Thoughts From Abroad: Thinking Small
One of my favorite “common sense” planks in our platform comes from the Environment section: “We must all take personal and familial responsibility for stewardship of the environment. We must teach habits of conservation to our children both at home and in our schools, and we must put them into practice ourselves.” While I readily admit to being one of those Americans who is in love with most things European, I really can think of no better model for this plank than my in-laws in Poland, with whom I am spending the next few weeks.
Each year when I arrive at their tidy, modest home (which they built themselves in the 1990’s), I feel a bit like Alice the giant in Wonderland. The rooms, plates, cups, washing machine–everything is smaller than I am used to. Water here must be filtered or bought from the store, and so it is treated as precious, whether you’re drinking it or using it to wash clothes. The amount of food you put on your plate is the amount you will eat–adults do not take more than they can consume, and only young children are allowed to leave their meals unfinished. Scraps and inedible leftovers are taken outside to compost. My in-laws only just started using disposable paper towels a few years ago when their first grandchild moved in. Glass jars are kept in the basement for reuse for storing homemade jams and pickles from the garden. All of this effort results in the tiniest household garbage cans this American has ever seen. In the week since we’ve arrived, with temps in the high 80’s, the air conditioning has been turned on exactly once while my husband’s aunt and uncle were visiting.
My in-laws’ lovely home!
The American Solidarity Platform contains many ideas in the realm of environmental policy, and the “personal responsibility” plank might seem like a cop-out until one begins to take seriously the amount of effort involved to truly waste less. Adjusting to this new system is, at times, uncomfortable. As silly as it sounds, it takes time getting used to drinking everything at room temperature (because ice is a luxury) or hanging all of my clothes to dry (the clothes dryer is only used if something is needed immediately). For Americans, most of these efforts go beyond what is required of us regarding trash, recycling, or energy use. But each year I leave my in-laws’ home inspired by their dedication and also impressed by how readily my children adapt to and embrace their more mindful, less wasteful lifestyle.
Perhaps today, when a certain retailer will be tempting us with deals for all kinds of gadgets to make life “easier,” we can ask ourselves–can I do with less? And how can we get our children involved in our efforts to train them to be good stewards of creation as well? To keep ourselves from completely giving in to the throwaway culture, can Americans learn how to think small when it comes to our consumption?