Part of me wants to write a book.  Part of me wants to scribe this experience, with the hopes that others will learn from it.  How much value would that add?  Would it even make a difference?

Part of me wants to walk through the halls of higher learning.  I want to understand the issues we are facing in detail.  I want to be an expert.  Perhaps then people will listen to me?  Perhaps then I can divert my full energy to making a difference?

Part of me wants to start a non-profit organization, promoting local food and local artisans.  Perhaps by facing our consumption habits head on, will we realize that true happiness can only be found through connections with others and with nature?

Part of me wants to work for a non-profit organization, pouring my energies into solutions for change, for the good of all, for our communities, for each other.  Can I use my background as a stepping stone to get there?

These are the choices before me.  Which path I will take, I do not know.

Have you ever felt like you were sprinting, and despite the pain, relished in the fact that it will be over quickly, and then realizing that no – um, sorry – this is a marathon and it will not be over anytime soon.

Today, this very afternoon, I finally feel like I can catch my breath.

Layered on top of all that busy-ness, is my constant awareness of the sad state of the environment. The world is running out of water, is running out of arable land, running out of atmospheric space for carbon, running out of community, and is instead going to the mall to make it all seem okay. Everything is upside down. It is hard to look all around you and realize this, and stay happy.

Sometimes I want to crawl into a metaphorical bubble, with me and my kiddies and my husband and my family and just forget it all. I want to forget where we are, I want to forget about where we are heading, I just want to bury my head in the sand and not think about it anymore. It is so depressing. I want to go back to – before.

But here we are, here today, and there are pressing issues that need to be solved right now, right away. I feel so overwhelmed by my personal responsibilities of running a low footprint household, raising happy children, and maintaining other job responsibilities that there is just no time for other things. Like lately – this blog. Or even more importantly – pitching in to help get us to where we need to go.

If someone like me, who is so passionate about it, who lives and breathes it every day, all day, cannot find the time to get some stuff done – how will others do it? Maybe others don’t have kids, or maybe others don’t feel so overwhelmed and can manage it better…

It all has this greenie feeling a bit blue again.

I can’t even really listen to the news anymore. Oil sands, pipelines, Republican primaries – just listening to it drives me batty. Sometimes I just need to tune out. Sometimes I just want to go somewhere and pretend this is all not happening.

But I know I can’t.

Something inside me cries out. I know these issues are huge and powerful and scary. I know I am just one small person, already stretched so thin. But still…

I want to turn the whole thing upside down.

Love that song.

So did they? I poured so much effort into these changes. I built a garden, not knowing how, but learning along the way. I started making bread and most other things from scratch. I preserved mountains of food, built a cold room… So many projects, so many brand new experiences, all with one goal, all with one end – to reduce the environmental footprint my household has on this fragile world, with the hope and the dream that I could inspire others to do the same.

Over the last couple days, as my hands were busy with these household tasks – kneading bread, hanging laundry on the line – my mind was free to wander and contemplate it all. Were my efforts effective? Has it been worth it?

Sometimes, I waver. I wonder if it is worth fighting for, if the story has already been written. Are the forces against us are just too strong, too well-funded, too entrenched? Will it all not matter in the end anyway? After all, the changes require a such a cultural shift. We will need to define ourselves as citizens instead of consumers, as neighbours instead of individuals, and as part of nature instead of against nature.

Are we up to the task? Can we rise to the challenge? Can we transcend our fate?

I hope.

So for this brand new year, I march on.  How can I use my life to make this world a better place?  I have drawn up a list of 10 resolutions, as I did last year:

1. Learn to make soap with a friend
2. Crochet clothes for my family – slippers, hats, mittens, scarves, sweaters
3. Expand the garden – grow more food
4. Expand food preservation – canning, dehydrating and possibly get a pressure canner
5. Hatch a plan for making/sourcing gifts throughout the year
6. Increase insulation of the house and add weather-stripping
7. Join an environmental organization
8. Write 26 letters to leaders
9. Get a bike and ride it
10. Live for today.

What do you resolve to do this new year? Does it bring positive change to your life or to our world?

I leave you with an inspiring song by the Dixie Chicks – I Hope.

Our children are watching us,
They put their trust in us,
They’re gonna be like us.
So let’s learn from our history
And do it differently.

Happy New Year everyone. J

But alas, it is grown in the rainforest, or where rainforests used to be.

It is also grown really far away.

It also has some of the worst abuses for child labour, similar to chocolate.

Booo.

But that being said, there are things you can definitely do to make your cup of coffee more green. Are you ready for the sliding green scale?

Dabbler

Don’t use a stir stick. That is it. Just don’t use one. Let the cream and sugar just mellow with the coffee. There is no need to take a piece of wood or plastic and then throw it away 3 seconds later. Let it mellow.

Beginner

Swear off paper cups and invest in a few reusable travel mugs. I like mine so much I use them around the house. They keep my coffee hotter longer, plus they hold more. Not only that, most coffee shops give you a 20 cent discount for using a travel mug. Seriously. As an added bonus, if you don’t use a stir stick as per the above, it is pretty easy to just snap the lid shut and give it a little swirl. So drink your coffee, garbage free. Here are some tips:

• You will forget your mug. After you make this commitment you will be standing in line at a coffee shop and you will realize that you have forgotten already. This happened to me. Try to resist the urge to buy yet another travel mug on the spot. I walked away folks, I walked away.
• If you forget your mug and you don’t have the strength to walk away, consider ordering a shot of espresso in a little ceramic cup. This is what they do in Italy, I saw it with my own eyes. Some coffee shops there have no seating at all, just a bar where people stand as they shoot back their espresso and then continue on their way. At the time I thought this was weird. Now I realize how efficient it is. A shot of espresso seems to satisfy my coffee fix, and actually tastes pretty good if you add a little sugar (no stir stick). Plus I feel all cool and European. Usually the girl I am ordering it from doesn’t know what I am talking about. Esspresso? Only? In what kind of cup? Ceramic? Persevere and you will get what you want. It is fun to try something different!
• Now if you forget your mug and have a bit of time, order it in a ceramic mug to stay. Then sit and read the paper or look out the window for a while. You deserve it.
• Keep a travel mug at the office, or in your car, or in your bag. If you forget, no problem.
• Set an example for all your co-workers. Use your travel mug or a ceramic mug. Let them feel the shame of using paper, day after day, week after week.

Intermediate

Choose rainforest alliance, fair trade, organic and shade grown coffee. It is hard to get all 4 of these things in the same coffee, and there is some overlap between them. I try and get as many as I can, and choose coffee with certifications that mean the most to me:

• Rainforest Alliance – This certification is most comprehensive, as it addresses environmental protection, social equity and economic viability all at once. To be certified, farms must meet standards set by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). Child labour and slave labour are prohibited. The use of pesticides is discouraged and there are limits on the types of agrichemicals that can be used. Soil conservation and water conservation methods are employed. Wildlife is considered and protected. It really is a comprehensive standard, but the resulting product is not completely organic.
• Fair Trade – fair price to farmers and most importantly, child labour was not used in the production of the coffee. As with chocolate, if it is not fair trade, then most likely child labour was used to produce it.
• Organic – free of pesticides, so less chemicals for you and less chemicals in the lives of the farmers that picked the beans for you. Also – less chemicals for the soil and the insects and the birds and the wildlife and the ecosystem…. you get the picture.
• Shade grown – grown within the rainforest, under the canopy, so that the rainforest can still flourish and farmers can still farm their beans. This has the permaculture, edible forest idea that I love, it feels natural, holistic. Plus those rainforests need all the help we can give them.

So for me, I will always choose fair trade, since I worry about the children. It trumps my climate change concern, which is a pretty big deal for me. If it is fair trade and something else, I will buy it. I can normally find fair trade organic pretty easily, or rainforest alliance (which has a fair trade component).

These coffees seem to be only available as beans. So if you don’t have one, you will have to get a coffee bean grinder. This is a bonus, since freshly ground coffee is the best. For extra points, get a hand grinder. My sister has one, and I give her props.

Hardcore

Write letters to your local coffee shops (or multi-national chains, you know the ones) asking that they only use fair trade, organic, rainforest alliance, shade grown coffee, clearly marked. Tell them that coffee farmers deserve a decent living and that they should not be associated with coffee that uses child labour. Tell them that the other coffee shops are doing it, and you would hope that they would do it too, so as to maintain your business. Write one letter and send it many places, over and over. Email is easiest. It doesn’t have to be a perfect letter either. Just whip it off and send it. You would be surprised at the impact, especially if you send it locally. It may stimulate discussion among management. You will be placing additional straw on the camel’s back. It will feel good. I promise.

Ultimate

Stop drinking coffee. Crazy I know. I don’t think I could do it. Maybe you can. No Impact Man did it, as did the 100-Mile Dieters. But they did it as a year-long challenge, and got to talk about it in their books. This did inspire me but I still don’t think I could do it. Local mint tea anyone?

Bonus

Use a hand powered coffee grinder like my sister. She works for her coffee, and it tastes better somehow.

Use a reusable coffee filter.

Compost your coffee grounds. They are great for the garden!

So what do you think? Where do you fall on the sliding green scale – dabbler, beginner, intermediate, hardcore or ultimate? Any change for the green is a good change, no matter how small. So take the poll!

Back in the day, before I even started this blog or woke up to the climate change issue, I used to think only people who were hip and cool were going green. I am not sure why I thought that. Perhaps it was because I saw hip and cool models in magazines, showcasing their hemp dresses and organic makeup. Their hair touched only all natural hair products and their flooring was bamboo. They used artisanal soaps and drank local red wine. They were trendsetters, they were cutting edge. Could I be too?

As I flipped the magazine pages and the TV channels, I maintained a quiet indifference. The products were interesting, they were different, but they are probably more expensive. Was the expense worth it? Nah. I kept flipping.

Well it turns out that going green is not expensive, because it is not about buying new stuff. It is about using the materials and resources that pass through your hands with care. This means using less and consuming less. This means making do with what you have. You bake your own, make your own, grow your own. You live on the cheap, not to save money, but because becoming a non-consumer is about as green as you can get. Seriously.

So I didn’t rush out and buy all the new environmentally friendly products. Mostly I stayed home and learned more about my kitchen and more about the food growing potential of my yard. I slowed down and simplified. I fed my children fresh, local organic food. I baked bread. I made meals from scratch. I showered less. I stopped buying new clothes.

So what does going green mean to you? Does it mean becoming trendy and cool? Does it mean becoming a hippie? Does it mean becoming a Suzy homemaker? Does it mean having greasy hair and old clothes?

I am going to start a new series on this blog called Going Green. Each day I will pick a consumption habit, and describe it in terms of a sliding green scale. Where do you fit in the scale? Are you are dabbler, beginner or a hardcore greenie? The sliding green scale will tell all. I will include a poll with each post where you can indicate your comfortable level of green.

Our first topic will be COFFEE. Stay tuned!

One year ago, I posted “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and it was. It was 27°C (-17°F) that night and I had just decided to turn down my thermostat. Brrr.

I wanted to go green and spread green, and thought a blog was one way to do it. I started with the easy changes, ones that require almost no extra effort – reusable coffee cups, reusable bags, turning out the lights. I switched my almost potty trained daughter to cloth diapers at night. I still get search hits on night time diapers from that post….

Then I started really noticing all the garbage around me, the stuff I was creating, the stuff I was responsible for. Toy packaging, Styrofoam, food packaging, napkins, wrapping paper – I made a commitment for each.

Next I looked at my energy consumption. I started a spreadsheet and tracked my power and gas usage. I started running the dishwasher at night, changed all my light bulbs and air dried our clothes. My power bills dropped immediately. Saving money was fun!

Then I looked at what I was consuming, in the material sense. I had a mind blowing experience in Wal-Mart. I made New Year’s resolution to buy nothing new for three months. It seemed like it would be really hard but it just… wasn’t. It felt good and I am still committed to it. I use what I have. I don’t waste. TV commercials annoy me now. My bank balance continues to grow…

Then I got started with food. At first it was to the shop the bulk bins to cut down on garbage, and to make it and bake it where possible. Then I learned about local food and the 100-Mile Diet. I was hooked.

I went to the Farmer’s market to buy local food for the first time. I was beaming on the inside. This just felt so right.

Then in the dead of winter, I started planning my first garden. I learned about tomatoes and beans and onions and carrots and how to grow them.

I bought a composter. I made a seed plan, a garden plan, and raised plant babies from seed. I built garden beds. We planted it all outside. It grew. We harvested.

I made jam. I climbed apple trees and made apple sauce. I rescued local fruit hidden in my city through OFRE. I went out to farmer’s fields with my kids and we picked strawberries and raspberries and peas. I built a cold room. I made canned pickles and peaches and strawberries and raspberries and tomato sauce and salsa. I jarred over 150 jars. I froze cherries and corn and peas. I put it all up for the winter.

While doing all this I was reading books and watching documentaries, like No Impact Man, 100-Mile Diet, Tipping Point, The Age of Stupid, Economics of Happiness, Food Inc., Dirt! and Home. They opened my eyes and continue to inspire me.

As the months went by, things started to get a bit political. I was frustrated and things got messy. I felt angry and sad, but defiantly hopeful. I got the greenie blues. I considered free hugs.

Then people all over the world started occupying squares and parks and saying that they wanted a government that did not play into the best interest of corporations before citizens. I saw this as a breakthrough for the climate change issue. We needed to Occupy Earth.

It has been a wild ride, and I thank all of you who have come along with me on this journey to go green and spread green and to build love, hope and optimism for a brighter future.

Cheers.

It is a breathtaking journey of the splendours our beautiful planet, covering all continents and many countries. We are awed by the images so rarely seen, taken as if from an outside observer from space. Some are so startlingly beautiful, and you can’t quite piece together what you are looking at. All of them are natural wonders, and all of them remind us of the bounty and miracle of the place we call home.

Then reality sets in, as scenes move from untouched wonders, to scarred and battered lands. Splendid wilderness gives way to industrialization, where humans have changed things. The land bears the most obvious visual changes, but we can see it also in the dwindling water. What we can’t see, but is most dangerous, is how we have changed the air.

Near the end of the film enormous weight of the problem hits home. This sacred place in the universe, teaming with life, is under threat. Is it too late?

No.

But we only have 10 years to turn it around.

And turn it around we can. There are changes that are happening in such diverse places as Denmark, Gabon, Germany, South Korea, Costa Rica and Iceland.

I start to cry.

I know the dismal state we are in. I know the hour is late. The film illustrates this with striking artistry and beauty that I have never seen before in my life. I am overjoyed and deeply saddened by it at the same time. Truly knowing what we have, and how close we are to losing it, leaves you on the precipice of hope – for where else can you be?

I cry because of the examples of hope that are provided at the end of the film. Real actions are being taken that have real impacts, big impacts. There is a way out and we have the technology and the knowledge to do it today. So I cry tears of joy, because of the affirmation that it is possible, that change is not just happening in some places, it is happening in many places.

Home.*

We all need to change. We need to act individually, by setting the example for others. But we also need to act together.

We only have one Home.

*many thanks to Only One Earth for posting this video.

Here in Alberta, at the very heart of the debate, the very place where that oil will be pulled from the sand if that pipeline gets built – news of these protests is stirring media and politicians into action. Here is what I saw and heard yesterday:

Walking to the bus stop in the morning, listening to CBC radio on my iPod.

A business panel is questioned on the impact to Alberta if Keystone XL is blocked.

The panel agrees – if it is blocked Alberta will push for the Northern Gateway pipeline, the one to the Pacific, the one that will put the oil on boats to Asia.

Conceding that there is also immense opposition to that pipeline, one of the panel guests states that only people who live along that pipeline should have a say.

A national pipeline that ships to international markets,  creating global harm through climate change, and only a small set of people should have a say?

I don’t get it.

Walking to the library at lunchtime, listening to CBC radio on my iPod.

They have a guest who has just been appointed as Alberta’s ambassador to Washington.

He is going there with the Premier on Monday to advocate for Alberta’s oil sands and Keystone XL.

He keeps calling it safe, secure and sustainable. He doesn’t mention climate change.

I don’t get it.

Sitting in a café at lunchtime, reading the paper. The headline reads:

“World needs oil sands: report“

The article describes how environmental worries are set to clash with growing global demand.  The International Energy Association predicts that using carbon intensive oil will lead to a 3.5 C rise in temperatures, which is above the maximum of 2 C that will stave off the worst effects of climate change.

Ironically, the next headline right below reads:

“Snowless season drifts into record books“

I guess it we have always had snow in Edmonton by this time of year, for over a hundred years, since they started keeping records, since Edmonton even existed.  Snow.  By now.

I guess the warmer temperatures are starting to catch up.

I don’t get it.

Out walking at lunchtime, I notice a cool little building called the Reuse Centre.

I walk inside. There are bins everywhere, filled with stuff.

Paper, ribbons, binders, picture frames.

Ice cream pails, maps, greeting cards, buttons.

Books, DVDs, pine cones. Scissors, seashells, carpet.

I walk up to the guy at the desk. “How does this work?” I ask.

“You pay $5 and then take as much as you want”, he answers.

“Is this run by the City?”

“Yes, it is part of the Waste Management Branch”.

So cool.

I get it.

So the debate rages on, and we are all left wondering what will happen. Will America hook up to Alberta’s oil, and put it into the sky? Will Asia?

How will we get out of this mess?

Well, never underestimate the power of people. People are making changes, people are going to places like the Reuse Centre, people are thinking about eating locally, people are Occupying their cities and questioning the wisdom of letting corporations influence so much government policy.  People are talking.  Issues are being brought to light. Some people are starting to scratch their heads. Why are we doing what we are doing?

As long as that continues, we will get out. We are on our way. We are starting to wake up. We need to keep talking about it so that others wake up too.

Okay.  I got it.

Related articles

• The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Alberta’s Oil Sands (wired.com)
• U.S. officials mull new route for Keystone XL pipeline (ctv.ca)
• Thousands protest at the White House over Keystone XL pipeline (guardian.co.uk)

The film “Climate for Change” answers with a resounding yes. It plots out the actions of everyday people from around the globe, each with a passion for change, each willing to take the leap of faith, each knowing that no matter the outcome, they have to try.

The film features beautiful poetry by Simon Armitage. The poetry forms the narration of the film, and it is spoken as if by an angel, or some other being from above. The message is of caution and encouragement. It really struck me, so I have laid the words out for you here:

The Earth from above
The face of the Earth
Its range and its depth
Its scope, its breadth

The Earth itself
beyond belief
The Earth itself
an intake of breath

Such unequalled heights
Unparalleled scenes
Fantastical lands
Incredulous seas
Such extraordinary air

The Earth in fact like nothing on Earth
Inexplicably rich
Unaccountably rare

But at certain angles
In certain light
The Earth looks out with a different face
The scratches, the wounds, the burns and the scars
Apparent now in this climate of change
Now the weather has taken a turn for the worse.

The Earth is the Earth
And it seems not ours
Dauntingly massive
Out of our hands

Cart wheeling, barreling, spiraling on

Too distant to touch
And too wide to embrace
Beyond the grasp of just anyone

But here and now across the globe
There are those who think with a different mind
Who are pitching in, or drawing a line
Who are underwhelmed by the size of it all
Who are taking it on, one bit at a time

Atom by atom
Drop by drop
Little by little
Grain by grain

They are making choices that make for change.

Yes the Earth is the Earth
and it seems not ours
Dauntingly massive
Out of our hands

But the world is your world
The world right there in front of your face
The world you can hear and see and smell and touch and taste
A knowable, local, everyday place

A world you can shape by action and deed
Closer to home, belonging to each
That world at least, is within your reach

- Simon Armitage

Listen to them spoken, they are beautiful:

Frustrated, I gave up on chocolate, and started looking for candy instead. Gummies, lollipops, licorice…

My 5 year-old son looked up at me and asked me why. “Why can’t we buy chocolate this year mama?”

I looked down at his innocent face. My heart broke. In the middle of the candy aisle in a busy grocery store on the day before Halloween, I bent down to my knees so I could look into his eyes.

Me:  I am going to tell you something right now that you are probably too young to understand. Where we live in Canada, they don’t hurt little kids, but in other countries they make little kids work on cocoa farms, and some kids are taken from their mommies and daddies and don’t ever get to play with toys or go to school. It is not fair. It is not very nice. I do not want to buy chocolate from people who are not nice to little kids and hurt them.

My boy:  But why don’t they go to school?

Me:  Because bad people steal them and take them away from their mommies and daddies and make them work to make chocolate.

My boy:  Why do those bad people do that?

Me:  Because they are very poor and have no money so they make the kids work for free.

I was not sure if he understood. How could he? He was five years old. I don’t even understand it. We bought the sugar candy and started to head home.

My boy:  So we can never buy chocolate again?

Me:  We can buy chocolate if it is labeled fair trade. If it has the fair trade logo on it, that means that little children were not hurt to make the chocolate. So we will buy that instead.

He thought about it some more.

My boy:  But what about the normal chocolate?  What can we do about it Mommy? What can we do?

My heart broke again. Here is my little boy, so innocent, already thinking of solutions, and already thinking that there was something he could do to make a difference.

Me:  Well we could write a letter to the grocery stores and tell them that we think they should sell chocolate that isn’t made by little kids.

My boy: Yes! Let’s do that.

Me: Let’s do it together. Maybe those people at the grocery store will listen to a letter written by a little kid, more than to one written by an adult. Maybe they will understand how important it is to stand up for little kids.

My boy: But I don’t know how to write.

Me: You say the words, and I will write them down.

So we did:

Dear Grocery Store,

I am age 5. I want you to stop getting the normal chocolate. Please get more Fair Trade chocolate. I don’t want you to use the normal chocolate because they use kids to make it in Africa. Some of these kids are stolen to pick the cocoa out of the cocoa trees to make chocolate. These kids are slaves.

Please, pretty please, stop getting normal chocolate.

Thank you.

Then we emailed it to these places:

• Overwaitea Food Group (Save-on Foods) – customer_service@owfg.com
• Safeway – business.ethics@safeway.com
• Sobeys – http://www.sobeys.com/en/About-us/Contact-Us.aspx
• Loblaws (Superstore) – csr@loblaw.ca; customerservice@loblaws.ca

Since then we have gone to a convenience store and looked at chocolate bars together until we found one with the Fair Trade logo. He picked them up, one by one. “Mommy, no logo! This one doesn’t have a logo either! I can’t find any with a logo!” I am sure the lady at the counter thought we were nuts.

Finally he found one. It was a Cadbury, a Dairy Milk, the only Fair Trade option among dozens.

We bought it.

Related articles

• Chocolate (oneearthtolive.wordpress.com)