More people in boxes

Tuesday, June 28, 3:14: In a zoom meeting about sustainability. People in boxes. That kind of meeting.

The day before, I was on my computer at 3:14; this Tuesday, I was on my computer . . . that's what I do, peeps.

Talking about sustainability is one of those hope/frustration kinds of things. Most of those people in the boxes on Tuesday really want to do the right thing, both for now and in the future. But of course, constraints and politics and finances complicate the picture. By the time I'm writing this now, we've entered Plastic-Free July, a global movement to try to reduce our use of plastic, especially single-use plastic. Almost every piece of advice on that website and in their cheery emails is old bread for me. My life is definitely not plastic free, but compared to almost everybody I know in real life – and maybe even actually compared to EVERYBODY I know in real life – I have much less plastic surrounding me than they do. I'd love to reduce even further, but I know at this point my own personal reductions won't make as much a difference as creating structures that allow for other people to reduce their use without feeling deprived.

The same goes for energy use. Rising gasoline prices definitely make for great headlines, but since I use my car only a handful of times each month, and since my food largely comes from local sources, so far I have not been personally touched by this.

Maybe I'm actually Amish? But no; if that were the case I would not have been on a zoom call at 3:14 on Tuesday, which I was. Back to work.