concern for the environment

today is blog action day. thousands are participating in raising awareness, and it seemed good to join in. the focus this year is on climate change.

and even though i want to participate, i haven't much new or brilliant to say on it. the climate has been changing - and whatever you might consider the cause of the change (or how much you might be annoyed by the politics and fear tactics that are part of discussions on climate change), it is still scientifically verifiable that some of the actions we do now are not good for the environment and are harming some of nature's controls over the climate. and this results not only in places becoming warmer but, more significantly, in strange weather at strange times - temperature or storms or rain or lack thereof. and i strongly believe, as a Christian, that the world is a gift to us from God and that we should do what we can to take care of the world as best as we can - and since these strange climate changes in the past years have shown to have a lot of negative effects on many different parts of the world, especially places where there's a lot of poverty, it is also our Christian duty to the poor and suffering to be concerned about climate change. so, i think we should all do what we can to conserve energy, to take care of clean water, re-use products and so on. i know i don't always do all i can, but i do desire to do my best, recognizing that my choices have consequences for others.

if you'd like to read more about environment and ecology, i'll point you to the blog of Crystle, a friend of mine and my old university chemistry lab partner.

hours better with community

last night the clocks changed here in Europe (a bit later than in North America). and it also happened to be "Earth Hour" last evening.

i had breakfast with the community this morning. the only one missing was the boy who was still dreaming of the football game the night before. the rest of us were all there on time, with most of us awake enough to talk and tease each other a bit. it helps to have a community of people around to remind you of the change in clocks - and who will tease you if you're too sleepy at breakfast :)

and "Earth Hour" was something we also shared with the community. "Earth Hour" was on saturday evening from 8.30 to 9.30 - and the idea that you'd turn off all the non-essential lights (and electrical things), as a way of saving some electricity and raising awareness about the environment. because i do care about the environment, i had wanted to participate - but i figured i'd be in my room cosily reading a book by candlelight or downstairs drinking tea with my own lights technically off :). i ended up with both - downstairs drinking tea, by candlelight, and reading a children's book for a little while. the only things turned on were the bathroom lights (when needed) and the television (although you could probably guess what was happening in the football game based on the noise level on the street, for some it was pretty essential to watch the Netherlands beat Scotland). and it was gezellig with the candles on and others around, talking some, joking about not being able to wait to turn on the lights again so they could play Rummikub together but playing nonetheless (teasing each other about cheating - i'm not sure if it's harder or easier to cheat by candlelight). it was good to be part of a group of people willing to do something that was a bit inconvenient and not necessary to them because one or two people wanted to participate in Earth Hour. and i was glad to be able to be part of that with them.

being socially conscious

we didn't have a lot of money while i was growing up. out of necessity, we learned to be cheap and be content with less. those skills have proven very helpful over the years in both minimizing my debt from school, in giving me the freedom to go many different places and serve God in so many different ways, and helped me be generally content whatever the circumstances.

but having learned the blessings of being cheap - and somewhat being forced into it by necessity - it's hard to un-learn the mindset that cheap is always good. certainly using limited resources in a responsible way is good - it's being responsible with what God has given me. and less is generally good (except when it comes to being hospitable) but cheap is not necessarily good. being cheap can sometimes be only looking our for what is good for me - and not for other people. sometimes being cheap means not giving to others as much as i can - or it means not participating in things that would bring joy to lots of people. and sometimes my paying less for something means that somebody else is not being paid as much as they should be.

i struggle with how to be responsible with the resources i do have and acting (e.g. buying & giving) in a way that shows care and love for the others around me. as my resources change, the questions change. now that i've paid off all of the necessary bills and have money left over, what then? to whom and how do i give? how much do i use to pay off my old student loan (and how quickly do i do that)? when do i start putting money aside/away for when i need to buy a new laptop? for retirement savings? in case something huge happens where i need money? how much do i spend on myself? how much do i spend on paying more for certain products - because of better quality and also products where money does really go in a good way to those who made it? (and how much time do i spend researching whether those who made it are actually getting the money and not most of it going to the marketers)?

i know i'm not the only one to struggle with this - and am thankful for that [see Crystle's entry about purchasing choices which i think is great - and perhaps answer some of my how to be responsible well questions :)]. but all these questions make me sometimes wish i was even poor-er and i didn't have those choices. or wish i could simply believe that my getting the best deal for myself is always good. but serving God with my whole life - and all my money (not just a small amount of it) is not quite that simple, eh?

being a freegan

i'm not a vegetarian, although i've thought about it, especially as i love vegetables (and a lot of non-vegetarians don't include that many vegetables with a meal). but my choosing not to be vegetarian has surprisingly little to do with the fact that my family would think me a bit crazy (my family had a pig farm and then a butcher shop and we all appreciate eating meat).

i do think that eating less meat is a more responsible use of the world's resources (feeding animals uses up a lot of fresh water and grains) and that the treatment of the animals and what is given them is somewhat problematic at times [see a somewhat recent Banner article for more on this]. but being a vegetarian is not always so practical. i eat with lots of other people, most of who are not vegetarian, so insisting on special treatment isn't something that seems the best use of the individual cook's times and resources - just to make myself feel better about how i'm being more gracious with resources to the whole world. and even when i eat on my own, i've recognized that it takes a lot of effort and cost to buy organic (biologische) products and make sure that i get the required nutrients into my body that are generally provided by meat. so although i don't eat that much meat and i'm moving towards buying more organic foods now that i have a semi-regular job, my becoming a vegetarian does not seem like the best way to use my energy and my limited resources (or the resources of the community of which i am a part).

and so instead, i'm choosing to be a "freegan". that means that i eat whatever's free. a friend of mine teased me that i have a tendency to live in places where receiving free food is normal. he's right. most people stop getting so much free food once they finish school :) i'm a huge fan of the sections of grocery stores where the no longer quite fresh food is being sold for large discounts. seeing leftovers thrown out bothers me (and so i eat the food that we can't serve at meals any longer). and when somebody donates food here, we do our best to use it and appreciate it. my choosing not to be a vegetarian is a bit of an ideal that i will consider again and again. but for now, being a freegan seems to be the solution that fits best for the resources and time i have now - and it's at least a small way to pay attention to how the resources of the world and those around me are used.

the effect of global warming on Amsterdam

this summer, most of the people i know have been suffering from super hot summers. i spent a week or two in humid Grand Rapids and am very glad not to be spending my summer there (nor having any plans to do so for awhile). i'm fairly certain that global warming has something to do with this heat and the other crazy weather disasters around the world.

and i'm pretty sure that global warming is at least partially to blame for the Amsterdam weather that most of us are complaining about. it's been raining a lot lately (which isn't entirely unusual - except not usually so much at this time of the year). and the lack of sun is kind of sad. but more so, it's chilly. like "sweater and pants in the middle of the day" kind of chilly. and so, since we had such a warm winter here, i don't think that the average temperature in the summer has been much warmer than that in the summer!

i'm rather a large fan of 17 degree celsius weather, so i won't be complaining too much about the weather here (summer or winter!). and i think the Netherlands has fared the best with the weather this year. but all of these funny temperatures make me slightly unsettled about what else will be coming to all of us as we start to feel more and more effects of global warming.

does it matter enough to inconvenience my life?

this has been slightly modified from the version originally published on friday.

i was reminded recently of a conversation i had with a friend where i rather bluntly dismissed her claims that she was environmentally friendly. i have since realized that my dismissal was neither gracious nor effective in communicating, but it did make me aware of some criteria i have in evaluating whether something matters: does it matter enough to inconvenience my life?

now this criteria hardly means that things only matter if they do inconvenience me and/or give me limited to no pleasure. nor does it imply that we ought to live our life in a means that inconveniences all the time. but it does give me a standard to judge what really is important to me - and hopefully open my eyes to what i only claim is important.

caring for the environment is something that i believe that every Christian is called to do, as much as he or she is able. if i believe God created the earth (how God made that happen is irrelevant to the discussion), then i believe that it is good - and that God would want us to use and take care of his good gift as much as we are able. thus, being environmentally friendly is something that ought to matter in my life.

i recycle (as do my parents now - and they've spent years burning garbage so that was a pretty big step for them). i don't own a car. biking is my ideal mode of transportation. i use public transportation. i believe those saying that we've done damage to the ozone and thus try to get as little sun as possible (and have become okay with the pale-ness of my skin in summer). i use limited amounts of air-conditioning - partly to conserve energy and partly because i'm not entirely sure the "juice" in air-conditioning is really great for the environment. i turn out lights and turn off water. but i wonder how much of this i do as a means to make myself feel better (and because my generation is expected to be environmentally friendly), how much because most of the above means saving money, and how much because i actually do care about the environment. i know that one can't perfectly separate all of the motives but i still wonder.

see, i know that saving money is something that i'm willing to inconvenience myself on (it comes from years of trying to live on next-to-nothing). and using the monetary gifts that God has given me is also using well the gifts that God has given me. and i know that living in Amsterdam is hardly conducive to owning a car - and i don't like driving that much anyways. and that hitching a ride with my truck-driving father to visit my friends is a lot cheaper (and more convenient for my parents) than my borrowing one of their vehicles. and since i've never gone out of my way to buy the energy efficient light-bulbs (one obvious way to be environmentally friendly), i have to pause to ask myself how much my being environmentally friendly really matters to me. or whether wanting money for other things matters to me more.

seeing things that way kind of puts things in perspective. helping the environment is something that is important to me - and i do get excited when people do things that make a difference for the environment (like the design of Meadowlands Fellowship CRC) and i would love to see the community at Oudezijds 100 become more environmentally friendly (in a slightly bigger way than my annoying habit of turning off the light in the backroom). but as much as it is important to me, i ought to realize that my concern does not also have other motivations. nor that my concern to be environmentally friendly should also be balanced for my trying to be faithful with the money i have and appropriately enjoying the gifts God has given us.

but even after the perspective, it's helpful to ask the question of inconvenience. if something (not just the environment) really matters to me, then i ought to be willing to be inconvenienced sometimes because of it. and that includes not only changing patterns in my life, but also being willing to put in the energy and time to share and encourage that concern in a way that other people can hear and understand.

trying to be car-free

As returning back to Ontario has reminded me of my general dislike of driving, a dislike that is furthered by my desire to be as environmentally friendly as I can be, the following from Craig Wilson struck me. although i'd like to switch walking for biking, it feels a lot like he's talking about me - or at least the me i'd like to be to the North Americans in my life...

"I walk to work.

When I tell people this, a few are jealous, but most look at me as if I'm some sort of throwback to another era. I suppose some even think there’s something un-American about it.

Still, I walk to work. And I walk home. Thirty minutes each way. This summer marks my fifteenth year as a car-free American. . . .

“Don’t you hate walking across the bridge in the winter?” they’ll ask. I do not. I’m from upstate New York. Winter in Washington, as anyone from upstate New York will tell you, is a joke. Unfortunately, no one who lives here is laughing. It’s a town where people carry umbrellas when it snows. Need I say more?

This time of year is another story. July and August. My shirt sticks to my back before I walk a block. The tar sticks to my shoes. I hate the smell of it all. . . .

And this time of year, I see tourists, maps in hands, their feet sore from a day of sight-seeing, trying to fend off their tired and unhappy children.

Sometimes, if they look pathetically lost or confused, I’ll stop and ask if I can help. It’s my one-man crusade to dispel the myth that all urban dwellers are mass murderers. This startles them, of course. Some clutch their children closer when I approach.

But after I’ve told them how to get to the Lincoln Memorial, or where the Kennedys lived before they went to the White House, or where there’s a good place to eat with the kids, they begin to relax.

But I never tell them I’m walking home from work, from another state no less, and that I don’t own a car.

No need to scare them further.”

excerpt from "Walking to Work" Craig Wilson, It's the Little Things (New York: Random House, 2002), 108-110.

i figure my desire to live car-free is fairly crazy. one can do it in Amsterdam, and maybe in a big city in Canada, but not so much in small town North America (like my parents’ place in the country). but I’m crazy enough to try – although I need to get a decent bike over here and find a car-sharing place for it to become a life reality. but i hope i can - and i hope that living car-free and other environmentally friendly desires will come up here again, since i'm discovering more and more that this is something that really matters to me.