Being surrounded by like-minded people, you can sometimes forget that many people in the wider world don’t consider climate change to be a major issue for them. Some experiences this last weekend have shown me personally how much of a challenge it is for me as well as others to move to a more sustainable way of living.
I was brought up in Solihull, a few miles south of Birmingham, and although it’s been a while now since I lived there, I still have some friends who live in the area. When visiting family over the holiday, it’s sometimes convenient to meet up in the centre of Birmingham. It’s really nice just to spend time talking, catching up on what they’ve been up to and telling them things from your own life.
Busy shoppers in Birmingham
I don’t know if you’ve been to Birmingham recently, but there’s been a lot of rebuilding. Many of the dark underpasses have been removed, making it more pedestrian friendly. It’s also been turned into a Mecca for shoppers,with a number of huge shopping malls being built. Walking around town you can see people everywhere hurrying about with their hands full of plastic bags.
This last weekend, I met up with a friend that I have known on and off for over 20 years. I have come to realise that she loves shopping, and when we meet up in town she takes me around the stores, and we chat and laugh and have a giggle about things.
Some of the shops she takes me into are really strange, with lots of sparkly things and are very colourful. I feel quite confused sometimes, but I guess that’s because I’m just a bloke and we’ve evolved to resist shopping as much as possible 🙂
Sometimes life can be a bit confusing for a chap...
Despite the pleasant surroundings, it is quite shocking to see how easily she spends money on things. But then I think back to other conversations I’ve had with people who think nothing of spending hundreds of pounds on the new IPAD or a new TV. I’ve done the same in the past, spending £500 without really thinking about it. It’s all the same really.
Whilst we chat, I don’t talk much about the work I’m involved in with CCF, but occasionally if the converstion drifts in the right direction, I may bring it up. She’s heard of the fact that we need more than one earth to support us, and about the effects of manufacture, waste and transport, but there’s a big disconnect between these issues and the freedom to be able to go out and shop. I try and keep it light, but I can feel myself start going into lecture mode, and then she stops replying and I realise that I’ve gone too far and she’s lost interest.
But it’s not just everyone else that succumbs to the allure of happiness that shopping can bring. I myself had to battle against the temptation this weekend. A friend of mine has lent me the first season of a really good TV series on DVD. I really enoyed it and I want to watch more. The entire box set of all the episodes is only £49 in the shops, and more than once recently I’ve found myself in the shop, walking down the aisle with the boxset in my hands.
The allure of TV boxset happiness
It’s not as if I can’t borrow the entire set from the library, but the allure of everlasting happiness that I think will come with the boxset is hard to resist. I push to one side any worries I may have about the impact of buying this, and say to myself “Oh don’t be silly, one little boxset can’t hurt anyone”. It takes a mighty focus of willpower to put it back on the shelves and walk out of the shop, and I worry that one day that I may not have the resolve. Online shoping makes it even harder, with just a few clicks between you and the purchase. There’s been quite a few times when I’ve been feeling low, and just a few mouse clicks has enabled me to buy something and feel so much better, for a short while that is…
This has got me thinking about my own disconnect, between what I say to others and what I actually do. From talking to people on stalls about home energy usage, I’ve found the best way to illustrate issues is to talk about myself and the changes I’ve made to my home and my lifestyle. If I’m going to be able to talk to other people about consumption, waste and other related issues, I feel I’ve got to be able to talk from experience in a similar way. So although it’s been a bit depressing in some ways, this weekend has given me a bit of a kick up the backside to make me realise that if I want to be committed to this project, I need to act committed as well as talk committed.