I can no longer read ...

... articles about the environment.  I stopped a while back, realizing I was cringing throughout the reading, that I was left with discouragement I didn't want to deal with.  All I could think of was "eco-fatigue", "eco-nagging", .... phrases that are not very inspiring.

I stopped reading the venerable David Suzuki; I stopped reading Cameron Smith of the Toronto Star on Saturday mornings although in the past I wouldn't have missed one of his articles; I stopped reading various blogs -- all things I used to enjoy, all things that used to inspire me.  I have even stopped reading environmental newsletters .. have even unsubscribed to several I received on-line.

Last week, I saw an environmental quiz on the Macleans magazine website and decided to try it.  Not only did I fail miserably, but I found it to be a soul-killing article.  I'm not sure it matters what kind of car is best unless you're actually shopping to buy one soon -- Prius, or Smart Car or grossly stupid car...  I couldn't afford the two aforementioned and would have to settle for a very small polluting car if I had to replace my vehicle at this time.  I'm hoping my car will last another 5 or 6 years by which time things will have changed beyond what our imaginations have come up with so far, I think.

The "indicator" which bothered me the most was related to the use of dishwashers as opposed to washing dishes in the sink.  I don't have a dishwasher because the house I bought has hand-carved kitchen cupboards and I didn't want to destroy the integrity of what the original owner had created -- cupboards made from wood chopped just north of my house -- I can see the love in those cupboards and can understand why the previous owners cried when I met them for the first time and told them it was the cupboards which I liked best in the whole house.  The price I pay is handwashing dishes and to save water I do them once a day.  I reflected on the merits of handwashing dishes -- it can be a relaxing activity -- one of those repetitive mindless household tasks which can provide a moment to become mindful.  I remember how dishwashing time was one of the best moments of the day for me when I was a teenager as I helped my mother.  With her hands in the sink, she was a captive audience and I had an opportunity to tell her all my little stories about this one and that one, and to try out my "I'm-on-my-way-to-becoming-a-woman" ideas.  My father, who sat in the living room reading his paper during these conversations, used to call out:  "And he said, and she said, and he said, and she said...".  I never took this as criticism, I saw it as him noticing that I was able to chat comfortably with my mother.

The little quiz has been bothering me all week because I feel that as long as we are making one another feel incompetent about our environmental decisions, we are just indicating that we ourselves don't "get it".  And, we aren't going to be drawing anyone to ourselves.

I wasn't going to say anything about this but yesterday I heard on the news that the Roman Catholic Church in Québec did a survey of people's "faith" by asking factoid questions such as "What is the current pope's real name?"  Ask me if I care.  Perhaps practising Catholics are more inclined to read about the Church and its administration, but this has no bearing on "faith".  Knowing the Pope's name is not an indicator of religious fervour or spirituality.

I feel just the same way about the environmental quiz.

Comments

[harriet]

Ann I find this so sad. I don't understand why anything can make you feel incompetent. I am no ecosaint but talking with others who do more or less or different from me just doesn't upset me at all.

[Betty Anne]

It's unfortunate that the mass media makes mass drama out of everything they report. One of the biggest things they miss in trying to keep up with "environmentalism" is that NO solution is perfect. If someone GAVE a Prius to every car driver in America, there would STILL be a high rate of fuel consumption and there would STILL be emissions put into the atmosphere.

This movement is about overall attitude change - and I think yours is the direction it needs to go in. Dishwashers do NOT save resources, no matter what people claim - especially since just as many people abuse dishwashers as abuse handwashing by "wasting" water and energy on small loads of dishes.

Spending and appreciating quality time with family and loving the hard work put into hand-crafted product are MUCH more important than being able to run out and buy a new car to make yourself feel like you're "doing something good."

You're hardly incompetent - if anything, you're ahead of the game.

[heather]

Yes, I'm not sure it's very useful to read loads of stuff about all this... We know how bad it will be/could be, so we are probably better off saving our energy for thinking and acting and not for dealing with the restimulation of sensationalism (and oversimplification). :)

[Ann Jarnet]

well, thanks to all of you. I still can't read much but I feel encouraged.

[Dave B.]

stumbled across this blog earlier today, having entered 'ecopsychology' as a search term. returning now later in the day to express my gratitude to have found it.

very thoughtful article, within which i found this particular nugget to have stuck with me all day:

I feel that as long as we are making one another feel incompetent about our environmental decisions, we are just indicating that we ourselves don't "get it". And, we aren't going to be drawing anyone to ourselves.

an incredibly important observation and point.

guilt is not an effective motivational tool. the environmental movement / community (and apologies for language that suggests we're a monolithic entity) has a lot of work to do regarding recognizing this aspect of itself and its messaging, and figuring out more constructive, supportive avenues to conveying meaning and encouraging individuals, organizations to receive and act upon some incredibly important issues.

i am an ecopsychological layman; but this point you raise about feeling beaten down by the tone of the message points to one of the core principles that i was able to take away from roszak et. al.: ecology and psychology really do need (to learn from) each other.

best,

dave

[Ann Jarnet]

Dave, thank you for understanding me.