle that includes frequent holiday flights is not sustainable (unless we find some radically new mode of propulsion, maybe). And it's not as if the alternative is 'never leaving your home at all' - there's plenty of great places that can be reached by means other than flying...
Re: Family across the pond
Date: 2009-08-28 10:46 pm (UTC)I don't know. It depends of what you do once you're there imho. I believe that if you go to new places and are open-minded about it and take the time to learn about the culture and interact with the people, the experiences to be gained and the understanding of other countries and cultures is in itself worthy and *sustainable*.
If people bothered to learn more about others I believe they would be slower to judge and we wouldn't have as much wars as we do. I guess it could be achieved by other means too (god knows we can communicate online enough) and a certain pre-disposition to be open-minded must be there anyway. And yes, going to Asia to sequester yourself in a beach-resort--which sadly most people do--it's not in any way sustainable, so...
Re: Family across the pond
Date: 2009-08-28 11:04 pm (UTC)Re: Family across the pond
Date: 2009-08-28 11:07 pm (UTC)And I don't think that people need to have those kinds of experience very often; a few experiences like that are probably enough to open the average person's mind.