Friday, June 29, 2007

shades of green

I'm struck by how easy it is to sneer at people who dare to think they might be able to, in the language of the college essay, make a difference. I've made my share of patchouli jokes too, so I'm not immune, but the press around the U.S. social forum has got me thinking about what function it might serve.

(*AJC article describing the march kicking off the first ever U.S. Social Forum, held in Atlanta, here.)

At dinner last night, mentioning I'd been at the social forum, my brother smirked "yeah, I'm headed down there tomorrow to sell some soap I made from organic compost. I wanted to go today, but my hemp pants were at the dry cleaners..." He is the funny one in the family.

Since Slim and I started talking about things we are doing, and want to do, people have been labeling us. Nice words, nothing mean, but labels function to create differences.

Yes, I like trees, but who doesn't? I like clean air, too -- does that make me a fringe dweller? I also like: good food, not having to sit in traffic just to see my family, listening to the birds, and walking my dog in the woods. How odd can I get? Calling me a tree-hugger seems to let people escape our mutual responsibilities.

I'm just trying to make up for all the people driving Hummers, or air conditioning 5,000 square homes. I've accepted that your actions affect my health and well-being, just as mine affect yours. Slim and I are far from the greenest people I know. We're just trying to be more consistent. We care about something, so we try to do something about it. Simple.

Does the obligatory sneer help you avoid taking action, however small? The world is changing all around you. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

P.S. Jim Wooten, our rain barrel cost us $12.95 and we are saving a bundle on our water bill.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The difference between Wooten's world and someplace on the edge is that - the edge. Kosovo is very low on water - one reservoir is down to the river bed. One is down 65%. It hasn't rained in weeks, and water is being turned off in each neighborhood for four days at a time to help ration. You aren't nuts. Your world is real to you, as opposed to being shielded from you.

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