Green as a Thistle: My Compromise with Eco-Consciousness
Because we got snowed in over the weekend, I stayed in for the most part, only leaving to trudge over to the gym on Saturday. And although I was struck with a nasty case of cabin fever by Sunday evening (resulting in a fervid dusting of the entire apartment), I'm so glad it happened or else I wouldn't have discovered this website: Green as a Thistle;
The blog is written by a young journalist named Vanessa at the National Post, who attempted to adopt one environmentally-positive thing every day for a year without becoming a smug asshole about it. Her humorous, self-effacing attitude is refreshing, especially compared to the bleak doomsday predictions about our future that usually come from the media. She has just finished her year, and wrote about the things that did work well (changing to natural cleaning and beauty products, for example) versus those things that she will go without (washing her hair with vinegar, limiting the length of her showers). Her biggest lesson is that there is no point in being absolute about environmental issues: it's impossible to make those kinds of life-altering changes all at once without being overwhelmed by them. One must pick and choose one's eco-causes, while learning the important lessons that come with them, namely to "maintain a constant awareness of everything we do, use, eat and throw away, every we go and how we get there, what we buy, why we buy it, and what happens when we don't need it anymore."
I myself have been making small steps over the last year towards leaving more "greenly," mostly because it's so relatively easy to do so in a cosmopolitan city like Toronto. When I lived in a rural area such steps were impossible: I had to drive everywhere, everyone lived in giant, energy-sucking single homes, and my choice in products was limited at best, not to mention the knee-jerk reaction against all things that could be construed as "hippy." But now that I'm surrounded by green grocers, organic stores, and a more eco-conscious mindset, I think it's time to take stock of the changes I've since made and what I can do in the future.
1) A car-free lifestyle: Although my dad offered to help me find a cheap clunker if I wanted one, I did not want the responsibility of the car in a megalopolis like Toronto: parking is expensive and hard to find, and traffic is a nightmare. Besides which, I love walking, and after being dependent for so long on a car to do anything--even going into town to get some milk--I appreciate the freedom that comes with it. Plus I attribute my car-free lifestyle to being thinner than I've ever been in my life even though I eat more and exercise less than I used to. Combine that with never having to worry about gas, oil changes, insurance, repairs, and doing hideous damage to the environment, and this choice was a no-brainer.
However, I have given some thought to signing up for a short-term car rental company like Autoshare or Zipcar for those rare occasions when I need to somewhere public transit can't take me, or need to haul something I can't carry on my own.
2) No more plastic bags: It always occurred to me that plastic bags seemed unnecessarily pervasive, and this became obvious when I traveled to Italy: everyone has beautiful mesh bags to carry items in, and the simple genius of it really struck me. Do I really need a bag for something when I can easily toss that something into my purse? But thanks to some recent consciousness-raising by the media, I've tried to ban use of plastic bags completely by purchasing a couple linen totes. This took some adjustment: I have to anticipate when I may be shopping for something, and impulse buys are out now. Plus I still prefer to have meats wrapped in a separate bag for hygiene's sake. I also have to be very proactive and declare right away to nearly every cashier that I encounter that I DO NOT NEED A BAG!! STOP BAGGING MY STUFF!! It depresses me that plastic bags have become an automatic gesture rather than an optional one. I also want to buy some more stylish totes.
3) Eliminating chemical-laden cleaners: this has been a gradual process of many hits and misses. For general cleaning, my spray bottle of diluted tea tree oil works as well as any Fantastik solution, and I've replaced most of my bath-cleaning products with safer alternatives. However, for dirtier jobs, the economically-friendly stuff hasn't cut it. I tried phosphate-free dishwashing soap, but it missed a lot of food and resulted in a gross buildup inside the dishwasher. I've since switched to a phosphate-reduced brand, but I may try some alternatives in the future. I also tried switching to chemical-free laundry soap, and it worked ok, but I was surprised by how dull my whites were looking. My parents brought me a huge vat of Costco-approved soap, so I'm currently working through that, but I plan to try the chem-free stuff again with a bleach alternative whitener when it runs out. All-out failures have included toilet bowl cleaner (again, I will not scrimp on hygiene, and the chem-free stuff just didn't work) and oven cleaner (for some jobs, only harsh chemicals will do).
4) Using less energy: Again, this one has been tougher. Although both Jeremy and I are good at shutting off lights when we leave rooms (and I will claim to be better than he is about this), our computers are on most of the time we're home, and occasionally Jeremy will keep his on overnight if he's downloading something. We also have track lighting so if you flick a switch it's basically four lights on or nothing, though we've both taken a bulb out of our bathroom fixtures.
I have to admit that I'm not at all a fan of the new energy-efficient bulbs: I find the light harsh and occasionally I pick up on its flickering and it gives me a headache--it's staying out of the bedroom if nothing else. We have no control over the heat save for the gas fireplace in the bedroom, which we tend to crank up when the rest of the apartment is feeling chilly--perhaps we should just put on sweaters instead. Since reading some stuff about sleep patterns, I've tried lowering the thermostat quite a bit while sleeping (apparently people sleep better when its cooler). I also tend to unplug anything that isn't directly in use, but I have yet to find a solution for the microwave and stove, whose plugs are inaccessible for the most part. Still, they are unnecessary energy sinks (why does everything have a digital clock in it?!) so I'd like to try to address that. I was even starting to feel guilty about my electric toothbrush, but I tend to brush too hard and hurt my gums with regular toothbrushes, so again, a reluctant decision to ignore the energy costs there. I do at least have a battery-powered alarm clock because I get annoyed by cords and I'd like to have at least one room in the place that isn't humming with electromagnetic fields (be they actually harmful or not). One of the things I'm proud of, however, is I rarely if ever use the dryer for laundry--I have a dry rack instead. They're a little stiff and hard, but I use dramatically less energy this way.
Another problem is the gas fireplace tends to suck the moisture out of the air, so we've been using a humidifier during nights. I may use it for the time being, as Canadian winters are ridiculously dry, but am planning to buy lots of plants in the spring that will hopefully retain some of the room's moisture.
5) Use less paper products: This is something that I put a little less importance on, because paper is biodegradable so throwing it out won't automatically poison the planet. Plus, there's apparently more trees in the U.S. than there was 100 years ago (though I doubt the same can be said for Canada). However, I do recognize that using recycled paper products uses much less energy and water to produce than "virgin" paper. I've recently switched to recycled paper towels, and they work just fine--they're a little rougher than usual, but other than that and the fact that they're brown, they work well. I never understood why things we use to wipe our noses or asses or countertops need to be pristinely white anyway--all that unnecessary bleaching! I tend to use rags for dusting and wiping but I like to have paper towels on hand for dirtier stuff. I'm planning to make the change to recycled toilet paper as well (hopefully it won't feel like sandpaper). What I really need to change is how much I use paper towels at work--I generally put my lunch on a paper towel and one on my lap to get the crumbs, and that should probably stop. However, if I used a plate, I would have to wash it using a paper towel anyway (I'm not *touching* that sponge) so I wonder if it would really make a difference. I'm going to take up Vanessa's suggestion and carry a cloth napkin and chopsticks so I don't have to use disposable utensils and napkins when I go out. I'm less inclined at her suggestion that I bring a hankie with me instead of Kleenex for nose-blowing/wiping issues, but we'll see. As for make-up remover pads, q-tips, and other disposable paper products of the feminine variety, I'm still looking for options, but retain my skepticism.
6) Use less plastic: It goes without saying that I've banned disposable plastic water bottles from my repertoire (I'm also relieved to see that much of the population is with me), and I've bought a very pretty aluminum bottle (because apparently "permanent" plastic bottles like Nalgene can leach nasty chemicals). As for other plastics, it's hard to avoid the packaging that goes along with many products. There's a Noah's and Grassroots store close by where I can fill up on many items in bulk, but I admit that my lifestyle hasn't shifted enough where I have many empty containers on hand for collecting essentials with. Something to work on I guess. I was really angered by the unnecessary packaging (the word "unnecessary" is coming up a lot, I've noticed) for the Venus razors my parents dropped off for me (are you noticing a trend in that lots of the wasteful stuff in my life is given to me by my parents?): a hard bubble casing with a four-slot razor holder with only ONE extra razor in it (the other three slots were left empty). I will CLEARLY never use these, as any replacement razors I use will come in their own four-razor slot. The wastefulness boggles the mind! Perhaps I'll write a letter, although that is becoming perilously close to becoming the high-and-mighty eco-warrior I would like to avoid.
7) Non-chem beauty products: I'm half and half on this one: I've made a quick and painless switch to organic shampoo and conditioner with no problem at all, as well as body lotion and soap (the amazing and insane Dr. Bronner's). I'd like to go natural for my make-up as well, but I plan to replace them as they come up so I can experiment. Most likely coming up in the future will be lipstick and mascara, and I've read recently about the lead and mercury content of those products so I'm looking forward to finding an alternative. Less successful has been nail polish and its remover. The remover has to be left on for a while and then vigorously rubbed off, and then you have to wash off the residue--very time-consuming. The nail polish is also flat and uneven in coating, and I miss the shimmery depths of the chem stuff. Of course a solution to all of this would be to not wear make-up at all, but I like wearing make-up. And damned if I'm ever giving up my dark-circle-hiding concealer! I've also played around with natural deodorants and they're not bad--they definitely don't last as long or are as powerful, so when I'm working out I stick to the regular stuff. So making progress: I'm getting used to the lack of convenience that comes with a lot of natural solutions, but the feeling of wholesomeness that comes with them is gratifying.
8) Buy local and organic: I'm impressed at how easy this has been, but then I'm lucky enough to be living with a guy that loves to cook from scratch, so those ready-made, preservative-laden dishes have very little presence in our cupboards. Additionally we've given up shopping at soul-sucking grocery chains and opt instead to go to Toronto's St. Lawrence market, where a series of vendors sell their specialty. The organic green grocer there has comparative prices, and we find that we spend less for better quality. Recently we've tried to reduce the amount of red meat we eat, moving towards a "fishetarian" cuisine of mostly vegetables and seafood. This may be helped by an exciting discovery: food boxes! For about 30 bucks a week, these guys will deliver seasonal, locally grown fruits and vegetables right to our door! We haven't set it up yet, but we're really, really keen to try it.
As you can see, there's plenty of room for improvement, and I'm hoping once the Spring comes (if it ever comes) more changes can be made. If any of you have any suggestions about how to live green without resenting it, I would love to hear them!
Edit: Apparently the Pope has just declared that polluting will send you to hell!