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This has been the summer of the Eco-Hobo, living on the road without a place to call home, spreading the green gospel. Just our Honda and a tent, that’s all we needed as we journeyed 12,000 miles from Texas to California, Colorado to New York, and back again to Austin and the Hundred Acre Wood.
Without an apartment or an electric bill, I felt liberated, free from all the energy needs and waste production of typical American life. Yet, filling up at hundreds of gas stations, charging up laptops everyday at cafes, and choosing between mini-mart corn syrup and fast food tyrants, was I really reducing my impact? Flash back to apartment life in North Austin. Three-star energy rating. Thermostat set at 66 in the winter, 78 for the rest of the year. Energy-saving appliances. No TV. A very minimalist approach, yet still reliant upon a green-washed consumerism that many activists condemn as bourgeois placation that supports the very corporate kings we need to disarm. When my lease ran out, I packed and took to the road yet found ourselves beholden to same energy tyrants we were fleeing. Every 200 miles, whose poison will you choose? BP—certainly not. Chevron? Shell? Do you pay the thief or the burglar to keep your car running? We may have not had an electric bill, we certainly used our share, charging laptops and phones in cafes. Cranking the A/C through New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Food was no different; sometimes it was either Waffle Shop or Burger King. “Do y’all compost?” Water—the same situation. Using a friend’s outdated washer. Flushing old five gallon bowls in rest stops. We may not have been paying, but we were using just as much water and electricity and guzzling gasoline to boot. What does this mean? Is a car as energy intensive as a small apartment? Are we always at the whims of fossil fuel fools and ignorant capitalists? Dependence is an important word to think about. As an Eco-Hobo, I felt free from the designs and machinations of corporate consumer living, yet this feeling turns out to be more of a state of denial then an escape from energy consumption and waste production. There is much we can do to minimize our impact and reduce our waste on the road. We can puzzle this riddle of car vs. apartment in infinite ways. For now, let’s just say it’s good to be back at the Wood. Last update: September 30, 2010
09:15 am
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