Fuck Greenwashing

Now that everyone has a hardon for global warming, greenwashing has become the major modus operandi. At worst, this is a cynical attempt by companies to seem like they are doing something for the environment without having to actually do something. Often it is a tiny bit good intentions and a large dose of PR. A lot of it has to do with our general half-assednes, tendency to take the easy way out, and lack of understanding of how we actually impact the environment, and what solutions might actually work. I heard a great interview with a guy who worked on sustainable architecture in LA, and he pointed out that a lot of environmental/sustainable trends aren't necessarily so great. for example, heated floors might be awesome in cold climates, but in la they end up wasting energy because the weather varies so much during the day. Or the fact that the latest trends in bamboo floors might end up not being so great because a) it could involve the bamboo forests in china being clear cut and b) it takes a shit load of energy to ship that bamboo to the US.

The other thing i absolutely hate is the whole guilt-free consumption where companies offer to plant trees to offset the environmental damage caused by their product. The rolling stones did this on a recent tour, adn i think volkswagon and possibly dell are planning on similar tactics. To me, this is like saying for every bon-bon you eat you will drink a diet coke or spend some time on the stair master at some time in the future. how bout we just stop eating bon-bon's or find low-fat, low-cal alternatives. We can't fix the fix we are in by planting more trees. we have to actaully change how we live, pass laws to limit omissions, and maybe stop having so many fucking kids.

i'ma go drink some shade-grown coffee and plant a tree to compensate for my commute to work. assholes.

-pst

I'm Turning into a Goddamned Hippie

I grew up hating hippies. I was born and raised near Santa Cruz, California, which is a lot like berkeley, boulder, and any other mecca for the unbathed and organic. I hated hippies postivity, their obvious white guilt, their patronizing love for indigineous people and minority cultures, the shitty way they dressed, their love of bad, boring music, and their worshipping at the altar of ganja. Their mellow, everything is cool with me vibe was at stark odds with my cynical, angry view of the world, and i thought that they were just copping out. I figured that anyone who thought that everything was groovy must be a fucking idiot. If you can't see that the world is a big shitpile, you must be missing some chromosomes.


And yet, as i get older i find myself behaving more and more like a hippy. I am starting to eat more organic food, use less processed and artificial products, and I’m trying to be more vegetarian again.
I’ve also largely abandoned the cynicism and nihilism of my youth, or at least come to believe that being angry and judgmental probably isn’t healthy or helpful. I use canvas bags for my groceries. I’m trying to be more eco friendly. I talk about my feelings. I say things like “that’s their trip, but I’m just not into it” instead of “they are bunch of fucking idiots who should be shot. I listen to more jazz and less hardcore punk. I subscribe to mother jones.

Most shockingly I’ve started doing yoga.. For years I hated yoga, and thought it was just a retarded hippie/yuppie bullshit. But then I started doing it, and realized that not only does it help build strength, it is an excellent way to focus yourself, gain flexibility, and get to know your body. Plus, you feel really good after you do it.

I’ve also taken to wearing patchouli, which is the most bizarre aspect of all of this. I used to hate smelling patchouli on all the stinky hippies, and I never understood how it was meant to be a substitute for bathing. But goddamn it, I kind of like how it smells. It’s earthy. I dunno. Plus, it’s cheaper than sandalwood

Mostly, this just has to do with me growing up. I’m not the angry punk kid I was when I was 19. I am a thirty-two-year-old man, and I’m too damn old to be blindly pissed off all of the time. It doesn’t work.

Also, I no longer get the sixties shoved down my throat like I did in the 80s. And in the face of the crass commercialism and corporate control of the 1990s and 2000s, hippies don’t seem so offensive. Annoying, yes, but offensive, no.

Finally, I think that there are a lot of people today (like me?) who have managed to combine some of the hippie ideals of creating a more equal, sustainable, healthy planet, but have made it more savvy and realistic, and removed a lot of the pot haze and drum circles.

If you try and make me suffer through the dead or phish, though, I will fuck you up. I don’t want to be part of any revolution that features extensive jam rock noodling.

-pst.