I’m mentoring a new graduating class of Master Recyclers and in sending out an introductory email, I thought back over the last two in a half years asking myself “what does it all mean and why is it so important?“. It’s not a simple answer… this path I chose and my passion for green living and eco-education. But when I really sit down and think about it, it makes for an interesting story.
Nome, Alaska
Born in Seattle, I moved to Nome, Alaska when I was three years old. For those not familiar with Nome, I sum the town up best by saying “if you don’t think hell freezes over, you’ve never been to Nome, Alaska” (I’m only half joking). It’s desolate, the snow fall’s sideways, and there are no roads in or out. There are also no fast food restaurants, strip malls or movie theaters (at least when I lived there). One of the earliest memories of a toilet I had was of a “destroilet” – a propane fired toilet that literally burns your excrement. Needless to say, for a young girl this was one scary toilet! If you had to go too soon after someone else, you could still see smoldering ”stuff” inside the “bowl”. Luckily, we didn’t live in that house for long, although it was a great house for watching the mushers come in during the Iditarod!
Dried Fish at Camp
We spent summers at our Fish Camp, doing nothing other than fishing. The fish we would catch would hold us over for the other 8 or so months and would be eaten weekly along with Moose which was our staple “dark meat”. I rarely remember eating a typical salad, except for visits back to Seattle to visit with my grandparents, because, well, lettuce doesn’t grow in almost every part of Alaska! Instead, our diet was supplemented with local blue, black and salmon berries, crab in the winter (fresh from the Bering Sea), Tomcod, and the occasional seal and whale (which were treats in our household). You can’t forget the unhealthy fare of Spam, Tang and evaporated or powdered milk. Imagine the cost of fresh milk in Nome after it’s flown from Anchorage – yes, VERY expensive. We resorted to other options that had a longer shelf life and where you got a bigger bang for your buck (thus powdered juice). Nutritious? No. But good to “enhance” a meal none the less!
White Mountain
In the fifth grade I moved to a small Eskimo village seventy-five miles northwest of Nome, White Mountain. We had no running water in this village of two-hundred, but I didn’t seem to notice much. It was sort of like one big Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Winters were filled with recreational activities at the school (which is quite common all throughout Alaska) and the other season, Summer, is spent hunting and fishing to ensure you have enough food for the winter. Us kids would play kick-the-can in the dirt road, followed by hide-and-seek. Or, we’d watch over the younger siblings in the family while our parents were out on their hunting trips.
A friend Crabbing
After that year, I moved back to Seattle to experience “the real world” and a little culture shock. Shortly there after I moved back to Anchorage, but left Alaska for good in 2001. Having always lived in what I called “the Northwest”, I tried living in Phoenix for several years, but I felt like a fish out of water. Really, what is a girl from Alaska doing in the desert? The dirty, dusty big city where pretty much nothing but peppers, tomatoes and citrus are grown locally. In the summer, it’s so hot you’d suffocate in your car if you didn’t have air conditioning. And the water?! Don’t dare drink it before any type of filtration, and the fact that it comes from Colorado! Everyone “worships the sun” (artificially or otherwise) and is a blonde out of the bottle (okay, not everyone, but you catch my drift). The only positives about Phoenix was it didn’t have any natural disasters – which for those that know me is a strange phobia I have (and here I am in the Northwest) and I made some great friends while I was there. Otherwise, the five years I was there felt like ten!
Traditional Eskimo Food
I now call Portland my home, where it will be for many more years to come. In looking back throughout my life and getting back to the question “what does it all mean and why is it so important?” you have to know my life story (or at least the little bits I’ve shared). When I left Phoenix I felt I put something on hold. Apartments don’t participate in city-wide recycling programs, but I still did my part and took my recyclables to a designated location. And composting? Forget about it! Although I was doing what I could, I felt I, personally, wasn’t stepping up to the plate. I felt that I was taking out more resources than I was giving back. I was heavily involved as a model, not really a “green-living” lifestyle (think of all the shopping, driving and toxic beauty products I was using). I told myself when I moved to Portland, I was going to go through some major lifestyle changes. And I did.
Berry Comb with Alaskan Blueberries
But it wasn’t just about those years in Phoenix. It was about going back to basics. Remembering Fish Camp in Alaska and spending my childhood without McDonalds. Playing in the tundra and looking forward to berry picking, because in my opinion, there’s nothing better than an Alaskan blueberry picked fresh and eaten without having to worry about washing it. I was unknowingly getting all the omega-3 fatty acids a person could ask for (and other vital nutrients) just by eating off the land! The only people I know who do this are my friends and family who still live there! It’s important because it was a part of my childhood, to not have every plastic, BPA-ridden toy shoved in my face. I didn’t need it – I had the abundance and beauty of the largest backyard a kid could ever ask for.
I do what I do because I’m concerned about the health of our environment, the food we eat and our resources. I read article after article talking about a shrinking food system in the Arctic and it hits too close to home. I listen to presentations where I learn that Nome is one of the most toxic towns in Alaska because of toxic dumping and it makes me sad. Sad to know and now understand these things are probably the root of unexplained medical conditions. I feel the rage that our lands aren’t protected enough, that GMO foods are introduced too easily and I, personally, am not given a say in the matter. So, I do what I can. One step at a time and continue to fight for what I believe in. Voting with my dollar, encouraging, educating and empowering.
Me volunteering with my worm bin at Food Front in Portland
So why Portland, why now? Portland has all the same qualities of Alaska but with seasons and it’s on the mainland. Moving here seemed like a very natural progression for me. Imagine how ecstatic I was to learn I could take classes to be a Master Recycler! To some this may seem boring, but not this Green Eco Chick! The city breathes green living with it’s robust recycling programs and resources and love for the environment. It’s a treehugger’s dream all the while you can still “keep it weird” (as the bumper stickers say). Farmers Markets galore with local farms easily a fifty-mile radius, if you can tolerate the winter rain, who wouldn’t want to live here? In fact, I find most Alaskans who do leave end up here. It just has that rustic, flannel wearing vibe to it (albeit a little trendier). So, green loving Portland is home, where it will be for some time to come.
As I look back over the last two in a half years, as being a Master Recycler, sharing my passion and knowledge and hopefully a little wisdom, these are the stories that fuel my ambition to continue to do more. Not just as a Master Recycler, but as an Alaskan, as a North-westerner, and someone who genuinely cares about the world in which I live.
