Having just finished Mark Sundeen’s “The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today’s America” and about to finish Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s “As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, From Colonization to Standing Rock”, I was drawn to the thought of how best to address the social issues addressed in the two books. There is one glaring thread between the two; overconsumption. While curbing consumption is central to Sundeen’s argument, it is difficult to imagine any meaningful long-term advancement in environmental justice without addressing the American consumption habits that drive it.
Jenny and I have begun to examine our consumption habits in an effort to live a more righteous and meaningful life. We’ve stopped using Amazon. I’ve deactivated my social media accounts. We’ve started our first urban garden. We’re trying to utilize bicycle commuting more often, particularly for our weekend recreation outings. But how much is enough? The progressive trend is towards electric cars and solar panels. But electric cars still require an ever expanding highway system, lithium mines to manufacture the batteries, and landfills to dispose of the old batteries. How useful will electric automobile technology really be as these cars proliferate into the billions, highways continue to litter our landscape, and solar panel clad mcmansions expand to the horizons?
The only rational answer to our long-term problems, to include social justice, is less consumption. Fewer cars, even electric ones. Fewer single-family detached homes. More public infrastructure and urban development that emphasizes communal collaboration, responsibility, and accountability.
How do you spread this message of socially-conscious consumption without using your lithium-powered laptop connected to life-sucking social media through the electron devouring network powered by the coal-powered energy grid?