(Mis)Adventures of an Eco-Hypocrite
Donation protected
Dear Friends: Help me finish my first book!
Over the past several years, I’ve rediscovered writing. More specifically, my love of writing. As a kid and young adult, I wrote my way through everything. Bullies, breakups, exploring foreign countries and homesickness. But somewhere on the road, I got distracted by life and lost my connection to the page.
Thankfully I have found my way back to writing, and to my surprise, I now find myself on the quest to write a book. And not just any book—an emotionally charged, self-deprecating “throw myself under the bus for the good of humanity” kind of book.
You see, I am an eco-warrior. I’ve known and embodied this for a while now. I recycle nearly everything. I buy organic and local and recycled, turn off lights, and am trying to teach my daughter that happiness does not equal more stuff. I work and have a handful of degrees in sustainability, and generally pay attention to where I can do the right thing for the planet.
But after careful analysis I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t always manage to do this well.
This whole project was born out of a heated debate with my then four-year old daughter about why she needed to eat her healthy foods before mainlining sugar. I had a flashback of my obstinate 4-year old self, and 6-month period where I refused to drink anything but Kool-Aid. It resulted in 11 cavities at one time, but that didn’t weaken my resolve one bit.
And as an adult, some days my entire diet consists of Coca-Cola, Lucky Charms and a bottle of red wine.
And that’s when I realized: Shit. I’m a hypocrite.
That festered in the back of my mind, slowly forming into my tongue-in-cheek spoken word poem about being an environmental hypocrite.
Apparently, it struck a nerve. After delivering a condensed version of the poem in one of my classes, word spread and my classmates voted for me to be the student commencement speaker at our MBA graduation to deliver the poem (video above). I’ve performed it at several events since, and the response is the same every time: “Thank you. You said what I’m too ashamed to say. You’ve inspired me to make a change, even if it’s a tiny change. Every little bit helps.”
What started as a simple poem has evolved into an experiment in crazy making. I started to question everything I was doing, every decision I made. Do I really want to ____ (fill in the blank: buy this new jacket, drive 200 miles to go to the water park, eat pineapple in January)? Am I doing the right thing? Do I even know what the right thing is?
Are microwaves really that bad? Do they actually nuke all the nutrients out of my food, and slowly poison me? Or is that just an urban legend?
I know I should avoid BPA and nitrates/nitrites, but why?
Are these organic eggs from Costco actually from chickens that have better lives? Or is it just clever marketing?
I couldn’t answer these questions honestly; I had just been making decisions based on gut feelings and hearsay. So I started to do some research to be able to make decisions based on fact.
When I found myself continually staring at labels in the grocery store saying, “Hmm, I need to research this more later,” or “I have no clue what this ingredient is, but it sounds really chemically…” or “I can’t tell if this is true or good marketing…” the scope of this project slowly morphed into guerrilla investigative journalism. I started to look for answers to these questions, and with every question I asked, I went deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
Look, I do this shit for a living, and I still can’t get it right. I feel overwhelmed and under informed, and it’s maddeningly difficult to find accurate or complete information. It’s incredibly difficult to minimize your impact significantly in our society without going completely off grid a la “No Impact Man”, which most of us aren’t willing to do. And just when I think I’ve gotten something figured out, I learn that the “good stuff” I was buying was just marketed really well and is actually laced with questionable ingredients that will probably give me cancer in 20 years. WTF?
I just want to do the right thing and make healthy choices for my kid and myself and not destroy the planet! Why does it have to be so hard?
The truth is, it is hard. It’s confusing, overwhelming, contradictory, and extremely complex. I can’t pronounce half the things I think I’m supposed to avoid, but I’m not sure which ones are actually bad and which ones are just the scientific name for (aloe vera) or the chemical name for water. A quick Google search for “What chemicals to avoid in food” resulted in 105,000,000 hits in 0.55 seconds. No wonder people are confused and overwhelmed.
This book is part story, part investigative journalism, and part calling myself out where I’m incongruent with my values and being an environmental hypocrite. It is meant to be an honest and humorous account of my efforts to make better choices for my health, my daughter’s health, and the planet, and how difficult this is in today’s consumer-driven society.
I have a wonderful opportunity to fast track this book, and I’d love your help to bring it into the world.
Phase I:
Laura Munson, the best-selling author and founder of the Haven Writing Retreats, has created Haven II, an invite-only intensive 5-day experience for writers who have a book project underway. Many of you know that I’ve attended Laura’s Haven I retreat in October 2014, where I uncovered my writer’s voice and realized that I have to write this book. My recent piece on creativity is being featured on Haven Writing Retreat’s blog on January 20th.
I have the opportunity to continue my writing journey at Haven II the first weekend of February. I have been accepted to the Haven II Writing Retreat along with a small group of 5 fellow authors. During this intensive workshop, I’ll make huge progress under Laura’s direction. I’ve put a down payment on the workshop, which will cost $4,000 total for the program, overnight accommodations, meals, and travel.
Phase II:
Guerilla Journalism
In phase II, I will be going deep undercover to research the truth behind what we’re being sold as consumers in the U.S.
Some of the research missions I’ll undertake include:
· A visit to Costco world headquarters in Kirkland, WA, to meet with the Director of Sustainability and learn about Costco’s sourcing and selection process for sustainable products, and attempts to visit Kirkland brand manufacturers and food producers
· Visiting organic and conventional food producers to get the real scoop on the manufacturing process, additives, hormones, environmental impacts and transportation to market
· Uncovering the dirty secrets behind every day products, from clothing to tea to furniture to food, and visiting manufacturing sites in the U.S. and abroad to see first-hand the working conditions, raw ingredients, toxicity and supply chain challenges associated with these products
· Tracking my personal recycling to its end destination to figure out if I’m actually doing good or bad for the planet (Door #1: repurposing recycled materials into new consumer products; Door #2: getting shipped to China to burn in an incinerator; Door #3: it’s a mystery???)
· …??? TBD by you
Where you come in:
Will you please make a contribution to my project, and help me bring this new book into the world? My goal is to publish the book in 2016 or early 2017, depending on how arduous the rest of the guerilla research is.
There are a few different ways you can help: For a $25 donation, you’ll get a signed copy of the book; with a $100 gift, you’ll get a signed copy and will get the opportunity to weigh in on some of the consumer transparency research and environmental hypocrisy topics I will cover; and for a gift of $250 you’ll get a signed copy and will get to do an interview with me about your own eco-shortfalls and be featured in the appendix of personal stories. You may choose any amount you'd like to give.
Story is one of the most powerful and engaging communication mechanisms. Without fail, when I share my stories about life, someone tells me that my words resonated with their own story. Stories create deep connections with us, and help to make sense of life’s mysteries. This book will merge story and discovery, and provide an honest account of my successes and epic fails in my quest to do the right thing.
Your gift will provide me with invaluable support and mentorship through Haven II, and give me the ability to conduct critical research in consumer transparency. I’ll send progress updates to all who donate, including reports from Haven II and the milestones I pass on the way to publication.
Deep gratitude for your consideration and support of this project. May this book bring inspiration, humor and relief to all who read it!
Over the past several years, I’ve rediscovered writing. More specifically, my love of writing. As a kid and young adult, I wrote my way through everything. Bullies, breakups, exploring foreign countries and homesickness. But somewhere on the road, I got distracted by life and lost my connection to the page.
Thankfully I have found my way back to writing, and to my surprise, I now find myself on the quest to write a book. And not just any book—an emotionally charged, self-deprecating “throw myself under the bus for the good of humanity” kind of book.
You see, I am an eco-warrior. I’ve known and embodied this for a while now. I recycle nearly everything. I buy organic and local and recycled, turn off lights, and am trying to teach my daughter that happiness does not equal more stuff. I work and have a handful of degrees in sustainability, and generally pay attention to where I can do the right thing for the planet.
But after careful analysis I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t always manage to do this well.
This whole project was born out of a heated debate with my then four-year old daughter about why she needed to eat her healthy foods before mainlining sugar. I had a flashback of my obstinate 4-year old self, and 6-month period where I refused to drink anything but Kool-Aid. It resulted in 11 cavities at one time, but that didn’t weaken my resolve one bit.
And as an adult, some days my entire diet consists of Coca-Cola, Lucky Charms and a bottle of red wine.
And that’s when I realized: Shit. I’m a hypocrite.
That festered in the back of my mind, slowly forming into my tongue-in-cheek spoken word poem about being an environmental hypocrite.
Apparently, it struck a nerve. After delivering a condensed version of the poem in one of my classes, word spread and my classmates voted for me to be the student commencement speaker at our MBA graduation to deliver the poem (video above). I’ve performed it at several events since, and the response is the same every time: “Thank you. You said what I’m too ashamed to say. You’ve inspired me to make a change, even if it’s a tiny change. Every little bit helps.”
What started as a simple poem has evolved into an experiment in crazy making. I started to question everything I was doing, every decision I made. Do I really want to ____ (fill in the blank: buy this new jacket, drive 200 miles to go to the water park, eat pineapple in January)? Am I doing the right thing? Do I even know what the right thing is?
Are microwaves really that bad? Do they actually nuke all the nutrients out of my food, and slowly poison me? Or is that just an urban legend?
I know I should avoid BPA and nitrates/nitrites, but why?
Are these organic eggs from Costco actually from chickens that have better lives? Or is it just clever marketing?
I couldn’t answer these questions honestly; I had just been making decisions based on gut feelings and hearsay. So I started to do some research to be able to make decisions based on fact.
When I found myself continually staring at labels in the grocery store saying, “Hmm, I need to research this more later,” or “I have no clue what this ingredient is, but it sounds really chemically…” or “I can’t tell if this is true or good marketing…” the scope of this project slowly morphed into guerrilla investigative journalism. I started to look for answers to these questions, and with every question I asked, I went deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
Look, I do this shit for a living, and I still can’t get it right. I feel overwhelmed and under informed, and it’s maddeningly difficult to find accurate or complete information. It’s incredibly difficult to minimize your impact significantly in our society without going completely off grid a la “No Impact Man”, which most of us aren’t willing to do. And just when I think I’ve gotten something figured out, I learn that the “good stuff” I was buying was just marketed really well and is actually laced with questionable ingredients that will probably give me cancer in 20 years. WTF?
I just want to do the right thing and make healthy choices for my kid and myself and not destroy the planet! Why does it have to be so hard?
The truth is, it is hard. It’s confusing, overwhelming, contradictory, and extremely complex. I can’t pronounce half the things I think I’m supposed to avoid, but I’m not sure which ones are actually bad and which ones are just the scientific name for (aloe vera) or the chemical name for water. A quick Google search for “What chemicals to avoid in food” resulted in 105,000,000 hits in 0.55 seconds. No wonder people are confused and overwhelmed.
This book is part story, part investigative journalism, and part calling myself out where I’m incongruent with my values and being an environmental hypocrite. It is meant to be an honest and humorous account of my efforts to make better choices for my health, my daughter’s health, and the planet, and how difficult this is in today’s consumer-driven society.
I have a wonderful opportunity to fast track this book, and I’d love your help to bring it into the world.
Phase I:
Laura Munson, the best-selling author and founder of the Haven Writing Retreats, has created Haven II, an invite-only intensive 5-day experience for writers who have a book project underway. Many of you know that I’ve attended Laura’s Haven I retreat in October 2014, where I uncovered my writer’s voice and realized that I have to write this book. My recent piece on creativity is being featured on Haven Writing Retreat’s blog on January 20th.
I have the opportunity to continue my writing journey at Haven II the first weekend of February. I have been accepted to the Haven II Writing Retreat along with a small group of 5 fellow authors. During this intensive workshop, I’ll make huge progress under Laura’s direction. I’ve put a down payment on the workshop, which will cost $4,000 total for the program, overnight accommodations, meals, and travel.
Phase II:
Guerilla Journalism
In phase II, I will be going deep undercover to research the truth behind what we’re being sold as consumers in the U.S.
Some of the research missions I’ll undertake include:
· A visit to Costco world headquarters in Kirkland, WA, to meet with the Director of Sustainability and learn about Costco’s sourcing and selection process for sustainable products, and attempts to visit Kirkland brand manufacturers and food producers
· Visiting organic and conventional food producers to get the real scoop on the manufacturing process, additives, hormones, environmental impacts and transportation to market
· Uncovering the dirty secrets behind every day products, from clothing to tea to furniture to food, and visiting manufacturing sites in the U.S. and abroad to see first-hand the working conditions, raw ingredients, toxicity and supply chain challenges associated with these products
· Tracking my personal recycling to its end destination to figure out if I’m actually doing good or bad for the planet (Door #1: repurposing recycled materials into new consumer products; Door #2: getting shipped to China to burn in an incinerator; Door #3: it’s a mystery???)
· …??? TBD by you
Where you come in:
Will you please make a contribution to my project, and help me bring this new book into the world? My goal is to publish the book in 2016 or early 2017, depending on how arduous the rest of the guerilla research is.
There are a few different ways you can help: For a $25 donation, you’ll get a signed copy of the book; with a $100 gift, you’ll get a signed copy and will get the opportunity to weigh in on some of the consumer transparency research and environmental hypocrisy topics I will cover; and for a gift of $250 you’ll get a signed copy and will get to do an interview with me about your own eco-shortfalls and be featured in the appendix of personal stories. You may choose any amount you'd like to give.
Story is one of the most powerful and engaging communication mechanisms. Without fail, when I share my stories about life, someone tells me that my words resonated with their own story. Stories create deep connections with us, and help to make sense of life’s mysteries. This book will merge story and discovery, and provide an honest account of my successes and epic fails in my quest to do the right thing.
Your gift will provide me with invaluable support and mentorship through Haven II, and give me the ability to conduct critical research in consumer transparency. I’ll send progress updates to all who donate, including reports from Haven II and the milestones I pass on the way to publication.
Deep gratitude for your consideration and support of this project. May this book bring inspiration, humor and relief to all who read it!
Organizer
Heather Higinbotham
Organizer
Bozeman, MT