Ten years ago when I started at Stillwaters as an AmeriCorps intern, the term “sustainability” was a new buzz word.
In the world of environmental stewardship and education, sustainability means a lot of things to many people. To me, it means something that endures, that is fixable if it’s broken, that helps perpetuate a cycle of reduce, reuse, recycle — reinvent. Today there are many things that when broken, get tossed away.
We seem to think that it’s better to start over especially since often it costs more to fix something rather than get a new one. Planned obsolescence is the term for something that is made to have a specific lifetime … something that is made to not be fixed, just replaced.
As I sit at my computer and write an article under the heading of “Choices for Sustainable Living”, I am increasingly distracted by the news of the mass shooting in Orlando — a tragedy involving hatred, illness, entitlement and frustration. Why is this happening? From where does the hatred arise? I realize that sustainability of humanity is equally important in this world of throw-away-stuff. I cannot help but wonder … can we fix our world?
To remain on a track of environmental sustainability we need to learn how to fix our things. But to create a world that sustains us physically as well as soulfully, we need to learn how to care for and fix each other.
As we must understand how a shoe is built before we can repair it, we ought to know how we, as participants in this human race are made – how we learn, love, and react. We must continue to try and learn how our neighbors, friends and family work. And once we understand, we can try to mend each other if broken.
As humans, we need connection. Regardless of varying levels of sociability, all of us need to be heard, to be smiled at, to be shown compassion. And, I believe, kindness begets kindness. How about this … Ask a neighbor if you can bring him anything from the supermarket. Offer to pick up someone at the ferry. Buy the coffee for the person behind you in line. And most importantly, look a stranger in the eye, smile and say “Good morning! How are you?” And mean it! Be sincere.
Many people have to be asked if they need help and it may feel difficult to go out of your comfort zone to do so. It may mean you spend a few extra minutes listening but you never know how meaningful that time spent could be to a person who feels lonely or neglected or sad.
Maybe if we start fixing things, then fixing each other, slowly one by one we can help our families, our communities, and our world to become a place that is sustainable. A place that can be healed because we understand the broken bits and the pain.
We cannot replace the planet but let’s keep helping it, humankind needs to come together and be healed, not fractured. If we practice loving-kindness, we can perhaps make humanity sustainable. Start small – a kindness a day? I think it’s possible. In a world of broken stuff, be a fixer.
— Kari Pelaez is program assistant at Stillwaters Environmental Center. kari@stillwaters environmentalcenter.org.
