The Little Things

What we call little things are merely
the causes of great things; they are the beginning,
the embryo, and it is the point of departure
which, generally speaking,
decides the whole future of an existence.
One single black speck may be the beginning
of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution
--Henri Frederic Amiel

If you add a little to a little
and do this often,
soon the little will become great
--Hesiod

--I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
--Yes, sir.
--Are you listening?
--Yes, I am.
--Plastics.
--The Graduate (1967)
__________________

This is a small story about small things observed in a day.

It began chatting with Josh, the guy cleaning up my computer and co-founder of one of our local internet providers. He's also a nature photographer, and a beautiful scene from the back door of his sister's home in the Bahamas led to talk of the Texas+-sized plastic Island in the North Pacific, so toxic for wildlife as the bits that compose it are mostly small and ingestible. We also have one forming in the Atlantic, which only seems right.

I have witnessed the result of this sort of pollution in our little town in one of our only lakes, when a paddling of ducks was trying to remove a partially-swallowed plastic bag from the mouth of one of its members. It was brave and heartbreaking at once, as each member would take its turn swimming beside the distressed bird, trying with its beak to dislodge the offending item. Finally, the bird swam close enough to lake's edge that I could walk out and retrieve what was a bag -- almost completely swallowed -- filled with some food garbage which someone had thoughtlessly tossed out.

Josh also discussed how he had wanted solar panels when they built their offices, but the contractor told them the weight and number of panels needed would have been prohibitive. Europe has the technology, but as the U.S. has no end of foul oil partners, it is not as pressing a concern here. We further discussed the waste materials from discarded hardware, and how the average person does not know how to properly dispose of such materials, which later clog our landfills.

As the repair was lengthy, he continued on with a story of poor home construction, and how so many openings were left between the wall and the floor of an addition that a snake had recently entered his home! He used some of that canned aerosol foam insulation, and feels the cracks have been sealed, but the cedar facing will have to come down and he will now have to make the corrections himself.

For many of our shoddy local builders a wall is a token separation of one space from another, versus a well-insulated barrier from the elements which when done correctly reduces the squandering of electricity. FSU has a prototype of the ideal home of the hopefully not-too-distant future on their campus, dubbed the OGZEB (Off-grade, zero emissions building.) Water is the only city resource used. The NYT featured the Lumenhaus recently, using a similar idea. Europe's Passive Houses accomplish the goal today.

Two shopping transactions followed: a "super soft" toothbrush purchased at the health food store impressed as it was made entirely from recycled yogurt containers, and included a label and a mailer (the brush case) in which to return the old brush for recycling. It was also an excellent product. Next stop was the chain grocer, Publix.

I was returning an item, and wanted to re-load my Publix gift card with the amount. It is a minor matter that brings this to mind: The card has a pretty winter scene, and I wished to keep it for awhile. However, I learned the cards cannot be reloaded, and must be discarded after one use, and so was issued a new plain green card in its place, no more or less suitable than the one just discarded.

As an aside, Publix recently inaugurated their Greenwise section of mostly organic food, presumably appealing to the environmentally-conscious consumer. But there is a disconnect here in the small matter of hundreds of plastic cards hitting their garbage daily.

If one is committed to conservation, coloring your cards green instead of recycling them falls short of convincing.

The Shape of Things to Come

The Gleaners, Jean François Millet I just want a little bit
Just the eenie-weenie bit
--I Just Want a Little Bit,
Magic Sam

You should be so happy
You should be so glad
So why are you so lonely
You 21st century man?
--21st Century Man,
Electric Light Orchestra

The money spent on bombs alone
Can build poor people a happy home
--Study War No More, Willie Dixon

Johnny's playroom
Is a bunker filled with sand
He's become a third world man
--Third World Man, Steely Dan

_______________

With "grim" economic news from a Labor Department report showing consumer inflation is up 5% over the last 12 months, and a Dow dip of 92 points yesterday, we'll revisit last Wednesday's post, Profligacy.

With consumer prices that have "shot up in June at the second fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices (Consumer Prices Jump 1.1% in June)," what might life in a turned-down 21st century look like for many residents?

Though the economy is taking a nosedive accompanied by spiraling commodity prices, the media assures us this is not linked to the hemorrhaging of government assets at war. We are nothing if not pragmatic at Ranger. If you are hitting the links later, the following ideas may be removed from your experience. Still, take a spin through and see what you can add.

Last Thursday's Achenblog (Will Turn Phrase for Food) considered the quid pro quo transactions which have disappeared from our daily lives, and waxes nostalgic over days past when stores actually competed for your business.

Agent 99 remembers using BP glasses with yellow-and-green happy faces, a free 6 oz. bottle of Coke with a fill up, and every fill up came with an under-the-hood check and windshield wash and tire pressure check. Today one is lucky to find a filled reservoir with the squeegee at the pump. If you can find air for your tires, you'll pay for it, and bring your own gauge.

Mom saved S and H green stamps in books which you could redeem for useful household items. Dad's hobby was upholstery, and he was very pleased to restore to fitness items destined for the trash heap. These he would sometimes give to someone who needed them. Mom kept a small garden, and others in the neighborhood would share their particular bounty at harvest time.

In Europe they have Sperrmüll days, when people set their unwanted items out on the street to be salvaged before they are taken to the landfill. Why don't we have Sperrmüll in every city in the U.S.? A few have started the initiative, but not many.

In our college town, the ritual for poor students and city residents is "dumpster diving" following each semester. Families turn out for this ritual, and having partaken once, I can testify that it was a civil affair. Since one can only canvass so much, people declare what they are looking for and ask the same of you. We found money, new clothes and appliances in the dumpsters. Why weren't these items made available in a less prohibitive way?

In our Publix markets each night an obscenity occurs: shopping carts full of refrigerated food are removed from the shelves as their freshness date is soon up, and they are thrown away. Why are these foods which were for sale only minutes before not given to needy people? Management says it is due to liability issues. Couldn't needy people sign waivers of release before taking possession of the items?

Les Glaneurs (2000), a film by Agnes Varda (distributed by Zeitgeist Films, a rather prophetic name), explores the French subculture which lives by salvaging still edible food from market stalls and harvested fields. These foods may be undersized or blemished, but otherwise edible. Varda reads from a French codicil still in effect from the 16th century specifying that citizens have the right to scavenge in fields behind the first harvest.

Living in agricultural area, we can testify to the tremendous waste of agricultural foodstuffs. Massive amounts of tomatoes go unharvested or are dumped off of trucks because they are too ripe, and will not survive transport.

Perhaps bartering will once again become a respected mode of transaction. Landfills are environmental blights, yet our highly litigious society prohibits salvage. I am told our landfill keeps paint in a separate room, and those in the know are allowed two buckets per week. At least that is something recycled.

Perhaps my real motivation was a recent article, Baby Boomers Got the Blues. For these "curmudgeons," everything is Farshtunken. "Boomers have never been happy."

"A whole lifetime of whining" due to a sense of entitlement and revolutionariness which hasn't quite born itself out. Anti-depressant manufacturers grow fat over their overblown expectations of transcendence . "It's all part of the frantic tap dance of figuring out how to raise boomers' tender and flagging happiness . . ."

If you are dismal now, these times give little reason for renewed optimism. Your thoughts on 21st century survival are welcome.