What Is Adaptation, Anyway?

Last December, I wrote a post about adaptation, and subsequently realized that I hadn't given many of you an adequate enough primer explaining what adaptation is, exactly. So, for this month's Green Mom's Carnival hosted by the Not Quite Crunchy Parent about global warming, I'm going to put on my teaching hat and try and explain a little what we mean when we talk about adaptation.

Basically, when we discuss climate change, there are two main points to look at: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation focuses on reducing carbon emissions and stabilizing the carbon content of the atmosphere. When we talk about reducing our carbon footprint, we're dealing with mitigation. Mitigation is probably what most people are familiar with because that's what is talked about the most.

Adaptation is talked about a lot less, for several reasons, but it is just as, or perhaps more important than mitigation. Basically, adaptation focuses on reducing vulnerability to climate change. Now, most people, when they think about adaptation, think about engineering and technological solutions to reduce vulnerability: stuff like sea walls, or better levees. This is certainly part of adaptation. But not all adaptation is technological. Adaptation might involve planting less water intense crops in a region vulnerable to drought. Or it might involve developing evacuation strategies in the event of a hurricane. In the third world, adaptation often runs concurrently with development. The idea is, the more developed a nation becomes, the less vulnerable its people are. The more we promote third world development, the more likely those nations will be able to weather climate change successfully.

Basically, say you are reducing your use of electricity because you want to lower your carbon footprint. In that case, you would be practicing mitigation. But let's see you want to reduce your use of electricity because you are worried that in the future you won't have ready access to electricity due to peak oil. Then you would be practicing adaptation.

On a global scale, adaptation is becoming increasingly important for a variety of reasons. One, because climate change is no longer a future occurrence. It's already happening in many parts of the world, and thus, people are already having to learn how to adapt. Two, because the stigma towards adaptation is luckily dying. Believe it or not, environmentalists, including Al Gore, used to think that if we talked about adapting to global warming, people would just forget about mitigation. Thus, adaptation was seen as something not to be discussed. Luckily, everyone has kind of come to their senses and people now realize that adaptation and mitigation can be pursued together.

All right, that's my basic introduction. Does anyone have any questions?

The Diversity of Voices in the Blogosphere

To continue our discussion from the past few days, today I wanted to talk about a comment that Going Green Mama left and that she then explored further on her blog. She wrote:

So, Erin, here's the question. Is the housewife/green theme on many of these blogs a result of peer pressure or because the working mom who's trying to incorporate some of these changes just doesn't have enough hours in the day to blog about it?

It's a good question. And I think that while I had sort of assumed that the focus on DIY was somewhat a result of peer pressure, I think Erin makes a good point that perhaps, the focus on DIY makes sense when you consider that a lot of eco-bloggers are SAHMs.

Now, I hope I was clear in my initial post, but just in case I wasn't, I'm going to be completely clear right now. I don't think there is anything wrong with a woman wanting to stay at home with her children, and wanting to make her own jam, or can her own vegetables, or grow her own garden or anything like that. I don't think any of them women whose blogs I read daily are some sort of affront to feminism. I don't think they're being brainwashed with the patriarchy. I think it's great that we do have choices in this day and age, and frankly, I think we all have to individually make the choices that are best for *us* and, wouldn't it be nice if we could do that without everyone else judging those choices?

(Although, with regard to choices, Abbie makes a good point that we actually don't all have choices, which is true. She can't give up work, and frankly, nor can I. I have to support myself, even if I didn't want to, I don't actually have a choice. But the point remains that we do have *more* choices than many other generations. Even a generation ago, I would have had little choice about getting married. At a certain point, if I weren't married, I would have simply had an arranged marriage. But now, I have the choice not to do that. So while I may not have a choice right now in terms of supporting myself, I do think I have way more choice in my life than Indian women did 50-100 years ago.)

Now, for whatever reason, it happens that a lot of eco-bloggers are SAHMs. And as Erin pointed out, if you are a family living off of one pay-check, then paying $8 for a jar of jam doesn't make sense. And yes, I really did pay $8 for my jam when I lived in LA. I'm not just making up numbers in case you were curious. ;)

On the other hand, if you're me, and you live alone, and there is no one with whom to divide work (but also no one other than myself to spend money on), it might make more sense to just buy the $8 jam. There's also an eco-efficiency of scale that you lose when you're making jam for one, so honestly, I think that for me, the most eco-solution probably is to just buy my jam at the farmer's market.

I guess the truth of the matter is,  we write about our personal experiences, and what we know. Given that SAHMs represent a large portion of the eco-blogosphere, it's probably not surprising that DIY is a big component of the eco-blogs.

But I do think it's also important to remember that we're not all alike, and that's okay. It's okay for us all to follow different paths. And that's something that I have to remind myself. 

Feminism and the Environment: Continued

Wow! A lot of people had some really great things to say about this topic the other day, and frankly, I'm super jet-lagged, so I'm going to let you guys do more of the talking.

I think there are a couple points that came up that are pretty valid that I'll try to discuss over the next couple days:

1) It's okay if work gets distributed along gender lines, so long as both parties are doing roughly equal work.

One of the actually kinda cool things about living alone, is that by necessity, you end up doing both the traditionally "male" and traditionally "female" work. I've cleaned the toilet, and I've also been responsible for unclogging it. I've set up my electronic systems, and decipher strange Swedish diagrams to put my furniture together. I research my own mutual funds, and I do my own taxes. These are all things that my dad was responsible for when I was growing up ... actually I'm not sure he would have ever unclogged a toilet! But he did everything else. And now I know how to do all of that. Do I love doing all that stuff? Not always, but I do value the fact that I can do all those things on my own, just as I value that I do know how to cook, even if I don't really enjoy it.

So it occurs to me that actually the trend towards delaying marriage may be the best thing that has ever happened to our society. Because, frankly, most of my guy friends know how to cook and clean for similar reasons ... there was a long length of time where they lived alone or with other guy roommates before they moved in with their girlfriends.

Anyway, like I said, I do it "all." I mean, I clearly don't do it all, as I let a lot go and pay for other stuff (like meals a lot of the time), but there is no work split on gender lines. Any work in my household is probably done by me. So there's no real question of anyone doing an unequal share of work.

But when you are in a relationship, it's easy to fall into unequal work patterns. It's also easy to perceive unequal work patterns where one doesn't exist, because it's much easier to comprehend the work you're putting in for the household versus someone else.

In my personal experience, with my parents work was split generally along gender lines and I think my mom did end up doing more work than my dad. However, in previous relationship history, work was probably fairly equally split (and not along traditional gender lines), though I think we both often perceived ourselves to be doing more work than the other!

Now, most data still suggests that maybe household work isn't coming out roughly equal in the wash, and that women tend to put in more work in the household than men. Even when those women have a full time job. Do you think that data is valid? Do you see that manifesting in your life? Do you think it manifests in your friends and neighbors?

And if women do put in more time into the household, how much of that is self-imposed? Do we feel the need to have a cleaner house than men do? Do we feel the need to cook more complicated meals when a simple one would suffice? And if we do have higher standards, is it really fair to expect someone else to meet them?

Are The Feminist Movement and The Personal Environmentalism Movement Compatible?

It's the night before I fly back to London, and I should be ... doing any number of things. Sleep comes to mind.

But I can't sleep right now, because I'm a little riled up. See, I've been following Crunchy's excellent discussion regarding Depletion and Abundance, and today's discussion topic delved into the subject of domestic work.

I haven't read Depletion and Abundance, so I don't mean this to be a critique of the book one way or the other. Instead I want to specifically talk about the feminist movement and whether or not it can be compatible with personal environmentalism.

Because, see, here's the thing. Unlike a lot of eco-bloggers, and unlike a lot of my readers, I hate all kinds of domestic work. And yes, this includes cooking.

Oh, I'll do it. I've cooked three course meals. I've made homemade butter and homemade jam. But frankly? If I had to cook for myself every day of the week, I'd shoot myself. My dream life involves having my own chef and maid and gardener. And maybe my own personal butler who would feed me hand-peeled grapes. Given this, I tend to resent it when it is suggested to me, that, oh! but cooking and canning your own food is so much fun! And so rewarding! And you should totally make all your own tomato sauce, because, AWESOME!!

Um, how about, instead, I don't. And I let you make your own tomato sauce because *you* enjoy it, and then I buy some off you instead, because, yes, I would prefer to spend more money on a jar of tomato sauce, than make my own. Yes I would.

The problem is, all this cooking and canning and pickling and storing, not to mention all the line-drying and non-toxic cleaning, and non-toxic child rearing, generally falls to the woman in the relationship. I know there are exceptions. But in most of the blogs I read, it's the woman who is doing the bulk of the domestic work. Sometimes, they continue to do the bulk of the domestic work even when they have a job that is just as demanding as their husband's.

Now, maybe the women who do this work do it because they enjoy it. And if so, then, more power to you, sister! I salute you. But I think a lot of women don't enjoy said domestic tasks. But, because we live in this Martha Stewart-obsessed culture, we are told that a) we are wrong for not enjoying scrubbing toilets or baking cookies and b) that we should just suck it up, and domesticate.

As a result, a lot of women live with a lot of guilt. Guilt that is compounded by every freaking eco-blogger touting do it yourself laundry detergent! and do it yourself soap! and do it yourself jam! and do it yourself ... you get the picture.

And at its core, we're not seriously addressing the gender inequities that result in one person doing all the canning and cooking and cleaning while the other gets to enjoy the perfectly canned fruits.

The truth is, we're never going to address gender imbalance when one set of people, largely women, are consistently being told "you should enjoy cooking and cleaning, and if you don't, you're not feminine." Or that if you don't enjoy making organic baby food from scratch you're not a good mom. Because the truth is, you can be a good woman, and you can be a good mom even if you would rather pay a service to wash your baby's organic cloth diapers. Or you would rather buy $8 jam from the farmers' market. Or you think that if the toilet only gets cleaned once a month ... well, no one will die.

So let's not claim to tell people what they will or will not enjoy, or how they should spend their time. Instead, let's try to get people to do what they actually *do* enjoy. For me, that might mean that I would rather get a paid job in the workforce than stay at home. And maybe that would mean that I would use my money to then pay someone who would rather stay home for their homemade jam. Because in the end, my paying someone else for homemade organic local jam benefits the environment, benefits feminism, and freaking benefits me. And all of you. Because all y'all don't want to be near me when I'm cranky. /End rant.

New Year, New APLS Carnival

The first APLS topic of 2009 is up! Go check it out, and get your posts in by Jan 19th!!

To Sleep Perchance To Dream

I can't sleep and it's becoming a problem.

Seriously, I don't remember the last time I slept through the night. And I would blame it on time zone shifts except that I wasn't able to sleep properly the last two weeks I was in London either.

I've never been a very good sleeper, and I have suffered bouts of insomnia before, but this is so prolonged that I'm starting to go insane.

I am not a big believer in medicating myself (I'm not Tom Cruise, I don't care if you take meds, I just mean for myself personally) so I haven't ever tried sleeping pills, and I'm loathe to start. Especially because I'm afraid if I take sleeping pills, I'll get addicted and unable to sleep without them.

BUT. I do need something. So, anyone have any good tips on how to cure insomnia naturally?

I just really, really want to sleep through the night.

Happy New Year!

I kinda can't believe it's January 1st, 2009.

Seriously. Where did 2008 GO?

Luckily, I have a blog, so I can tell you that I spent 2008 giving up toilet paper, grieving the loss of one of my best friends, learning to make butter, taking public transit to work, enjoying the farmers' market with my girl friends, celebrating the last birthday of my twenties for a whole month, becoming a pseudo-freegan, completing my one year of non-consumerism, leaving my beloved Los Angeles, traveling through India, moving to London, voting for Obama, and writing paper after paper after paper.

Not bad for one year.

It's a little amazing to me how much my life has changed in the past one year. I'm honestly not sure where the next year will take me, but I am realizing that right now, the ends are not as important to me and I am just enjoying the journey that is life.

However, there are a few things I hope to accomplish this year. Resolutions, goals whatever, you call them.

1) I hope to write my dissertation, and graduate. And then, ya know, get a job-like thing. You know, one of those things where people pay you to do work? Instead of you paying someone so you can work harder than you've ever worked?

2) I want to do some freelance writing, and start to write more for other blogs/publications/etc.

3) I want to sing more. After two months of choir, I realize how much I've missed it these ten years. I'd love to take voice lessons, but that would probably require that job-like thing.

4) I also want to learn guitar. This one has been on my "resolutions" list for years now, but now the pressure is really on because learning guitar is also on my list of things to do before I turn 30. It was an extremely short list, and I've actually accomplished everything else: I wrote a novel and I'm learning Spanish. Guitar was the third thing on the list, and the only outstanding item. Of course, I sold my guitar when I left LA, so this would require buying another guitar in London, and then finding a cheap teacher ....

5) I want to explore Europe/the UK/London more. I have to be honest. I spent *a lot* of time these past two months getting to know the library very well. And that's great, and I'm proud of myself for working hard in my classes, but it's getting a little embarrassing how little I've explored London. And frankly, when else am I going to get such a good chance to go to York? Or to Brighton? Or to Nice? Or Dublin? Or Copenhagen? Or Berlin? So as much as I love the library (and I actually do ADORE our library) I need to find a balance that allows me to see the world around me just a tad as well.

I think five is probably more goals than I can handle, so I'll stop there. 

What about all y'all? What are your goals for the next year?