Analogies: Ultralight Philosophy

I used to do a fair bit of backpacking, starting when I was a kid when we had these large, metal frames that you just tied everything to and it all hung off your back. When I got older the packs got better and the gear got smaller and you could fit most of your stuff inside (though the whole thing was still just nylon covering up a big metal frame). At some point I discovered the ultralight backpacking movement and the simple idea made so much sense: make everything lighter and it will be easy to carry and the experience will be better. Who could argue with that?

At first it was easy to do: replace my 7 pound heavy-duty backpack with a 3 pound midsize model. Replace my 5 pound solo tent with a 2 pound bivy sack. Lighter sleeping bag, sleeping pad, cook stove; fewer clothes and no luxury items (no books!). It didn't take much to cut my base weight in half. Backpacking became easier. I could go farther into the backcountry with less effort and enjoy myself more. But could I do even better?

I started visiting lightweight backpacking forums and reading about cutting weight as a philosophy (or religion, the way some folks talked about it). It became clear that if you really wanted to minimize your load you needed to obsess over every ounce. People talked about making their own stoves out of recycled soda cans to save a couple ounces. Cutting the handle off their toothbrushes to save half an ounce. Even removing tags from clothing which saved so little weight it couldn't be measured. I started down the path and cut a couple more pounds off my base weight in a quest for the ultimate goal: an under-10-poung base weight.

But then I realized something. I didn't actually notice much difference between a 10-pound base weight and a 12-pound base weight. If I cut the handle off my toothbrush it made brushing my teeth messy and annoying. If I cut the tags off my clothing I would save less weight than the dirt that gathered on my shoes during a day's hiking. And most importantly, if I spent all my time obsessing about weight I didn't spend my time planning and enjoying my trips.

So I started adding weight. Not much, but just the things that were important to me and made my experience more pleasurable. A real toothbrush. A stove that was easy to use and required no maintenance. A book - maybe two! I was still a lightweight backpacker but I wasn't a zealot. By making the changes that saved the most weight - the big-ticket items - I made a significant difference without too much inconvenience, but at some point the changes had very minor effects on my goal (less weight) but greatly diminished my enjoyment of the activity.

This idea can be applied in many ways but I see it as most important when discussing climate change and what we, as individuals, can do to help fight it. A lot of people obsess over small details (plastic straws and food wrappers) without considering the big-ticket items. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, start by finding out how much carbon you create in various aspects of your life - a good place to start is the UN carbon footprint calculator: https://offset.climateneutralnow.org/. If you're composting your food, that's great, but if you fly to Europe for a vacation you've burned through more carbon than a thousand years of composting will save. Start by reducing the largest sources of emissions: drive less (or electric), fly less, eat less meat and more local foods. Sure, shop with reusable bags and buy bulk if it works for you, but don't inconvenience yourself over ounces before you cut down on the pounds.

It's okay to release some carbon into the environment - your personal actions aren't going to destroy the world, neither are they going to save it. Do what you can, do the big things first, and realize the only effective solutions to the problem writ large need to come from large organizations (nation-states, corporations, societies), so maybe spend a little more time and effort to put people into power who will make the necessary changes there. Voting Democratic and encouraging others to do the same is a more significant contribution in the fight to stop climate change than any individual action you can take.