Your turn to help me –
Today’s question’s simple: What prompted your interest in the environment?
How and when did your eco-interest emerge? I ask because the answers to this question relate to a hunch I have about the beginnings of enviro-consciousness…. I hope you’ll weigh in.
When I started paying attention to what “organic” and “local” foods are, I was drawn to the issues, the politics and economics surrounding the American food/agricultural industry, and the environmental issues as well. Then I started to educate myself about what it means to live a somewhat more eco-conscious lifestyle, like saying “no” to plastic water bottles and unplugging electric appliances when not in use. I’m learning more everyday and your blog definitely helps the process.
Comment by Stephanie — June 23, 2009 @ 9:28 am
It was unconsciously ingrained in me since I was pretty young. My dad came from big, rather poor, family in a small town in the middle of the mountains in the Northeast U.S. This means they reused and recycled everything possible, valued the skills necessary to fix things and repair things on your own, grew their own food and had compost bins, picked food from the wild and took heed of what sorts of animals were around. Our family vacations frequently consisted of going someplace and spending time outside looking at rocks (dad was a geologist), mountains, trees, flowers, water, caves and whatever else the earth offered. Growing up we’d go out and collect nuts and berries and I was allowed to play pretty much endlessly outside. We always had many pets and as a result I felt pretty connected with animals, domesticated or not.
Those experiences always were with me, although throughout my first few years as an adult where I could make more decisions on my own, it didn’t really sink in. Once I got a bit older, I started realizing these things were such a huge part of my life growing up and I started adopting some of the behaviors to reconnect with my dad. Along the way I realized how much sense it made to make decisions with an eye looking towards the environmental impact in terms of resources used and money spent and how happy it really made me to pay attention to everything around me. I think also living in Los Angeles, which is really a very different environment from the places I lived previously, made these things seem more of a priority to me.
Comment by M — June 23, 2009 @ 11:02 am
My grandpa has a house that is completely run on solar power and I was amazed by that. I just thought it was so cool. I’m not completely “green” but I do little things to make the way I live a little cleaner and sometimes cheaper.
Comment by Kate — June 23, 2009 @ 11:27 am
The values were infused in me from a young age – we composted, recycled, reused old items, etc. I was taught not to waste energy or litter. Plus I had regular exposure to nature from an early age. Strangely enough, I didn’t really consider myself an environment until I became an adult and became more aware of the political side of the movement.
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Comment by John — June 23, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
I wish my eco beginnings were as sweet and authentic as previous posters! But, alas. My interest in all things green started in 2nd grade when my intellectual rival (yes, I’m that nerdy) single handedly organized our school’s recycling program. Determined to outdo her, I went home and insisted we start recycling, conserving water etc. I definitely had a lapse during high school and college but I’m thrilled to say, I’m back on team green. This time for the good of the earth–not competition! :)
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Comment by Rosemary — June 23, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Being old, it was the 70s anti-pollution campaigns of my childhood, Woodsy Owl (give a hoot, don’t pollute), that Indian who cried when he saw all the litter by the highway. I’ve grown into it, certainly, and it’s as much motivated by things like solidarity with the poor (thus not eating much meat and going through vegetarian periods) and religious motivations as it is pure environmental concerns.
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Comment by Don Hosek — June 23, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
Do you remember that little paperback book for kids – 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Planet (or something like that)? Someone gave it to me when I was about 10 and it was so exciting. Now I don’t even remember what was in it. Of course, I grew up in a fairly green household, where we composted and grew a lot of our own food and recycled everything so I had an easy start.
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Comment by Rachel (Heart of Light) — June 23, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
On some level, I think it came from my upbringing. I grew up in a rural area with 2 acres, a stream, woods, etc. so we played outside and had animals around all of the time. We had a well and a septic tank, so I learned more about water and waste. My mom grew some of her own vegetables. We were always discouraged from wasting, and my parents composted off and on. Composting can be much lower key in the country. We also knew a lot of people worse off than us, so we gave away items that were gently used.
I think that I experienced my adult eco-awakening when I got out of a relationship with a bad relationship. Too many years of trying to compromise had left me pretty far from “me”. I adopted a rabbit and started composting her waste and my food waste. I got more interested in organic produce so that I could feed her well. Everything just sort of snowballed from there – freecycling unneeded items, moving into a smaller place, avoiding buying unnecessary crap, selling my car, walking more, taking public transit, becoming vegan, etc.
A lot of my more recent changes are now influencing my parents. I’m getting them away from using chemical cleaners for everything, eating more vegetarian meals, and using the A/C less. They seem to be the most receptive to ideas that also save them money, so that is where I’m starting ;-)
Comment by Erica — June 24, 2009 @ 10:31 am
Back in 8th grade (1992) I did a speech on recycling for English class. Our town in Illinois was one of the first to have curbside recycling, so I’ve always been into that aspect. But it wasn’t until I moved to CA in 2002 that I turned into an all out eco-warrior. Once I started volunteering with Heal the Bay, I’ve just wanted to know more and the uptick in mainstream movies on the environment have helped motivate me as well.
Comment by Anne — June 24, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
The birth of my environmentalism was manifest in the first paper-recycling i helped organize at John Burroughs junior high in LA as part of being in the Ecology Club in the early 90s seemed only natural since Mr. Burroughs is a naturalist essayist…and i had access to all the phone numbers of the entire student body which made me quite the popular kid.
And now a couple decades later Green LA Girl inspires/enlivens my enviro-consciousness up here in Oakland on a daily basis–thank you!
Comment by mel — June 24, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
All your stories are so cute and inspiring! I vaguely wish I had a bunny now. Anne — Did you keep it in a cage or just let it roam around the house?
Part of what prompted the question: Way too many press releases about how people — esp. women — become environmentalists when they have children. This “momhood as birth of enviro consciousness” line gets repeated so often — and it bugs the hell out of me, because I think it’s simply a marketing gimmick to get new moms to buy stuff (granted, greener stuff) to “prove” their eco-consciousness — or else they’re “bad mothers.”
Another reason it bugs me is that it’s just plain false. I do agree that some people may come around to environmentalism this way (i.e. needing to buy baby bottles, googling “baby bottles,” then finding a whole bunch of news articles about BPA) — but I really don’t think it’s even a significant way — much less a primary way — by which people “discover” environmentalism.
So far, no one mentioned kids as a primary motivator — but I do think green LA girl readers tend to be child-free. What I find interesting is how many of you came to environmentalism AS kids –
Comment by Siel — June 24, 2009 @ 5:37 pm
Hey Siel, I presume the bunny question was meant for me?
I have 3 bunnies now (and 2 cats) and the bonded pair have free rein of the living room and kitchen. The 3rd bunny is a foster, and she lives in a large pen in my bedroom. Bunnies will usually fight if they aren’t bonded, so she has to be kept away from the other bunnies. The cats like to visit her though. All of the animals are litter box trained. The bunnies get hay on the floor, but that is easy to sweep up and toss in the compost.
My sister and I are actually working towards opening our own animal sanctuary in a couple of years, so we are researching everything from how to build eco-friendly dwellings that require minimal heating and cooling to how to develop a grey water system to irrigate the gardens.
Comment by Erica — June 25, 2009 @ 8:04 am
I didn’t become an environmentalist as a kid but I think growing up in an rural area in New England sort of made me on without realizing it. I’m also probably older than many of your readers and it wasn’t discussed as much when I was a kid.
Becoming more environmentally aware was actually related to studying religion 10 years ago. I really started thinking about what it meant to not kill and I stopped eating meat. I then learned about factory farming and it all just snow-balled from there.
I do have a child but all of this occurred before she was born. I completely agree that the enviro-mom marketing is just one more way to get women to purchase products out of guilt.
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Comment by Kim Woodbridge — June 25, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
I agree with the last commenter, Kim. I grew up in rural Connecticut, and lived a pretty wholesome and rather simple life, spending a lot of time outdoors. For me I never had a particular interest in the environment or food quality or sustainable living. But after college I moved out to San Diego and life became different. I was missing a lot of what had been “normal” for me and I now realize I took for granted, things like spending a lot of time in nature, eating food fresh from the garden, and seeing the stars. I gained an appreciation for things like open space and clean air. I think that started it, and I started taking more of an interest in environmental issues since I was now seeing some real negative things that I had until then been naive to — air pollution, extreme materialism, over consumption and waste, dirty beaches — and from that point on my eyes have been open, and it’s just been a progression to a greener way of life.
Comment by Russ — June 25, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Oh yes — I did mean you Erica :) How do you “bond” the bunnies? Do they sort of have to bond when they’re small? I feel sad for the lonely foster bunny :( but I’m sure it gets plenty of attention from you :)
Russ and Kim — I like how both of you are pointing out how sometimes we don’t appreciate things until they’re suddenly not there — then you realize how ingrained the things you took for granted are in your sense of well being. For ex, I totally took daily sunshine for granted until I went to college in Indiana — then learned the hard way that sunshine makes me happy –
Another thing your comments made me think of: When we’re suddenly taken out of our element, we notice and try to change things — but in many communities, enviro degradation’s happened slowly but insidiously — eroding with it people’s quality of life. But the slowness with which this happens leaves people sort of complacent (like the frog in the slowly-heating water) —
I’m reading Ecological Intelligence right now, and the author talks a bit about how, because these changes (bad air, rivers we can no longer swim in, etc.) happened gradually, people accept as par for the course today things that their grandparents would’ve found completely unacceptable –
Comment by Siel — June 25, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
Bunnies can be bonded in adulthood. Mz Bunn is about 6 and Ricky is 9. The best way is to let your bunny pick out a friend and then have a third party do the bonding in a neutral setting. Bunnies are very territorial, so it is usually very difficult to do your own bonding in your own home.
That said, my bunnies broke all of the rules. I adopted Mz Bunn years ago and tried and failed to get her a friend many times. She fought with everybody! I adopted Ricky earlier this year after he was returned to our rescue twice. He is the sweetest old bunny man, and I couldn’t bear for him to get passed around any more. I just kept them in separate areas of my apartment. Eventually, Ricky started sneaking over to Mz Bunn’s pen and tried to make friends. They pretty much bonded themselves.
Jelly, my foster, lives in a big pen with lots of toys and hiding spots. A lot of fosters spend most of their time in cages, so I’m glad she gets so much room. I just wish she would get adopted! I want her to be in a forever home, and she is such a cutie. I would have adopted her myself but Mz Bunn gets VICIOUS with her. I just hope that there is a great home for her just waiting to open up. Until then, she will get spoiled by me.
Heh, this is probably more than anyone wants to hear about my rabbits, but I love talking about them :-)
Comment by Erica — June 28, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
That’s a bit sad to know bunnies can be so vicious! I guess they don’t always act as sweet and cute as they look :)
Comment by Siel — July 3, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
Seeing a photo of a Laysan albatross carcass filled with plastic bottle caps and other types of plastic that could have been mine and realizing my impact on other living creatures is much bigger than I realized.
Nothing to do with kids. And yet my concern for the earth and all its creatures does feel maternal. Maybe this is where I’m putting my maternal energy since I chose not to have children? Dunno.
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Comment by Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — July 5, 2009 @ 8:08 pm
I hate those pictures — They’re so disturbing! My concern for earth doesn’t feel maternal — just like common sense :) I didn’t actually know your anti-plastic activism was inspired mainly via love for other animals — interesting! :)
Comment by Siel — July 6, 2009 @ 5:39 pm
I don’t think it contradicts your theory though. Just maybe complicates it a little? I guess women fall along a spectrum of maternal instincts. I know women who seem to have none and have never had any desire to have kids. I’m not really in that camp. I do sometimes have a strong urge to have a child. But I believe that just because I have an urge to do something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for me or for the earth. Like having kids. Or overeating. Or staying up all night blogging and drinking wine. Some urges are harder to resist. Having kids was not.
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Comment by Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish — July 6, 2009 @ 5:47 pm