No More Paper Planes

Hello world,

I'm Philip Angelides and I've just started my Lived Ethics project for my Environmental Ethics class at CC. For a long time I've thought about how my own environmental values matched up to how I actually live my life. Cutting down on showers, paper and plastic use, and other things should be part of how I live, but, sadly, I still print out a lot of paper and do engage in unhealthy environmental practices sometimes. Why is there a disconnect between my values and how I actually live my life? That is precisely what I plan to explore during these next two and a half weeks.

In my project I plan to severely limit the use of paper plates, plastic and paper cups, plastic forks and knives, and printer paper. “No More Paper Planes” is what I like to call the project because no longer will I waste paper products (and plastic too) in lavish and unnecessary ways. This project has two parts: limiting the waste of my eating habits and also limiting my paper use for academic reasons.

The first part of this project will try to change my eating habits so I can become a more sustainable CC student. I intend to bring my own plate, cup/Nalgene bottle, and knife and fork in my backpack for all my meals. This project will replace the use of the wax-lined paper cups (at Benjis, for example), the paper plates that the food is put on, and the plastic forks and knifes. By doing this I will cut down on my own impact on trash production and get a step closer to being a sustainable eater/consumer. As time goes on I will record how many plates, eating utensils, and cups are saved and try to assess the environmental impact.

This project, however, extends further than myself. This project will attempt to bring others to follow my course of action. Because we are such a tight knit community and because every way we change our life can change the lives around us, I hope to bring a similar change in environmental practices to my friends and those around me. To bring more people closer to their own environmental values would not only help the world and bring benefits to the agent themselves, but it would also bring them closer to the community and allow for what Terry Tempest Williams calls “enlivened citizenship.” She writes, “We have a history of bravery in this nation and we must call it forward now. Our future is guaranteed only by the degree of our personal involvement and commitment to an inclusive justice." Only by bringing in others into projects to save our environment can we be able to have a more complete notion of democracy and citizenship at CC and the rest of the world. By coming to CC I willfully accepted my role as a CC citizen and I feel it is my duty to not only take from this school, but also be able to prevent my impact from being wholly negative. The first step in this process will be to limit my negative carbon footprint and limit my trash production.

The second part of the project will attempt to limit my paper use for academic reasons. I plan to do the reading for this class, as well as for other purposes, solely off of my computer. This will not only save a lot of paper, but it will make me more sustainable in the long run and make me have to only use paper sparingly. Like the other part of the project, I intend to rub off this practice on my friends; I do, however, anticipate a little more resistance on this part. As environmental virtue ethicists might argue, people who engage in environmentally virtuous practices can be a model for future action, change, and participation by others. I hope to use my own project to influence others to change their ways and, by extension, do the same for their friends. Only when we include and cooperate with others on similar community goals can we take the steps necessary to make our community better as a whole.

I plan to take this project step by step to get closer to my own environmental values. This has to do not only with my past and how I plan to correct the err in my ways, but it is also about how I plan to live and work in the future. I plan to work at Green America this summer and will work with National Geographic to try to force them (and other heavy paper users) to switch their magazine paper over to post-consumer paper. Because of this upcoming summer job I feel it is pretty imperative that I become closer to my environmental values about paper. When I graduate, as well, I want to know that my future living and eating practices will be more sustainable. This Lived Ethics project can be that first stepping stone for actually practicing my own environmental beliefs.

It is day one of “No More Paper Planes” and I’m excited to see how it goes. Peace out world,

-Philip Angelides

Terry Tempest Williams quotes come from:

Williams, Terry Tempest. "Engagement." Orion Magazine, July-August 2004.
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/143/.