[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img]I can hardly think of anything more overblown and uninteresting than President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. With the peanut gallery overcome with hysteria and the floor littered with broken hearts torn from chests – where’s Campaign Obama, people ask? Where are the accomplishments? — it seems like there’s nothing else of any importance going on in the world.

But this isn’t going to be another column about Obama. As far as this whole nonsense is concerned, it’s merely a revelation of what we already know. Obama’s supporters are disappointed with how slowly change is coming to the issues they care about, and his critics see in this yet another reinforcement of their (ir)rationale for hostility. Whoopty-do. Maybe there’s something to the symbolism of the Peace Prize, an expression that the world will finally achieve a lasting peace in its most troubled regions. Or maybe, like most symbols, it is ephemeral. Either way, a symbol is just that: a symbol. Not an action, not even a philosophy — a sign whose strength depends entirely on the audience. That silly business of awarding a peace prize to Obama may reflect on what he has so far (ahem) accomplished as President as well as his road map, but above all it speaks to the fact that if Obama hasn’t done anything for peace, then neither has anyone else. Two words, borrowed from the vernacular, sum up peace in the world: Epic. Fail.

Small Gestures, Big Accomplishments 

So if we’re not going to talk about Obama, what shall we talk about? We could talk about how Columbus Day yesterday was an entirely inappropriate holiday, not only because it gave banks yet another excuse to avoid work, but because the man himself embodied genocidal colonialism. And the Vikings probably reached America before he did.

Or we could talk about the slow-motion death of the economy, along with zombie globalization. But while on the topic of accomplishing something, maybe it’s better to talk about tangible little things we can do to make the world better. I read in Mother Jones, for example, about Fiji Water – how it brings money to a military dictatorship, how it uses more plastic than the average water bottle, how locals don’t have access to clean drinking water, how the company benefits from tax havens…With a challenge to global water resources brought on by a variety of intersection factors such as population growth, agriculture, climate change and pollution, the very idea that something so precious to all life – water – is commoditized and privatized so a relative few can make a profit is especially outrageous. But cutting out not only Fiji Water but all bottled water would reduce plastic waste and the energy costs associates with manufacturing the bottles in the first place. It would also allow people, and not corporations, to take control and responsibility for their water resources.

As an alternative, you could trust in the public water supply, which is far more regulated than the private water industry. If that doesn’t wet your whistle, you can always install a water purification system. To carry the water, a reusable stainless steel water bottle will cut down on trash…and keep your water fresher, too. Another small but effective gesture: canvas shopping bags. According to Heal the Bay, “Almost all of the 600 [plastic] bags used in California per second are discarded. Once discarded, they either enter our landfills or our marine ecosystem.” It requires thousands of barrels of oil per day to manufacture plastic bags, along with other energy costs. And to dispose of them? The state spends $25 million to landfill plastic bags thrown out in the trash. With plastic bags and objects making their way into the storm drains and marine environments, “Styrofoam and plastic bags (which resemble jelly fish or sponges) are mistaken for food or prey by seabirds, marine mammals, fish, and sea turtles. In general, plastic harms hundreds of wildlife species, some of which are threatened or endangered species. Currently, 86 percent of all known species of sea turtles have had reported problems of entanglement or ingestion of marine debris.” By using canvas shopping bags – reusable, inexpensive, efficient – we can save on energy costs, put less material in landfills, and help keep our marine ecosystems healthy for animals and humans alike. So while we’re fretting about symbols and who is accomplishing what and when, it’s worth considering how small concrete gestures – like using canvas bags and avoiding bottled water – can go a long way towards effecting change.

Frédérik invites you to discuss this week’s column at his blog, www.inkandashes.net.