How to Keep House While Drowning was a really good book that helped me with this and my guilt when I was too drained to use reusable containers and needed to use a paper plate or small things like that. It’s important to care but also important to know it’s okay that I’m trying my best.
Thanks, Cassie! You really do have the best under-the-radar recs! ;)
And you're so right! When I had covid and was on bedrest, I fought with myself so much about using disposable plates and cutlery but circumstances needed it — the all-or-nothing mindset truly is a toxic one.
I love this piece and agree 100%. We should do what we can, as we can, and keep working towards better for the planet, but none of us can be perfect. Would I love to have cage free eggs from my own chickens? Sure! But I don't have the time to take care of them. I desperately want to compost, but I have to figure out what to do with it once it is done. We REALLY want solar panels, but we're not in a financial position to get them (plus the offerings in Indiana are not what we had when we purchased them in Texas). But our family keeps working to find ways that we can do better.
Hi Sarah, thanks so much for reading and commenting!
You're right! Honestly, I would LOVE to compost but for one, I don't live in a space where I can do that and two, worms creep me out — I'd spend most of my time screaming bloody murder.
Also, I really liked your piece!! As a lit student, I'd have loved to explore literary texts/media through an environmental lens. Your post gave me two films to watch (haven't watched The Lorax or Wall E yet, I'm afraid) with these lines which encapsulate what I'm desperately hoping happens to us all: "...while they present bleak worlds, they also offer hope that what has been destroyed can still be healed."
Subscribed — how could I not, the lit nerd in me coupled w my pop culture interest wouldn't let me leave the page without doing that! While I'm not the best podcast listener, I'll be reading all the text posts! :)
This idea makes me think about the conversations and controversies around energy production. Some of the smarter voices that don't get enough attention point out that using so-called "renewables" is a luxury of first-world countries that outsources the true carbon expenses of these technologies to less advantaged countries -- i.e. solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing. In other words, nothing is free. The story of life is a series of tradeoffs. Are we comfortable with demanding that people who live in harsh climates do without heat or air conditioning for the sake of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels?
People who preach perfection, just as people who tear down imperfect efforts, fundamentally misunderstand (or actively ignore) the complexity native to being human.
100% agree. A lot of the more powerful nations trash their non-recyclables into developing countries and then claim they're really good at being sustainable and eco-friendly but often, if we dig deeper there's a lot more to uncover.
"People who preach perfection, just as people who tear down imperfect efforts, fundamentally misunderstand (or actively ignore) the complexity native to being human." This is possibly the most succinct and crystal-clear way to put it.
How to Keep House While Drowning was a really good book that helped me with this and my guilt when I was too drained to use reusable containers and needed to use a paper plate or small things like that. It’s important to care but also important to know it’s okay that I’m trying my best.
Thanks for the shout out!
Thanks, Cassie! You really do have the best under-the-radar recs! ;)
And you're so right! When I had covid and was on bedrest, I fought with myself so much about using disposable plates and cutlery but circumstances needed it — the all-or-nothing mindset truly is a toxic one.
I love this piece and agree 100%. We should do what we can, as we can, and keep working towards better for the planet, but none of us can be perfect. Would I love to have cage free eggs from my own chickens? Sure! But I don't have the time to take care of them. I desperately want to compost, but I have to figure out what to do with it once it is done. We REALLY want solar panels, but we're not in a financial position to get them (plus the offerings in Indiana are not what we had when we purchased them in Texas). But our family keeps working to find ways that we can do better.
Coincidentally, this week I wrote a piece for our podcast blog about bringing environmentalism to the English classroom: https://litthinkpodcast.substack.com/p/english-goes-green
Hi Sarah, thanks so much for reading and commenting!
You're right! Honestly, I would LOVE to compost but for one, I don't live in a space where I can do that and two, worms creep me out — I'd spend most of my time screaming bloody murder.
Also, I really liked your piece!! As a lit student, I'd have loved to explore literary texts/media through an environmental lens. Your post gave me two films to watch (haven't watched The Lorax or Wall E yet, I'm afraid) with these lines which encapsulate what I'm desperately hoping happens to us all: "...while they present bleak worlds, they also offer hope that what has been destroyed can still be healed."
Subscribed — how could I not, the lit nerd in me coupled w my pop culture interest wouldn't let me leave the page without doing that! While I'm not the best podcast listener, I'll be reading all the text posts! :)
Thank you so much! And yes to everything you wrote 😊
This idea makes me think about the conversations and controversies around energy production. Some of the smarter voices that don't get enough attention point out that using so-called "renewables" is a luxury of first-world countries that outsources the true carbon expenses of these technologies to less advantaged countries -- i.e. solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing. In other words, nothing is free. The story of life is a series of tradeoffs. Are we comfortable with demanding that people who live in harsh climates do without heat or air conditioning for the sake of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels?
People who preach perfection, just as people who tear down imperfect efforts, fundamentally misunderstand (or actively ignore) the complexity native to being human.
100% agree. A lot of the more powerful nations trash their non-recyclables into developing countries and then claim they're really good at being sustainable and eco-friendly but often, if we dig deeper there's a lot more to uncover.
"People who preach perfection, just as people who tear down imperfect efforts, fundamentally misunderstand (or actively ignore) the complexity native to being human." This is possibly the most succinct and crystal-clear way to put it.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Jordan!