Ruminations: I Beg To Differ

     Today’s Ruminations are a reaction to a November article in the local newspaper,  originally published in the Los Angeles Times Opinion section.   It’s called “Advice for the climate-conscious consumer:  Don’t sweat the small stuff.”  The author, Kumar Venkat, is the founder of CleanMetrics Corp, whose mission is “to enable data-driven climate actions by both consumers and businesses”.  (www.cleanmetrics.com).  From Venkat’s article:  “I have learned to follow a simple rule of thumb that helps me cut through all the climate-related noise: Don’t sweat the small things when it comes to climate change. Focus your energies and investments on a few big actions that you can sustain over the long term.”

Source:  Wikimedia Commons

     The data Venkat offers in his article supports his premise that many of the small actions consumers have been encouraged to take for years don’t make a statistical difference in climate change. He uses the exhortations to decrease the use of single use plastic of all kinds, purchase locally grown food, do laundry with cold water, et al, as examples of actions that make an insignificant difference. The big actions he proposes include using public transportation instead of driving, driving an electric vehicle, and switching to green energy for household use.

Source:  pngimg.com

     While I can’t argue with his statistics, I do beg to differ on two counts. 

     First, I know the author was talking about small stuff related to climate change, but let’s acknowledge the value of small stuff standing alone.  I believe our individual belief in the value of our daily small stuff action is what leads us to paradigm shifts necessary for larger issues like climate change.

     Here’s my favorite examples of this dailiness.  There are many adaptations of The Starfish Story by Loren Eiseley.   If you don’t know it by that name, you’ll recognize it by this saying:  “Saving one dog won’t change the world, but for that one dog the world will change forever.” 

Flickr

 

     An example of small stuff mattering in a larger way is the story of Mimi Ausland.  In 2008, at age 11, she decided wanted to help feed the animals in the local shelter.  She and her father rounded up some sponsors and started a website, Freekibble.com, where anyone could answer a daily question and cause a donation of 10 pieces of kibble to the shelter.  Within two years, Mimi’s cause caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres, who had Mimi on her show.  Ellen is one of the owners of Halo Pet Food, and during that show made a large donation to Freekibble.  That eventually led to Halo being the exclusive sponsor of FreeKibble.  So far 26,436,779 meals have been served to animals in shelters throughout the country.  That’s not small stuff. 

Source:  youtube.com

 

     The other way in which I beg to differ with Venkat’s position is that it is based on the arrogance of a metropolitan upper and middle class ideology, which itself is based on the ability to make economic choices.  There are a lot of people who can’t afford to make or even have access to the small stuff choices, let alone purchase an electric vehicle (!) or retrofit their house for green energy(!).  Please!  And using public transportation because you can’t afford a car is not a choice.

Source:  Flickr

     An example:  Mexico City recently banned the use of plastic bags.  According to Business Insider (www.businessinsider.com), grocery stores will be fined if they give out plastic bags, and will begin selling thick plastic fiber bags to shoppers for 75 cents.  All well and good, but with a minimum wage of that same 75 cents per hour, the economy of choice immediately raises its head.  As for many of us, there’s a culture of reuse of the bags, with garbage cans and waste paper baskets sized for the bags, separating trash for the garbage trucks, picking up pet waste.  Additionally, Mexico City has an on-going water shortage problem, so washing out unlined trash cans can be problematic.  And because Mexico City’s plumbing is often old, toileting trash is often put in a trash can rather than flushed.  That’s not trash they want to dump directly into the outdoor trash receptacle. 

Source:  Reuters

     Solutions to climate change are are not singular.  We certainly need scientific and policy leaders.  We need the companies who are agents of the problem to step up to their responsibilities. But we also need everyone to do what small stuff they can.  I believe, and will continue act on the belief, that the small stuff choices we are able to make are the very agents of the change that Venkat is driving for.  The kids who feed animals in shelters are tomorrow’s leaders of change and action.  Statistics drive a certain kind of change.  The small stuff drives our hearts, and that’s where I believe change starts.