Noor Debets
Already five weeks in and I am having a great experience! Time flies when you´re having fun. During the dynamic weekly lectures and the many group meetings I gained a significant amount of knowledge about sustainability and sustainable lifestyles in particular. We discussed, we agreed, disagreed, we inspired and surprised and with the Texel-Bubble week coming up the final report is almost finished.
Besides writing the report, I kept eyes and ears open to acquire knowledge through reading articles in the newspapers, blogs, magazines. Moreover, I tried to engage in real life discussions in search for sustainable topics for the weekly columns we had to write. It seems that my lifestyle gained a bit in sustainability. Or, at least, my awareness is slowly but surely increasing.
Is it though? Sometimes you feel yourself losing grip. Preparing my lunch this morning, I was both happily and unconciously wrapping it up in plastic, and simultaniously throwing away my over date buttermilk. I suddenly realized that my behavior hadn´t change at all! It seems, that in all my efforts to steer others towards a sustainable lifestyle, I had forgotten to scrutinize my own performances.
But, where this frustrates me on one side, I secretly don't mind either. Although its Christmas time, it is 14 degrees and the birds seem to chirp as if it were spring. Something totally different with the winters I experienced in the ’90s, wearing gloves, a hat, two jackets and still I was freezing. Are we really worse of here?
Besides, who will notice if I wrap my bread in plastic! Nor will anybody praise me if I use my Tupperware instead. Indeed, sometimes a real sustainable lifestyle is like a far far away fairy tale to me. The Every little bit helps-idea might be better, but the drop in the ocean is closer by heart. My ingrained attitudes steer me to the path of least resistance.
Sometimes, an intrinsic motivation is hard to find, especially concerning goals with a long term span. Many innovations which have a technical nature, are not meant for me. Luckily, the christmas songs we seem to drown in these days, can deliver sharp and meaningful life lessons. Was it not Chris Rea singing that "It's gonna take some time, but I'll get there"? (Never mind he is driving a car - he could be driving a Tesla - who knows).
Am I doing so badly? I am trying. For one to live a sustainable life, he needs to be remebered of it, daily, hourly, or every time I check upon my phone. I just downloaded the Green NPO application. The app challenges me to not use plastic, or to use the staircase instead of the elevator. Now it has turned into a game, the competition is on. I seem to like it and maybe, motivated as I am time flies having fun, will hold again.
Or, perhaps, I am all for sustainability, but NIMBY.
We need to do something about that! Wait - is newyears coming?
Merry Sustainable Christmas
Wanna challenge yourself too? Try it out now; http://www.npo.nl/artikelen/wat-is-npo-groen