Small Things Cheering Me Up on My Travels
(While I contemplate Big Oil attempting to drown Greenpeace with fines)
Dear Human of Planet Earth,
Walking to Brighton from the rail station a week ago, an electronic billboard made me do an about turn. Were they using a photograph of me? Could it be? How flattering!
I took off my glasses and looked again.
No. A Similar coat, hair and complexion, yes, and the familiar bliss of a woman reading a book on the train. But it wasn’t me.
It might as well have been though because the billboard’s message was one I preach all the time:
Why drive when you can read?
I never drive if I can afford the train journey. And I certainly don’t mind taking longer to get there if it means I can make progress with a great book.
A two-hour commute means nearly four hours of reading both ways, or more if you read on the platform while waiting for your train or bus.
Why Buy When You Can Borrow?
This is the book I read on the way to and from Brighton. It’s the story of a young woman learning to unbecome what her father wants her to be. It’s a story of fighting patriarchy and fundamentalism, (this time of the Rastafarian variety) even while it governs your every move and is embodied by your own flesh and blood. But Sinclair’s memoir also invites us to look honestly at the circumstances in which toxic masculinity both emerges and flourishes.
Back to sustainability though. I borrowed How To Say Babylon from my local library.
Library systems reduce clutter and cost while encouraging re-use, community, and collaboration. They are a great model for other community collective loaning projects eg for children’s toys or DIY tools.
A Nappy Bank Where You Give What You Can and Take What You Need
This caught my attention as I was leaving the Jubilee Library in Brighton.
Admittedly these aren’t re-usable nappies but forty years ago disposables were heavily reliant on plastic, so I’ll call this progress.
Moreover, the basis of a community is people caring about each other and a nappy bank is an example of care-in-action.
Blister Packs Are The Smallest of Our Problems
I had been lamenting blister packs being destined for landfill when a few days later I discovered this collection bin at my local Boots. You can get points or something silly like that from bringing your blister packs in - but I’m not going to do any more digital admin than I already have to. I’ll just pop the packets in the box. Thank you Boots.
Not everything crossing my radar of late has made me smile though.
Consider this battle of David and Goliath, where Greenpeace is Getting Clobbered
You may have heard that Greenpeace has been ordered to pay over US$600M to multi-billion dollar oil pipeline operator Energy Transfer.
If not, here’s a short summary: Energy Transfer lawsuit verdict - Greenpeace
Greenpeace plans to fight back. They will need us to have their back.
Greenpeace argues that the case against them is without merit. Read more here.
I’d like to end on a more cheerful note though.
Awareness versus Moral Ambition, I’m Still Searching for a Cheerful Note
Are my letters to you spectacularly unambitious?
I came across a Meta ad for Rutger Bregman’s latest book, in which he urges us to focus our energies on work that will make a meaningful difference, to have moral ambition. The ad itself pooh-poohed efforts to ‘increase awareness’ as lacking moral ambition. I asked myself if my newsletter, meant to encourage and inform you as we walk this road together, really is a waste of time.
Then I heard David Roberts of volts.wtf point out that his informational podcast has motivated people to switch careers and college majors. He’s changed the course of people’s lives by increasing awareness, causing them to commit their energy to the climate movement.
It’s true that David Roberts goes in deep with his guests, and my newsletter is merely nudging you gently or worse case, amusing you mildly.
But I’m not sure I should give up. I think small things add up. I believe we need to keep encouraging each other.
In recent months my eighteen year old became vegetarian due to climate concerns and his beliefs around the ethics of raising, slaughtering and consuming animals for food.
Because guess what! A movement of people over several decades speaking, writing, organising and leafletting to raise awareness for the cause of ethically motivated vegetarianism has an impact. My son didn’t make this big shift without their influence.
We are, mostly, products of society. Equally, our society is the sum of the parts we play.
Thank you for allowing me to play a small part in your life today,
With Love,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical,
Croydon,
London,
That patch of earth known today as the United Kingdom
Lat +51.51 Long, -0.118
P.S. In case you missed it, my son’s vegetarianism is the positive note I was looking for!
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