On a Quest

I emailed out a nifty little link I had heard about on NPR whereby you answer lifestyle questions, in the format of a game, and find out how many earths it would take to support your lifestyle if everyone lived like you.http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/ It is a test of one's "green-ness" and I flunked...big time. How the hell can that be? I obsess over recycling, not using my car except when necessary, reducing my consumptive habits, keeping the heat so low in winter my friends bring jackets to dinner, replacing w/ fluorescent light bulbs, air drying laundry...yet it is not enough. Needless to say I am now perseverating (thanks Emily) on how to better my "score". Everyone being equal, just how many earths will it take to support our collective fat ass in the lap of luxury to which I am so shamelessly accustomed? 3.5!!! You read right. Three point five earths.


So lets talk about this game (that has ruined my smug self perception) and how one is measured. My friend pointed out that the game is biased against people living in the country (or suburbs). I speculate that sustainability is biased against those living in the country or suburbs. When I was playing the game I had to decide which of my lives (I have two, you know) I was going to examine. At first I was cherry picking for the best results. Then I got honest. My life in Idaho is dismally unsustainable. It is darn near impossible to live without using my car, glass and most plastics are not recyclable, no public transport system, little moral support of like-minded individuals, nary an organic option at my local grocer of choice (Winco), big freaking house (4,200 sq/ft) and I could go on. There are two glaring green positives in Idaho Falls. Our electric power comes from hydro and wind and the shopping options, franchises and more franchises, are such that who would want to spend any money.

I have a sneaking suspicion that those impoverished, uneducated Americans, of which there is an abundance here in St Louis,(disproportionately African American, of course) who have likely never even contemplated the idea of sustainability, would score way better than I or any of my accordant allies. They live without the bells and whistles of a middle class life style because they have no other choice. I should strive to be more like them.

So where did I go wrong? 1. The air travel I do yearly, about 15 hrs, negates all my hard-earned miles on the bike. Solution: take Amtrak if possible. 2. I rarely drive here in MO, but in Idaho I am beholden to my car. Solution: car-pool on Teton trips, when possible. Check out the Greyhound situation. Just say no if it is under 5 miles and then hook up the Burley trailer to my bike. 3. Food. We eat out too often, eat too much meat, drink too much coffee and don't buy enough organic or locally produced. Solution: This is the category on which I am currently concentrating. I claim progress, not perfection. I will save it for another post.