Green Options

“For any viewer who has been camping, a tent may not sound like the most… comfortable living option.  On the other hand, it has some real benefits to my mission to live sustainably!

…Inhabiting it uses no energy–neither heating nor cooling is an issue.  While it might seem like it at first, a tent is not just a summer option…  Look like cramped quarters?

Well, it’s big enough to sleep in and to store my clothes in.  And that’s all I need.  It means I will be spending more time outside, in nature…

Plus, unlike in an apartment, I have the ability to develop my home in unlimited ways!  Stay tuned for later episodes that show how I modify and enhance my living space to be more and more manageable, including temperature control, comfort and additional amenties.”

Dear Readers,

Sust Enable was my dearest fantasy.  Sust Enable meant that I would solve the entire world’s problem of environmental sustainability all by myself.  In an urban setting and with no money.  What’s more, I’d do so while producing a film about it!  Take that, thousands of years of environmental degradation!

For those of you who have followed my tumultuous three-month sustainable living experiment through my blog posts here at Sustainablog, you may think the quoted text above is a strange thing to say, or even bizarrely humorous.  Indeed it is.  Above is the exact wording of my original script to the Sust Enable episode on Shelter, last updated sometime in May.  As I sit in the video editing suite listening over my previously recorded voiceover, I cannot help but laugh out loud at the absurd, unsubstantiated statements I am making.  But these are sour laughs.

Because once, I believed these statements were true.

One of the hardest things about camping is leaving everything the way you found it. Well, Bushnell is trying to make one part of that as simple as possible with the Bushnell BackTrack GPS Navigation System that lets you digitally mark your starting location and find your way back without leaving a trail of bread crumbs to follow.

Dearest Sustainablog!

Thank you for welcoming me back after an extended hiatus travelling our great American countryside.  Burned out from the stresses of the Sust Enable project, my partner Scott and I took off for the great wilds of U.S. National Parks in early August.  I haven’t written a blog since, as my adventures swept me far from the reaches of the Internet, for the most part.  Now I am back in Pittsburgh, not living sustainably, yet still reeling from the life lessons reaped from the past four months.

I anticipated having a slew of breathtaking photographs to offer you, alongside commentary from the trip in which I reflected on our often-severed connection with nature, and the deep wisdom such a connection provides.  Instead, one night while we camped in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, our video and digital camera were stolen from the glovebox of Scott’s car.  In the middle of a peaceful campsite, in which the sense of goodwill invoked a dozen campers to leave their car doors unlocked that night, a band of thiefs took advantage, slipped in after dark, and robbed a handful of people… not only of material possessions, but of their precious trip memories.

I wept inconsolably when I learned that the camera which held our trip photographs had been taken from us.  I cared little for the money-cost of these items, but I couldn’t stop hurting from the void that the thief left in me–having robbed me of the potential for life-long memories.

Memories surely live on in one’s mind… but as an avid student of the sciences, psychology easily reminds me that minds distort experiences.  I was hoping to use the photographs from our trip as a guideline for revisiting the feelings and sights that this wonderful trip stirred in me.  That hope is gone now, exchanged for a fleeting handful of cash to another.

And so, in the middle of my meditations on how the entire human race might be unified if we each and all had the opportunity to pause in the arms of nature’s bounty… I was sharply reminded with a single malicious act… that we have much further to go before then.

This past weekend signified the very middle of my venture to live 100% environmentally sustainably.  To mark the occasion, I unwittingly placed myself in a situation where every one of my interactions and experiences emphasized my unique new mindset.

I spent the weekend on a camping trip with three of my buddies from college.  

Camping?  Yes, it’s a bit redundant: I live in a tent.  What is appealing about a weekend doing the same?  Well, I envisioned a change of pace, a change of scenery, and some good times with old friends.  What I got instead transcended that simplistic vision, but it was a powerfully emotional experience.

Their comfort levels--with bugs, rain, and physical discomfort–differed vastly from mine.  

Their concept of “camping“–purchasing huge amounts of camping junk, like metal pokers and lawn chairs, then tossing many useful things out at the end of the weekend–clashed with my own.  

Their idea of how to start a campfire–lighter fluid and plastic packaging–baffled and bewildered me. 

Whenever I tried to offer an insight, which had been gleaned directly from my six weeks so far of using many of the same techniques, I was ignored.  It soon dawned on me that they didn’t want to know efficient or respectful techniques for fire-starting or cooking or understanding the plants around them.  

They were “playing camp.”  

Walking down the street today, it’s clear that summer is here. Which for many leads to thoughts of road trips, camping, and festivals. All of which likely will involve eating. And unless you’re an ace fire starter, you’ll likely use Sterno, that bright pink goo that you just don’t go there, as far as what it’s made of. What else are you going to use?

You might want to try Ecoflame. Their Warming Gel serves the same purpose, but is made from sugar cane derived ethanol, rather then coal or petroleum based as many conventional options are, and the packaging itself is recyclable, the label made from sugar cane. The first question that comes to my mind is, where does this sugarcane come from? Is it harvested sustainably? Yes it’s a renewable resource, but does it consume more then its fair share of resources to be made?

That said, it’s non toxic, and has no toxic emissions. The same cannot be said for the others, that require ventilation in order to not be damaging to you.

Sunday is Father's Day, and just like Mother's Day, it was inspired by tragic death. The modern American celebration of Father's Day  began in 1908, when 361 men were killed in a mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia.

Perhaps you’re familiar with that old camper’s philosophy take only pictures, leave only footprints. It’s a nice sentiment to live by. But whether you’re gearing up for a backpacking trip through Nepal or a luxury resort vacation across the pond, chances are you’re doing neither because traveling abroad leaves a footprint no matter how conscientious you are. Luckily, reducing that footprint is becoming easier and easier as the hospitality industry turns their eye

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