Yesterday
we covered that the things I do to be more environmentally friendly are both
inadequate and a matter of location. One thing that I do pretty well on is that
I am not very acquisitive.
I
got my first computer in 1995, and my first cell phone in 1996 . I am on my
fourth and third respectively. (The current phone's battery won't really hold a
charge now, so I am going to have to replace it soon.)
Some
of that is being cheap. We don't have a lot of money, and what I do have I want
to spend on experiences, like concerts and travel. That leads to the other part;
I am over knick knacks and dust collectors. I'm not a clotheshorse. As much as
I like books, and having books on hand, it is still most effective to just keep
some and go through the library system for the rest. So I never would have
expected that my lifestyle requires 32 slaves:
A
lot of the evils of the world come from being willing to benefit off the harm
to and exploitation of others. It makes our lives easier and more luxurious,
and it makes the lives of others miserable.
I
wrote about e-waste disposal Monday. Ultimately the price of our easy disposal
is that people on the other side of the world are exposed to toxic chemicals,
not to mention the fossil fuels used in transportation, and most of us don't
really think about it, but there are people who know that's what's happening
and are okay with it.
It's
not all people in developing countries either. Fracking causes earthquakes and
contaminates groundwater, leads to contaminated air, acid rain, and ground
level ozone, and is associated with birth defects and cancer. How is that
continuing?
Okay,
I guess that turned a little dark.
I'll
tell you something else I have done for the environment, and that was
boycotting several brands that use unsustainably harvested palm oil, which is a
habitat problem for many species including orangutans. I have not done a great
job of it, because I have not sent letters to those companies saying why I have
stopped buying their products, and also about every six months I give in and
buy some ramen noodles, because I love them and apparently no brand makes them
responsibly.
I
have thought about doing other boycotts, because I know economic pressure is an
important part of change, but it could easily go to where there are no brands
to support. From the other side, the first time I looked up boycotting the Koch
Brothers, not only was there not anything I already used, but there were a lot
of things that were used in construction and areas where I would not even have
the option of using or not using them.
My
point there is that you need to accept some limitations. There are a lot of
issues in the world, and some of them will require greater efforts than you can
make alone, though that does not mean that your effort does nothing. There are
two issues that I keep coming back to.
One
is awareness. Seeing those answers - 3.42 earths and 32 slaves - felt pretty
horrible, but it is eye-opening, and that is worth something. A lot of these
things can happen because people don't know, and they are okay with not
knowing. Be aware, ask questions, and engage.
The
second thing, and this is my broken record part, is that we need to value all
people. Instead of looking for reasons why their suffering is deserved and
acceptable, look for the ways we are alike, and acknowledge their value as
being equal with your own.
Those
may be the very first steps to not being evil.
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