Pseudo Eco-Chic

Rachel and I have been going Trap shooting lately. It’s a whole ton of fun and I’m not that bad at it. The first time I went I hit 9 out of 25. Last time I hit 20 out of 25. That’s a 44% gain in just one week. If I keep gains like this up Ill be on the Olympic team by next year. I was just saying to Rachel as we were watching this year’s Olympics that I wish there was something that I could do to get in the games that is easy. I want to be an Olympian but I don’t really want to get in shape. I think skeet shooting might be it. Not that it’s that easy, but lets face it, it’s no 400-meter dash. I’m never going to do that. I’m never going to be a long jumper or a swimmer either. Skeet and trap shooting require almost no physical prowess. Perfect. Who am I kidding; I’ll never be an Olympian unless they decide to put competitive Google searching in there. ‘Caus let me tell you; I can out Google search anyone I know. Need to find something online? Just let me know.

I shoot with an old Winchester model 12 shotgun. Actually, its my dad’s old Winchester model 12 and it was my great grandfathers. It’s a no-nonsense, working gun. And guess what? After doing a little Google searching I found a website with all the serial numbers for these guns, and this one was made in 1915. 1915! Almost 100 years old and it works just like the day it was new. I just shot 50 rounds through it last weekend without a singe jam or misfire. This got me thinking. Will any of the stuff I have and use right now be around and useful 100 years from now? Probably not. I think maybe my Volvo but that because old Volvos are like cockroaches. They never die. You know how people say that after the nuclear fallout all that will be left is Twinkies and cockroaches? Well, they forgot Volvo 240s. But that doesn’t count because it to was made 27 years ago. Will any of my iThingies or made in china Swedish furniture still be here when I’m dead and gone? Not likely. I have a kitchen table that I bought when I moved up to Walla Walla from an antique store there that came out of the 1913 sears catalogue. Also 100 years old and also still works flawlessly for its intended purpose. You have to understand that these things were not “high end” when they were new 100 years ago. They were cheap and affordable for the working class. The model 12 was a gun that was marketed towards men who could only afford one gun, and it went on to tame the American west. You know where you buy cheap working class things now? Wal-Mart. Is there anything at Wal-Mart that will be around in even 10 years from now let alone 100? Maybe only Twinkies. 

I really have no point to this particular rant other than we need to start thinking about where our things come from and what they are made out of. I have always been a quality over quantity guy and I think that if we are going to move forward as a world community that we will all have to be. If you buy a quality product the first time then you wont have to buy it again and again every time it breaks, and that’s just economical as well as eco-friendly. I think sustainability needs to move from buying NEW eco friendly products to buying OLD already manufactures thing like my Volvo or the model 12 shotgun and use them! They already exist so your carbon footprint stays low; no manufacturing pollution. If its one thing I hate is this pseudo eco-chic Bulls**t that seems to be everywhere these days. You see all these Hipster wannabes driving around a brand new Prius with paper Starbucks coffee cups, and leather jackets made out of baby calves talking about how eco friendly they are because they shop at whole foods. It’s fake. If you really want to make a difference, reuse the things that already exist. Anyway I’m done. I actually don’t care, do what you want.