Going Green, Part II

Posted by Miss Kristia at 9:22 AM | 1 comment | Permalink

(This post originally appeared on FobbDeep)

**Read the first part of this series.

Dear Young Gifted Black and Brown Folks, and their ill White allies,

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to get trained on Green Building, Permaculture, and hella other shit through work. Over the past weeks, coming home from these discussions I’ve then had the task of translating what these words actually mean to me. The official idea of permaculture in short is to take lessons from our ancestors and how they lived, combine it with our present-day technologies and find a realistic way for people to thrive. Permaculture also encourages a critique of trade laws, labor practices…But really yo, that ain’t the bottom line. You want more than just cleaner air, you have to go to a far bigger word - Revolution. But that’s for another day.

One of the most incredible parts of permaculture to me is the big picture. If I give into a craving and I buy some red licorice, I am not just doing horrible damage to my brain (sugar), my blood sugar levels (corn syrup), and risking cancer (red 40 food coloring). I’m also using up plastic, paper, water, and other resources needed to make the candy and the packaging. Then whatever waste comes out of my body from that food - that same poison is going into the ocean and soil. And guess where that ends up - in the crops that someone else is going to eat. Crazy, right?

But beyond some candy I might eat, let’s get to whole way of life that permaculture is about. It’s really not that new of an idea. In the Philippines we make bags out of candy wrappers, houses out of scrap metal, and kitchenware from tin cans. While sitting on the train I thought to myself:

• How can I live like recent immigrants do? How did Mom and Lola use resources when they first got here and were livin in somebody’s basement in Daly City?
• How do I live like a Filipino in the Philippines, even though I am now a Filipino in the States?

Going Green

Posted by Miss Kristia at 9:24 AM | Comment Now | Permalink

(This post originally appeared on Doorknockers and was reprinted on FobbDeep)

Many people I meet consider me “environmentally-conscious.” I thought I was doin pretty good, then I did this activity called the Ecological Footprint (PDF). It’s a survey where you are asked about everyday things you do - how long your showers are, whether or not you compost, how much you recycle, what kind of foods you eat - and it tells you at the end how much of the earth’s resources you’re using up.

The activity tells us that there are 2 hectares available to each human being in the world. Yo so tell me why my co-workers and I completed it we all found out that we were using 6-8 hectares each. What you find is that when people who live in the West (North American and Western Europe) take the test, we’re usually using far more of the world’s resources than other folks.

I seriously encourage you to take the activity. Even for the treehuggers, it’s enlightening to be reminded of how much of an impact your everyday actions have. When you go shopping for those new stillettos or kicks, you’re not just contributing to fucked up labor standards, meanie corporations, you’re also using up natural resources. Water is needed to make practically everything from plastics to dyed fabrics.

So here I am, I use cloth napkins (99cent bandannas to be exact) in my house, I recycle like other folks, but I’m still wasting so much. I mean 7.72 hectares?! So that’s it, I decided. We goin green yo. All or nothin. I live in the U.S. for now but still, what things can I do in the meantime? Well here’s a small list of shit I’ve changed this week since doing the Ecological Footprint…

1. We flush our toilet less.

I confirmed it with roomates, I made a sign for guests, done. This means that we wait for 4-5 people to pee before we flush to conserve water. You can also put a jar of rocks in the back of toilet which takes up space, thus it uses less water to flush. Dude, your toilet is using 5 gallons average each time you flush. That’s hella!

2. Re-use water when possible.

For example, water that I use to wash vegetables and fruits, I save for my plants.

3. I’ve started a small herb and vegetable garden.

I just think it’s healthy to know even just a tiny bit about producing food, about being comfortable with dirt again. It saves you money, it makes me happy because it’s relaxing, and it’s a beautiful addition to your home. Even if you live in a studio apartment you can have something very small. Seriously this ain’t gotta be big. I just have little pots around the house.

4. I take shorter showers and turn the water off while soaping myself.

If you’ve never lived outside of America, this is prolly a hard one for you. But really this is about keepin it real! That's a lot of water going down the drain merely for your comfort. You can also eventually get to filling a bucket with water and then using that instead of the shower. Y’all Filipinos know what I’m sayin: use that tabo!

5. Hang dry laundry when possible.

Saves you money, saves us all energy. Yes, please.

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