The Pre-Manifesto

I recently came across a great article in the Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/22/zero-waste-millennial-bloggers-trash-greenhouse-gas-emissions) about people doing exactly what I wanted to start doing when I wrote my first post almost a year ago. The blogs mentioned are: http://www.goingzerowaste.com/ http://www.trashisfortossers.com/ http://www.litterless.co/ http://www.zerowastehome.com/about/bea/ http://www.paris-to-go.com/search/label/zero-waste The situation I’m in is interesting - now that I’m in a smaller city in the “flyover” section of the United States of America I’m in a very different situation than I was in California or the liberal enclaves of inner cities that have been my home for years. I currently live in Saint Cloud Minnesota, which is part of the district that once elected Michele Bachmann to Congress. And in the sauna of my gym I took part in a political conversation where everyone else was obviously a Trump supporter. As in any part of the country, there are all kinds of people who live here. As a local man put it to me, “We try to forget the whole Bachmann thing ever happened.” A young woman I met recently at an open mic went on a relentless rant about environmentalism and how Minnesota could essentially live autarkicly without having to import so much junk from around the world. Whether the details of her arguments were sound or not, I’m always struck by how in every corner of the Union there are people who care and are trying hard to make the world a better place. I need to mention that I’m not a liberal, or a conservative. I find these labels divisive, simplistic, and wide open for manipulation by interest groups. My belief system is more pragmatic - whatever works, works best not because of an idealistic premise, but because it just simply works. Still, I have to point my finger at the conservative movement for its total downplaying of the environmental crisis our world faces. I read conservative media from time to time to broaden my horizons and listen to arguments that challenge the liberal notions I was raised with, and nothing burns me up more than the total denial about climate change and the impact of commerce on our world. It’s still worth mentioning that there are dissenting voices in the conservative world. See this article in the National Review, for example - http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433281/endangered-speciesa-plan-saving-them - certainly a publication that generally pays no though to environmental collapse.

I have to mention that liberals are also not guilt-free in our current crisis. While green activists in Germany have pushed for the end of nuclear power, a far worse effect is happening by replacing it with coal of all things, the dirtiest energy source there is. More insidiously, every time I look at a social media post of someone I know traveling to remote locations of the world, I cannot help but think about the amount of fossil fuels burned up to indulge in the great travel bug we all have these days. Then there are the foodies who tend not to think about all the resources spent getting just the right ingredient to their table plate, no matter how much energy is spent making this happen. Many middle-class liberals seem to spend not a single thought thinking about the consequences of indulging all their cultural whims on the planet - what it takes to bring a band to your town, the wine to your glass, the coffee to your mug, the quinoa to your plate, the ethnic furniture made out of rainforest wood to your living room. 

I am also guilty of these things. My family lives overseas, and if I’m ever to see my dear cousins and aunts and uncles I have no choice but to fly - a sailboat would just take too damn long. I like my coffee - I haven’t found a place to get Minnesota coffee beans yet. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make an impact on what I do with my life, that none of us can. Even if the whole world made a 10% difference in its consumption by being more conscientious with its choices - think of what that would mean. 

Yesterday my life changed.  I’ve been wanting to do it for longer than I care to admit. Years spent working on meaningless projects, making money for the sake of it instead of for something good or important.

Thank you, Guardian newspaper. Your biggest story in the world campaign to tackle our impending climate disaster found a ready listener. While at work I was droning away on a meaningless task when I took a chance to listen to the biggest story podcast, and I was blown away. All the years of denial about how environmental disaster is a century or more away, all finally put to rest in a matter of minutes. My fingers slowed down and I could barely move, paralyzed with the final realization that my life must change. I’ve had many reasons not to jump into the environmental movement. Here’s a list that may sound familiar to some: - It doesn’t pay / I can’t afford to change careers - I’d rather do something fun - One person can’t make an impact - It’s not as bad as people say - Only governments or large organizations can make a difference

What’s changed my mind more than anything, and this is a sad fact that this will be the same for most people, is feeling client change firsthand. Seeing how places familiar to me when I was young have changed. Living through hurricanes in Louisiana and watching the effects of rising sea levels. Living in California and watching the rain disappear while the people around me act like it will be around forever.

It would have been better to jump in earlier, but I can no longer pretend I’m indifferent to an uncertain future for our world.