I read an article the other day which took a look at the sorry state our planet's oceans were in. Fish and sea creatures from all levels of the food chain (first affecting planktons, then working up to sea mammals--whales and the like) were becoming less able to find food, procreate, and in every other way, function naturally, due to rising levels of carbon-dioxide (pollution too, but this wasn't specifically addressed).
Top scientists from across the globe have been wracking their brains to come up with efficient, creative, and sustainable solutions to this. One of the many proposed was to diffuse the carbon-dioxide effects by dumping tons of limestone into specific points of the oceans, a measure that has been proven to work in localized examples, but would cost upwards of $45 billion. Annually.
Another proposed solution, while not nearly as glamorous (nor expensive...) was the oldie but goodie: cut down on carbon dioxide emissions.
I think that this is a good philosophy to carry past the end of the class, and especially into many people's holiday season. While looking for mutually inclusive solutions that allow us to go throughout our day in such relatively comfortable lifestyles without giving up any of our habits is a positive approach, it is also one that takes the longest time, effort, and $.
Cutting back and cutting down on harmful/un-neccesary practices is fast, cheap, and relatively simple. Most people know all the usual techniques, unplugging laptops and other electronic devices when not in use, changing to fluorescent or LED bulbs, keeping tires full, not wasting water...etc., etc.
It's pretty great that this knowledge is out there, and beginning to become a part of the main culture.
I can't help but believe that people WANT to live sustainably (as long as it doesn't hugely inconvenience them), but one the REAL hurdles standing in the way is....
Etiquette.
Yep. We are ingrained at a young age that certain expressions, or symbols of intent, like cards, presents, paper invitations be present in order to assure an event's propriety. It is almost an unwritten rule that for something to be taken seriously, it must require more resources. Formal essays, business letters, proposals, etc. are almost always single-sided sheets of heavy paper.
None of this makes any practical sense--double sided essays, proposals, or letters are just as readable as their single-sided counter-parts.
In terms of gifts, cards, etc.--there's nothing inherently wrong with those, but the fact that a number of us are brought up to believe these are our right, is what's the killer.
It is that belief, as well as several other "well, that's just the way things are Done", which peer-pressure many into buying meaningless trinkets and scraps of paper in order to fulfill as social requirement, rather than out of sentiment.
These social requirements build up--the backbone behind many of today's very successful holiday enterprises--cards, toys, clothes, and on and on.
But most of this is, most likely, very old news. As is what can be done to combat.
Bite the bullet. Be rude.
Use paper with only used sides. Give gifts of effort, thought, if you give at all. If you can only think of a generic, awkward gift to give, maybe don't give one. If that's pushing it too far, try to buy (or better, make) less resource-hogging items, or some that support another cause--it's not hard to think of something.
So this year, maybe mull these thoughts over along with all your other earth-saving plans.
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