We have, over the years, tried to become more considerate consumers. Realizing that materialism and consumer have overcome our society, we wanted to try to go against that grain best we could. But last night, while at the local supermarket obsessing over what coffee to get (since I couldn’t stop at La Prima in the morning), I realized something. We are bobos to some degree. While we don’t dress the part as hippies (or yippies), and we don’t often speak the bobo language, we still are only marginal participants in the ecological movement.

Sure, we succeed in many aspects. We only own one car. I ride my bike to work everyday. We bought an old house in an old neighborhood. We don’t spend much money outside of necessities. But we’re certainly not green. One reason is simple: money. I’d love to buy all my clothes from American Apparel and Patagonia, but realistically, that’s just not an option. $78 for a pair of pants or $15 for a plain white t-shirt also seems a little extravagant to me. So what to do? Is there a middle road to beoming a better consumer? There I was last night, looking at Fair Trade coffee while in a massive supermarket. Did my purchase of 12oz of coffee beans amount to anything more than a drop in the bucket? Was I doing anything more than making myself feel better for buying that coffee, rather than saving myself a few dollars and buying a mass-marketed coffee? It’s not like I was crossing the line of protestors to go to school — this wasn’t some symbol-laden act. We needed coffee.

It’s really a question of finding balance. Unless we become subsistence farmers with no electricity or gas heat, making our own clothes, tools, and pther necessities, we will have to compromise. I ride my bike to work. Great. I save on gas consumption, I don’t put as much pollution into the air. But the process of manufacturing the metals used on my bike is very resource-instensive. We are, of course, told by God to find balance — in Genesis, Adam and Eve were made stewards of creation. They were not told to leave it as is — they could develop it and care for it. So, that’s what we’re left with — finding a way to develop and care for creation in the face of sin. Do we simply pick our battles (drive our car to work, but only buy organic from a co-op)? Do we seek to make as few compromises as possible? Where is the middle?

Posted on 26 January 2005