What We Leave Behind

I'm reading What We Leave Behind by Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay. Its about the unsustainability of civilization due to our waste problem. Their subject matter is sobering, but the writing is so warm, self-deprecating, even humorous that is goes down smoothly. I can't recommend the book enough. Fascinating and very eye-opening.


I live in a condo so I am super conscious of all the waste. This is a good thing. Everything that comes in and goes out has to be carried (usually by moi) up and down a flight of stairs. (Well most things--there is the plumbing system.) I recycle but do not have pickup at my door. I must separate out the cans, bottles, and papers, place them in plastic bags, and drive to the recycling bins.

Usually I can drop things off on my way to work. I put the bags in the back of my mini SUV and often forget about them, driving around for days, sometimes weeks before dropping them off. Then of course I'm left with the plastic bags, but I try to reuse them. I also use ziploc freezer bags for various purposes, but wash them out and reuse, sometimes for years. It might sound obsessive, but it is very easy to do. They seem to last forever.

In my former life living in a single family home in a rural area I used to compost all vegetable waste. We didn't eat much meat but sometimes I'd add some chicken bones or fish skin. I did not tend the pile since I didn't garden. Without any attention at all, over ten years all our vegetable waste compacted itself, decomposed and the 5 x 5 bin encircled with chicken wire never filled up.
But now this waste goes down the drain after being chewed up by a disposal. At least it used to. My disposal is broken now so it goes in the plastic trash bag, then to dumpster, then is collected by a big truck and carried to the landfill. Where, enclosed and submerged with literally tons of other households' garbage, I think it turns to methane, a global warming gas.

In Jensen's book he explains the history of garbage, from ancient times to now. It began to be a problem as soon as soon as large groups of people began living in one place. In more recent times, refuse used to be collected as valuable by "swill children." Cities kept large corps of hogs specifically to process the refuse. Hogs roamed New York City and cleaned the streets.


Here in the 21st century, the bulk of my personal waste is junk mail fliers (which fortunately can be recycled) and packaging. I have listed my name on the DO NOT SEND lists on the internet and called companies directly to get the catalogs stopped. I can order online, but then that puts you on their catalog list again, so I usually have to call the company again. I do get the Sierra Club magazine as part of my membership and a few newsletters from professional organizations I belong to. I would prefer online versions. I subscribe to an online version of Orion.


Funny how a lot of good things we can do for the environment also saves us money. I've stopped ordering online except for books (I should use an independent bookstore instead)! But I mostly use the library. I do not subscribe to any actual magazine (although I'd love to get The New Yorker) because of the waste problem and also because I think about the boreal forest diminishing and song birds disappearing. (I'm not imagining this, it is actually happening.) Most of the trees are going to catalogs, I've read.


I am continually amazed at the amount of packaging that food and personal care purchases come encased in. The blister packs are the worst. I am starting to make purchasing decisions based on the amount of packaging. A simple cardboard box is appealing. Or no packaging at all at a farmer's market. I do almost always use cloth bags now for my grocery purchases. It took a few months to get that habit established. If I forget and do get a plastic bag, I save and reuse repeatedly, then recycle. Once I gave a thumbs up and called out to a lady with several kids in a parking lot using about a dozen cloth bags for her weekly shopping. She ignored me and probably thought I was harassing her.

It is easy to become discouraged when trying to make decisions that minimize environmental damage, slow down global warming and so on. Since our economy is based on consumerism, then as consumers we have tremendous leverage. What can we do with it? If we are changing our consuming behaviors due to our environmental awareness, we should probably let the companies know.

I guess I have some letter writing to do. But do corporations read letters?

Think Green Thursday

Derrick Jensen and Eric McBay, What We Leave Behind, Seven Stories Press,

Copyright 2009 by Derrick Jensen and Eric McBay. Book Design by Jon Gilbert.