100 Day Sustainability Challenge: Results from Week #6

Hello everyone! It’s been an interesting week, transitioning from a mostly opportunistic approach to finding things to do each day, to a much more structured/planned out approach.

Recap: Week #6

I mentioned last week that the theme for this week would be energy conservation and reducing fossil fuel dependence (and related greenhouse gas emissions), and planned the following actions:

1. Look into LED bulbs to replace regular lightbulbs as they burn out
2. Look into what kind of system we could use for indoor drying of clothes during rainy/cooler weather
3. Finish reading The Pet Poo Pocket Guide and sort out what to do with critter poop (other than sending to landfill, which is what we currently do)
4. Write local government about Bullfrog’s new biofuel option as part of converting to green energy
5. Do research on how to make one’s home a net zero energy building (including looking into offsetting)
6. Start compiling list of zero-waste resources and ideas for actions
7. Check all electrical appliances in house and, where possible, reduce standby power draws (e.g., by setting up power bars or unplugging appliance when not in use)

How did the week actually go? I ended up doing 5 of the actions listed above (did not do #3 or #6), as well as a few actions responding to things that came up as the week went along that were not on the list:

• contacted the maker and seller of our air purifier system (which helps those in our family with asthma as well as skin allergies) to press them on how to recycle HEPA air filters
• inspired by a post by the ever-amazing Katie Loncke, co-director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, read more about the recent actions involving Black Lives Matter activists interrupting Bernie Sanders’ speeches to draw attention to racism, anti-black violence, and black liberation, and engaged in discussion with other Buddhist Peace Fellowship members about the tactics and purpose of those actions
• watched documentaries on addiction & the horrific mess that is the war on (people who use) drugs, and read book on drug war policy, decriminalization, and legalization

This mix of planned actions and room for spontaneity feels great. I like having a plan and not being overly attached to the plan. I was also reminded this week of how my race and class privilege gives me the option to decide if, when, and how I put time and resources into supporting certain survival/liberation movements, and the obscenity of that privilege when so many people are fighting every day for their lives and the survival of their loved ones. So, as part of Week 7 I decided to do a combo action each day – refraining from something that is a waste of time, and using that time to do something that supports survival/liberation movements. Which leads me to…

Looking Ahead: Week #7

Last week I mentioned my intention to use Week 7 to tackle my longstanding and sticky habitual overuse of the computer. I often pat myself on the back for not having an iPhone or even a cell phone, but lately I have been plugged into the laptop most of the day and compulsively checking email, Facebook, and local news. By interrupting this habit pattern I hope to really have a look at how I’m spending my time and using electricity, with the aim of, in the longer term, using the computer only when actually necessary (both to reduce my consumption and also make more time for deliberate and useful activities).

I started by mapping out 6 ways I use the computer, and staggered them throughout the week so each day I add something new to my “I’m not doing this activity this week” list and am thereby cumulatively reducing my computer use. I wanted to start with the ones that are most challenging so I can get more practice days on those activities. What the plan looks like thus far:

• Saturday > Friday (7 days): No Netflix
• Sunday > Friday (6 days): No Facebook
• Monday > Friday (5 days):  No news checking
• Tuesday > Friday (4 days): No email
• Wednesday > Friday (3 days): No online entertainment (YouTube, TV shows, etc.)
• Thursday > Friday (2 days): No internet sleuthing
• Friday (1 day): Completely unplugged – no computer use at all

To be clear, I don’t think any of these activities are intrinsically bad or wrong; I primarily use Facebook, online news, email, and internet sleuthing to find out what is going on politically, stay connected with loved ones, and achieve other goals that have real meaning and value to me, and most of what I watch on Netflix, YouTube, and online TV has at least some educational value. Personal computers have made many good things possible in my life and in society at large, including mass-scale actions, increased accountability and transparency in corporate and government dealings, democratization of media, increased accessibility of information, improved communication and networking between marginalized communities, crowdfunding, production and sharing of creative arts, health and environmental research, etc.

But even “good” computer use is a form of consumerism with definite environmental and social justice implications. As electronic devices, computers require a wide variety of resources for production and operation (e.g., metals, chemicals used in plastic construction, and electricity), many of which are associated with social and environmental justice concerns. As an example, coltan mining is an unregulated industry and although coltan is found throughout the world, rich countries have primarily supported resource extraction from poor countries with extremely vulnerable populations. Accordingly coltan mining has been implicated in the development of slave labour operations, child labour, financing of dictatorships and military conflicts, destabilization of traditional economies and Indigenous cultures, water pollution, wildlife predation, and a host of other ills. Additionally disposal is a concern as computers contain components that can be toxic to humans and other animals, and the sheer volume of waste from consumer demand for new and improved models is staggering – according to Wikipedia, in the USA alone 30 million computers are discarded annually. There is a huge energy demand for electricity to make, transport, operate, and dispose of computers.

And if I’m being honest, not all of my computer use has any redeeming value. I find it strangely relaxing to watch movies where people blow shit up – arguably an immoral waste of resources, and often accompanied by misogynist, racist, militaristic, and otherwise hugely offensive plotlines, stereotyping of characters, etc. Less offensive but equally wasteful are the many hours I’ve spent watching videos of cute baby animals.

Additionally I’m not sure what computers are doing to our brains and bodies. In my own life, I notice that with my increased reliance on the computer, I have become rusty at old-school skills like having a face-to-face or telephone conversation with someone, looking up information in a book, or figuring stuff out on my own. The computer makes stuff way easier, and that is both a blessing and a curse – the more I opt for the easy path, the more I expect everything to be easy and the more resistant I become to doing something that requires even a little bit of effort, let alone actual struggle. Computer over-use has also been implicated in significant health problems including muscle pain, eyestrain, headache, stress disorders, and changes in how our brains process and respond to stimuli (as a result of the visual and auditory hyperstimulation involved in many forms of on-screen entertainment). Computer use can be highly addictive, with compulsive and excessive fixation on internet interactions, gaming, etc. persisting despite serious negative consequences in a person’s personal, social, or work life.

There is an obvious and urgent need for people like me who use more than a sustainable share of resources to use less – for the planet’s health, social health, and our own personal health. There is also an obvious and urgent need for all of us to use our time wisely, including meaningfully contributing to social and environmental justice.

And so, in Week 7 I’ve decided to do two types of activities each day – (1) refraining from some aspect of computer use, and (2) using that time to do something that contributes to local and global movements for survival and liberation. There is no shortage of things to do given settlers’ attempts to exterminate Indigenous people and cultures; legislated poverty and repression of people who do not have shelter; police brutality, particularly against Indigenous people and black people; deaths resulting from the drug war, criminalization of the sex trade, and the prison industry; refugees forced into dangerous migration attempts and squalid living conditions; communities of colour dying from disproportionately high rates of cancer due to environmental racism; farmworkers subjected to toxic agricultural chemicals; high rates of heart disease among people living in poverty who do not have access to nutritious food; people living in countries torn by conflict and civil war; people living in countries with past conflict where landmines and other unexploded ordnance continue to kill; people dying of treatable illnesses because big pharma will not make affordable medicines available…the extent of death and destruction is overwhelming but also means that there should be no difficulty in finding something useful to do! I have not planned out what each of the day’s “do something useful” activities will be as it has been a long time since I’ve been involved in this kind of work so it might well be that much of this week is just baby steps to find out what is going on, what I can usefully do, etc. Still, I am excited to be taking even these small steps, and curious to see what happens when I move away from the computer and into the world.

And what about you?

I would love to get feedback from you. What do you think of all of this rambling? What resonates with you, and what doesn’t? Are you trying your own sustainability initiatives and if so what are you learning?

Have a great week!