Raise Your Glass

Champagne! by maiptitfleur

Before you read any further I’d like to invite you to grab a glass and pour in some liquid you love – organic wine, bubbly, tap water, freshly squeezed lemonade, anything you like.

I’d now like you to raise your glass to real people, sharing real stories, and bringing about realistic change. People much like you.  Or, if you prefer, you can wait just a bit to raise your glass until you know what I’m talking about.

Pedal Powered Change

This post is my contribution to sustainablog’s Pedal-a-Watt Powered Blogathon this weekend. The long-running green blog (and new green shopping site) is publishing for 24 hours straight to raise funds for the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Northeastern Missouri.

We All Love a Good Story

Jeff over at sustainablog asked me to write about “Radical Sustainability, Ordinary People“. To me this is what eco-blogs and eco-bloggers are all about.

Every news producer knows the power of human interest stories. A real story is often enough to keep you watching through almost thirty minutes of TV news just to get to the personal story at the end, the story they teased you with right at the beginning, along with the sensational disaster stuff.

Is it a Real Story?

Seemingly, somewhere deep in our psyche is a belief that there’s something out there we’re missing, a secret we’re not party to, a way to do things better, with less effort, some kind of everyday miracle, the secret to being our very best person, the closeted hero we’re longing to be, for whom anything is possible.

And that “real life” story in the news just might hold the key, so we’ve got to keep watching. But the trouble with TV news is that it only tells part of the story, it’s not really real.

Real Heroes are Really Human

And we’re all too willing to believe any story of someone who fits the hero mold and is extraordinary, beyond human even. Yet, at the same time, I know I’ve longed to hear real stories, of real people, making real change, in their own communities.

Eco-bloggers are ordinary people doing remarkable things in their own back yards and inspiring others to do the same. They’re not edited by someone else, they’re not cut down to soundbites:

• Crunchy Chicken is prepared to freeze her buns, but she failed at no-poo. She gives you the whole story.
• Peak Oil Hausfrau cooks in her solar oven, but she also admits to driving a car, and she gets really frustrated when she can’t get her message across – when someone just doesn’t get peak oil.
• The Green Family are a true inspiration with their zero waste, but they also get sad when they lose a pet, and they don’t pretend to have a daughter who has eschewed all material possessions in some strangely inhuman fashion.
• And No Impact Man even had grief from his wife, who just didn’t buy into his plan for a No Impact Lifestyle at first.

And, yes, I do sometimes think all of the above people can be extreme. It’s hard to live that kind of commitment without it becoming consuming. But the point is they are real people, raising kids, showing us what is possible. And that’s what Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is also about, real people, finding real solutions and sharing them.

So, if you didn’t already, please raise your glass to ordinary people like you doing remarkable things. Thank you for what you do Jeff at sustainablog; I’m sending a big green hug to all the eco-bloggers and everyone they inspire. Keep doing what you do. You are making a difference.

Now, go join the fun at sustainablog’s Pedal-a-Watt Powered Blogathon: read post contributions from around the green blogosphere, leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for some great green prizes (including kids books provided by me, Alison), and join in the Tweetchat at #susbppb.

Related posts:

1. Tuesday – Green Bloggers
2. Douglas Tallamy and the Spun Glass Slug Caterpillar
3. Green Change