“Chronicles of Sustainable Living: It’s Not Easy Being Green”

This kid was my ACL hero! He didn't let the mud deter him from pulling a bag of recyclables bigger than him around

It’s been such a nightmare trying to reduce my carbon emissions!!!  Last week I waited for a bus for an hour in the sweltering heat.  My bike got 3 flats.  My roomie locked our bikes to each other and accidentally jammed the lock.  On top of that, it turned out that she didn’t actually lock the bikes to the pole, so we couldn’t leave them unattended for 2 hours… in the rain.  Every time I go to the grocery store with my brother I have to argue with him over the benefits of getting the organic waffles and not the eggos.  You can still say “leggo my eggos” in the morning with the Organic Central Market brand, bro!

Every little thing I do requires a lot of thought.  I have to slow down and detach myself from the culture of convenience that surrounds me.  Every morning I need to plan out my day in detail so that I’ll be prepared for any situation.  If I forget something I need, I’d lose about 2 hours of my day to go back and get it.

It’s so frustrating!!!  I think to myself: “Why can’t I just use my car like everyone else?”  My buddies have offered to pay for gas because they think we’re short on cash.  They’re shocked to hear that we do it voluntarily.  I say we start a “poorgeois,” a group of elitists that live like the poor.

If there’s anything I’ve learned this past year, it’s that Americans NEED to live like the poor a bit more.  We need to be more conservative and we need to be putting ourselves on budgets: fincancial budgets, food budgets, carbon budgets, etc.  We are products of a culture that consumes way too much.

We buy all the big macs we want and overeat because they’re only $0.99.  But REAL food isn’t worth less than a dollar, and we’ve come to devalue what we put in our bodies.  We drive around in our cars all day, one car/person, because it only costs $25 to fill up.  But we don’t realize that our fuel causes further exploitation of destitute African villages.  We are wasters and we need to change.

Eric with Schlumpy. Schlumpy represents the billions of bags Americans use per year

Most of you who read this, are already making a difference.  This is my way of saying that you’re not alone.  I know it’s hard, and I’m asking you to hang in there.  It’s gotta get worse before it gets better.  To the rest of you… YOU GOTTA CHANGE!  Ask a friend to make the 10:10ATX pledge with you, and get through it together.  It’s always easier when you have a partner to see you through the tough times.  Plus, we’ll be there with our 10:10 ATX weekly tips to offer you support and guidance.  I know at times you’ll think that your small contribution makes no difference at all.  Your part is so much bigger than you can fathom.

COMMENT: Have you had rough patches in your push to be sustainable?  How did you get through? Share in the comments!