Ho Ho Ho It’s a Christmas Rant!

Saffron tea and cake at the wonderful Abbasi hotel in Esfahan, Iran. October 2015

Armenian church, Esfahan, Iran. October 2015

“My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been,” Diane Arbus said, and I completely agree: It’s the best and most thrilling experience to discover a place for the first time! And when you’re even paid to do so — not surprisingly, I am more convinced than ever that I have the best job in the world!

This was also the year of binge documentary watching. Documentaries about how horrible we’re treating this planet, I should add. From “Just Eat It” to “Life Without Plastic” to “Cowspiracy:” I devoured them all.

I’ve been struggling with eco-guilt for a long time (and rightly so, living an average Western European consumer’s life). This year especially, I am so depressed about global warming: Yes, this summer was great, and yes, I loved it too. But we’ve never had this many heatwaves before, and even now, as I’m writing these lines at the end of December, it’s ten degrees outside. When you walk through the streets here in Zurich, you see plants in bloom and butterflies. This is the warmest Christmas I’ve ever encountered in my thirty-six years. As kids, we used to take a walk in the snow before opening presents on Christmas Eve. Now we’re lucky if it rains every once in a while. It’s depressing the hell out of me.

I’m a vegetarian, I compost, I don’t own a car and use public transportation wherever possible. But still, the more I flew around and consumed food wrapped in plastic this year, the bigger my eco-guilt became, so that I’ve recently introduced a few changes in my everyday life to alleviate some of it. It’s small, it’s baby steps, but hey! Everyone can do something! I think it’s time we all get our priorities straight.

After witnessing this harrowing scene in Luanda, and having just come back from a trip to the desert where I drank water from countless plastic bottles, I vowed to never buy a plastic bottle ever again. So far, I’ve been successful, apart from a short trip within Iran where the tap water tasted like it came straight from the toilet. It’s not hard to carry a stainless steel bottle and fill it up with tap water wherever you go, to bring your containers to the market and to take out food, to buy dry goods, vinegar, oils etc. in bulk to save on the packaging. It’s so much fun to go to the farmers’ market once a week and stock up on local and seasonal vegetables and fruit, instead of shopping at Coop (= a Swiss supermarket chain).

Coop regularly throws out their still perfectly fine produce to make room for unripe fruits and vegetables instead of giving the “old” ones away for a discount. When I witnessed one of their early morning dumping sessions the other day, I walked away knowing that this had been the last time I shopped at a big store. There are plenty of Turkish shops around my house that sell their old produce for cheap instead of throwing it out. Plus, a company who composes an embarrassing nature rap to sell organic products, yet does absolutely nothing to prevent foodwaste, is schizophrenic and unethical. They don’t deserve our money.

I also decided not to buy any more stuff, at all. It was relieving: I have enough cameras, clothes, books, furniture, everything, and I don’t want any more shit! No more walking down the aisles at Zara buying yet another grey sweater. No more pondering whether I’m in the mood for a soy chai latte every time I walk by a Starbucks because I won’t use any disposable cups or single-use items ever again. I will also take trains to places that are attainable by train, such as London, Hamburg or Brussels, instead of flying there just out of convenience. All of these measures are easy, for me at least, and I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to do all of the above.

So, with these deep eco-logical thoughts, waving with my re-usable bottle, clutching my yute bags, I am bidding all of you adieu for this year: Have a wonderful Christmas time! And see you all in 2016!