New York Times

I recently read an article titled, "Why Bother?" It's simple implication was to open up the floor for discussion on the climate change.

The Big Problem is nothing more or less than the sum total of countless little everyday choices, most of them made by us (consumer spending represents 70 percent of our economy), and most of the rest of them made in the name of our needs and desires and preferences. For us to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how we’re living our lives suggests we’re not really serious about changing — something our politicians cannot fail to notice. They will not move until we do. I LOVE IT!

Thirty years ago, Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer and writer, put forward a blunt analysis of precisely this mentality. He argued that the environmental crisis of the 1970s — an era innocent of climate change; what we would give to have back that environmental crisis! — was at its heart a crisis of character and would have to be addressed first at that level: at home, as it were. He was impatient with people who wrote checks to environmental organizations while thoughtlessly squandering fossil fuel in their everyday lives — the 1970s equivalent of people buying carbon offsets to atone for their Tahoes and Durangos. Nothing was likely to change until we healed the “split between what we think and what we do.” For Berry, the “why bother” question came down to a moral imperative: “Once our personal connection to what is wrong becomes clear, then we have to choose: we can go on as before, recognizing our dishonesty and living with it the best we can, or we can begin the effort to change the way we think and live.”

Awareness is the key to action - with knowledge comes responsibility. These are two phrases that I use frequently in my life. How can I KNOW all that I do and NOT change? When I first began doing more recycling and really trying to change my behavior, I was met with some resistance. Not only from people around me, but from myself. You see, I was TRAINED to do things a certain way. Whether right or wrong needs no discussion. Nonetheless, I was taught one way and for whatever reason I truly believed that was the way to live.

If you had been told your entire like that the sky's color was yellow instead of the traditional training of blue, you would fight to your grave with someone to convince them it was yellow. If not a fight, you would at least stand to your resolve that the sky is yellow and the other person was misinformed. I do not like to think that I AM the one that has been misinformed - misguided. So when I read this article, I felt inspired.

Sometimes I wonder why I keep working so hard to make a difference in the world. The idea that someone across the street or on the other side of the world is countering all that I am working to accomplish no longer hinders my momentum. I will not be stopped now. I have seen and felt the benefits. Anything from a reduced electric bill (which means less coal) or a lower water bill (which helps in the shortages all over the world). I have seen it. With two full rain barrels, a compost bin full of rotting foods, recycling bins that need emptying more than my trash, and more yogurt containers for food storage saved in my cabinets I can SEE.

Although my firm resolve to be different may not change the world today, and we need what this article calls "laws and money," I still feel that my PERSONAL impact is bigger each day. I am changing the way I buy, the way I eat, how much I eat, how often I drive, where I drive, who I am around, my personal past-times, my attitude about other's life-styles (I used to be so fired up I would judge others for not holding similar convictions), and how I work.

This article speak directly to gardening and although I am no green thumb, I am taking a stab at it this year. No matter how small, it makes a difference. My tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and arugula keep me out of the store for certain things. My little 6' x 6' garden doesn't hold much, but I am definitely reaping what I sowed!

I also love the way this article discusses the unsurmountable amount of reliance we put on people around us. I was sitting at a restaurant the other day - which I do not frequent too often - and realized just how much we rely on other people to do things for us that we can do ourselves. At this point, I feel I can briefly divert from the direction this article went. The disconnect and unrealistic expectations that come with this type of situation have really molded our society into an even more selfish, arrogant society.

OK, back to the article. Cheap energy allowed us to leapfrog community by making it possible to sell our specialty over great distances as well as summon into our lives the specialties of countless distant others. For me, this means I let the cheap, less environmentally-friendly energy dictate my buying habits in many ways. Products produced in this fashion are often cheaper. I wish that producing things in the most eco-friendly way were less expensive to our pocket book. In a society so driven by the wallet and what you have as far as money goes, I often feel so defeated when I cannot afford to buy things that are more expensive just because the are more sustainable or less likely to cause long-term damage to our earth.

Whatever the case, I choose to spend that extra money in certain places. One of the biggest choices we have made is to participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Although it costs $700 up front, it is intended to provide food for 25 weeks. That's $28 a week for local, organic, fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. Although that's not my entire grocery list covered, it IS a large part of it.

What I got from this article? Why bother? Any small step makes a difference that would not have otherwise been made. So I am bound and determined to keep doing the small things I am doing.