Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Monday, October 15, 2007
Blog Action Day
I'm no Eco-saint. Anything I write for Blog Action Day is bound to be hypocritical, so I didn't sign up. I want to be good. I like being outdoors and observing the natural world. I began college majoring in forestry, imagining that would be a pleasant way to make a living out in the woods somewhere. But life intrudes. Things happen. Circumstances change. The paths I chose took me far from my goal, but they've enabled us to buy a house in the woods, so perhaps the path connects back to where it started.
But is that really a good thing?
This is the kind of dialogue that goes on in my head.
Me: The spouse and I bought a second house in the country.
Eco-saint: A second house? That's bad.
Me: No, that's good. We're going to grow our own food, organically of course.
Eco-saint: That's good.
Me: Well, it is and it isn't. We have to drive 25 miles to buy organic olive oil to cook it in.
Eco-saint: That's bad.
Me: But we drive a relatively fuel-efficient vehicle.
Eco-saint: That's good.
Me: But it isn't a hybrid.
Eco-saint: That's bad.
(credit to Hee Haw for the idea - I always liked Hee Haw)
Here's another one.
Me: I'm going to increase awareness of environmental issues by writing something inspirational on my blog.
Eco-saint: That's good.
Me: No, that's bad. How much electricity will be used preaching to the choir?
Eco-saint: I see your point.
So, I'll just continue chronicling my garden and nature observations here, and keep it at that.
If you want information about saving energy, and living in a way that's less injurious to the natural world, there are MANY place on the internet to do that. I'll leave you with a couple of links to sites I like.
Environmental Defense
Project Laundry List
11 Comments:
Heh...I'm with you on this one. I suspect that my carbon footprint looks like Godzilla, and this was verified when I took a survey on another blog. I recycle like a crazy person (ask my co-workers, it's very annoying to them), but living 55 miles (one way) from work, and driving a pickup truck in poor condition/bad mileage makes my recycling a joke. So I just do what I can to be an organic gardener and buy local foods where possible, etc.. But to post about it like I'm really helping would be wrong, IMO. *sigh*
Lisa: I'd be afraid to take a survey on my carbon footprint. We do the easy things - recycling, composting, organic/local food, compact fluorescent light bulbs, etc., but I feel guilty that we don't do more.
I grinned at the Hee-Haw joke... I used to love to watch that show, too! :)
FWIW, I think that your blog post is an honest assessment of the challenges we all face when trying to be considerate of the environment.
And that's good.
Your post is funny and I can identify. I do love nature and try to do what I can, but I do things with the health of myself and other people in mind not necessarily the environmental health of the earth.
As an example, things like avoiding toxic products and using more natural things in my home and yard.
Blackswamp Girl: I wasn't going to post anything at all until I read your pre-Blog-Action-Day post. Sooooo, I tried to come up with something, and tried to keep it light. Re-reading it, I think it came off snippier than I intended. Anyhow, thanks for the motivation, and the reminder that we all can do something even if we can't do everything.
Robin: That's an angle I really hadn't thought much about, and it's a good point. I buy a lot of organic food, but I'm probably doing it more for myself.
I just ignored my footprint and wrote about the garden aspects of the day, Entangled... and appreciate you going for the ironic aspects! [also used to love HeeHaw].
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Annie: Very sensible! I meant to come back to your post and leave a comment when I got my thoughts together - this Blog Action Day reminded me of the first Earth Day too.
So, you actually became a forestry major! I wonder how many kids who took the job preference test and came up with forestry ever went to school for it. I know I didn't but I seem to remember that quite a few had that same preference which was quite odd. ;)
"Preaching to the choir", I guess it's a bonding or reinforcing experience?
Enjoyable and sensible POST I like your comments.
I felt compelled to do SOMETHING; So I wrote about what we do here on a regular basis.
Ki: Well, I didn't last long in the forestry program. I switched to horticulture after two or three quarters.
You have a good point about "preaching to the choir" - I didn't think of it that way. I was thinking that gardeners probably rank very high on the environmental awareness scale, but then again we could all use a refresher course from time to time.
DeeMom: I'll be right over to read your post.
Your conflicting inner dialogue is some good food for thought.
Thank you for participating in Blog Action DAy in your own way.
I did not participate. However, I wrote a belated post of my own about an environmental issue that might strike a cord with some of your readers.
BRAZILIAN TEAK FLOORS, SLAVE LABOR, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RAIN FOREST.
You can find it at:
http://www.realestatetwincities.net/blog/
Anything that you can do to help promote awareness of this issue will be greatly appreciated. Normally, I don't ask for this kind of help, but the issue is that important to me.
Thank you!
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