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June 22, 2003
SustainableWays.com Newsletter #3
(Still going strong!)
::MY LITTLE LANDFILL::
I often tout the importance of solving problems rather than treating symptoms, and I understand that this can be a very difficult, but extremely valuable, distinction to make. Well, this month I have a real-life example.
Under my desk, there's a huge pile (about two feet wide, one foot tall and growing) of used paper. That includes junk mail, old print-outs (having used both sides of the paper, of course), and periodicals. I don't think there's a day that goes by when I don't drop something into that pile. And not because I'm quick to throw things in there--sometimes I've even gone as far as using the back of credit card promotion letters as printer paper before it finds its way into that pile. So why, you may ask, do I hoard away useless pieces of paper?
My original intention was noble. I wanted to recycle. So I called the local facilities, and they said they'd send me a calendar, which would tell me what days I could put my stuff out there to be recycled. But a month later, I didn't have a calendar and the pile was beginning to grow. So I called again. They said they'd send me a calendar, again. It didn't come, again. That was about a year ago.
I was ticked. I knew I had to do something. I thought about calling them up again, speaking to their supervisor, and getting that damn calendar to my house. But what would that do, other than give people (including me) a headache? Sure, my paper would probably get hauled away, but what about all those other cities in all those other states who had to deal with recycling offices like mine? In order to make a real difference, I'd have to get ALL of them to be good. That's not only unlikely, but also unpleasant. That's why I'd never make a good activist.
So, I thought to myself, why don't I make something from this paper? I've always been on the crafty side, and the entrepreneur in me said YES! I could start a business that would collect used paper and turn it into something that could be sold! I could spread my business across the country, and people would recycle because it makes money, not because they've got some annoying activist up their....well anyway, you get the point. And guess what I asked for last Christmas? A blender. Yes, a blender, so that I could turn my pile into pulp and begin experimenting with recycled paper products.
Three hard, ugly, bumpy and gray pieces of paper later, I thought that maybe I could make better use of my time. Even Tom Kemper, who fared much better in the recycling business than I did, said in his Sustainable Work interview that there's something better to hope for--a system where businesses like his don't exist, because there's no waste in the first place. A system where a large, messy pile of papers under my desk is unheard of, because our economy is modeled after the most efficient system of all--nature. Now THAT is sustainability. That's solving the problem. And, it's something worth working towards, in fact the most effective thing I can do with my time.
::THIS BOOK IS NOT A TREE::
Given that story, you can imagine how happy I was to find a book that not only articulated my lessons learned, but also put them into practice. This month I read and reviewed Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, and noticed offhand that it was a little different. Unlike my other library books, it wasn't as beat-up or yellow. The pages seemed especially glossy and strong. Lo and behold, this book was not made from a tree. It was made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, rendering the book not only durable and waterproof, but also continually recyclable (as opposed to just making an extra stop on the way to the landfill). Me being me--scientific and daring--I tried to rip a page. All it did was bend and stretch. Wow. I immediately resolved to support this ingenious book and buy a copy as soon as I could.
Even though I'm usually on a perpetual budget, I'd just finished reading Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, and it'd changed the way I looked at money. I knew that I valued sustainability, and that the money used to buy this incredible book would not be spent in vain. Unfortunately, there are so many people who say they want to live sustainably, and also say they don't care about money. Well, that's one less way they're helping the environment! Money, we often forget, is a means to an end--in fact, it's the most widely recognized means in the world. That's why I've reviewed Your Money or Your Life for the Sustainable Lifestyle section of my site. It's all about how to spend your money according to your values. If you're reading this newsletter, then one of those values is probably sustainability.
I believe that the first step toward sustainability is self-education. That's why at SustainableWays.com, you'll find a lot more book reviews than product recommendations. It's kind of like the saying goes: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." (Lao-tzu) Well, I think that if you tell people what they should or should not do to help the environment, you drive them away. But if you show them how living sustainably is really in their own best interest, you'll change lives. A lot of the books I review attempt to do just that, but there's nothing like real-life examples. I had the pleasure this month of interviewing Manna Jo Greene, a woman I met at an energy conference where she talked about the hexagonal, sustainable building she built in her backyard while working full-time. This is a person who believes in leading by example, and she strives to provide a working model of sustainability that people can follow. You can find the interview in the Sustainable Homes section of my site, and I hope you find her story as inspiring as I did...See you at SustainableWays.com!
-Krystle C.
Creator,
www.SustainableWays.com
The SENSIBLE Guide to Everything Sustainable
"For every thousand hacking away at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root." -Henry David Thoreau
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