Glimmers of Humanity

Let’s be real: it can be hard to be an environmentalist. Thankfully, the path to environmentalist is littered with glimmers of humanity: real, authentic human beings being GOOD. I think it’s safe to say though, that the life of someone hell-bent on saving the planet is not always an easy one. In fact, I think it’s arguably harder now than it was 50 years ago, and here’s why:

We know too much.

Our access to information has changed in a way that we never had access before, and it’s overwhelming us to the point of feeling hopeless on the regulah. Not only that, we feel too much, we are taking on the weight of the world’s problems, and it totally sucks.

All the Lonely People…

It can also feel very lonely to be an environmentalist.

Nowhere is this more obvious than at an airport, be it in the departures area or on the planes themselves. As someone who eschews single-use plastics and disposable anything, it physically nauseates me to walk through an airport and see people scarfing down crap food wrapped in crap packaging…or watch helplessly as flight attendants hand out plastic cups for all beverages. Ack!

I’m not selling environmentalist well, am I?

Let me try to save this thing, then! The thing about being an environmentalist is that, as long as you’re an aware environmentalist, good things come your way when you least expect it. Aka: glimmers of humanity. Let me illustrate this for you with an example I just experienced today.

I’m on my way to Toronto to attend a film festival with Jan, but we ended up on different flights. My first leg departed Kelowna, BC, and connected in Calgary, Alberta. Easy, simple, standard stuff. On this particular flight, I took a pass on the complimentary beverage, giving myself a pat on the back for refusing a single-use plastic cup.

Hot Mess

I then marveled at the 18 folks in first class who received real glassware for their drinks, then observed the remaining 100+ passengers receiving their beverages in the standard, single-use PET plastic cups. This of course sent me down a lovely spiral of negative thinking. My internal monologue went something like this:

Why doesn’t the rest of the plane get glass? What is this classist bullshit? So what if there’s all that extra weight in glassware! WestJet should be doing more for the environment (like this other airline is doing!)! How much fuel are they actually saving by switching to plastic, and does it even matter, if it’s all petroleum anyway?! What is wrong with humanity?! Ugh!

And on and on it went.

By the time we landed, and I had watched the flight attendants collect the last bit of garbage, all thrown into one bag (who wants to place bets that they sorted it out in the 5 minutes they have to switch a plane over for the next round of passengers?!), I was fuming. I thought about approaching the flight attendants to ask about the trash, or why they continue to use single-use plastic cups but honestly? They all looked exhausted!! It seemed so hopeless.

My journal entry for this experience ended as follows:

“I don’t see this getting better: the more consumers demand cheap flights, the more this will happen. We can’t have it both ways and eventually, something has to give. In the meantime, I don’t know if I want to continue being part of this system. It’s sad and frustrating.”

Me, Today, Disgruntled.

Glimmers

As I walked into the Calgary airport, feeling totally disgruntled, upset at the world, I heard music. What’s special about this, you might be wondering? Isn’t there always music playing in airport terminals? Well yes, but…

This was live music. Yes, just a few yards from my gate, was sitting a real human, playing real music, with a real voice, and a real guitar. After experiencing so much plastic nonsense on the plane, watching person after person in a seemingly zombie state mindlessly consume their free cookies and plastic-shrouded beverages, here was something real.

It is hard to put into words what this music did for me. For a brief moment, I felt relieved. My environmentalist shoulders were free from their burden, and I relaxed.

Music Solves Everything (Well, Almost)

More than that, I felt a deep sense of connection. The irony is that I was sitting in the middle of a busy international airport, feeling lonely, and this woman’s voice made me feel like I wasn’t alone after all. When I went up to Megan Dawson, tears welled up in my eyes, surprising both of us. I stammered out a thank you and returned to my seat to observe and listen.

The music had absolutely nothing to do with environmentalism or saving the planet, or refusing single-use plastic. To be totally honest, I can’t remember the words to the song I happened to catch. It did, however, have have everything to do with connection, authenticity, and hope, all key ingredients in the fight for a healthier planet. Megan’s music helped boost my spirits and provided me with a several glimmers of humanity, indeed. And as I made my way onto my next flight, I felt lighter, more optimistic.

You see, it is hard being an environmentalist, and the path to a healthier planet is sometimes lonely, but as Monsieur Gustave so eloquently* (and hilariously) put it in one of his hilarious Grand Budapest Hotel monologues:

“You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.”

M. Gustave, Grand Budapest Hotel

I’m still not sure if I want to be a part of a system (aka plane flying) that is creating such massive waste streams, or is wearing its workers into the ground, but after this musical interlude, I have calmed down about my hysterical “the world sucks!” attitude. And, let’s be real: I arrived at my final destination, via a plane, and am here writing to you all about it. 😉