When DIY Isn’t The Greenest Option
Posted on March 6, 2009 by
Last week I mentioned needing to streamline my green lifestyle to accommodate a new project. Among other things, I talked about scaling back my garden a bit and buying bread instead of baking it.
Danielle left the following comment:
Wheat-cruddy-ness aside, how much bread do you bake at one time? I put as many loaves in the oven as will fit, and then I freeze loaves. You can also put dough into the refrigerator once it’s risen for up to 24 hours. This still takes planning, but it might leave you able to bake bread and maintain a busy schedule. . .
. . . I guess I understand your desire to fit “green living” into your schedule, but I also feel that it isn’t good to get into the habit of taking shortcuts.
I took some time to think about it. I also read The Conscious Shopper’s great post about prioritizing DIY projects. And I decided to stick with my plan of buying bread to save time.
In college I worked on an outreach project teaching poetry to kids in elementary schools downtown. At one of the schools they had a morning meeting before classes started. The principal spoke about everyone’s special talents. She talked about how she wished she could be an artist, but she couldn’t draw well. She was, however, a very good principal. Those were her special skills and she was able to focus on her talents and share them.
I’m not the world’s best baker, and I don’t really enjoy baking bread. So maybe it makes more sense for me to spend my time in ways that utilize my special talents, and buy bread from someone who is a gifted baker.
Taking it a step further, I started to think about how baking my own bread might not be the greenest way to go to begin with. I buy J’s bread from our locally-owned grocery store chain. They make it fresh in the store, using organic flour. I buy my gluten-free bread from a bakery near the grocery store. In both cases, ingredients are bought in bulk, cutting down on packaging waste, and I’m sure the baking process and equipment used is far more efficient than in an industrial kitchen than in my kitchen. Plus, by buying my bread from these suppliers, I’m supporting local business. Maybe buying bread is a shortcut that’s also a greener choice. Of course, if you love baking bread, by all means, do it. And if you don’t have a good option for getting organic, fresh-baked bread in your area, baking at home is a great option.
Gardening is another great example of this. Eating local is a wonderful thing. You can’t get more local than the garden in your backyard. This does not, however, mean that your backyard garden is more eco-friendly than your local organic CSA. The CSA we belong to is optimally efficient. My garden is not. I do my best, but I don’t have the benefits of efficient professional equipment and the economy of scale that our CSA farm does. But, I love my garden. I love harvesting food I’ve grown myself, and I enjoy spending time outside. My garden is not as green as my CSA, but it is worth it, because I enjoy the process.
Doing something yourself doesn’t automatically equal a smaller carbon footprint. Sometimes it’s nice to have easy answers, but when it comes to making eco-friendly choices, stepping back and thinking things through makes good green sense.
right on Allie. unless a person is not working and has a farm or some other optimal set up to be doing DIY for every aspect of life, one has to weigh all the choices and choose what is best for the situation.
The $64 Tomato was a fun read explaining and supporting that backyard gardens are not always so eco-friendly either. Plus, it was just a fun read
and ps. the “going green” movement has frustrated me a bit because the tide seems to swing a lot between two extremes – buy nothing, that’s “green” or buy everything “green.” There needs to be more literature and talk on a middle way.
I totally agree with your comments. Leading a green, healthy lifestyle should enhance your life, not make it more difficult or frustrating. There are lots of choices and as you point out it doesn’t mean growing everything or making everything yourself – life’s too short to do stuff you don’t enjoy that much.
I couldn’t agree more w/you and the above comments. Part of the problem with the sustainable movement, I think, is the language. The emphasis should be on “smart” lifestyles and long-term thinking as a whole, as well as on green living.
Our generation grew up in such a culture of disposability and convenience, and the dangers of that kind of short-term thinking are playing out in the economy and the environment. You’ve nailed the problem and the solution, though–we have to make thoughtful, critical choices in every area of life, with an eye on the long view, rather than making environmentally friendly choices in a vacuum.
Anyway, the point is–great post.
Heads-up for buying bread in Rochester: The Wedge has two new bakeries. Small World Bakery started at the South Wedge Farmer’s Market and now has a store front at 389 Gregory Street! Good local bread made from organic flours and local ingredients. Also, Eco Bella is a brand new bakery on South Ave in the old Wild Wools knitting shop space. She’s a certified nurse and sells organic, gluten-free, and vegan foods. She also got her start at the south wedge farmer’s market. Scope them out–a great way to stick to eating green and staying local in Rochester.
I’m glad you’ve taken time to think about this and write your post, and I think this is something that everyone can take away from it: our paths do not need to look the same (as erikka sort of said). I didn’t take the time to think it all the way through, and I’m sorry.
DIY isn’t always green, and the “parable of handwashing” reminds me of this – dishwashers often use water more efficiently than handwashing dishes does.
We just got a new bakery in my town, so I will try their bread…we haven’t had a bakery in a while (v. small town), but this may present a way to support the local economy and give myself a break from bread once in a while.
I have to say, I do bake my own bread. I do it more because I love to bake, I love the smell of baking bread, and it is more fulfilling. I want to know what goes into my food – and minimize preservatives and unnecessary crap. Usually the best way for me to do that is to make it myself.
If anyone is looking to bake their own bread, I recommend the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/). Their basic boule is an amazing, no knead bread recipe that you can make huge batches of dough from and store in the fridge over a week. The authors really break down the fundamentals of bread in a very understandable way.
Love it!
Oh, Danielle! No need to be sorry! This is all a process isn’t it? I appreciated your comment in that it made me examine things, and that’s what this is all about. Baking bread is a wonderful thing if you enjoy it – and it’s certainly not un-green, especially when sustainable options aren’t available.
Samtaters – Thanks for the tip on the book! I know a lot of readers will be interested!
Rach – I’d heard about Small World, but not Eco Bella! I’ll have to check out their GF bread the next time I’m in the Wedge! Thanks!
Amy – Thanks! There has to be a balance and I think we’ll get there, but we are kind of shifting from one extreme to the other and I think it takes time to settle in between that.
Helen – “life’s too short to do the stuff you don’t enjoy that much” – so true!
Erikka – I’ve been dying to read the $64 Dollar Tomato. I have to remember to see if the library has it. Also, I think I’m going to try to speak more to the middle ground. That’s what my intention was when I started and I think it’s important to help people who can’t completely overhaul their lives make the changes they can make.
This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, and I’ve realized like you that there are areas where we have a choice between going local and going DIY — both for health and ecology.
One area I think is perfect for DIY is cleaning and personal care. Not only do we give the environment a break here but we also make a huge impact on our personal health. Anything that contains water must be preserved in order to survive the three year shelf life of manufactured goods. So even big name natural brands use preservatives.
And as many of us know, with just a few items bought bulk — like almond oil, coconut oil, castile soap, vinegar and baking soda — we can make all of the cleaning, skin care, and bath products for an entire family! Plus you have a choice whether to keep it simple and easy, or go crazy and have fun with herbs and essential oils.
I don’t have a garden, and I don’t enjoy gardening, so I can totally relate. The opportunity to buy from my local farm CSA is something that achieves so many goals for me. For those fortunate enough to live in an area with local agriculture, artisans and craftsman it’s so important to give them our support, isn’t it?
Glad to find your site! I followed a link through ItsTheLittleThinks.blogspot.com!
– Hope
what a great post! It gives me some food for thought. It also makes me feel a little less guilty about not gardening. I am not at all good at gardening. So I will go enjoy the Farmer’s Market instead
I second the reading of “The $64 Tomato” – It was a great book!
While I agree with you on your views on buying bread due to economy of scale and personal preference concerning home baking, your views on “the $64 tomato” and home grown foods are way, way, way, way, way off!
Obviously, you may decide to buy a tractor to grow a $600 tomato…. or, for that matter, buy a backhoe to dig a few $40,000 post holes… the author of the book simply was a fumbling gardener at best.
For all who thought that was a good book and use the info contained therein to justify ‘home grown’ not being more green…. I urge you to think a bit.
Organic farming has been done successfully for thousands of years in small, medium, and large scales. How is it that all of a sudden, small endeavors in this regard became ‘not green’?
On the simplest term, one can even grow a good crop of tomatoes from seedlings indoors, in plastic pots. This would have eliminated most pests and the need for pesticides.
Craigslist often have free plastic buckets for the pots (recycling); it often has free organic manure (recycling and free fertilizer); and, at times, even free tomato plants (when someone sprouted more than they can use).
Just remember… Don’t go and buy a F350 to pick up these freebies and cheapies and you won’t end up with $800 tomatoes…. :~)
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