I don't know if you've noticed, but pretty much every retailer in the world is asking you to buy stuff for Earth Day. There are sales popping up all over the place, with only the most tenuous links to ecological niceties. A lot of what I've seen so far has basically been greenwashing - faking the eco cred to make a company look good.
The sad truth is that it's our consumption itself, and not what we specifically consume, which is largely to blame for the fix we're in. Have you watched "The Story of Stuff" yet? Because you really should!
Everything we buy comes from somewhere, it represents natural resources that were pulled out or off of the planet somehow, and carted away to be used in that plastic salad bar clamshell, the disposable Bic pen you nibble at work, the zip tie that held your mittens together - everything came from somewhere. This stuff doesn't just drop into the stores from outer space.
This is just as true of "eco friendly" products as it is of the nasty stuff. If you bought nothing but green products all year long, without stepping down your consumption, you would basically not really be helping things at all.
It's sad but true, that as of a few years ago the #1 activity people reported doing on their vacations (planning, looking forward to, and actively pursuing) is "Shopping." Most people don't go places to see new sights or revel in a new climate - they go places to buy stuff. More and more stuff!
How much stuff do you need to make your life complete? How many trips to Target will it take to properly appoint your home? Or is your home pretty full already? Your junk drawers overflowing? Your bookshelves teetering precariously under the weight of all that stuff?
If you're like most American (like me too, I will confess it) your problem isn't that you need that one little thing from Target. Your problem is that you have way too much stuff already.
If you have too much stuff, then the only cure for that is to get rid of it. Hint: buying new organizational tubs and shelves and racks only exacerbates the problem. The problem isn't that you need more storage tubs: it's that you need less stuff to be crammed into them!
So I'm planting my flag. This Earth Day I'm going to celebrate by doing some serious decluttering. Instead of buying that cool new gadget, how about finding a new home for an unloved one that's been taking up space (and gathering dust) in your desk drawer?
A lot of stores recycle used electronics, including cell phones - working or not. Just remove the SIM card (you can find instructions online) and drop it off. Working cell phones are invaluable to domestic violence shelters, just to name one common destination.
Instead of browsing the cookware section to sigh wistfully over the next-step-better Calphalon collection, how about donating your unused cookware to a thrift store?
I think you can see where I'm going with this. Don't shop for Earth Day. The Earth doesn't need you to shop! It needs you to stop shopping. Retrench, and take back your tabletops and junk drawers!
The sad truth is that it's our consumption itself, and not what we specifically consume, which is largely to blame for the fix we're in. Have you watched "The Story of Stuff" yet? Because you really should!
Everything we buy comes from somewhere, it represents natural resources that were pulled out or off of the planet somehow, and carted away to be used in that plastic salad bar clamshell, the disposable Bic pen you nibble at work, the zip tie that held your mittens together - everything came from somewhere. This stuff doesn't just drop into the stores from outer space.
This is just as true of "eco friendly" products as it is of the nasty stuff. If you bought nothing but green products all year long, without stepping down your consumption, you would basically not really be helping things at all.
It's sad but true, that as of a few years ago the #1 activity people reported doing on their vacations (planning, looking forward to, and actively pursuing) is "Shopping." Most people don't go places to see new sights or revel in a new climate - they go places to buy stuff. More and more stuff!
How much stuff do you need to make your life complete? How many trips to Target will it take to properly appoint your home? Or is your home pretty full already? Your junk drawers overflowing? Your bookshelves teetering precariously under the weight of all that stuff?
If you're like most American (like me too, I will confess it) your problem isn't that you need that one little thing from Target. Your problem is that you have way too much stuff already.
If you have too much stuff, then the only cure for that is to get rid of it. Hint: buying new organizational tubs and shelves and racks only exacerbates the problem. The problem isn't that you need more storage tubs: it's that you need less stuff to be crammed into them!
So I'm planting my flag. This Earth Day I'm going to celebrate by doing some serious decluttering. Instead of buying that cool new gadget, how about finding a new home for an unloved one that's been taking up space (and gathering dust) in your desk drawer?
A lot of stores recycle used electronics, including cell phones - working or not. Just remove the SIM card (you can find instructions online) and drop it off. Working cell phones are invaluable to domestic violence shelters, just to name one common destination.
Instead of browsing the cookware section to sigh wistfully over the next-step-better Calphalon collection, how about donating your unused cookware to a thrift store?
I think you can see where I'm going with this. Don't shop for Earth Day. The Earth doesn't need you to shop! It needs you to stop shopping. Retrench, and take back your tabletops and junk drawers!
Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user formalfallacy