Environmental Regulations & Crime

So, you might ask, what exactly does environmental regulations and crime have to do with one another? Well, in today's WSJ, James Q. Wilson looks at whether the EPA ban on lead in gasoline and paint in the 70's is the cause for the declining crime rates in this country. This article goes a long way in demonstrating that ensuring a healthy environment for all has many beneficial effects, some of which are not easily recognized.

The Return of Meatless Fridays?

In the WSJ today, there is an interesting article by Francis Rocca on the return of meatless Fridays throughout the year, not just during Lent, in England and Wales. Up until Vatican II, Catholics abstained from meat as a form of penance on Fridays, the day that Christ was crucified.

When I read the article I couldn't help but reflect on the interplay between religion and the environment. Modern meat production is environmentally unsustainable and with millions more people moving into the middle class each year around the world, we are all going to have to cut down on our meat consumption. By expressing their faith each Friday by not consuming meat, Catholics will also be helping their environment. Just imagine the impact this could have if the billion or so Catholics on the planet abstained from meat at least once a week?

My husband and I have been trying to cut down on eating meat this past year. As Catholics, this call from across the Atlantic to abstain from meat on Friday may be just the thing to push us to finally do it.

Retail Therapy

According to Wikipedia, the definition of retail therapy is "shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition". I thought this topic would be an appropriate one to begin a blog about the global ecosystem and sustainability. Why is this the case? Well, probably the main reason that the Earth's ecosystem is in such dire straits these days is that we have in place a global economy based on the consumption of stuff. (Pause here and think of the stuff that is currently in your house or car and then calculate how often, if ever, any of it is actually used or really needed.) For most of us, myself included, the answer is that we have a lot of stuff and that we really only regularly use a handful of these items. (This is where I confess that I am wearing my favorite summertime skirt today and I could have possibly already worn it twice this week - I like to think this is very European of me.)

The fact of the matter is that I think the vast majority of us understand at a basic level that this accumulation of stuff (after taking care of our basic necessities of course) doesn't really improve our mood or disposition. Any feelings of euphoria we get from retail therapy quickly dissipates and we are back to where we began pre-Target trip. If we instinctively understand this, why don't we stop? Well, I believe this is for several reasons: First, animal instinct. Back home on the plains of eastern Africa we had a much harder time obtaining food and the other necessities of life, and when we did we held on for dear life. I think we have brought this baggage along for with us though, at least here in the U.S., it has outlived its purpose. Second, marketing. I would hate to even take a guess at how many advertisements we are exposed to in a day. I will never forget the time I went shopping with my best friend and her then two-year old son. We passed by a McDonald's and he hummed aloud the "Buh Duh Bum Dum Da! I'm Loving it!" theme song without even batting an eye. Third, competition with our neighbors and family members. We humans are terrified of being left behind economically and in order to demonstrate that we are still in the game we display material things.

So, what can be done to cut the cord to our consumerist ways? Well, it is at once easy and hard. My husband and I decided not to exchange gifts this year at Christmas. We wanted to plan activities with our friends and family instead and really enjoy our time together. You should have seen the reactions we received from people. Usually it involved a ten second period of absolute silence and then a frantic scramble to leave our vicinity. You would have thought we had announced that we had injected ourselves with the Ebola virus. But once you get passed people's responses it is actually quite easy to limit your shopping. For instance, when I want to spend time with a friend I purpose an afternoon kayaking, a hike, or maybe a free concert downtown, anything, that is, but shopping. Next time you think about running to Crate & Barrel in order to pass the time my suggestion is that you go for a walk instead. I guarantee that you will have more fun and meet more people the latter way.

If you are really interested in learning to live without stuff read this blog that I frequent: No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. Colin spent a year, along with his wife, kid, and dog trying to see if it was possible to live with no environmental impact. I think you will be surprised by the results.