Happy Earth Day!

I didn't have time at work today to write a fiery speech about the need to make everyday Earth Day. I apologize. One would hope for more from a tree-hugging hippie (at heart) like me. I've been passionate about environmental issues since I was a small child and I only hope that I can inspire others to join me in the crusade to ensure that future generations (of all species) are able to live in a safe, clean world that is full of diversity. We only have one planet.

The main thing is to be mindful. Everything on this earth is connected. Behaviors and attitudes you hold can affect systems and individuals far away and far into the future. Don't be selfish or indifferent. Do your part today!

Check out the EPA's carbon footprint calculator and environmental tips for more info about your eco-impact and what you can do to be a part of the modern "green" movement.

Monday, already?

Yay, I didn't get electrocuted! I attend the GreenApple Festival Earth Day Event on the National Mall on Sunday. I got to check out a few booths and hear some interesting music. The highlight was definitely seeing Ed Norton and Chevy Chase, but the cool music I heard when I first arrived (before it started pouring) was great. I haven't heard good live rock music in a while so I guess a trip to the Black Cat or the 930 Club is overdue.

Gosh, the rain never stopped. In fact, I was drenched by the time I made it to Union Station and therefore, I was unable to check out the sale racks. But nevermind, I already scored a brown suit last Friday at Macy's. I think that my Hill wardrobe is now complete--at least until mid-summer, when I'll start getting tired of my clothing combinations.

It's amazing that I only have one more week until I start on the Hill. Everything has been so surreal, and I don't think that I'll wake up until after the "honeymoon period" at my new job. I will truly miss my current job--mainly my coworker-friends. I know that it is very rare to find good friends at work, let alone a bunch of people that you can go camping with or invite to a crazy night out in Adam's Morgan. They have been my advisors, editors, jesters, psychiatrists, alcohol enablers, etc during the past two years and I will miss our shenanigans. I know that I will have to find new peeps on the Hill, but I will always stay connected to those who know me best.

Toxins, Toxins, Everywhere? Detox!

Over the weekend, I watched the latest Brenda Watson special on PBS. She was introducing her latest book, The Detox Strategy: Vibrant Health in 5 Easy Steps (RENEW: Remove, Eliminate, Nourish, Energize and achieve Wellness). Although I thought that she was a bit alarmist at times about the sort of toxins we are exposed to on a normal basis, she did have very good points about what a healthy/normally functioning body is able to do with those toxins (eliminate them) and what an unhealthy/abnormally functioning body does with them (store them). Her discussion focused on reducing your exposure and ensuring that your body can properly remove any toxins that you consume or absorb.

I must admit that I was distracted by her outfit during most of the show, but I did learn a few things that I hope to incorporate into my daily life. First, I want to purchase a shower filter. I didn't realize how much water my body absorbs in the shower. Absorbing water in the shower is great in terms hydration and ensuring that my skin feels moisturized. But given that tap water isn't as clean as it could be (and often contains traces of chemicals, metals, etc---though, thankfully, no microorganisms like in many developing countries!), I should be alarmed about what else my body is taking in. Please note that I am not endorsing the use of bottle water! If you are concerned, use a filter. It's cheaper, better for the environment, etc than going through a thousand bottles a year. Plus, some of the bottled water is just purified tap water anyway!

Watson also brought up the absorption of other substances through skin. This is something I knew about but didn't feel that alarmed about--until now. I'm making a stand. Over the next year, I'm going natural. Yes, that includes my hair (though mainly in preparation for Peace Corps)! I want to pay more attention to the sorts of moisturizers, deodorants, and other toiletries I put on my skin. I know that I'll probably get cancer at some point in my life (for both hereditary and environmental reasons) but I want to reduce the risk. Besides having the product's chemicals absorbed by and stored in my body, those chemicals are also flushed into the environment during production and disposal (washed off my skin or poured down the drain). I can only imagine how much gunk I've put into the environment as a result of my petroleum-based lotion addiction.

So, the next time I'm at Whole Foods, I'm going to check out the personal care aisle for better options. I've gotten quite comfortable with my moderate environmental lifestyle. It's time to shake things up and push myself further. I can definitely do more.

"Don't stop believing!"

Life would be so much easier if I were shallow.

If I only cared about myself, how I looked, how much money I had, and whether I had enough cool friends. If I didn't care about genocide, famine, civil unrest, poverty, assault, deforestation, pollution, and neglect. If I didn't want to make a difference, save the earth, save the children, contribute to the paradigm shift, and be a better person.

Lately, I've become quite gloomy about the central purpose of my career and personal pursuits: contributing to the paradigm shift that helps heal the planet. The external and internal forces against me are building and I feel close to resignation. I'm weary of the rampant individualism and market forces babble that threatens the wellbeing (however you define it) of existing and future generations of humans and other species. I'm just tired.

Perhaps, I need to be on the front lines of the debate and the movement. I need to resign from my relatively plush lifestyle and get my hands and feet dirty enacting some sort of change and truly helping to make things better. Right now, I sit at my desk in an air conditioned high-rise in the middle of the city attempting to protect the environment through newsletters, emails and action alerts. It doesn't feel right. There has to be a better, more fulfilling way for me to contribute to the cause.

But am I strong enough to take that step? Deny myself the simple luxuries of running water, a private apartment and ease of transport? Enter into an unknown world with people who are just as resistant?

Once again, I'm not making any sense. I just don't feel fulfilled anymore in my career. And I don't think I will feel fulfilled with a desk job. I need to get my hands dirty. Whether than means working on an organic farm in rural Georgia, teaching inner city students in the slums of Detroit, digging a well in Africa, or teaching Latin American students the importance of safe sex, there has to be something else. Yes, I still want to become a professor and from my ivory tower, write papers and books about the paradigm shift as it relates to the environmental movement. But there is so much more I must achieve, experience and contribute before I can sit back and sit still.

Earth Day 2007

Another Earth Day is upon us and I ask, what has really changed since last year?

I acknowledge that there seems to be increased dialogue and interest in environmental issues, particularly climate change. Yet, will all the talk and apparent concern translate to real solutions (most of which cut at our Western, consumer lifestyle)? I am hopeful about the future, but I’ve followed environmental issues long enough to be a bit more skeptical and at times, pessimistic that we will resolve our environmental issues, particularly as they require a fundamental change (paradigm shift!) in they ways that we think, live, and interact.

This Earth Day, I will renew my dedication to conservation and ecological respect, and most importantly, to discovering how we can reach the elusive shift that will help us more easily and fully mitigate our environmental and social problems.

Quarter-Life Crisis?

I wanted to write about my participation in a Step It Up National Day of Climate Action Rally on the National Mall.

Ooooo, it’s hot out here! There must be too much carbon in the atmosphere! Take action, take action and get some satisfaction!

Step it up, Congress: 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050!

But after receiving a notice to renew my lease and reading through a few posts on Brazen Careerist, I started to feel rather anxious about my life.

I don’t feel that I have much direction any more.

It is so weird that until recently, I knew exactly what I wanted to do in life. I had my career, education, and family life entirely planned out. After college and more recently after starting my first job, I realized that the real world offers both more possibilities and limitations than I had anticipated.

Most significantly, I realized a few months ago that I don’t have to pursue a career in the environmental field. I can still be good a environmentalist--living sustainanbly and supporting local, national and international environmental efforts--but I don’t have to work within the community. This realization was beyond shocking to me. I’ve spent at least 15 years dreaming up a life limited to a career at the EPA, Greenpeace, or as an environmental educator. Now, the whole world has been opened up to me and I’m scared. There are too many directions and possibilities for me and I just prefer the simpler life that I had planned when I was a 11 year old.

I feel totally off-track.

Irrationally, I figured that I would have a PhD, a great environmental career, a husband and a house by age 25. I’ll be 26 in a few weeks, and I haven’t achieved any of those things. As you might imagine, the pressure to achieve my irrational goals is mounting.

There is also a lot of pressure to figure out my next step.

My one-year anniversary at my job, in March, reminded me to reevaluate my current and future career and lifestyle. Over the course of the next year, I’ll have to decide:

-Should I stay in D.C., move home, or somewhere else?
-When should I go back to school and for what degree and where?
-Shouldn’t I apply to the Peace Corps first?
-Have I experienced and explored all that D.C. has to offer? (I still haven’t worked as an underpaid Hill staffer or for an evil K street lobbyist group)

Most of all, how can I truly make a difference?

I’m really nervous, scared, and confused about my next step, as I was after I graduated. Particularly, now that I’ve found another “safe place,” I feel compelled to hold onto it for as long as possible. But if I do, I’m disallowing myself the opportunity to grow and to experience all that D.C. and world has to offer.

My, the clock is ticking, the pressure is on.

Talk is Cheap

I've been preaching environmental values for as long as I canremember. Yet, only at the age of 24, did I start thinking seriouslyabout buying organic and locally grown foods that are good for the environment and support my community. Only recently (during the past year) have I even been able to "afford" and have access to such foodstuff. I've already started buying organic apples and bananas, and I hope to venture further into the world of organic and locally grown foodstuff during the upcoming months.

I always believed that there's no point in having convictions if you don't live (and die...) by them. So now that I'm older and have incorporated the eco-basics of recycling and saving energy into my lifestyle, it's time for me to take my environmental convictions to the next level. No, I'm not going to join ALF/ELF but I will buy more organic foodstuff. It will be one small step in the right direction.