Early Attempts at a Sustainable Lifestyle

Growing seedlings in garage, March 2011.

 As I’ve grown older, I find myself regularly revisiting the themes I embraced during my college years regarding the environment and protecting natural resources.  I’m a big fan of the natural world, and believe that technological advances, though beneficial in countless ways, dulls our senses to a degree and further removes us from our beginnings.  In the past twenty years, through experiences and learning, I’ve developed an understanding (as most people inevitably do) that in a world of 6+ billion people (nearly 300 million in the United States alone), conserving wild lands and limiting the impact on natural resources is much more complicated than I was willing to accept.  While in high school, I wrote a paper about the travesties of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska.  Meanwhile, if you were to visit my parent’s home at that time, my mother, father, sister and I all had our own automobiles, and each of us drove a couple of hundred miles weekly.  Technology allows society the ability to manage such a large population and provide resources and structure for its survival.  As a result, many people have become dependent to the point that traditional means of providing for one’s self are in danger of becoming extinct with each generation.  An analogy to simplify this: think about the stark differences between a bear in the wild and a bear born and raised in captivity – the bear in the wild understands where and how to feed itself, defend itself and its cubs, and survive in general, while the bear raised in captivity relies on its keeper to feed it, provide shelter and keep it secure.   To avoid this, it requires the average person to experience a paradigm shift in so many different areas.  Conservation plays a significant role in achieving a status of self-reliance.  Unfortunately, limiting your consumption of natural resources and doing it locally comes with a price.  From organic or locally grown produce to hybrid and electric cars, renewable energy technology, and green construction materials – it can become quite expensive.  It’s difficult to remain someone of principle when it bleeds you dry financially.  

Corn cobs, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.  These cobs are over 800 years old.  These Native Americans are an early example of sustainable living.

For example, families can cloth themselves for a modest investment through conventional retail outlets like Old Navy, Wal-Mart, and other low-cost garment vendors.  However, those retailers sell textiles primarily made overseas, whether it’s China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, or some other far away location.  Yes, there are American-produced companies, but they are far and few between and are relatively expensive.  With a family of growing children, most Americans can’t afford to invest in a $200 oxford shirt when they can get the same item at Kohl’s for $20.  Its en vogue for earthy restaurants to carry locally grown or raised produce and meats, but those dishes are normally quite expensive compared to beef and vegetables shipped from out of state.  You can cover the roof of your home in solar panels and eliminate your electrical costs; however, it could take a lifetime before the cost of the solar panels is covered by the savings on your bill.  Bottom line, the average person will not change their ways unless it’s economically feasible to do so.

How much of your clothing says, "Made in U.S.A."?

If I could, I would grow and raise my own food, invest in vehicles with alternative energy technology, build a green home with all the bells and whistles, and live in a totally low-impact manner.  What are the benefits of this?  To be self-reliant, be completely aware and understanding of the impacts of how we live, be less wasteful, spend less time in front of the TV and more time outside (how is this related? I’ll explain later) and inadvertently spend more quality time with my family, because it requires everyone to be involved in order to make these type of changes.  It might be extreme, but there are many things you can do without turning your world upside down – don’t turn your entire yard in the suburbs into a garden and barnyard, but plant a few things that occasionally replace what you buy at the supermarket.  Plan your day, your week and save a few unnecessary trips in your car, and save yourself from a lot of unnecessary stress.  Take the extra minute to go back and turn a light off before you leave the house.  Learn how to do something yourself instead of paying someone else for it or to do it for you.  You don’t have to grow dreadlocks, smoke pot, and sabotage logging equipment and vandalize a car dealership in order to conserve resources (those people are idiots by the way, and no better or more mindful than anyone else).  There are many things people can do that not only accomplish this, but enhance their lifestyle in so many positive ways.

Just a fleeting thought: why can’t I imagine life without television?  Sometimes I wish I could turn it off and never watch again…but it’s so easy to plop down on the sofa or recliner and zone out.  I wonder how many days of my life I’ve pissed away in front of the television, watching those shows we watch because “nothing else is on”.

One of my most- and least-favorite things (the TV, not Monica).  TV robs me (willingly) of a large portion of my personal time.

 Aside for my love of the outdoors, there are several other literary resources which  provided inspiration and motivation to make changes.  Some books I’ve read that address sustainable living and self-reliance include:  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, where a journalist moves from Tucson, Arizona to rural southern Virginia and moves to a farm, growing food and only buying food that is produced locally and in conjunction with the growing calendar; Farewell, My Subaru by Doug Fine, another journalist who purchased a 40-acre ranchette in the Black Mountains of southwestern New Mexico (one of my favorite areas) and experiments with renewable energy and subsistence farming; and Off the Grid, by Nick Rosen, a collection of personal accounts about people who attempt to live off the grid in their own, unique ways.  All of these authors have their own websites so you can continue to follow their venture and the challenges they face.  There are no shortage of websites and blogs that provide more specific information on sustainable living.  One of my favorites, which is truly an extreme, is Urbanhomestead.org, about a family of four who raise thousands of pounds of produce on a 1/10 acre backyard in a downtown bungalow in Pasadena, California.  Many of these efforts and accounts will seem quite extreme, but they’ll provide you with perspective and ideas to mold to fit your own lifestyle.

Side yard after rock removal and soil preparation.  It took me nearly three months to dig 2-3 feet deep and remove all rocks larger than a pea.  The area is 32 feet long and 3 feet wide.

Early summer with transplanted tomato seedlings, now several feet high.  All ten plants grew to 7+ feet, however, only five of them produced tomatoes.  Growing food is not as simple (especially in the desert) as it looks, and requires discipline, time, and attentiveness.

Again, I’m a realist – the real world and its complexities make living a low-impact, self-reliant, sustainable lifestyle.  Understand your limitations and don’t make extreme choices that will likely have second and third-order effects in the near term.  I’ll continue to take showers daily and shave daily because my job requires me to.  I’m going to live 25 miles from work instead of ten miles because I can provide my family a nicer, safer home.  I love to camp and backpack, but drive hundreds of miles in my SUV to do so.  But I can drive a more fuel-efficient car and not buy a home that is larger than I need and unaffordable.  I love my creature comforts, but I’ve made some minor changes that I’ve already seen personal benefits which motivates me to do more.  I’m not suggesting that any of these ideas be mandated for everyone - I believe in personal liberty, and believe everyone should make their own choices in life, hoping that they consider their personal needs in conjunction with the needs of the greater good. 

Home in Pinos Altos, New Mexico.

Many of the things we do in society are not only driven by our essential needs, but our principles and morals as well.  I don’t think there is one right way to live, but I will offer to you ideas I’ve come to believe are important things to consider.  If I become presumptuous in the course of my writing, I mean no disrespect and I encourage you to comment on why in a thoughtful manner.  I understand how dangerous it can be to pass judgment on others, their principles and choices.  Enjoy!