A vision into the point of buying ecological products versus cheap products:
There's a tendency around the casa that we're not supposed to be buying the cheap products, but ecological (and more expensive) products,my finest example about this point ;)
Ofcourse the ecological vieuwpoint is the best on long-term basis, but it seems to me that although loads of people get involved, it's still not enough (to do/go into the direction of) something about the core of the problem. And it's still causing attention/stress if something isn't ecological. In the end ecological house-products ar the best, but for now, let's focus that energy on the core problem :)
Just buy the cheap products, as long as u have in the back of ur head the idea that it's totally unsustainable and ur realy against it, so this is causing stress/attention which may inspire you more to think about a solution to the core problem, instead of handling the after effects. Now it could be possible that this gives a overload, but at least u loose some points of attention/stress too, you don't worry (short-term based) anymore about the idea if it's good for ur body (simply because it AIN'T), and you have more (eventually just temporary) more capital to spend on other needed things for the community at that moment.
And what's in my mind too, that's it a bit the same as giving capital to good causes with monthly donation's. It sounds really nice that you are trying to do something about the problem, but at the same time it silences your mind about the worry to solve the core of this problem. Like "i did something, now im brave, coming up for the poor people and get social status through it" while deep in your heart you know it won't solve the core at all!!!
So quit with turning your face/attention somewhere else and begin to think about how you can change this problem through mass-inspiring intentions and political support.........
This mostly meant as an idea and to start up a discussion ;)
Comments
sorry what? i dont get it
sorry what? i dont get it man. i should buy shitty unsustainable products because it will help me to better realize the bigger problems instead of buying sustainable ones that do make a little change because with buying them i will forget about the problem?
am i not buying the sustainable products because i do realize the problems and want to change? and wont the extra money i pay (if i pay extra) also help me realize the core of the problem?
i know im slow...but i dont get it man. please help me
something funny and something serious
last time i was doing the dishes here, i saw that we had cheappy dishwashing soap, and i must say, i was quite anxious to use it, and thanks for the wonderfull idea's, does any1 know a good way to make a handy online database of all the things we can find out and test them out altogether (ill try diving into wikipedia's mystological matter :)
Saving the planet in the kitchen?
I've had this problem many other times in shared flats, and my experience has always been that the reason why people always end up buying the cheapest crappiest products is laziness. People are too lazy to think twice before soaking the sponge (or worse: the dishbrush!!) with gallons of that gooey green alien cheap stuff that to me looks like anything but something that I would like to use to clean the plate where I eat. Every time I invested some common money for ecological products, I observed that everyone was much more careful about using just as little as strictly necessary, and of course add water to the bottle to make it last longer. It's not about cheap - expensive stuff, it's about how we relate to things when they're cheap and meaningless to us, as opposed to something "special" that you want to make sure to monitor and take care of. Some people connect this "specialness" with the fact that you're doing something good for the planet. I stopped thinking in these terms some time ago - it's too idealistic to think that what you do in your own little household can really make a difference globally. What really makes a difference is revolutions, wars, natural catastrophes, television. And they want to make us think that instead of saying "fuck all that", we can just go on with our own middle class lives, thinking that we are in fact saving the world by buying the right products (which we have the money for). But anyway, are you really sure you want to use that goo?
And yeah, about laziness. Making your own is of course always much better than relying on some "alternative" products that often are all but alternative (often the only difference is where your money goes). But sometimes laziness is not only failing to re-open your kiddo chemistry kit and find the formula for the elixir of cleanness; oftentimes we're lazy enough to fail to be a little open-minded about the stuff. I once made a very good dish washing liquid with salt, vinegar and lemon peel. It worked fine against moderate dirt (no hardened grease and stuff, but in that case you can add baking soda to the mix and soak), as long as the lemon would not start rotting of course. But they were neither ready to accept that the kitchen may smell a little bit like vinegar, nor that a cleaning liquid doesn't need to produce massive foam to be cleaning. End of the experiment...
DIY alternative?
I have yet to visit the Casa (or meet any of you, for that matter), so I'm not sure of the mental stress associated with cleaning products, but homemade cleaning supplies might be a solution that is somewhere in between:
http://www.inhabitots.com/2008/12/28/how-to-make-kid-safe-homemade-green...
The site is for parents, but if you scroll down there a lists of common ingredients and various cleaning supply "recipes."
I've also heard of this for drain cleaner:
Pour ½ cup baking soda down drain, add ½ cup white vinegar, and cover the drain. Wait 15 minutes and then pour 1 gallon of hot water down the drain to get rid of build up.
washing my hands
I rather wash dishes and thus my hands with something without chemicals, and I rather eat something with less rather than more ingredients ;)
And I would like to offer people that kind of soap that doesn't hurt anyone. It is your own health, dude. The health of others. And the health of earth.
It is not about "the system", it is about our system. You would like to keep on polluting? Fine, go ahead. But keep our casa out of that :)
keep thinking biological/ecollogical/sustainable
I would surely and higly recommend to store the ideas about ecological/biological/sustainable in a big open-source database, and keep brainstorming about new idea's, testing them for a couple of weeks, comparing them with other results from the database, add it to the database, and get your attention/stress pointed again in the short-term negative, long term positive influence of mental energy.......
This way we have gigantous amounts of good idea's once we've solved the core problem :) :) :)