The Consumership Question

Remember when we were citizens?

The US is currently having a debate about putting a citizenship question on its upcoming once every 10 year census form. Far from controversial in Canada, we have had a citizenship question on our long form census since 1901. 

We do have different systems, but the whole affair leaves me with a question. In an era in which those in power have decided that citizens don't really exist any more, what does a citizenship question even mean?

Since we have all been downgraded from (active) citizens to (passive) consumers, how long will it be before our census forms quit asking about citizenship, and ask a consumership question instead?



"Do you promise to consume like there is no tomorrow?



Yes? 

You're in. 

Here is your credit card with a low, low 24% interest rate. 

Welcome. 

Exercise your consumership, and go shopping." 

Beyond Recycling: Toward Zero Waste

There is a reason recycling is the most promoted and well known of the many environmental Rs. It does not affect consumption. Recycling is system friendly.

We can never talk seriously about anything that will reduce consumption. Never. Even if it means saving the planet. That is why they only pay lip service to the other Rs: refuse, reduce, repair, and reuse - these will all reduce consumption.

Rethink is my favourite rebel R that gets little to no fanfare in places where ConsumerThink is the only state sanctioned mindset. 

Billions of dollars are spent every year to make sure we think the right way, and buy the right things. And then you use recycling as a (system friendly) way to help consumers feel like they are doing something meaningful - saving the environment!

Considering the dire straights we find ourselves in, I have to think we are beyond (for the time being) recycling. We have to rethink our whole way of life. 

The current system is set up for a liner waste stream - crap in, crap out. Do more of that every year, or the economy will collapse. We know continuing this will eventually collapse planetary systems, but they don't want us to stop. 

Never mind the planet, what will happen to profits?

Recycling is not enough in a system that requires more resource extraction, production, and consumption than the year before in order to function. 

Along with infinite growth comes infinite waste. Both are choking the life out of our planet, and are currently washing up on the beaches of the collective consciousness.   

Our economies never bothered to make themselves into nature-imitating circular, closed loop systems, and this has been their undoing. The linear waste stream leads to collapse if followed to the end.

At this stage it makes more sense to move some of the more unloved Rs to the forefront of our consumer craniums. A zero waste world is possible.

However, we currently don't have a closed loop in which recycling would be an integral part. Far from it. 

“The smallest loops also create the highest social benefits because they are labour intensive. They use very few material and energy resources, and as they are decentralized, they benefit regional economies by providing local employment.”

- Walter Stahel

In recent years, many of the nations where we used to send our (dirty) recycling materials to be reprocessed far away by low wage labour, are saying "NO" to further imports of the results of our prodigious consumption habits.

In Canada's case, the nations are sending several of the containers of recycling/rubbish back to Canada so we can, perhaps, deal with our own stuff right here where it was generated.

Until we have a zero waste system where no waste is produced, I will continue recycling while concentrating on the other Rs that are most likely to lead to a lower consumption lifestyle, and eventually, a complete system change. 

A closed loop system where recycling is a common sense and seamless part of waste free living, is where we want to get. The other R's are the way to get there.

Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Repair, Reuse. And then Recycle. 

Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution

Today the Earth Day Network takes on a formidable foe - plastic. This year's campaign is to end plastic pollution, a tall order considering plastic has invaded the entire planet. 

Plastic is found in bottled water. It is in our food, meaning it is also in each of us. The effects are unknown, but they are unlikely to be good. I can envision the plastic-industrial complex inventing fake news to convince us that "ingesting plastic is good for you!". Watch for that as awareness of plastic pollution builds.

"A 2017 study... concluded that of the 9.1 billion tons of plastic produced since 1950, close to 7 billion tons are no longer in use. 

The authors estimate that only 9 percent got recycled over the years, while another 12 percent was incinerated, leaving 5.5 billion tons of plastic waste littering the oceans and land." - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

If you are concerned about plastic patches floating in the oceans, many the size of small continents, or about plastic bag trees, or plastic in food, then there are things that can be done. 

The plastic backlash is finally happening, with Taiwan, Scotland and Britain (along with cities in other parts of the world) getting things going by banning single use plastic straws. But you can't ban all plastic. Or can you?

Each of us can choose to ban plastic in our own lives, although it is a challenge to avoid completely when it is so prevalent in our everyday lives. 

The most effective "R" to be used here is Refuse. The biggest change I have seen in the produce section of food stores is the amount of plastic packaging. There are many things that I will not buy because they are packaged unnecessarily in plastic containers.

I don't use single use plastic bags, and bring my own mesh bags when I go food shopping to put fruit and veggies in for the trip home.

We can also let businesses know that we prefer not to buy products that come in excessive plastic, or are made from plastic when less harmful alternatives are available. We have switched to glass containers for food storage, and when we make things like yogurt, we eliminated the need for a plastic container.

When plastic does make its way into our homes, we can make sure that it is refilled, reused, repurposed, or recycled responsibly. Ending plastic pollution will be a challenge, but each of us can do our part and make a difference. 

I hope this happens before we become Planet Plastic, inhabited by plastic people that live a short time, then don't biodegrade for hundreds of years after death. 

How do you ban plastic from your home? 


Happy Earth Day. 

It is still a great little planet, and one worth saving, from plastic and other harms.

Still Too Many Clothes

Used clothing bales stacked to the ceiling shows evidence we are approaching Peak Clothing.

The planet is being buried in one ton bales of discarded clothing. At one time people worried that the planet would eventually be completely paved over, a black ball floating in the blackness of space. It looks like the real threat was lurking in our closets all the time.

Considering consumers obsession with clothes, we may end up with a giant yarn ball against the bedazzled black velvet shawl of space. Call it Global Yarning. That obsession could explain why the post "Too Many Clothes" is in the top 10 most viewed on this blog.

People are trying to de-clothe their lives and reclaim some closet space. And they would like to do this in an ethical and environmentally sound manner, which may be getting harder to do.

It used to be that one could simple take unwanted clothing to a charity organization that would generally accept all clothing no questions asked. They would take what they thought they could sell, then passed on what they didn't want to textile recyclers.

The recyclers would take out any remaining sellable clothing, then sell that to used clothes sellers. Those sellers would then sell off the used clothes overseas, often in Africa. Not as much any more, as things are changing rapidly.

Today, many in Africa are no longer accepting used clothing from the over-stuffed closets of western consumer nations. If they don't want your used T-shirts, then charity organization near you might not want them either, unless it is to make rags, which is a less efficient option than re-use.

We are not going to solve our clothing problem by thinking that someone else wants our discards. Even if they do, the whole system is being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of clothing being bought, used or not, then discarded.

The one ton bales stacked to the ceilings of vast warehouses makes me think that the next big thing will be clothing bale homes, a modified version of the straw bale variety. Give me 20 or 30 clothing bales and I will give you a highly insulated house as comfy as your favourite sweater. And affordable, too. Barring that, we are going to have to figure out some other way of dealing with our clothing problem.

To solve clothing overconsumption, we just need to stop buying clothes we don't need, and other don't want. Less clothing in - less clothing out. We have reached Peak Clothes.

You can help stop Global Yarning, and a planet buried in clothes.  Say no to new, buy used, refuse the unsustainable conventions of high fashion, wear the same thing for a year, or try getting by on just two sets of clothes. Think creatively. Have fun. See if anyone notices.

Writing Re-Use, Not Refuse

What do you do with a couple of pencil nubs too short to hold, and the plastic centre of a roll of dental floss?

When I taught elementary school I discovered that some students (usually boys) are obsessed with using pencils until you can't see them any more.

They would wrap their little fingers around tiny nubs of heavily used pencils, and scratch out their school work. Of course, that work took several times longer than if they had a more extended version of a pencil, and the writing they produced was often illegible.

However, I admired how committed they were to using the pencil, the whole pencil. They loved the challenge.

I decided to challenge myself to see if I could improve on their methods.

You create a functioning pencil.

It so happened that I was also hanging on to the plastic centre of a roll of dental floss. I enjoy finding uses for things that most people don't think twice about before throwing them in the garbage. It must be the little person in me.

I trimmed the ends of the pencil nubs so that they fit in either end of the plastic tube. Voila! A functional pencil utilizing materials rescued from a trip to the landfill. My design also encourages precision - no eraser. Pure business at both ends.

It works! Easy to hold, and uses the pencil nubs till there is nubbin left.

So much of what gets classified as refuse can be re-used, repurposed, and through that, respected. Just think like a kid - "You can't throw that out!" - and take it from there.

R's For A New World

Has the invention of consumer capitalism made the world a better place? What do we have to show for it?

Walls, war, and warming. Business as usual will only get us more of these.

It is time to try something different, but the profit-based competitive system will not give up easily. That makes it even more imperative for us serfs to get up, stand up, and keep up the fight.



R's For A New World


Rethink.

Refuse.

Resist.

Rebel.

Revolution.

I hope for a simple living revolution that sees maximalism replaced by minimalism. And hate replaced with love. Dominion replaced with stewardship. Shackles replaced with wings. Poisons replaced with Nature's perfection.

No walls. No wars. No warming.

Not All R's Are Created Equal

A creative example of repurposing a common item that might otherwise go to the landfill.

In the R's scheme we have been emphasizing the wrong approaches. Recycle is not always the best way to go, and can end up being a well-meaning and wasteful activity. Often it is used as an excuse to continue high consumption ways, but recycling will never make up for over-consumption.

When school children are taught the "3 R's" they are taught an consumption-friendly list - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But there are other R's that are more effective, but not usually taught.

I have tried to put a few of the other R's in order starting with the most effective.

1. Rethink - one of the most important R's which asks us to consider all aspects of our lives and identify where we can be more earth friendly. 
2. Refuse - my favourite of all of them. Everything gets better if we refuse the myths of consumerism and "the good life", and quit buying things we don't need.
3. Reduce - use less of the things that you buy.
4. Reuse - using things over and over and over. 
5. Repair - fix the things you buy so they can be used longer. Don't buy things that can't be repaired, or are designed to break down prematurely.
6. Repurpose - finding new ways to use old things, like a toilet seat door on the chicken coop.
7. Recycle - aluminum, steel, plastic and glass, are the most efficient to recycle. 

When it comes to the R's, not all are created equal. For example, it is more effective to refuse to buy bottled water than it is to buy it and recycle the plastic containers. We use a reusable stainless steel water bottle filled with tap water.

It is too bad that recycle is the most commonly known environmental R word. It is time to move on to the other, more effective R's, and perhaps think up a few more. I propose Reality, as in "is expecting infinite consumption on a finite planet consistent with Reality?" 

Low Consumption - Low Waste

You always see the "horn of plenty", but never the"horn of waste" in its shadow.

High consumption lifestyles are high waste lifestyles. Overconsumption is laying waste to everything around us.

In 2008 the US produced 389.5 million tons of waste. If we didn't find places to hide it all we would be drowning in the flotsam and jetsam tossed off the exclusive cruise ship Consumer Paradise. That garbage represents an earthquake of consumption followed by a tsunami of waste.

69% of American garbage was hid in landfills, 24% was recycled and composted, and 7% vaporized in waste-to-energy projects. 

One thing I enjoy about a low consumption lifestyle is that it is also a low waste lifestyle.  Not much comes in, not much goes out. Surprisingly, nothing is lacking.

In my new home in Nova Scotia I am more able to get a feel for our household waste management than ever before. Since moving from British Columbia last summer we have enjoyed an excellent system even though we live in a rural area.

Now we have green waste pickup as well as recycling and garbage pick up. Since we don't currently have a garden and compost up and running, the green bin pickup is nice. It is a shame to see organics being landfilled where they won't break down for years while slowly releasing methane, or "landfill farts".

Now we have an opportunity to see exactly how much actual garbage we produce since it is separate from all the other waste streams. What we are discovering is that we produce a very small amount of garbage.

Our next goal is to get our own compost going so it does not need to be trucked away.

Nature does not waste. Neither should we. The best way to avoid high waste production is to refuse, cut consumption and enjoy a better life the planet might actually be able to support.

Children Love The Earth

When I was teaching in the grade school system I infused everything I did with my passion for nature. For a few years I taught grade four science, and it was there that the curriculum covered a section called "Waste and our World".

In class we did activities associated with the 3 Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle, and added several more after some raucous R brainstorming. The students always displayed an unbridled passion for anything they could do that would protect the Earth, like refusing, repurposing, restoring and recovering.

One day the mother of one of my students was dropping off her child after lunch. She told me that whatever we were doing in science was working. I asked her why and she relayed a story that had just occurred.

The mom was making lunch for her daughter, and after emptying some soup into a pot, went to the garbage and threw the empty can in. When she turned around her daughter was standing behind her crying.

"What is the matter?" the mom asked.

"Don't throw that away", her child responded while sniffling back tears and pointing at the garbage, "That can goes into the recycling!"

Teaching is like living simply - you are rarely shown how your efforts affect the people around you. But like this story, we can be assured that people and conditions are being affected, and that our hard work does indeed make a difference.

I thanked the parent for sharing her daughter's emotional environmental moment with me. I will never forget it, and I imagine they won't either.

Children love the earth deeply. We should too.

Words To Consume By

My favourite conscious consumption Re- word is REFUSE. If something doesn't fit with your environmental values the thing to do is refuse to consume it.

The following words from Pete Seger are an excellent anti-consumption guideline, and amount to about the same thing.

“If it can’t be

• reduced, 
• reused, 
• repaired, 
• rebuilt, 
• refurbished, 
• resold, 
• recycled or 
• composted

then it should be 

• restricted, 
• redesigned, or 
• removed from production."

- Pete Seger

Wrap Rage

There are all kinds of drawbacks to buying things. Wrap rage is yet another one that could be harmful to your mental and physical health.

Cutting a blood-spurting gash on your hand or other body part as you try to open the armoured packaging of a new and anticipated purchase is no laughing matter. A majority of Canadians polled reported that they had received injuries in the past from attempting to open impenetrable packaging.

What a bummer! The delicious deliriousness of the shopping experience quickly digresses into "heightened levels of anger and frustration". They tell us buying stuff is supposed to be 'fun'.

I have experienced wrap rage and spilled blood before, but as you would expect, on a very limited basis. Things in the second hand shop don't come in blister packaging, or any packaging at all as a matter of fact. You could say it is the only "frustration-free' packaging going - no packaging at all.

One of my favourite of the "R" words is REFUSE. I refuse to become involved in harmful things. Just like road rage can be avoided by refusing to drive and taking the bus instead, you can avoid wrap rage by refusing to buy anything that comes in wrapping that offends you.

However, what if you do need something that comes in a blister pack?

First of all, stay calm. There is not a single thing inside a blister pack worth hurting yourself over. Consider putting on a pair of gardening gloves. Or wave the white flag and return the product to the store.

If I ever again have to buy an impenetrably packaged item, I am going to take it to Customer Service. I will tell them I wish to purchase the item, but don't want to risk injury upon arrival back home. I am almost positive they would offer to open the item, and recycle the packaging too.

Maybe if this happened often enough, retailers would become advocates for sensible packaging that allows us to buy things we need without losing too much blood.