Oct 05 2007
MY JOURNEY TO SUSTAINABILITY
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By Tom Nielsen
10/6/07
I had an “aha” moment the other day. I was reading an interview of a couple with an organic farm who use draft horses instead of tractors. They were asked what other alternative energy sources they use. Their initial response was that they’ve been waiting for that question. Their real answer was: gasoline. When I read that I realized how I have been looking at energy in terms of what is most abundant and most readily available for use instead of looking at natural energy like solar and wind as resources that are even more readily usable and available.
I hope I can offer you a similar “aha” moment by telling you about my journey into sustainability, and through the telling, help you see how to start becoming more sustainable yourself. This journey is not one I took alone. My partner, Phil, was with me for the ride, so it’s really our journey, and it began around 1997. Both of us have always been environmentally conscious, but in no way were we activists. We didn’t belong to Greenpeace or the Green Party. We aren’t hikers (despite the large forested park directly behind our apartment building), nor are we tree huggers, or vegetarians. In fact, at that time we were somewhat oblivious to environmental concerns. We shopped at the local super-giant grocery store: bought their well-traveled, mass- produced and minimally- flavored tomatoes and strawberries, and satisfied our various food cravings: Mine was Pop-Tarts, and Phil’s was chocolate-stripe cookies. We would leave, like everyone else, with everything double-bagged.
Even at home we were clueless about some of our major purchases. When we remodeled our kitchen we bought a new refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher. They were all Energy Star appliances, but we weren’t impressed by that. We bought them because their black and steel design matched the counter tops and cabinets we’d chosen (we also were more stereotypically gay, then too). So the point I’m making is that we didn’t always live sustainably. However, we did make an effort. Phil has always been a stickler for recycling, going so far as to keep a special 9 x 12 inch box handy for letter-size waste paper, which will be bound neatly with twine and set out with the rest of the recycling.
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