I’ve just got home from another great mitra study evening – for those of you who don’t know what that means, when you make a commitment to practice as a Buddhist in the Triratna Buddhist Community and become a Mitra – or friend (you can read more about this on one of my earlier posts) – you have the option to join a small study group, which follows a four year programme covering all the basic aspects of Buddhism. Basically it gives you a good grounding in all the core concepts through a well structured programme from which you choose the modules from each year that your group wishes to study. Buddhism has a heck of a lot of concepts which can seem a bit unwieldy if you’re trying to find it out by yourself, so I find this group especially helpful.
An Interconnected World
We are currently studying a module called ‘An Interconnected World – Buddhist Ethics and Contemporary Issues‘ which is proving to be a really interesting module covering everything from genetic engineering and using social networking and other modern technology through to environmental issues. Today, we were looking at our relationship to the environment – when I initially read the title I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes and expecting a lecture on how we should not be driving cars or flying abroad, however actually it generated quite a lot of really pithy discussion in our group.
For example, one of the quotes which really struck me early on was:
However environmental problems are resolved, it will be because people learn to behave differently
The more I thought about it, the deeper I dug into how true this statement is (in my opinion). Change happens when people learn to behave differently. To make a difference in anything, we need to learn to do things differently.
What can I do to make a difference?
Taking responsibility
For quite some time I’ve made a personal commitment to reduce our reliance on the environment by recycling, reusing, and reducing our waste, cutting down on our energy use, reducing our reliance on cars and so forth. We recycle everything we are able to via our local collection service and the bottle banks at our local supermarkets, and I re-use glass jars to make painted candle holders. I also re-use cards to make new cards (so don’t be surprised if your Christmas card looks familiar next year!) and use plastic pots and bottles out in the garden. Our local Freecycle scheme has allowed us to redistribute unwanted items and to acquire things for free – such as wooden shelving units, white goods, old textbooks and much more. This ethos also spills over into the way I run my business (we were just awarded the Suffolk Carbon Charter Bronze Award for our efforts!)
Knowing what you’re using
In our household we have just started a simple spreadsheet which allows us to track each month how much electricity and water we’re using (we will just read the meter each month, although the water one is a bit tricky as it’s down a deep hole and generally under water itself! Any suggestions welcome!?), in an attempt to firstly be aware of just how much energy we use, and secondly to work on actively reducing it. I genuinely have no idea what we use – the bills come, and as long as they’re not drastically different to normal we pay them. In the grand scheme of things, I couldn’t even guess how much electricity or water we use per month and therefore whether we use a lot, not very much, etc. This startles me somewhat, the fact that I don’t have any idea how much we use!
Using energy more efficiently
We’ve also been thinking creatively about how we can alter our use of energy to be more efficient. We have already done all the usual stuff – replace bulbs with energy efficient ones, thermostats on the radiators in rooms are on frost-protection unless we’re using the room, and so forth.
Another issue we’ve come across relating to this latter point is that I am a cold-blooded mortal and am always chilly, especially in the evenings. This usually means that I have the radiators on in whatever room I happen to be in (of course after I have put on extra layers, and I am always wearing a jumper!), however my partner John is a warm-blooded soul, and finds it rather stifling when the rooms are really warm – not to mention when I want to have two duvets on the bed to keep me warm at night and he doesn’t even want one! Also, with my hypermobility, I often have several hot water bottles positioned strategically over achy joints at night (and to heat up the bed!).
For Christmas I was given two wonderful, and very thoughtful presents! John bought me (well, us really, as he benefits as much as I do!) an electric blanket for our bed, which has dual control – so I can have my side like a roasting sauna, and his side is off! Initially I thought it would be a big expense having the blanket on most nights, however when I thought about it, actually I’m no longer heating the entire bedroom, or using hot water bottles, and the heat generated is contained within the location it is needed and therefore not wasted. Plus it’s clever and it self-regulates, so it only gets warm when the temperature in that area drops below the temperature setting.
I also got a fleece throw from John’s family which is also electric for when I am in other rooms, again meaning I don’t always need the radiator on when I’m elsewhere.
I don’t know yet if these will make a big difference to our energy use, but it seems a slightly more sensible use of resources!
Where do we waste resources?
The more I thought about this, the more I started considering the times when I do waste resources. For example, when I have a shower I often turn on the shower while I am getting undressed, wasting a good few minutes worth of water and electricity. I often listen to the radio through the TV rather than through the stereo, which uses a lot more power. I’m also quite guilty of buying food and having it go to waste because I don’t use it in time – something which came up in a previous week.
It does make me think back to when I was out in Nepal on my gap year, when water was at times scarce, power was only available occasionally and certainly was not regular, and so much of what we rely on just wasn’t available. My mum recounts that when I came home after four months in Nepal, the first thing I remarked on was how amazing it was to turn on a tap and have an endless supply of fresh water to drink – something I now tend to really take for granted!
I do genuinely believe that if everybody who had the ability to do so was able to really look a their use of resources and consider whether they could cut down in some areas, not only would they save money but perhaps more importantly, our demands on the environment would be significantly lessened.
Are we happy to ‘live in our palace’?
The story of the Buddha tells that he lived a sheltered life, as his father was told when he was born that he would be a great leader, but if he experienced suffering he would become a great ascetic (holy man) – so he actively tried to prevent his son from experiencing suffering by giving him everything he could ever want, and sheltering him within the palace walls from the rest of the world. The Buddha (he was Siddhartha Gautoma at that point) experienced what is known as the ‘four sights’ where he saw sickness, old age and death (the fourth was a holy man, which he saw as a potential way out of suffering) . He was spurred on to leave the palace, to break the bonds of status and material security and become a wandering ascetic.
In time, the suffering of others was to shape his whole life, a life of simple wandering, and of heart to heart communication that moved the poorest and richest alike. And yet this was no life of miserable self-sacrifice, but a liberated life of beauty and bliss.
The material goes on to suggest that many of us in the Western world dwell in a kind of palace, relatively insulated from the kind of poverty and insecurity that affects much of the world. The Buddha felt that to stay in the palace would be a life of limitation, a life not fully lived – are we content with our ‘palace’ lifestyle?
Be the change you want to see in the world …
Ultimately, we can choose how to live our lives. We are for the most part free to decide whether we want to recycle or not, where to shop, what jobs we wish to do. We are incredibly fortunate to have this precious opportunity. We can retreat into our palace, or we can embark on a journey of change. Going forth into homelessness like the Buddha did so many years ago might not be practical for us here and now .. but we can make baby steps towards blurring the boundary walls, and seeing beyond our palace.
Fear of loss, or exciting adventure?
While it is natural to feel loss when we ‘give something up’ we could also flip this around and look at it as an adventure – an opportunity to explore whether we can make a difference and an excitement at what positive things can move into the space we have created. If we are open to the possibility of change, we can make the change, even if we have to start with tiny steps like switching off lights and turning off appliances.
Whatever changes we make, I think it’s important that we really take time to consider what is underpinning them. We are going to try to reduce our electricity and water use primarily as a cost-saving measure, however for me I also see this as a way in reducing the strain I am putting on our constant demand for energy which is naturally exploiting the worlds’ resources – whether that be from coal-fired, nuclear-powered, gas-fired or whatever, it all comes from a power station somewhere. The water comes from a water-course somewhere, and we use an awful lot of it. Every time I water the garden in the summer I am reminded that there are families who walk miles to get the amount of water I use, just to drink.
I often find it overwhelming when I start thinking deeply about all the damage that is being done to the world, the environment, our universe – almost a ‘what can I possibly do that would affect such a huge problem’ … however what I find quite grounding and positive is that if I make an effort to be the change I want to see in the world, somewhere along the line it might just make a difference. Whether that be because we’re using less of the resources and switching to less harmful alternatives, or because through my actions I inspire others to make changes, who inspire others … baby steps turn into giant leaps for mankind 
