Another War

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/world/middleeast/28yemen.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Movement and Stagnation

Last month I wrote about peak oil and said that role modeling was the way I was currently educating people.  I no longer believe that it's enough.  Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with alienating people anymore.  Maybe it's time to start arguments with people to get them to think of something other than themselves.  Copenhagen failed.  We are past curly lightbulbs and hybrid cars.  Earth is our mother. She provides us with all the resources we need, but she can't live forever if we only take from her. It's not just about me living as simply as I can...the answer is mass-simplification and massive organization and to demand reductions from our "leaders." 

I say all this and I do not have much experience with organizing.  I'm part of a small organization that is new but will hopefully do a lot of great work.  I need resources that I don't have right now.  I need to talk to people but I'm not totally sure who to talk to!  I feel helpless, but not hopeless.  I need direction though.  So this is a HELP to anyone that's out there.  Yikes I'm probably sending this into cyberspace and not many will see it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/after-the-catastrophe-in_b_398708.html

Reparations?

Really interesting interview on Democracynow.org today.  This is a really eye opening perspective on the effects of climate change on poor countries.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/23/naomi_klein_on_climate_debt_why

Double Double Oil and Trouble

I just saw a showing of "A Crude Awakening."  I liked this film very much.  My one criticism of it is that people who are not yet informed about the oil crisis will more than likely be very freaked out by it.  It freaked me out.  I'm not always a fan of freaking people out to try to organize them into action.  Although perhaps this film didn't want to do that.  Anyway, you can't argue too much about the fact that we have to become less dependent on oil.  Ideally I think we should be completely independent of it as an energy source.  The difficult truth for some people is that there isn't a viable alternative energy solution currently that can completely replace oil and still allow us to maintain our standard of living.  I say that's cause for me to live more simply!  But a lot of people won't be into that.  Many people think technology will solve our problems.  We can't just sit around waiting on someone else to come up with a solution!  Futhermore, oil processing was a new technology in the early 1900's and we thought it was going to last forever.  We didn't have the forsight to predict how quickly it would run out.  Humans have to start thinking more consequentialy.  We have to look at long-term effects and see how interconnected we are to this planet  and every single being and thing on it.  Pull a link in the chain and the whole chain moves, pull too hard and the chain smacks you in the face.  How do we get people to care? 

In my last blog I talked about modeling behaviors.  I think my simpler lifestyle raises a lot of questions for others.  Many of them ask.  I'm more than happy to educate them on why I do the things I do.  It doesn't mean that they are going to go out and make drastic changes to their life right away.  But it does plant the seeds.  Someday, when we are in a crisis, and on the brink of a revolution, it may sway them onto the side of simplicity.  It may not be the fastest way to start a revolution, but it's what I've got to work with right now.  I don't want to alienate people.

The positive side of this is that I'm starting to meet some more people around here who feel simlarly to the way I do.  It fills my bucket and gives me hope.
On a lighter note... 

At this very moment I would like two things...to start an environmental revolution and to go see Andrew Bird on Dec. 8. Both of them are beyond my current means and abilities and arguably equally important j/k :( 


Peace, Walking, and Solidarity,
Courtney

I'm a bad blogger =(

So admittedly I'm not so great at this.  I've always prided myself on being a good writer and this blog is already an argument against that.  Furthemore, posting once every three months is probably  not good blogiquet (that's blog ettiquette).  Additionally, I only have two followers.  I'm pretty sure that's poor.
Moving on from that moment of self-deprication...what have I been doing in the midwest the past few months?  The answer is three things:

1.  working on my thesis.  very boring.  no need to elaborate.
2.  Going to concerts as a way of coping with working on my thesis.  I've seen some great shows.  Yonder Mountain String Band in Chicago, Matisyahu, Trevor Hall, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and The Black Crowes in StL.  All were amazing and much needed breaks from writing!
3.  Arguing with people about sustainability, corporate greed, and conservatism.  I wish I could say that I've been educating people and really challenging their ideas, but really I've learned that I am very much an emotional arguer.  Espeically when multiple people gang up on me.  It's been surprising how much that has happened when I'm talking about "liberal" values.  I'm surprised that being an environmentalist is a liberal value.  I thought everyone loved the place we live.  I'm really trying to learn patience.  I'm also trying to help others learn that just because I state my opinion, I don't expect you to agree with it.  But I will challenge you if you challenge me on my opinion.  Otherwise a most wonderful friend in the NW told me that the best way to educate is to model.  I think she's right and I certainly learned a lot just by observing her.  And it's actually been working!  I still get angry and upset when people are disrespectful but I'm trying not take slighting Mother Earth as a personal offense.  Although even the tiniest of negative actions impacts all of us.

Peace, Activism, and Education
Courtney

Electric Cars and other interesting articles I read today

Here's hoping the Beattle lasts til 2020!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/eup-volkswagen-electric-c_n_286719.html

This is something I've thought about a lot.  Glad there's research to back up my thoughts.  Our world is overpopulated.  If you want kids think about adoption.  I know it's not for everyone and someone's gotta keep having kids, but just food for thought. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091403308.html

And my hero speaks again...
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-14-pollan-health-reform-will-fail-unless-we-change-eating-habits/

Community

I don't feel it here. Sometimes I want to start or run away to an intentional living community.  A place where the values I have are mostly shared by others and we all strive to live as simply as possible.  A community that is activism embodied in every aspect of daily life.  A place that is mostly disconnected from contemporary society, living outside of capitalism as much as possible, with a strong emphasis on relationships with the Earth and each other. 

Peace and Communes,
Courtney

Currently listening to Ray Lamontange's Trouble

Trials and Tribulations from Being a Student Again

The reason I moved back to the midwest is to finish my master's degree.  Otherwise, I would probably still be living it up near Seattle.  Being a student again has proved to be quite a challenge. From adjusting to a new, strange schedule to the financial tole of going from full-time work to part-time, to dealing with financial aide again (who I am currently furious with) it's been a rollercoaster the last few weeks.  Thus the reason for not having posted in a while.  To my two followers --sorry about that.  :) 

Beyond all that, I've had many occasionas recently where I thought...hey I need to discuss this in my blog!  And of course, I can't remember all of them.  Really need to start writing those ideas down. 

Today I'd like to touch briefly on the challenges of being a student and eating localally, healthfully, organicly, and plantely on a budget.  In a acorn nutshell (they're local to IL), I don't have great answers to this yet.  It has been tough.  The Farmer's Market, of course, has been wonderful and cheap.  And being a vegetarian saves money for sure!  The one health food store in my area does not focus primarily on local food and it can be quite expensive.  However, a friend linked me up with a Springfield Locavore blog that is very promising.  It's a family that is committed to eating local in Springfield, IL.  They offer lots of wonderful resources and I've already found out about a Farmer's Market I didn't know existed.  yippee!! 

Of course, one of the best and cheapest ways to eat locally is to grow your own food. This has been difficult for me as I just moved to Springfield a couple of weeks ago and it's already late in the growing season.  I'm going to try to get a few herbs going indoors and maybe some quick growing veggies.  If you live in a small space and don't have a lot of room or a yard, you can still grow many things!  I highly reccomend Scott Kellog's book on Radical Urban Sustainability.  He has come up with some amazing ideas for not only growing food but living a sustainable lifestyle in a small, urban areas.  It's a really reader-friendly guide that gives you step-by-step advice. 

Ok that's enough for today.  I'm going to try to be more consisted with my postings.  You can tell I've been thinking about food a lot lately!  Enjoy the weekend!

Peace, Namaste, and Planetoneness,
Courtney :)

P.S.  I said I was going to incorporate music into this blog and I haven't yet...Here's what I've been listening to a lot lately The Black Crowes new album Before the Frost...Until the Freeze.  Kick ass classic Crowes with a bit of funk, especially on I Ain't Hidin'. Fantastic song.  Can't wait to dance to it at The Pageant when I see them live in November with my bestie Mer!  How do the Crowes tie into Sustainability?  They recorded this new double album over a couple of days in Woodstock, NY (yes, that Woodstock) so they saved tons of energy by doing a live album!  Yay Crowes you get two gold cucumbers in my book!

Veggie Tales

Bro-cco-li, cel-ery, got-ta be...

What's it like to be a vegetarian in the midwest?...kinda tough.  While enthusiasm for low-meat and vegetarian diets is growing, many restaurants simply don't offer vegetarian options.  And if they do, how do you know they are really vegetarian.  Did they just cook my french fries with the fish?  Did that veggie burger get cooked on the same grill as the triple decker bacon cheeseburger?  Beyond restaurants, I get a lot of weird looks when I tell people I'm a vegetarian.  Many people automatically assume I'm a member of PETA, that I hate meat, meat eaters and will try to talk them into dropping that steak from their mouth. 

While I think PETA has some solid ideas, I don't think going after Obama for killing a fly is a high priority and I'm not always a fan of organizations that focus on that sort of thing.  Although that could be attributed to the media buzz (pun intended) created around the Obama fly homicide. 

I don't hate meat.  The truth is, I salivate everytime I walk by those rotisserie chickens in the grocery store.  I miss bacon and steak and shake cheeseburgers.  However, I don't miss them enough to go back to them.  The reason I am a vegetarian is because it's a form of activism.  A friend from WA once said she viewed growing a garden as a form of activism.  Giving up meat is similar in the regards that it makes me less reliant on an industry that I think is unethical and monopolizing.  There are sustainable ways to farm meat that don't involve pesticides, antibiotics, and thousands of cows or chickens crammed into tiny quarters.  Did you know that "free range" means chickens have access to grass.  It doesn't mean they can get there.  When there are 20,000 chickens crammed into a coop built for a 5,000 there isn't much room to walk around or get to the one door that leads to the grass.  Furthermore, I don't want my body pumped full of antibiotics that they have to give the cows just so they can survive long enough to be slaughtered.  The reason they give cows these antibiotics are because they get really sick.  They get really sick because they are eating corn instead of grasses.  Their stomachs are not made to process grass.  Similarly to the chickens, they are crammed into small spaces and like a co-ed college dorm, disease spreads like wildfire.  You may ask, why are they feeding them corn when it's so obvious they should be feeding them grass so they won't get so sick? That's a wonderful question.  The truth is, corn is cheaper.  Corn is the cheapest plant we have and there is such an abundance of it, that it seems like a logical thing to feed all animals.  But it's at the animals and our expense.  They don't just feed the cows corn. To make it easier for them to digest they mix it with fat.  Fat from chickens, pigs, and even other cows.  That's right our poor cows are sometimes eating their friends.  It's a sad reality that is often hidden from the general public.  I could go on about antibiotics and large-scale farming, but most of my information comes from Michael Pollans book "Omnivores Dillema" and another book called "From the Farm to the Table.  I highly suggest reading it if you are interested in knowing more. 

On a happy  note, there are farms that are doing it right!  Small scale, pasture grazed farm animals are available.  It's just that it's difficult to find.  And in this day and age, it's hard to know who to trust. 

Long story, long...
Being a veggie is hard whereever you are, but in the heart of the farmlands where it should be easy to find farms committed to doing the right thing for the Earth and their animals, it's proven to be a challenge.  Well, I've only been back two weeks and I'm going to keep trying to find options.  I'll post them on here if I do.  I'm still not going to be a meat eater because cutting meat out of your diet is one of the biggest things you can do to reduce your impact on the planet.  More on that another day.  I don't want to bore you with more veggie details today.  Plus I'm making dinner for the folks tonight.  Leading by example people, that's what it's all about (sorry hokey pokey but you lied to us). 

Peace, veggies, and namaste,
Courtney :)

P.S.  Vegans, Vegetarians, localvores unite!

The Vision

I grew up in the Midwest and always felt a bit "out there" with my viewpoints.  It was difficult to find people who had similar ideas, values, music tastes, etc.  So a few years ago I moved to the Northwest and felt right at home.  However, due to some interesting turn of events in my master's work, I suddenly have found myself back in the midwest and struggling to live a more sustainable lifestyle.  This blog will chronicle my adventures in sustainability as I attempt to simplify my life as much as possible, eat organic, local, and whole foods, utilize natural medicine, eschew corporations and a conventional, corporate lifestyle, and meet people who are interested in similar things all to the background of my favorite music.  I hope you enjoy!  P.S.  excuse the commas!