On the planet, and soap.

One of the great things about this semester is that I am so much better for the planet--rather, less horrid for it--here in Cameroon than I am in the United States.

You can't open a paper these days without reading something about carbon emissions and global warming and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad consequences that our lifestyle has for Mother Earth. The article often includes a token list of ways to reduce your eco footprint, many of which miss the point. Sure, you should buy a hybrid car if you're replacing your current one anyway, but hello? Consumerism is no solution for carbon emissions. But, that's the United States for you.

Here's a novel idea for reducing your carbon emissions: move to an undeveloped country!

Living in Cameroon has made me realize how much superfluous stuff we have in the U.S., and that all of it harms the planet (and me) to at least a small extent.

Here is a list of the electrical appliances that I use daily, or at least regularly, in my real life in the U.S. Bold denotes the appliances that I know to be particularly coal-consuming.

• Alarm clock + radio
• Hair dryer
• Straight iron/curling iron
• Coffee maker
• Toaster
• Microwave
• Electric stove/oven
• TV + DVD player
• Laptop
• Printers
  
• Speakers
• Cell phone charger
• Camera charger
• iPod charger
• Overhead lights
  
• Lamps
• Iron
• Space heaters
• Water heater
• Washer
• Dryer
• Central heat/air conditioning
• Elevators/escalators
• Automatic doors
• Stop lights
• Street lights
  

I could probably go on, and I could probably also make a list of all the plastics, non-recyclables and styrofoam I use.

In Cameroon, I use:

• Flourescent overhead lights (no lamps, no incandescent bulbs)
• TV
• Electric kettle
• Cell phone charger
• Camera charger
• iPod charger
• Iron
• Fans

And I don't really miss the others. My happiness would benefit from air conditioning and a washing machine, and I prefer lamp light to overhead lights, and I do wish that Yaoundé had street lights to prevent disasters such as falling in ditches...But the point is, I can totally live without all the electric stuff we think we need in America.

In Cameroon, I never drive, and to get anywhere, I use a share taxi. Granted, the air quality in Yaoundé sucks because the cars have no Clean Air Act emission standards, but at least there are wayyy fewer cars on the road. Rather than driving myself alone, I share a ride with strangers. This is less efficient than buses, I suppose, but far less heinous than the American phenomenon of sitting in traffic by yourself.

In Cameroon, nearly everything I eat is locally grown. I buy a few packaged foods (corn flakes, oatmeal, Nescafé) that are shipped to Cameroon, but eggs, fruits and vegetables, and meats are all grown here in Cameroon. (Cameroon is supposedly about the size of California, to give you an idea of scale. That's not very far for food to travel.)

The one thing I do regularly in the U.S. that I can't do in Cameroon is to recycle. Yaoundé's municipal trash system is worthless, so recycling is clearly not a priority. It really bothers me to throw away paper, and it bothers me how wasteful it is that I have to drink bottled water.

Also, Cameroonians are all about superfluous bagging. At the bakery, for example, each item receives a small baggie, all of which are put into one big plastic bag. Not necessary. And they always tie the tops so tight that you have to tear the bag open and can't reuse it, as we do for trash and dog poop in the U.S.

But, plastic bottles are recycled on a micro-level: people refill them with palm oil to sell in the markets, among other things. And, most beverages come only in glass bottles, almost all of which get returned to the brasserie, washed out and refilled. The United States really needs this system, which is even more efficient than recycling.

Since the water is ice-cold, my showers rarely last more than about four minutes. I use multiple buckets full of water to hand-wash all of my laundry, but I could use much less if I could get over being so obsessive compulsive about a clean rinse.

Living in Cameroon has also made me think the superfluous substances we use.

By "substances," I mean food--I'm going to freak out about the proponderance of salad dressings, cereals and teas the first time I go to an American supermarket--but mainly to the feats of chemical engineering that we take for granted.

In the U.S., I use different soaps for my hair, body, hands, dishes, clothes, and household. In Cameroon, these soaps are availible, but people generally use a basic bar of soap (that's an icky color and kind of smells like a urinal cake...) for their bodies, dishes and housecleaning.

Now, I wouldn't want to use color-safe bleach on my body, nor moisturizing soap on my dishes, but it makes me wonder: how many potentially cancerous, water supply-damaging substances do I use every single day? And how many of them do I really need? Zero.

Don't even get me started on artificial flavorings.