Our View of Beauty

Our problem with the environment is, in part, caused by our view of beauty. In ways, what we see beautiful in the public eye comes from a time about 60 years ago. A time where lawns were green, manicured, and lined with a white picket fence. Everyone’s car was shiny for their drive to work and everyone’s flowerbeds were evenly spaced. It sounds nice, and if I lived in that time, I would probably be an advocate of that lifestyle.

But we are not living in that time. We are living in a time where our very environment is threatened by choices we make. Small engine yard devices, like lawn mowers and hedge trimmers, have been reported to pollute as much as a car driven 700 kilometers in one hour of operation. Do we really need that perfectly mowed lawn? Individually, this may not seem to be that much, but as a country this is a whole lot of unneeded emissions. It’s funny, when our government was figuring out how and if it could meet our Kyoto requirements it never considered things like this. They could not imagine asking people not to mow. They were looking for big, uncomfortable, and costly solutions instead.

I read an article yesterday that illustrated this concept nicely. It was about several families that had decided to dry their clothes on a clothes line instead of in a dryer at their residences in the suburbs. Well, this had many neighbors very upset. They found the clothes lines aesthetically displeasing – or in other words ‘ugly’. They wanted laws enacted to prevent clothes lines, etc. This is counter productive to the situation we are in. These people were trying to save electricity by not using their dryer (the green angle was shown in the article). It’s a good idea – why waste energy doing what the sun will do for you. But the neighbors are stuck in an antiquated and dangerous idea of beauty. I have seen similar articles about those who install solar panels: ‘They are an eyesore’, etc.

We need to redefine our view of beautiful. Why is it that we can see the beauty in the wild grasses on an alpine meadow but not in our neighbor’s un-mowed yard? They are essentially the same thing. Why is it that the sail of a sailboat is pleasing to see, yet your neighbors white blouse drying on a line in their yard is ‘disgusting? Why is it that the reflection of the sun off a cool mountain lake is breath taking, but the same reflection off a solar panel array is ‘Hideous’? The reason is simple…we have antiquated ideas about what beauty is in our public spaces. If we shift our views on beauty, we can shift our habits to the positive for our country and our planet. Let us see our neighbors’ un-mowed lawn as that alpine meadow and cherish it! Let us praise the dandelion on his lawn as a badge of being chemical free! Let us see that clothesline as the billowing white sails of progress! Let us honour that solar panel as a gleaming symbol of independence! Let us imagine a whole land where we are proud of our public spaces that look like alpine meadows.

‘But!’ you might be asking ‘What can be done in government to help in this effort’. Other than education, we can look at each new law and make certain that no law favors Aesthetics over Environment and Conservation. We can look at old laws that violate this and repeal them. It’s that simple. We need to bolster national pride in these things. In 50 years, history will judge which countries made the change elegantly to a sustainable future and which were dragged kicking and screaming. My Canada, the Canada I love, and the Canada I wish for, will be the leader in these efforts showing clear vision and wisdom.

Let’s start it here in British Columbia Southern Interior!

Let’s be the change Canada needs!