Comments on: Killing a Bird http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/ dedicated to stirring the pot Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:51:29 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Nau Environmentalist Bent on Eco Friendly Clothing and Fashion | TakePart Social Action Networkâ„¢ http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-159532 Nau Environmentalist Bent on Eco Friendly Clothing and Fashion | TakePart Social Action Networkâ„¢ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:02:11 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-159532 [...] The blog portion of the website, too, is not merely a section to brag about all the company is doing to help the environment. In this section, the writers openly grapple with the issues facing them as individuals - the accidental destruction of nature, and the waste created by airline travel, and how to offset it. What’s so interesting about this company, and the people involved with it, is that they don’t profess to having all the answers associated with trying to make their clothing the cleanest, most eco-friendly products on the market, but they’re doing their best to be transparent in the steps they’re taking. [...] [...] The blog portion of the website, too, is not merely a section to brag about all the company is doing to help the environment. In this section, the writers openly grapple with the issues facing them as individuals – the accidental destruction of nature, and the waste created by airline travel, and how to offset it. What’s so interesting about this company, and the people involved with it, is that they don’t profess to having all the answers associated with trying to make their clothing the cleanest, most eco-friendly products on the market, but they’re doing their best to be transparent in the steps they’re taking. [...]

]]> By: Rick http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-59259 Rick Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:39:00 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-59259 Hey Josh, Thanks for the comment. I like the analogy you make and I really appreciate your point of view: that "getting out there" helps remind you to take care of the environment. Rick Hey Josh,

Thanks for the comment. I like the analogy you make and I really appreciate your point of view: that “getting out there” helps remind you to take care of the environment.

Rick

]]> By: Josh Chambers http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-59213 Josh Chambers Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:37:02 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-59213 <b>@Rick:</b> Very good post. Sorry in advance for the length of this comment. I have found that it can be more liberating than paralyzing to begin to attempt to live in an environmentally and sociably sustainable way. I'm totally on board with the pangs of guilt as I consume coffee, ride my snowboard on forest-cleared slopes, mountain bike & trample the underbrush, & pretty much anything else that I am certain effects others lives. However, it's this awareness that has given me hope and the impetus to change my lifestyle. For example, I refuse to use more than one paper towel in public bathrooms--if any. Why? Not out of guilt; but rather out of joy. Basically out of a belief that something that small will make a difference...even if I never see the result. I was asking a question similar to this once regarding how I spend my money. How can I spend my money on anything <i>but</i> the helping others when there are people starving etc. I was given a helpful analogy: If I have a loving family; but I live next to a broken family; what should my actions be? I will do everything in my power to help that family find reconciliation; but does that mean I should love my family less? Not spend time together laughing and enjoying our company? Obviously not. That analogy does break down kind of fast; but it helped me appreciate pursuing activities that bring joy and a better life without as much guilt. It's combining those activities with a change in lifestyle that brings freedom...I think... @Rick: Very good post. Sorry in advance for the length of this comment.

I have found that it can be more liberating than paralyzing to begin to attempt to live in an environmentally and sociably sustainable way.

I’m totally on board with the pangs of guilt as I consume coffee, ride my snowboard on forest-cleared slopes, mountain bike & trample the underbrush, & pretty much anything else that I am certain effects others lives.

However, it’s this awareness that has given me hope and the impetus to change my lifestyle. For example, I refuse to use more than one paper towel in public bathrooms–if any. Why? Not out of guilt; but rather out of joy. Basically out of a belief that something that small will make a difference…even if I never see the result.

I was asking a question similar to this once regarding how I spend my money. How can I spend my money on anything but the helping others when there are people starving etc. I was given a helpful analogy:

If I have a loving family; but I live next to a broken family; what should my actions be? I will do everything in my power to help that family find reconciliation; but does that mean I should love my family less? Not spend time together laughing and enjoying our company? Obviously not.

That analogy does break down kind of fast; but it helped me appreciate pursuing activities that bring joy and a better life without as much guilt. It’s combining those activities with a change in lifestyle that brings freedom…I think…

]]> By: Rick http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-58814 Rick Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:24:28 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-58814 Thanks for both your comments. I agree that the act of surfing has made me a better person and switched on the lightbulb in my mind about taking care of our planet (see Otis's post above). With all the crap that we deal with in this "modernized world," maybe the sacrifice we make to get out there is worth it for the sanity it brings and the good that we do afterwards. Thanks for both your comments. I agree that the act of surfing has made me a better person and switched on the lightbulb in my mind about taking care of our planet (see Otis’s post above). With all the crap that we deal with in this “modernized world,” maybe the sacrifice we make to get out there is worth it for the sanity it brings and the good that we do afterwards.

]]> By: Alex http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-58732 Alex Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:21:12 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-58732 Great post, Rick. It's something I was thinking of as well this weekend on a trip to Utah. Three days, two wonderful ski tours in the Wasatch Backcountry, one amazing day in the deep snow of a late season storm, and a few hundred conversations with an old friend. It's the kind of trip I won't soon forget, affirming my soul while giving me time to think about future dreams. It's hard to weigh such moments of personal meaning against something as seemingly abstract as a carbon footprint. According to terrapass (www.terrapass.com) my flights alone contributed more than 1,000 lbs of CO2 emmissions to the atmosphere. Is that a fair exchange? I don't really know. Certainly we can't, as a planet, afford to have 6 billion people dropping 1,000 pounds of CO2 in the atmosphere every few months to have their souls affirmed. (Which makes me wonder what the carbon footprint of megachurches is. But that's a different post...)So it seems to me that this kind of thinking leads to difficult, deeper questions of how we really plan to live our lives in carbon-neutral world. Great post, Rick. It’s something I was thinking of as well this weekend on a trip to Utah. Three days, two wonderful ski tours in the Wasatch Backcountry, one amazing day in the deep snow of a late season storm, and a few hundred conversations with an old friend. It’s the kind of trip I won’t soon forget, affirming my soul while giving me time to think about future dreams.

It’s hard to weigh such moments of personal meaning against something as seemingly abstract as a carbon footprint. According to terrapass (www.terrapass.com) my flights alone contributed more than 1,000 lbs of CO2 emmissions to the atmosphere. Is that a fair exchange? I don’t really know. Certainly we can’t, as a planet, afford to have 6 billion people dropping 1,000 pounds of CO2 in the atmosphere every few months to have their souls affirmed. (Which makes me wonder what the carbon footprint of megachurches is. But that’s a different post…)So it seems to me that this kind of thinking leads to difficult, deeper questions of how we really plan to live our lives in carbon-neutral world.

]]> By: Daniel http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/comment-page-1/#comment-58621 Daniel Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:35:04 +0000 http://blog.nau.com/2008/04/07/killing-a-bird/#comment-58621 I agree, but I also know that after a session, I am a better, happier, and more peaceful person, capable of inspiring others to be better, happier and more peaceful (my wife can confirm this fact). Live simply, live aloha. I agree, but I also know that after a session, I am a better, happier, and more peaceful person, capable of inspiring others to be better, happier and more peaceful (my wife can confirm this fact).
Live simply, live aloha.

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