First Steps

Everyone in my immediate family has at least one tattoo. When I turned 18, it was expected that I would also get one, but I had never been crazy enough about any particular design to get one permanently inked into my skin… until the fall of 2009. While looking at a display of Celtic jewelry at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, I came across a tree of life. I became enchanted with this symbol which communicated the interconnectedness of all living things, and began sketching my own version of the tree because I knew that I had finally found something worthy of a tattoo.

The tree of life describes so much of what I value as a person, but unfortunately a tattoo on my back is not enough to keep me from getting caught up in the daily races and occasionally forgetting my place in the grand scheme of things. It’s so easy to get lost in all the noise. I want to live quietly: I want to be less offensive, selfish, and obnoxious. I want to live more peacefully, simply, patiently, and deliberately. Therefore, I will be walking my talk this month by taking time every day to meditate. I’ve already started to practice clearing my mind by doing this inside, but next week I will be moving out of doors so that I can more easily reflect upon my place in the natural world. Awareness and appreciation are the first steps in acting responsibly toward the environment and my fellow living beings, right?

If nothing else, at least Neil deGrasse Tyson also likes being connected.

With My Own Two Hands

For my Lived Experience Project this semester, I have chosen to do a combination of Walking Your Talk and Informed Citizenship. For the hands on part of this, I am going to be experimenting with growing an indoor vegetable garden, that not only produces good produce, but is also economically conceivable for a college student’s budget (which last time I checked was next to nothing). For the research based part, I will be researching Intentional Communities (ie. communal living, ecovillages, coops, cohousing, etc.), which started to increase due to current the current economy as well as the current move toward green living. I’ll be studying and gathering information on communities that grow 20%+ of their own food.

I’ve been very interested in the idea of Intentional Communities for about 2 years now, I really love the idea of people coming together to make the world better and more sustainable. “Green” Intentional Communities aim not only to provide a more sustainable way of living, but they also aim to providing a loving neighborly like feel for those who live there.

I’ll go ahead and give you a little background on why I am so interested in both of these topics, in case you’d like to know. Gardening is really popular in my family, my mom grew up on a farm and my dad’s parents have about an acre of land behind their house where they grow multiple things. My great grandma was in her vegetable garden next to her house until she was over 90 years old ( I am not exaggerating at all) and my family always had a vegetable garden to provide fresh produce for us in the summer. Then, when I was a freshman in high school my dad decided to take on a new project to make some extra income, growing about 30 acres of sweet corn. Not only did my sisters and I get deemed “Children of the Corn” by all of Southeast Kansas, we also learned a lot about food and farming. We had to wake up every morning before the sun, get out to the field and hand pick all the sweet corn we were going to sell that day. Then, my younger sister and mom would sit in town and sell the corn and my dad and I would continue to pick in the fields to provide corn for when they ran out. Since I was the one who was out in the field with dad all day, I got to talk to all the old farmers and hang out with them when would take breaks, I always loved the community feeling, like when people would come help pick and just sitting around in the field talking about the happenings of the surrounding farms. I just really enjoyed the way these people live their lives, trading one type of fresh food for another, helping out with no expectations, and living to their means rather than consuming everything they could. I feel like urban agriculture and starting communities based around providing for yourselves rather than depending on huge corporations to provide for you is a great way to get back to this simple lifestyle.

So… where do I begin?

My seeds came in today, so tomorrow is planting day (meaning I’ll post pictures tomorrow)! I ordered heirloom seeds off the internet in a bundle and it cost me $10.00. I am growing:

• Bloomsdale Spinach
• Cherry Bell Radishes
• Little Finger Carrots
• Slow Bolt Cilantro
• Large Leaf Italian Basil
• Roma Paste Tomatoes

I am using a couple methods for seed trays to test which methods work best. These methods include egg cartons, egg shells, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, and regular seed trays from the store. Though I will be keeping the seeds by a window, I have chosen to purchase some grow lights, and since really nice grow lights are expensive, I purchased a lot of ten 50 watt plant light bulbs off Ebay, they cost me about $20 including shipping and handling. I purchased some organic seed starting soil from Walmart for about $5. I also placed a contained in my yard to catch rain water in order to water the plants.

So right now my running total is about $35.

To begin my research on Intentional Communities I’ve composed a list from the website for the Fellowship of Intentional Communities [http://directory.ic.org/] of places that grow 20% or more of their food, I plan on emailing each and hopefully getting some first hand information about not only the inspiration for the start of their homes but also why they believe it is important.

That is all I have for you right now.

In case you were wondering about the title, check this out:

Woebegone

…

ahem.

Hey, world. It’s been awhile.

I’ve spent the last few months considering how my relationship with you, and now it’s time for me to say goodbye for good. I must face the inevitable: I am the destroyer.

No matter what I do, or don’t, I won’t ever be treating you justly. Unless, that is, I use only what you give me. But I continue taking.

Every time I purchase material that has been violently extracted from the earth, I give my affirmation to the practices used to bring me that which I desire. Why must money be so important? It is a privilege, something I have been advantaged by, and rarely worked to achieve. Did I deserve this? World, did you deserve this? I can only conclude… no.

My effort to reduce overconsumption ended at my own doings. I failed to encourage the public, political, and local spheres to make changes in the same regard. Although my utility bills may be lower, my body smellier, my clothes dirtier, and my car less driven, I feel I’ve broken no barriers into a truly sustainable life. Until I am living off the land alone, I cannot claim any success.

Another consideration that I cannot avoid is the community around me. Supporting the “man” means I’m approving violences globally. Buying local means the environment is spared some of the excess violences against it. Yet both decisions to spend money provide capital to the businesses that employ my friends, loved ones, and fellow community members, and thus provides them their livelihood. Unless I’m working toward some alternative, earth focused method of living, my efforts will be for little gain.

Oh well.

“Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself”

Last week, I wrote a confession to the Earth detailing the way I exploit our relationship on a regular basis. Although I’m positive that I included the focus of my project within the first post, I wish to reiterate my thesis. I am engaging the category of “What One Person Can Do”, more specifically in regards to confronting overconsumption from a ground-up perspective. So what better way to start off the experiment with a good, hard look at myself?

As a primer on the way I utilize my physical space, I invite you to watch this video. As it does not cover every aspect of my resource use, I also will give some basic figures about my personal habits.

• I drive my car (2001 Pontiac Grand Am) an average of 10-30 minutes a week
• I shower once or twice a week, for about 10 minutes
• I flush the toilet every time I poop, once or twice daily; rarely do I flush for pee-pee
• I VERY seldom wash dishes (thanks, roomies), and machine wash my clothes once or twice a month
• I consume food that creates waste byproducts or packaging almost daily
• I eat meat 3 or 4 times a week
• I smoke cigarettes, usually 3-5 daily
• I use electronic equipment and light producing electronics tied to the grid about 30 hours a week. Most of the energy I consume is used in conjunction with my computer
• I purchase and consume certain beverages in hard-to-recycle materials about every other day
• I impulse spend on a product that will become waste about once a week

After some thinking about my personal (over)consumption, its clear I’m doing some things right… but not nearly everything. Therefore, I pledge to make three major adjustments:

Ween myself from cigarette and alcohol use that has an adverse effect on the environment;
Limit my purchases, to the best and most practical of my abilities, to whole foods only (thus I am buying nothing but my sustenance)
Ween myself from meat products as they are detrimental to the environment

I am relieved to think that because of my current habits, adjusting to my new goals shaln’t be too difficult. But we will see, now won’t we?

The experiment is now officially under way…!

I am the DESTROYER

HELLO WORLD!

I wanted to admit something to you, actually. This is kind of hard for me to say, but if I don’t tell you now, someone else will. I mean, I kinda made it obvious to everyone I know. Britney Spears once said, “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know”, and I can understand what she means. It hurts. Sorry for beating around the bush, World, but it’s hard for me too, like I said.

…

I’ve been using you.

I’ve just been taking and taking and taking, and you’ve never asked for anything in return. In fact, you’ve only silently submitted as I do what I wish to you day after day. Sometimes, I feel like I’m violating you… but I strangely don’t feel much guilt, unless I think about it in a more global perspective. Like, I’ve basically shit on you. Actually, I HAVE shit on you. But you liked that, I thought. What really must hurt, though, is when I take what you never offered me, and give back nothing that you need; in reality, what I do put back has made you less beautiful. I’ve poisoned you. I’m sorry. I want to change my behaviors. But, like everybody to some extent, I’m stuck in my ways and don’t feel comfortable with sudden adjustments.

So, World, I’ve decided to take the next several weeks to dedicate myself to renewing our relationship, maybe bringing to a close some of my bad habits which have made this relationship so one-sided. Through a series of personal, political, and social lenses, I will examine and enact changes which might restore a sense of balance between us and affect how others see our relationship, maybe causing them to treat you better, too! The frivolous overconsumption of the things we take from you, which is enacted by all of us, is simply not healthy for anyone.

Remember the good times, when we would sit silently for hours together with the sun drenching both our faces? When I slept, cradled by your massive arms, under the pristine night skies? When I waded deep within your waters, without a care in the world? I want to share those with you again and again, for as long as I can. That might be selfish, but its not just for me. I want to stop hurting you. I am your destroyer, but over these next few weeks perhaps I prepare to become your partner. Hopefully, we’ll both be better off in the end.