Time to stop taking it all for granted

Mark and I watched a sobering documentary last night called “Manufactured Landscapes.” I highly recommend it. You can get it on Netflix instant download. It brings into focus my goal for One Small Change this month: educate the boys about waste. But first I really need to educate myself. Again.

The film is a study of how people are changing the face of the earth, the landscape of the earth, through manufacturing. Really, it’s about how we’re raping the earth. And looking at the many, many scenes of devastation that were pictured, I have the desire to run and hide…in shame…for how I’ve contributed to it all.

This is why I would love to stick my head in the sand (all can be found at the filmmaker/photographer's website):

• the vast Chinese factories
• the thousands and thousands of Chinese workers testing spray nozzles or building irons or slipping a wire around a little plastic part, day in day out
• their downcast faces
• the graveyards of plastics and metals and electronics
• the endless coal fields needed to power China’s factories and cities
• quarries that have changed the size and shape of mountains
• rivers turned red with toxic waste

The knowing is only one part of what’s hard for me. I sit here in bucolic Sonoma county, with my view of my animals in the field, the rolling green hills, the soaring vultures. I can use any appliance, do any activity, open my fridge and eat whatever I want without regard to the cost it took to get it to me. How is it possible these other landscapes exist? Wouldn’t it be easier if I didn’t even know that those places are real?

I have guilt about my contribution to the situation. My need for a car, for roads, for electronics, for all the little doodads of life…those all are the reason for the decimation of our earth. And bigger reasons, too. But I have to take responsibility at some level.

I remember when we were building this house and deciding on materials for the master bathroom. I fell in love with these beautiful river rocks from Thailand that you could use like a mosaic surface. They were blues and greens and absolutely the look I wanted for our shower floor. But I was consumed with guilt over the raping of some Thai riverbed for my 4 x 9’ shower stall. For a while I just couldn’t do it. And then, I stuck my head in the sand and went forward with my vision. The shower looks really nice, but my guilt remains. Especially after seeing this movie. I was completely right to feel the guilt. Our flippant attitude towards natural resources has gotten us into this mess. To appreciate the beauty of my bathroom without really appreciating that the taking of those rocks from an actual natural environment that had to be disturbed for my delight…well, that is sobering.

Oh, and let’s not forget, just as an example, my soapstone counters in the kitchen…A mountain somewhere in Brazil is shuddering because my kitchen is beautiful.

I feel so helpless to make a difference. I mean, when you look at the vastness of the problem and you think about how interconnected we are to it, even with our distance from the really devastating places, we can’t help but feel somehow responsible for it. It’s our dependence on cheap material goods from China that has created the places shown in the film.

I’m reminded of a great short film someone sent me on the net. The Story of Stuff. Watch it. It explains how all of this has happened. And really makes you pause the next time you’re at Target or Walmart or even just in your car and you take something, anything for granted in your life.

It’s the taking for granted that’s gotten us here. We must do something about it. Appreciate everything.

Can we do that?

One Small Change

Remind me not to eat a lot of delicious, handmade, dark chocolate truffles late in the evening. Oh, and large chunks of bittersweet chocolate with almonds dipped in whipped cream. Spent the hours between 12:30 and 5 a.m. sleeping fitfully with a racing heart.

But, that at least led me to the quiet of the office and my favorite blogs...which led me to new blogs...which led me back to my blog. So, there's a silver lining after all (and I love dark chocolate truffles and bittersweet chocolate and almonds and whipped cream...and thank you Joanna and Mia for the New Year's Eve treats!).

My blog treasure hunt led me to Hip Mountain Mama's blog and her challenge for 2010: Make One Small Change. I like that, because small and personal is the only way I feel I can make a positive difference in the world these days.

Ever since having kids, in fact, ever since being pregnant the first time I have felt incredibly vulnerable. All protective force shields were not only down, but non-existent. I sheepishly (at times, anyways) admit to hiding my head in the sand to survive. Limiting the input. I haven't watched the news on TV in 16 years and if for some reason I allow it to slip by me I regret it for weeks. TMI. Too much information, as the boys would say.

It being January 1st, and a new decade at that, it seems reasonable to set some fresh goals for myself. I'm not much into resolutions, but I find the inspiration in the date to be powerful enough.

So here's the challenge and below you'll find my first One Small Change that I plan to make for January 2010:

from Hip Mountain Mama's blog...

We want to challenge each of you to make 1 change each month leading up to Earth Day (April 22, 2010). It can be small or it can be huge, but all we ask is that you decide on something you will do to make a positive green impact and follow through with it. If everyone makes 4 changes between January and April, this can have a huge effect...

How does it work? On January first (or soon after) you will decide on what change you want to make for that month and blog about it. For the entire month you will be conscious of this decision and follow through with what you decided on. Then on Feb. 1 you will write another blog post explaining how the month went with your new green change and also write about what you will change for that month. You will do the same on March 1st and April 1st, then will have one final post on April 22nd listing all the changes you made and the differences it made in your life.

So, my first change is this:  Educate the kids about the topics of frugality, sustainability, and responsibility.

I think living by example is the best lesson. Lectures bomb, let's face it. Yet, I allow my many, many projects and responsibilities to distract me from being an example to my kids. I want to be less wasteful and more respectful of what we have. I want us to eat up what I buy at the market, what I know is delicious and healthy. So much good could come from just that intention. BUT...but...but...homeschooling keeps things crazy busy around here, not to mention the animals down in the field , the messy house...I allow these distractions to rule the day. Hence, we eat out too much and spend waaaay too much money on that. Money we need to be saving for other things. And we don't even eat up the food we have in the house. Throwing away moldy food kills me. Composting a full head of cabbage or flacid carrots, because I forgot about them in the fridge kills me. In addition, the beautiful and bountiful veggie garden we had going in 2008 never even got off the ground in 2009 (being distracted by huge health concerns is a reasonable excuse, yes, yes...) and it threatens to not get going in 2010, as well. Plus, for the holidays I made gorgeous market bags for my cousins, even a few for myself, but I forget to take them to the market myself! Ironic?

This year, with Ben's surgery coming up, will be challenging. No question about it. Making any positive changes, especially when I won't be at home for at least 3 weeks, will be tough. But I'm not off the hook, even with all we're going through. And mostly, I want the boys to become more aware of what impact our lives and choices have on the planet.

One small change, each month for 4 months.

Wanna join me?