A Deeper Green

originally posted on examiner.com

So, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and a lot of thinking about the Asian Carp problem over the last few weeks. There are so many different aspects of this problem and so many people trying to place blame that even bringing the subject up seems akin to stepping into an ideological minefield.

Now that we are in the process of poisoning the Illinois River and the State of Michigan is considering re-opening a court case against the State of Illinois to force a closing of the Sanitary and Shipping Canal I found myself facing the question of blame. How did we get in this mess? Why was it necessary to poison miles of river over the last couple days? Why, 10 years later, are we still battling these two fish species? Who is to blame for this situation?

The questions seem practically endless when it comes to this situation. And there seems to be more than enough blame to go around. Should we blame the USDA, who first allowed Asian Carp to be imported on a permit? Should we blame Southern fish farmers for not insuring that the fish could escape into the Mississippi? Should we blame the Chicago officials who 100 years ago, to insure the health of their citizens, reversed the flow of the Chicago River? The answer of course is no, and yes.

Yes, we all carry some blame and some responsibility. Problems like this are made up of millions of small decisions made by hundreds or thousands of people over many years. It’s easy to assign blame in the short-run. We can all point our fingers at the Army Corps of Engineers saying that they implemented a flawed system that needs regular maintenance without properly accounting for how to handle doing that maintenance. We can all point our fingers at every other person who had anything to do with Asian Carp, or shipping, or anything. But what we should be doing is examining ourselves in the mirror. We are ALL responsible for the Asian Carp problem. Just as we are all responsible for any invasive species that created a problem in the Great Lakes.

As always, the past is behind us, we can’t do anything about what’s already been done. But as a region we can take responsibility for what needs to come next. We can support the people who are doing what they can to control the problem. We can make sure that we are fully considering every option on the table.

What would be the consequences to all parties if we temporarily closed the locks between the Illinois River and Lake Michigan and ran a full study of exactly what is happening? Can Chicago work to find a different way to handle waste?

If we all work together and accept the responsibility for this problem progress can be made. Controlling the spread of Asian Carp is in everyone’s best interest, so I say we start from this day forward with a strong plan for helping each other to address this very pressing problem. It means that everyone shoulders some blame and lets go of the past, but I honestly believe that its possible.

So as it is December I know many of us are starting to get into crazy gifting mode. I previously did a green gifting post, but decided that I wanted to do something a little different this year. I won’t be buying much in the way of gifts as I really don’t have the income to afford gifts for all my many many family members.

But I will still be giving presents and I thought I would share some of my thought processes with you, my lovedly readers. These thought processes are not to give you a “guide” to anything, but are an effort to encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to green holiday-ing and gift-giving.

Since the holidays can always be a little overwhelming for me on the money front, and I really can’t foresee not giving gifts to the special people in my life (especially when they are always going to give me nice gifts) I spent a lot of time this fall thinking of alternatives.

In my gift giving in general I have tried to move away from stuff based gifts to a more experience based gift giving philosophy. It’s worked pretty well, and honestly its made gift giving easier for those few people in my life who seem to already have everything. But the problem with experiences as gifts is that they tend to add up in price. Which is something I can’t really handle financially this year.

So, after spending a lot of time thinking about my best solution, I decided that I should move to a more “create-a-gift” approach for this year. Lately, I’ve been flexing my baking skills (made a pumpkin and apple pie from scratch for thanksgiving this year with stuff from the farmers market!). And I always like a good excuse to be crafty. So with those powers combined I think I’ve managed to come up with some really good gift ideas.

I will be baking mini breads and cookies. I’ve also concieved of an idea to make scented and colored bath salts (Epsom salts and essential oils, combined!). I will be making mix CDs and using old wrapping paper and cards to decorate. I’m using my creativity to put together the best gifts for everyone that I possibly can.

Will I still buy a few things? Yes, of course. I plan on buying baskets and probably a few crafty materials. The farmer’s market also has some great local honey and bee wax items that will flesh out my gifts nicely. But despite these purchases, I am feeling really good about the thoughtfulness, environmentally friendliness  and tastiness of my holiday gifts.

What kind of gifts might you be able to give that reflect your personalities and views while still being exciting to your… um… giftees (?)? What changes can you make in your holiday routine that will help you to be a greener and happier person this holiday season?

I know that if I came up with some ideas you can too. So think about it, and feel free to share your ideas here.

Also, in the green community there was a nifty push last week to celebrate Buy Nothing Day as a counterpoint to “Black Friday”. This fits nicely in with this post, so I gathered together a couple posts I saw about “Buy nothing day” for you to read at your leisure:

Boycott Black Friday and celebrate Buy Nothing Day, via Twilight Earth

Thanksgiving, Buy Nothing Day & my travel mug, via fakeplasticfish

Have a great day