Re: [pf] we took the wrong track, in the '50s and '60s

by Sharon Flesher

07 December 2000 15:14 UTC

David A wrote:
> I agree. But how do you take this cost into consideration given that you
> & me and most of us have decided by our actions that we want these basic
> comforts in our lives. Yes, as you and Betsy wrote, to a significant
> extent our culture determines how we must live if we want to live in
> "comfort" (itself a culturally dependent term). But we have a lot of
> choices too. I'm sure that if I put more priority in it, I could reduce
> my ecological footprint by a great deal -- get rid of my car and live in
> a city (though I'm not sure that's an net personal financial savings), I
> could reduce my electricity usage drastically by not owning a computer,
> television, using only one electric light or candles or going to bed
> when it gets dark. I could shower in cold water and hang all my wet
> clothes out to dry. But in the grand scheme of things I don't want to
> live like this, right now -- it's uncomfortable, in short, and very,
> very few of us do it. I lived somewhat like this for five months in 1996
> when I hiked part of the Appalachian Trail--it was not easy. We all make
> personal decisions as adults that we want to live in certain ways, for
> complex reasons. In this group we're probably more attuned than average
> to the cultural and societal pressures on us to consume, and while we
> probably do a better than average job of resisting it, most of us make
> specific decisions to live basic middle class lives, and I think we
> should take as much responsibility as we can for that instead of
> attributing it to higher economic powers.

You make an excellent point, David. While I have known a couple of people in
my lifetime who have walked their talk to the point of living like Ted
Kaczynski (without that hostile hobby, of course), most of those in my
environmentally-aware circle of friends and acquaintances take advantage of
all of those middle-class creature comforts you mentioned. With my family, I
live in a fully furnished 1800-square foot house with natural gas central
heat, electricity, a washer and dryer (the latter infrequently used), a
dishwasher, disposal and refrigerator (all the appliances came with the
house, but except for the dryer, I use them regularly), out-of-tune
television, computer, stereo, and indoor plumbing. Although we don't have
the plethora of consumer goodies enjoyed by most people at our income level,
the only thing that really distinguishes our lifestyle from that of our
neighbors is our car-free status, which we have only because of car sharing.
Until CarSharing Traverse started, we had two cars just like everybody else,
even though we didn't drive them much. I could say we have no choice but to
embrace this middle-class existence with all of its comforts because that's
how we've been culturally conditioned, but there are those few examples of
people I've known who have proven otherwise.

The best I can say for myself is that I'm aware of my hypocrisies (at least
most of them, I think), and I'm trying to do better, step by step. My
current target area is trash reduction. We throw out one large bag of trash
every other week (a pittance compared to our neighbors, but still way too
much for my conscience). I'm working on getting it to one bag a month, but
my ultimate goal is one bag a year a la those folks in Portland.

I remember reading a few years ago that some environmentalist (can't
remember who) had calculated that the earth's carrying capacity would allow
everyone on the planet to have the lifestyle of the average middle-class
European. I wish I could recall the details of this, but I can't. The point
was that the average European's lifestyle is quite comfortable and allows
for a basic level of these labor-saving devices we enjoy. For everyone to
have the average American lifestyle would require 4 (or was it 9?) planets.

I think perhaps if we could reduce our fleet of cars and speed boats and jet
skis and snowmobiles, etc., we might find that a sustainable lifestyle would
still allow us to have a refrigerator and a washing machine and indoor
plumbing.

Sharon Flesher
CarSharing Traverse, Inc.
Traverse City, Mich.
sflesher@traverse.net

"Be the change you wish to see." M.K. Gandhi