Walking gently - what does it take?
From: Racheli Gai (rachelisonoracohousing.com)
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2007 11:20:19 -0700 (PDT)
Brian B. wrote (in part) :
"Walking gently means walking *cheap*."

How is that the case?
For example: Is buying the cheapest food (conventional, sold
at WalMart) the environmental thing to do?
Or does one walk gently by contracting with a farmer and paying her
way more than what they would get in the store, so that she can actually
make a living?

As Lisa pointed out, much of what we buy for little money is based on the
exploitation of other humans and limited resources.  In what way is it
gentle? -- It seems that it isn't even necessarily "gentle" for the consumer, since the real full costs simply shifted to a different - invisible - place. It creates an environment which makes us sick, or supports companies which
are becoming more powerful and centralized as time goes by, meaning that
our ability to have a voice in decisions crucial for our lives and the life of the
planet is diminished.

It's important to remember that "cost" isn't only financial, and that sometimes by paying more we "buy" more than what's directly visible, if we care to look at the
larger context.

This doesn't mean that paying a lot necessarily entails walking gently. Obviously, many if not all of us buy things we don't really need, and some very expensive items have great environmental cost. Learning to live with less is certainly a part of task: Less square footage in our houses; less flying; smaller/more efficient
cars (or no cars at all where/when possible), and so on.


Racheli.



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