By Nelson Rios

I’m admittedly old enough to remember when gas cost a pair of dimes per gallon. We would collect pocket change, buy fifty-cents worth and cruise around all evening. Today, with gas on Orcas approaching $5.00 per gallon, and soon perhaps even more, times have changed but customs and habits have not. What we need is a paradigm shift in how we live on this island in the midst of an energy crisis and at the onset of an environmental catastrophe.

For example, I do as most of you do, and self-haul by driving to the “recycle” center to fulfill my green-earth responsibility and, presumably, save a landfill from my paper, plastic, metal and glass waste. As I do so, I watch as resident after resident drives in to do the same. I am guesstimating that each of us will make, on average, a 12-16 mile round-trip to help save the earth. But in doing so, we have each burned almost one gallon of very pricey, very polluting gasoline or diesel. We are doing today what Orcas residents decades earlier did — before gas was astronomical in price and even more astronomical in the political cost we have to pay to satisfy our energy needs; and, before we were aware of the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels.

But wait! Could there be a paradigm shift in how we approach this situation?

Could we have several “recycle” centers strategically placed to minimize the distances driven? Could we even have a truck or two pick up recyclable material as well as garbage at multiple depots around Orcas? Should these and other options have been a part of the trash and recycling debate recently concluded on Orcas (and elsewhere in the County)? Apparently not, as the considerations and decisions by the County Council failed to envision beyond the immediate future, and thus failed to consider many broader aspects of the trash and recycling situation. This appears to be another squandered opportunity that suggests a lack of foresight.

I also wonder about my even more frequent trips to the post office to check mail and to deliver outgoing mail. Although we have several of these facilities scattered about, unfortunately for me it is still a nine mile round trip or, at my current vehicle’s mileage, about a $2.50 trip. And woe be me if I get there late in the afternoon — a closed counter and no stamps in sight, not even a stamp dispensing machine. When I raised this matter with neighbors and asked them to consider petitioning for mail delivery, most thought it was quaint and traditional to go regularly to the post office, and objected to changing this cultural norm. Perhaps custom might triumph over logic when the cost was just a pair of dimes and the notions of carbon footprint and global warming were unheard. But today, what is needed is another paradigm shift in thinking, not just to save some coins, but to begin to help our planet recover and to (oh-so-slowly) begin to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, especially the imported variety.

And don’t get me started on what it takes to go grocery shopping. Anyone thought about a grocery delivery service? Or, establishing another full-service grocery outside of Eastsound? Or, what about another service station at the landing or Deer Harbor or Olga? Growth? Perhaps, so. Planned? Yes. Needed? Definitely.

Before I get lectured, I know I need a more fuel-efficient vehicle (but just imagine taking all your recycling and garbage in a miniscule Smart car). I know I need to plan trips with multiple purposes. I know I need to carpool with neighbors to the recycle center, or to Eastsound to buy groceries. I know, and, for the most part, I try. More often than not, however, I am told I should just accept how things are done on the island. I know all this, but what I know even more is that the times have changed, and so too must the way we live on this Emerald Isle. Because, “that’s the way it is done here” is not an answer, it’s just an excuse. Reevaluating how things are done on Orcas is not just an exercise, it’s a responsibility.

A pair of dimes does not get us very much today. And neither do many of the old paradigms. What is the difference between a pair of dimes and paradigms? A whole lot more than just how they are spelled.

Nelson Rios has had an extensive career in local government and in the non-profit sector, addressing societal issues. His prior political interest and involvement have included local and statewide political campaigns in Virginia.

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