Frugaling

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We Could Only Bring The Essentials

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Camping is in tents!

I was caked in an unknown quantity of sand, dirt, sunscreen, deet, and sweat. Every time I splashed water on my face, a brownish liquid ran off. As I looked in the mirror, my skin appeared darker by a few shades, with a reddish tinge. I had little doubt that I was developing a burn. Bug bites occupied nearly every part of my body — from head to toe. Three days in the Great Sand Dunes National Park had turned me into a mountain man with overgrown scruff. I was ready to try out to become the next Brawny man.

In this beautiful, alien landscape, I sat crosslegged with a book, ran through the sand, and generally paused to reflect. Life’s busyness faded momentarily, and the only nerves present centered on lightening and bears. These were real threats — everything else was illusory.

With my brother along for the ride, we entered the park with some essentials. There was the two-person tent, camp stove, water, food, matches, and our books. The agenda was two-fold: relax and adventure. I’m proud to say we succeeded on both accounts. We took a long night hike amidst the sand dunes, and relished in the opportunity to read along the river.

As I reflected on the trip, I couldn’t help noticing the takeaway: living simply is restorative.

Many consider camping to be rejuvenating, as people can reconnect with the world. But how can that be if we were missing many of our creature comforts? Heck, my brother and I practically slept on gravel! If we can somehow make do without superfluous items while camping for few days, why do we suddenly need them when we get home?

In regular society, surrounded by others, it’s hard to resist indulging. We buy the shirt that’ll be a “tremendous” addition to our wardrobes. We fantasize about the cars and homes we’ll buy and live in. We eat at the classy restaurant. We dream of contentment that we might have with just one more purchase.

Ironically, the beauty we experienced was because none of these options existed. The campground is magnificent because it’s void of the trappings of mainstream society. There aren’t any big screen TVs, billboards marketing unnecessary products, or commercials penetrating this isolated area. Most of the time, the park is immaculately cleaned and people tend to respect each other. There isn’t a discontent cultivated to encourage spending. They live by a “pack it in, pack it out” mentality. Competition is non-existent here. Everyone’s just trying to take it easy and slow down.

Back in the “real world,” people fight to change lanes — cutting each other off, jump over other shoppers for Black Friday deals, and amass gigantic McMansions with stuff in every nook and cranny.

After spending a few days in this separated world, part of me struggled to return. The essentials are simple: shelter, food, and water. And yet, we fight to make more, buy more, and sell more. Maybe there’s a happy medium, but as I returned home there was a culture shock. I wanted to stay, but obviously couldn’t.

Fortunately, the simple life needn’t end when the busy, city streets come into view. I needn’t regress to this unlearned state. As I transition back to society, I cannot help but wonder what camping taught me about living simply and minimally.

1. Pack light

Pretty simple right? When camping, you can’t bring or carry everything. The solution is to pack light. Get the tent you need, not the bigger one you might want. Don’t be afraid to wear the same thing day after day. In life, packing light means only bringing, buying, and holding on to that which sustains life.

2. Pack it in, pack it out

Whenever people go camping, they should pack up all the trash and mess they make and throw it away appropriately. Camping ethics says that you should leave a place better than you left it. If you brought disposable plates, bring them out of the park. Don’t pollute and litter amidst this beautiful place. Back in society, this helps remind me of my impact on the world around me. We can’t take our purchases into the afterlife. What we buy has a lasting consequence to the environment.

3. Seek out adventure in moments, not things

Nothing is better than free. Although there’s a nominal entrance fee, national parks make this lesson easy. Hours, days, and weeks can be spent exploring and learning. But that fun, adventurous spirit doesn’t need to stop when leaving the park. There are moments everywhere to look, go, and discover — it’s all about the attitude. When I first moved to Iowa, I struggled to occupy my time and spent more money trying to create fun. The best decision I made was to buy a bike and ride everywhere. There’s adventure out there, and money shouldn’t be the necessary variable.

4. Find ways to relax and reflect

There are always moments when camping where the wind blows through my hair and I breathe easy. My brain seems to take a pause, and everyday concerns evaporate. Relaxation is essential to a long life; even more, to creativity. It was on a drive to Burning Man that Elon Musk brainstormed the idea of creating a solar energy company with his cousin. And it was in music that Albert Einstein manipulated complicated physical concepts in his mind. Relaxation is only evil in a corporate world that asks its workers to do the same motion over and over again; there, creativity is shunned. Camping is a reminder that relaxation helps cultivate a diverse, capable mind. Whether in the wilderness or weirdness of home, relaxation and reflection are vital.

5. Respect the environment, each other

Camping in national park changes your appreciation of the environment. The research has repeatedly shown that when people connect with the outdoors, they learn to respect the world around them. When people go out into the wild, a togetherness is cultivated. By staying in a small, two-person tent with little room for more than a book, light, and sleeping bags, it was impossible to ignore the world around the camp site. Bad weather shook and stirred the tent. Rain pelted the lining and attempted to enter the tent. Quickly, I learned to appreciate the weather as the natural state that we must respect. The world has been around for billions of years before us, and is a powerful keeper. But we also must respect and take care of it in return.

Our daily lives offer up countless opportunities to consume more than we need, at great cost to our environment. If we focus on the essentials over the extraneous, we will greatly slow our contributions to climate change.

Going Green Is A Scam

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going-green-bike-ride

The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) announced that the world lost 50% of species in the last 40 years. Directors at the WWF credit this to human consumption. For climatologists and scientists, there’s a bleakness to the future — one that includes starvation, exoduses from low-lying areas, droughts, and wild weather year round. It’s clear that we need to reduce our fossil fuel usage, but how we do that is still a complicated endeavor.

The flawed governmental approach

Going green is often framed as a decision to buy “certified organic” foods, choose energy-efficient technologies, and chuck your empty plastic bottle into a blue recycling bin. While these conscious choices are more environmentally friendly and better, they seem to ignore the very real consequences of our consumption. To illustrate this point, the U.S. government suggests, “switching all the light bulbs in a home from conventional incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs…” Going green is seen as an additional item; without the latest energy efficiencies, you’re not green.

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL)
Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr

As the government site shows, they exclaim the ills of conventional bulbs and recommend purchasing CFLs. Unfortunately, that mass waste and consumption of a new product goes unnoticed and unaccounted for. By immediately trashing all your old bulbs for the latest and greatest green tech, you’re simply ignoring the true life of a product and upgrading before it’s necessary.

The U.S. government should be encouraging people to take full advantage of the natural lives of products; instead, we hear how we should switch every bulb in our home. They are training you to have a faster turnover and consumption rate. Eventually, they’ll be recommending you switch all the CFLs with LED lights, which last longer and take even less energy. This technology is definitely better for the environment, but each transition creates massive amounts of waste, and the new products require marketing, packaging, shipping, storage, warehousing, and a consumer that will likely drive (consuming fossil fuels) to purchase the new bulbs.

Big green is big business

For the federal government, going green cannot mean consuming less. Pro-business entities and lobbying groups would launch a massive critique and attack if that was stated. Our economy is not equipped for people to stop buying. This capitalistic system is predicated on infinite growth; a pyramid scheme that will end at some point, but whose leaders hesitate to bring its early demise. Unfortunately, the government can’t properly advise its citizenry regarding climate change prevention.

At some point, going green was co-opted by “big green” — the big business approach to energy efficiency. Big green needs you to keep spending, too. With this aim in mind, they’ve warped the dialogue into a justification to purchase more. The irony is that by buying more — in order to be efficient — we’re digging ourselves into a deeper hole.

Just look at the first sentence from this Huffington Post article: “Saving energy and water can be difficult, but now there are plenty of gadgets on the market that aim to make the process easier for you.” This comes from the “Huff Post Green” section! Articles like these (which are everywhere) advocate buying more gadgets and technology, and are only contributing to this horrible, repetitive consumption.

Even at my alma mater, Colorado State University, the institution had a habit of touting its green initiatives. All the brochures advertised the push to use renewable energy and active involvement in recycling. These are commendable efforts, but there’s a hypocrisy to it all. Throughout my years there, they were always building — I never knew the campus without yellow construction taped areas, sounds of construction, and digital photo representations on the buildings to come. All that development adds tons of pollution to the air and creates epic proportions of waste. Cranes, bulldozers, and industrial materials would all be necessary to complete the buildings. The carbon costs for these components often goes uncalculated and unnoticed.

Then there’s the story of the Toyota Prius. In 1997, the company released this awfully designed hybrid monster. Getting around 50 miles per gallon (MPG), the Prius became a popular vehicle with a clear message: “I care about the environment.” When considering the technology and energy that’s required to make it, it’s scary. The battery cells, which recharge when braking and coasting, harness energy that would otherwise be lost. But they are an environmental nightmare and difficult to dispose of properly. Moreover, the Prius gets about the same gas mileage as Honda Civics from the late 80s and early 90s. The Honda Civic Hatchback from 1992 got about 48 MPG; no hybrid battery cells needed, and for a fraction of the cost on your wallet and the environment!

Finding a real solution

We’ve been duped into believing the solution to climate change is another purchase. In reality, the better answer would be to say, “Stop where you are, turn off lights, protest for change, and don’t buy anything for a year!”

Cracked Earth Climate Change
Photo: Alosh Bennett/Flickr

Most moderate voices understand that we cannot become Luddites to combat carbon emissions. The world has become increasingly connected and globalized — it’s hard to imagine regressing whatsoever. Technological development is only ratcheting up, and people are embracing the progress fervently. But our course is not sustainable.

We need to consider movements to buy local crops and goods, collective markets and organizations, and ignoring the message to buy more to save. Going green doesn’t have to hurt your budget. It should be about consuming less and supporting sustainable development. What could be better for your budget?

Take Action To Reduce Climate Change And Lower Monthly Bills

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The crisis of climate change

The climate is completely off-kilter. As humans, we’ve contributed to an atmospheric rise in climate change since the industrial revolution. It all traces back to our abundant consumption and fossil fuel use. In case there are skeptics in my audience, the evidence is clear that humans impacted climate change dramatically.

A couple months ago, the New York Times reported that,

A large section of the mighty West Antarctica ice sheet has begun falling apart and its continued melting now appears to be unstoppable, two groups of scientists reported on Monday.

Something snapped inside me, and I felt deep pain. How could we have done this to ourselves and the planet? I actually teared up, thinking about how we treat each other and this planet. It really hurt.

Shortly after that article, another was published that warned, the “Worst is yet to come.” Research found that record heat and floods were largely due to climate change:

The American scientists said the rise could be anywhere from one to four feet, and added that six feet could not be ruled out. Along much of the East Coast, the situation will be worse than the global average because the land there is sinking…

There goes New York City, Boston, parts of D.C., Miami, and more. We don’t have a contingency plan for all these people. The devastation would affect tens of millions of people. Individuals would flock to the west for shelter and a new start; at least, those who could afford it. I hesitate to think about those who might not have the economic freedom to up and leave low altitude areas.

Our consumer, consumption culture

This unpleasant, scary picture for the planet’s future is contrasted by a strong consumer culture that values growth, dominance, bulk, and abundance. When gross domestic product (GDP) estimates tumble on the national scale, economists, politicians, and Wall Street scream bloody murder. But when the temperatures are rising globally, and sea level rise is threatening entire countries, there’s silence.

We are an economy that’s feasting off of short-term gains, prolonged ignorance, and immediate gratification. Climate change skeptics are a dime-a-dozen and they’re propagating messages that are scientifically unproven, untrue, and dangerous. It’s all motivated by moneyed interests, and they’re looking for a way to keep the consumption going.

DJIA Stock Market Growth
30 stocks make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)

Our entire economic system is predicated on continued growth, but it will slow. Whether because of declining population growth rates, economic instability, or climate change, the economy will need a correction. It’s hard to fathom the willful, blissful ignorance of the markets, but the economy has not yet accounted for the pains of climate change. Just look at the most recent national weather tragedy, Hurricane Sandy:

An estimated 1.8 million structures and homes were destroyed or damaged, with economic losses exceeding $65 billion.

Unfortunately, the storms, floods, and wacky weather are only expected to increase. The economic consequences will be devastating for this country. Something’s gotta give.

Make an individual correction, save big

Frugality, simple living, thriftiness — whatever you want to call it — goes hand in hand with reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere (CO2). By consuming less and saving more, your actions can greatly help the environment.

Climate change is simple science. The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more the earth’s temperatures will rise. The sun’s rays/heat will be trapped in our atmosphere, and keep us warmer. We needed some CO2, but now we have too much.

Congress and the greater world seem doomed to delay powerful action to reduce the effect of carbon emissions. While moneyed interests, lobbying groups, and industry experts delay necessary change, you needn’t stand still. There’s still time to take action.

Here are 7 ways you can make an individual impact on climate change and save big:

  1. Walk, bike, or bus to school/work instead of driving
  2. Bring your own bags or reuse them at the grocery store
  3. Shut off water when you’re not actively using it
  4. Turn off your lights when you leave home
  5. Try to buy local foods and products when you can afford them
  6. Turn off or get rid of your air conditioner
  7. Encourage friends, family, and your own politicians to care for this issue, too

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