When I moved to Vancouver last September, I started becoming a hippie.
The sort of all-natural, one-with-the-universe, health-nut kind of hippie (not the psychadelic drug trip kind of hippie).
And I love it.
I’ve really been interested in sustainability and protecting the environment for most of my life. I thank my parents for that:
-My parents enrolled my sisters and I in Scouts, where loving nature is a central idea.
-My mother would be scadalized if anyone in the family tried to throw out anything recyclable.
-My family has a composting system we use to fertilize the garden. There are photos of me as a baby frolicking in the freshly fertilized garden bed, muddy and smiling.
On the other hand, my father is a geologist. One day I came home, an impassioned 14 year old, declaring that the entire population of the planet should switch to electric cars, and my sister pointed out that if that were possible and really happened, our dad would lose his job.
And here I am today, a summer student working for an oil and gas company myself.
The oil and gas industry has a bad reputation within this whole green revolution. Which is why I think this shift into a more environmentalist mindset has been a little stunted in Alberta.
I mean, we’re not that bad. When I went to Ukraine a few years ago I was appalled to see piles of thousands of empty glass bottles collecting on the sides of roads and rivers. I tried to rally my tour group to collect some and recycle them, whereupon I learned that the area we were travelling through simply did not have recycling services. That’s bad.
But Albertans aren’t too excited about environmentalism. I feel like a lot of Albertans get uneasy about the “green revolution” because of potentially negative effects on the economy here. Some people just think it’s a joke. So when I went to Vancouver and discovered eco-enthusiasts, my mind was blown.
There were separate bins in my residence cafeteria: composting, recycling, and (off in the corner, to discourage its use) garbage.
There were vegetarian options everywhere.
The transportation system? Way better than Calgary Transit.
I was enthralled.
I’ve also been very interested in maintaining and improving my health and happiness. Upon becoming a bit of a hippie, this interest has increased greatly. Why wouldn’t I want to feel great and full of life? Why wouldn’t I want to ward off disease and aging? Why wouldn’t I want more energy and radiant natural beauty?
It started in September with taking up yoga and becoming a pescetarian (no meat except fish).
They were both for health reasons- my older sister has had a lot of success with feeling better from yoga and no meat, so I thought I’d try it too. I love it. Yoga is the wonderful blend of physical and mental health, and I always feel more at peace and physically limber when I finish a class. When I go a week or two without it, I feel moodier and am less able to cope with stress. As for meat, I don’t miss it at all and really do feel better.
When summer came I took up barefoot running (well, almost, I run in minimalist “barefoot” toe shoes) This fall, I’m hoping to cut out fish too (thus becoming a vegetarian).
The thing is, all the changes I’ve made started off as experiments. I try things to see if they work for me, and if they make me feel happier, healthier, or more positive in some way, then I stick with it. I’ve had a couple failed experiments- such as my spring mission to take morning runs (it turns out I am not a morning person), as well as trying to stop eating cheese (mac’n’cheese is my favourite food… ), but I might revisit them eventually.
What is it that should trace the insuperable line?… The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
