Tiny Choices Survey: Maggie S.!
By tinychoices | November 14, 2008
Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
Maggie S., 29, Seattle WA, http://www.mizrobot.livejournal.com
How do you reside (apartment or house, roommates)
I live in a 550sf one-bedroom apartment by myself.
Are your housing decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Definitely by choice. I enjoy living by myself and sacrifice on space and perhaps niceness to be able to afford to live by myself in the city center. I feel very lucky to have my own little pad!
How do you travel (transit, car, etc)?
Mostly by foot! I don’t have a car. I gave it up a few years ago and don’t miss it too much. My boyfriend has one so he shuttles me around occasionally. I’ve been walking to work for about three years now and I love it! Even in the rain, it is the lowest-stress way to travel, I think. I take the bus occasionally but my company doesn’t provide a bus pass so it’s too expensive to take frequently. I am a Zip-Car member but haven’t actually used it yet—my first experiment will be this weekend.
Are your travel decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Partially by choice and partially by necessity. I chose to give up on my car after it died, but that choice was partially dictated by the fact that I couldn’t afford to get it fixed or buy a new one! But I also choose to live and work in the city so that I don’t HAVE to drive. Sure, I could probably afford a much more spacious pad up north, but then I’d be spending all my time in a soul-sucking commute. When I was looking for a new job recently, a priority was for the company to be within walking distance, which is easy to do in small Seattle. As more and more people wise up to this way of living though, rents go up and it becomes more difficult for people who can’t afford the million dollar in-city condos.
Tell us about a Tiny Choice you’ve made in your life.
Using organic/biodegradable/homemade cleaning products. The dish soaps and laundry detergents aren’t much more expensive and since I use vinegar and cheapo Bon Ami as my main housecleaning products, it probably comes out as a wash!
What is the one environmental dilemma you personally struggle the most with?
Probably being a consumer and wanting lots of cheap goods like clothes and shoes. I try not to go shopping so much, but then I get jealous of people who have cute new clothes all the time.
What is one Tiny Choice you can make in that direction?
Thrift store shopping. I was an expert in it when I was younger but it takes a lot of dedication and I got lazy. I’m also trying to get into the habit of buying one nice, high-quality clothing item that will last awhile rather than a bunch of cheap ones that will fall apart after one season.
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you make that people question (in either a positive educational or a negative hassle way)
Actually, a lot of people think it’s weird that I walk to work. I think maybe walking frequently is not part of American culture, particularly on the car-centric West Coast. Also, people make fun of me for washing and reusing Ziploc bags and but that is mostly driven by my cheapness. Come on, they are still good!
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you would like every single person to adopt?
I think everyone should try re-usable bags at the grocery store. The city council recently voted to adopt a fee for grocery bags to encourage people to bring their own, and folks FREAKED OUT and now it’s being put on the ballot next year at a cost of who knows how much. People seem to think free plastic bags are an unalienable right. I bought some Envirosax a year or so ago and while I admit to buying them purely as a green gesture, I’ve found that they have really improved my life! Turns out it is way easier to carry one big bag over my shoulder on my walk home from the store rather than three or four dinky plastic bags that will probably rip, or a paper bag that will get soaked in the rain. Everyone should try them before they complain.
Do you feel like you make sacrifices for environmentalism? Please explain.
No way. I’ve found that the choices I’ve made for the sake of being “green” usually improve my life. See my example of the Envirosax above. I’ve spent the past few years consciously paring down my belongings and simplifying my life, and the more I do it, the happier I feel. Every time something breaks in my house, like my car or my TV, I question whether I need a new one and try living without it for awhile. If I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it. Usually I don’t miss it. The benefits of my lifestyle were evident when I was laid off recently. Even though my unemployment insurance was a fraction of my salary, I was still able to cover all my bills and vital expenses. The environmental benefits are icing on the cake.
Are you generally: optimistic, pessimistic, neutral about environmentalism and the future?
I feel sort of pessimistic these days. I feel like a lot of my environmental choices were usually driven by my financial situation rather than my desire to save the planet—like getting rid of my car, or living close to downtown so I could be near everything. But now that being green is hip, it seems like it is becoming the domain of the wealthy. High-priced luxury condos use the fact that you can “leave your car at home!” as a selling point. I’m worried that someday I’ll be priced out of the city and have to start driving because transit is not very good in Seattle yet. Also it seems like a lot of the solutions people are coming up with in terms of our energy consumption are still very focused on keeping people in their cars and all the cheap goods coming, and I think we need a more radical approach.
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Maggie sez: “I think we need a more radical approach”
As they say in South Florida: BINGO
Wow, great survey and wonderful photo of you, Maggie! I miss walking to work so much. Glad to see you enjoying it!