Sustainability and the little guy

Let's talk about sustainability!
It seems somewhat appropriate, given the name of my class...

During our time in Santa Maria del Dota, we hung out with Arturo-the super passionate organic/shade grown/fair trade coffee farmer. He also brought in a friend to give us a lecture on sustainable living, a guy named Gabriel. We'd already been pretty focused on the big S word, but their input really hit home for me and I thought I'd share.

Speaking of the big S word...Have you checked out your ecological footprint yet? Do you know what that is?
Basically it's a fun Internet quiz that tells you that you are using a ridiculous amount of the earth's resources and at a disgusting rate (unless you live in a mud hut, don't leave your mud hut, share your mud hut with many people with whom you eat a fresh vegan diet from your own small garden-if that's you, then just skip the footprint). For the rest of us, we have a lot of work to do!!

From the beginning of our trip, each student has been keeping track of their ecological footprint.
Here's our list of things to track:

• waste-this includes napkins, tp, plastic wrappers, etc.
• food-is it local or did it take gas to get it to your plate? fresh or processed? meat? how was it prepared, cooked?
  
• energy use-batteries, lights, etc.
• travel-how far did you travel, and how much gas did you use? how many miles per gallon did the vehicle get?

It's pretty overwhelming to thing about. I felt pretty conscious before the trip; I bike commute to school and work most days (busing or walking are the back-ups), eat a vegetarian diet, and try to keep my waste and energy use pretty minimal. After tracking the above for a few weeks, I've realized that it's still too much!! I've definitely been inspired to keep my 'footprint' in mind in the future. Since we've started I've noticed that I create a large amount of waste and consume a lot of energy (I say as I type away on a computer in a well-lit room...). It's been an eye opening exercise, and I recommend it for everyone!

This all ties into Arturo and his buddy Gabriel, I swear.
Gabriel studied sciences in Costa Rica, and now works towards teaching people about sustainable living. He spoke with great passion about changing small facets of your daily life that will add up and help create great changes in the world. If you've ever considered eating a vegetarian diet, changing to more efficient light bulbs or even buying a hybrid car instead of a regular one, then you may have come up against the feeling of futility that I believe many people face. How much change can one person make?

Gabriel encourages people to think of the effects of one small change. Maybe someone will notice that you pack a lunch instead of buying out each day, that you bring your own mug instead of using a disposable cup or that you walk to work instead of taking the bus. Perhaps they'll be inspired. It might only cause them to start a process of thought that will take them closer to making changes in their own lives, but that small change can help create huge changes. Gabriel encouraged us to think of the small changes we could make in our own lives, and to encourage other people in our lives to do the same.

The feeling of making a difference amidst the sea of humanity (seemingly headed in the opposite direction!) has been something I've grappled with before. Listening to Gabriel, one man who is changing the lives of everyone he speaks to (even if they only consider changing something) inspired me to reassess the power I have to make a difference. It's a heady feeling, especially after learning so much about climate change this past year and feeling pretty overwhelmed and powerless in the face of the destruction of the environment and the rapid consumption of the earth's resources.

Something Gabriel encouraged (actually, he demanded, but he did it in a very charming way) us to do when we returned to Seattle, is to eat locally. If everyone ate within 50 miles of their home, it would reduce emissions and waste and would also help out local our economies. It's just one change, and a pretty big one for some of us. (Especially those of us with an on-going Trader Joe's love affair. So much excess packaging!!!) He convinced me, and I'll be eating as local as possible when I get home. I'm pretty lucky right now, eating locally means eating fresh pineapple, mango and passion fruit each day!

So. What are you going to do? No pressure!