GREEN ROOTS
Here at my parents' house, I'm reminded of why I care so much about environmental sustainability. To put it bluntly, it's because my family is cheap.
To be sure, a lifelong subscription to National Geographic and countless family trips to national parks cultivated all of our love for nature, from which we cleave tightly to an ethic of stewardship and respect. But it's our Taiwanese thriftiness that governs what are now labelled as "green" activities: capturing "grey water" to flush our toilets and water our plants, reusing every possible thing from dental floss to plastic bags, and walking whenever possible. Notably, we deviate from the enviro-chic movement when it involves flashiness or higher costs; you'll not find any Priuses, burlap bags, or bamboo paint around here.
I've always been proud of my Taiwanese roots, from a cultural and linguistic standpoint. And, now more than ever, I'm proud of the ways those roots are geren as well.
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3 comments:
yes, yes. I agree completely. Perhaps making the connection between stewardship and frugality is so rare in today's culture because many of the costs are externalized.
At least, I can speak for myself in saying this. I hate to throw food away, because I paid for that banana, darn it! The costs of waste disposal and landfill use, on the other hand, "out of sight, out of mind." (I'm afraid to admit)
And ... my ancestry is Scottish. About a century ago, we were the butt of every penny-pinching joke. But, unfortunately, that reputation has pretty much worn away. Too bad.
Daniel, good examples re: "out of sight, out of mind." Here's where public policy can do what the private markets don't: account for the true cost of some process. Example #1: baking some disposal fee into the price of every computer you buy = now the consumer is paying closer to the real cost of owning that computer. Example #2: municipalities charging residents on a per-bin basis for garbage pick-up = provides some incentive for residents to minimize waste disposal.
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