Living Greener by Chico

 

As noted recently, Charles Hathaway, aka “Chico,” responded to the living greener invitation. Here is his writing, only lightly edited:

“I appreciate your recent columns giving suggestions on how we all can do a better job of ‘living green.’ As has been pointed out, there are many different actions we can take to try to reduce our individual impact on the global ecology. But as it happens, there are also old sayings that stand as guideposts pointing the way to a life generally more in harmony with nature. Here are a few that resonate with me.

Leave no trace. People in this neck of the woods associate this saying with trips into the Boundary Waters. In that context, the guidance informs us that we should take care not to damage, destroy, or deface any part of the campsite. Furthermore, we should be sure to leave behind no litter or garbage. In this way there will be no trace of our having used the place, and the next person who arrives will behold it just as we did.

Can we also “leave no trace” in a more general way, living in such a way that future generations, upon arriving, will find the planet — this enormous campsite, so to speak — just as beautiful and intact as we found it? Probably not, but we can try, at least, to live lightly on the earth and minimize our impact. Find ways to avoid creating trash, and especially non-biodegradable, non-recyclable trash. Buy less stuff; buy used instead of new. Minimize our contributions to CO2 emissions. Do whatever we can to figure out ways to keep from contributing to the scarring of the earth’s surface that’s happening as a result of mining, deforestation, and desertification.

Return it better than when you got it. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose dad impressed on them the importance of returning a borrowed item in better condition than when you borrowed it. So: Wash the car you borrowed before you return it. Clean up the lawn mower and top up the gas tank before taking it back over to your neighbor. Sharpen that axe before you hand it back over.

But aren’t we in a sense borrowing the planet, or at least the place where we live, using it just for a short while before we “hand it back over” — to the people who survive us, and to future generations? Thinking of it this way, what can we do to “return in better shape than when we found it”? Plant a tree — or a dozen or a hundred? Help restore a prairie? Clear out a ravine where junk has been left? Clear out invasive species and replace them with wildlife-friendly native plantings? Support efforts to clean up lakes and rivers? Or simply pick up litter? The question is worth asking: What can we do to try to ensure that the planet and the place where we live will be in better shape when we leave it?

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without. This saying, well-known in pioneer and depression times, was probably thought of mainly as a guide to frugality. In modern times it still can help us save money, but it also offers useful guidance on how to avoid the destruction caused by consumerism and live more lightly on the earth. Use it up — Instead of wasting it by throwing it out, use up that last bit of ketchup, or toothpaste, or paint. Wear it out — probably there’s lots more life in that old shirt or sweater, despite the small snag or tear; there’s no need to buy new clothes when what you’ve got is perfectly serviceable. Patch it, repair it, or mend it and get as much life out of whatever it is. Make it do — Yes, it’s true that that old lamp is far from modern, the old wooden table has a few nicks and stains, your iPhone is not the latest version, and your bike has only 10 speeds instead of 21. But you can find a better lampshade, cover those nicks with a tablecloth, admire the photos from your older phone’s excellent camera, and consider your old bike as providing a better workout than a new one — and you can keep from contributing to the environmental harm caused by manufacture of new items. Do without — Do you really need more stuff in your life, in your home? Couldn’t you actually get by just fine without that thing you’re considering buying?

It’s helpful to keep in mind that there is an environmental cost to the manufacture of every single thing. So, if you realize, after thinking for a moment, that you actually can get along just fine without that new thing, walk away and help avoid more environmental damage. Don’t fall for the non-stop pleading of advertisers trying to get you to buy their products. As the saying goes, Happiness comes not from having what you want, but from wanting what you have.”

It is a delight to live in a community with so many people who are engaged in making the world better.

Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, mediator, and Judge, serving from 1997-2010. He and his wife moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, He writes this column to learn about his new home area— and to indulge our curiosities and stir our thinking.

Copyright Stephen C. Aldrich and News Herald, 2021