See What’s Out There

I am on the Board of Directors of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps and one issue we have been talking about is keeping alumni involved in social action after they have left the formal program. We will actually be presenting at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Philadelphia in July this year on issues of how the new web tools and video can help service organizations recruit and fundraise and keep their alumni involved.

Rachel Chertok, the National Director for Alumni and Leadership Development at AVODAH pointed out that one issue she faces is what I call the “shadow of the uber-activist.” There are people out there who seem to do everything. They buy all the “right” products, they live in the dark, using solar energy, they take a shower in the water they used to brush their teeth and they show up to every rally and march while blogging about it and raising money for saving the orphans in eastern Africa while sipping their organic Chai (soy) latte from an independent coffee shop. And the normal people think, “I’m no activist! I can’t keep up with that.”

Rachel and I have been talking about ways to demonstrate that there are many ways to get involved and approach issues. There is no right or wrong way, and our goal is to get people to understand that doing something is better than nothing at all and that they shouldn’t be so hard on themselves. There is a dynamic which makes it easier for people to do nothing rather than feel inadequate.

What reminded me of this was a story in today’s Times about dirt floors, or “earthen floors” as they are called. You can take some mud, sand and stuff, pour it on your floor, smooth it out, let it dry (for about a month) and seal it with wax. Why? Not sure. But this is an environmental thing, and from the photos they actually look quite stunning.

The couple [installing the floor] are part of a new breed of environmentally conscious homeowners who are willing to forgo traditional floorings like hardwood, carpeting and concrete for the supposed benefits of earthen floors: a reduction in heating costs and environmental impact and, at least in the eyes of some, an improvement in looks.

So it looks good. But…

But lest anyone get the wrong impression, dirt is neither easy nor trouble-free — nor is it entirely practical, as women who wear pointy four-inch heels will find. In a lot of places, the dirt often “cracks horrendously,” said Bill Steen, a natural builder in Elgin, Ariz., because “they just pound it into place.” Mr. Steen and his wife, Athena Swentzell Steen, have led an effort to modernize the techniques, adding sand and fiber in carefully calibrated amounts to control cracking.

So, to each their own. And if this is something that helps save some trees, then more power to it. But I couldn’t help thinking what a crazy country we live in, with people buying giant TVs and having cosmetic surgery and all kinds of wacky consumption and the voyeurism of reality TV… and dirt floors too. Danny just got back with a crew from three trips for the American Jewish World Service, to India, El Salvador and Uganda. In these countries a lot of people have dirt floors also.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Nonprofits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.