If you’re listening to me don’t. You’ve got two hours left to get to the Columbia County Climate Carnival. It’s being held at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Chatham, NY. My daughter Lucy, I’m proud to report, is one of the event’s exhibitors, manning the Ghent Climate Smart Committee booth. Indeed, she published a well-crafted, highly readable commentary in the Times Union last week titled “Meet Planet Earth’s most important influencer — you.”
The gist of the article is… why don’t I just quote from it: “While yelling from a soapbox about divesting from fossil fuels or reposting warnings about warming oceans may come to mind, do yourself a favor and think smaller: Having conversations with friends and neighbors can make a lasting impact for the planet.”
Lucy goes on: “Recent research into how change spreads across social networks suggests that each of us has a critical role in influencing those around us to practice conservation behaviors.”
She’s not lying. She’s certainly got me to change my behavior. Though I flatter myself that I was on my way to enlightenment well before she was born. It started in the 1970’s and may well have involved a controlled substance consumed, in all places, in a Washington, D.C. park not very far from the White House and the U.S. Capitol. What struck me — indeed it had me pinned to the ground — is that this blueish marble floating in the blackness of interstellar space is a miracle. It doesn’t belong to us. We belong to it.
So does everything else on it. Birds, bees, butterflies, trees, mountains, even Republicans. It’s a sacred trust. We have a moral obligation not to defile it. That’s obviously easier said than none. We like our comfort. We want warmth in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer. And we like to buy things we don’t really need. But there’s a happy middle ground where we can enjoy life while still showing some respect.
Going camping, for example, or taking a walk on the beach and leaving with more more piece of trash than you brought in is one small, easily scaleable step we can take. Plus, it makes you feel virtuous and what public radio listener doesn’t like to feel virtuous.
I’m not totally on board with all my daughter’s initiatives. I dump our food scraps in a compost bin whereas I used to just chuck them into the woods. Obviously, I’m fortunate there are woods outside our back door. I don’t recommend you do so if you live in a major metropolitan area or the suburbs. Hopefully, there are drop-off points for that. But I don’t use the compost once it breaks down and it feels like I’m depriving all the woodland creatures that feasted on it in the past a nourishing treat. Corn cobs were a favorite among the deer.
Maybe that’s not a great example. Lucy has largely foresworn buying anything new when she can get it used. I believe it’s called the circular economy. That includes clothes and toys for her children. I’m on board with that even though I like new things and opening gifts as much as the next guy. However, the circular economy turns cheapness into a virtue and I’m nothing if not cheap.
The Columbia County Climate Carnival — why are you still listening to me; I thought you were on your way over there — features a free store, a repair cafe where handy neighbors will fix your broken stuff and vendors that can answer all your questions about heat pumps and solar panels.
My daughter’s booth is a photo booth, the splendid fun backdrop made from 100% recycled materials. She accomplished it by threading colorful fabrics through deer fencing. My deer fencing. She claims I don’t need it. Hopefully she’s right. This summer we replaced our yews, which deer devour, with boxwoods, which they seem to ignore. So I suppose that now we have more deer fencing than we know what to do with.
The photo booth neatly synchs with the notion that we’re far more influential with our friends than politicians or other talking heads are. Carnival goers — there’s still time for you to become a member of that charmed cohort — can get their photo snapped while holding up signs where they pledge what they’re going to do to save the planet.
Unfortunately, I’m out of town so I won’t be there. But if I were I could craft a sign that said “I contributed the deer fencing for this photo booth!” No? The point is less the sentiments expressed than to post the images to social media to spread the message. Because your friends and followers likely trust you more than they do strangers; I suppose with the exception of Taylor Swift.
“Each of us has zones of influence of various shapes and sizes,” Lucy write in that Times Union commentary. “The road we live on. The office where we work, the kitchen table we gather around. Your voice and your actions are meaningful and influential to the people around you. There has never been a more critical time to let your communities know that you care about protecting our planet.”
You still have 115 minutes to get to the climate carnival.
Ralph Gardner, Jr. is a journalist who divides his time between New York City and Columbia County. More of his work can be found be found on Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
