Tiny Choices Survey: Mallory!
By tinychoices | May 22, 2009
Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
Mallory, 25, New Orleans, Louisiana, MissMalaprop.com
How do you reside (apartment or house, roommates)? Are your housing decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
My boyfriend David and I just moved into a newly remodeled eco-friendly apartment in April. It’s an older house that was originally a double shotgun, like many houses in New Orleans. The building still has two separate apartments now, but our side is larger — we have one whole side of the house and then the back part of the other side. The building flooded during Hurricane Katrina, so the owner has been slowly renovating things since then, and decided to make as many eco-friendly rebuilding choices as possible. There’s a solar hot water system, lots of insulation (which is uncommon in most older buildings in this city), double-paned windows, low-VOC interior paint, recycled pine floors in one room and corn-based carpet in another… The exterior paint has some special additive developed by NASA to reflect heat and help keep the house cool. All of the appliances are brand new and energy efficient, including these awesome Mitsubishi air conditioning units. We’ve also got a big yard that we share with our neighbor, where we both have vegetable gardens. In the long run, we’d love to own a place like this, but for now, this is the next best thing.
How do you travel (transit, car, etc)? Are your travel decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
David and I share my car, which I currently use to drive to work and for errands, and he uses when he needs the space to lug around film equipment. (He’s a freelance filmmaker for a living) He also has a motorcycle, which he uses to get around most of the time. I want to ride my bike to work more, but it’s a little difficult down here in the summer — it’s already nearly 80 degrees when I head to work each morning. I wish New Orleans had a more reliable public transit system, as I hate driving anyway, but unfortunately it’s pretty lacking.
Tell us about a Tiny Choice you’ve made in your life.
I try to be more mindful of reading ingredient labels on everything now. I keep little cheat sheets in my wallet about what chemicals to avoid and what seafood options are sustainable. (That last one is important since we’re pretty much pescatarian at my house — seafood and veggies only, though I will occasionally eat chicken or beef at a restaurant.) I think educating yourself and being mindful about your purchases and your daily activities is the best Tiny Choice you can make. It’s not something you can tackle all at once, but each little bit adds up.
What is the one environmental dilemma you personally struggle the most with?
Even when I was little, I dreamed of having a store and selling a mix of things - vintage and handmade clothing from around the world. The idea of what I would fill the store with has changed slightly, but the dream is still there. I’d love to open a boutique/gallery one day specializing in modern handmade goods and sustainbly made products. Right now I already write a blog promoting these types of products. As much as I see this as a good thing in many ways, I still struggle with the fact that our current consumer culture is probably the biggest threat we have to the environment. It’s hard for me to imagine everyone in the world completely ceasing to buy and trade things though, and I think that encouraging people to make better choices when they do buy is still something we need to strive for. I hope that by writing about better alternatives and one day selling them, I can educate people about solutions that are already out there.
What is one Tiny Choice you can make in that direction?
When I do open my store one day, I’d really like to focus on making it as locally focused as possible. I would want to support local artists as much as possible, but I’d also like to find ways to use the space for more than just buying and selling. I’d love to have a place where I could host events and classes, and encourage discussion among the local community about how to work towards environmental and social change.
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you make that people question (in either a positive educational or a negative hassle way) you the most about?
I think the most curiosity has come when I mention that I use reusable menstrual pads. Guys don’t want to hear about it, which is understandable I guess, but some of my female friends seem grossed out by it too. But others are really curious and want to know more. I’ve had friends over for parties, and somehow we’ve gotten onto the topic and they’ve asked about it and I’ll just show them what I use. It’s something I’m pretty passionate about because I feel like it was a great decision for me to switch, both from a personal health standpoint as well as an environmental one.
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you would like every single person to adopt? Carrying a reusable bag with you is just so easy to do, I don’t understand why more people aren’t doing it. The canvas bags can be bulky, sure, but there are so many versions that fold up really small — Envirosax is my personal favorite — that it’s easy to keep a few in your purse or car at all times.
Do you feel like you make sacrifices for environmentalism? Please explain.
Sometimes the guilt complex hits and I don’t feel like I sacrifice enough (maybe I should give up beef entirely, but I eat it very rarely and I really do enjoy a good steak every once in awhile…), but overall I feel like anything I do isn’t a sacrifice, because it makes me healthier and happier and it’s contributing to the greater good.
Are you generally: optimistic, pessimistic, neutral about environmentalism and the future?
I have my pessimistic moments, definitely, but generally I’m a pretty optimistic person. I tend to believe that most people are good at heart, albeit selfish by human nature. I think the most effective way of getting people to make changes is to make them realize how something benefits or affects them directly. I’ve always been an environmentalist on some level, but what really re-ignited my passion for it was when I started realizing how many chemicals we’re surrounded with and putting into and on our bodies every day. When I realized that my long-term personal health was so at risk, that’s when I really became serious about trying to make choices that are better for me AND the planet.
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Topics: Surveys |
[…] bread was rumored (on Facebook) to be sinful. As I recall, Mark was the one doing the rumoring Tiny Choices Survey: Mallory! - tinychoices.com 05/22/2009 Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)? Mallory, […]
[…] was interviewed on Tiny Choices yesterday! I’ve been a fan of their blog for a long time, and I’m so glad to finally be […]
Just stumbed on this blog via Miss Malaprop. Great interview, thought provoking.
thanks!