Saving the earth by... throwing money at it?

I was walking out of the Takoma metro station around 7:30 PM a few nights ago. I'd quit aikido early, because I didn't have the energy or the focus to swing a big wooden sword with 30 other people in the same room. I patted myself on the back for having discretion, trying not to feel too lame for needing additional energy and focus at 23 years old, and headed for home.

In a city where it's polite not to meet anyone in the eyes, I still can't break my habit of watching faces. (Not that I want to.) In North Carolina, it was fairly common to greet a stranger in passing, and I miss it. Not in DC. So I should have known better when I looked around for friendly faces, and I found one -- the face of a young woman, maybe my age. I was happy until I noticed that the face was attached to a body that was attached to a clipboard.

Oh, s***. She's canvassing.

I wavered in my path, maybe trying to decide if I should swerve, but the damage was done because we'd made eye contact. "Ma'am, do you feel strongly about environmental laws?"

Oh, well. Environment. And also, she called me "ma'am," which won my favor immediately. Last week, the security guard at work, after studying my ID badge, said "thank you, sir." I went up to my desk, fuming that I hadn't thought to stare him dead in the face and say, "uh, do you even LOOK at this thing?! How many GUYS named EMILY do you know?!"

I try not to get upset, because it happens more than I like, but come on. Just because my boobs aren't popping out of my shirt doesn't mean I'm a man.

Oh, anyway. This canvasser chick. We chatted for awhile, she said she was from the League of Conservation Voters, and did I know that blah blah blah was doing blah blah blah bad thing in congress and blah blah we need some money to fight the bad guys.

I made a good effort to listen, but all I could think of was how broken our government is. I'd read an Ansel Adams quote that day, something to the effect of "it's horrifying that we have to fight our government to save the environment." It's true, because our representatives (and I use that term loosely) are too busy pushing legislature for their big corporate friends to really represent us -- even if they wanted to.

Pushing that thought aside for another day, I stared down at the clipboard she'd pushed into my arms while she was doing her spiel. I was hoping to find written-down information of some sort, because my brain was already tired and it likes when things are visual. No such luck. There was some sort of laminated, generic fact-sheet, behind which were papers with peoples' credit card numbers.

Keep in mind that I had already made up my mind not to give her anything -- I donated to some charities for the homeless earlier this month, so I was off the hook for a little while, at least to myself. She tried her first appeal for money, which is the "monthly contributor" plea. I said, sorry, I can't do that, don't make a whole lot of money right now. (Which I don't. I get a cost-of-living stipend and a commuting stipend, and that's it. I've got savings, but that's for... saving.)

She tried her second appeal: that's okay, you can do a one-time donation. I said, sorry, not today. I need to go read some stuff on your website, do some research first. Her first response was, oh, I know everything that you'll find on the website. The second response was, you can't become a monthly contributor on the website.

What a drag.

I told her I was tired and I couldn't possibly focus enough to concentrate on what she was saying, but that I would read the website. I wished her good luck.

And it felt really weird to walk away from someone working on environmental issues. But that's what I did. Honestly, I'm glad that I did, for a few reasons.

1. There's no guarantee that she won't do something dishonest with my credit card number, or steal my money.
2. There's no guarantee that my donation will support what she says it's supporting.
3. I'm not donating if I don't know the organization well, and I don't know the League well, apart from the name. I need to know what they do; they might do stuff I'm not cool with. For example, I think it's great that Greenpeace works so hard to get out the environmental message, but I don't think I want to support them breaking into Mount Rushmore.
4. Generally, canvassers are very passionate about the issues they work for, but the other part of the incentive is the commission they get for each donation. I can't trust someone who's got a personal financial stake in my donation. Maybe you can.
5. I'm not sure how much I believe we can solve our environmental problems by becoming embroiled in political battles. If I give money, I want it going to tree planting or educating the public.
6. I don't think canvassers are educating the public. People know the environment is going down the tank, and they know that life is brutal on capitol hill. Educating the public, to me, would be more like engaging people in conversations about what they can do in their own lives, and why they should do it. What a canvasser does is begging for money, not public education.

I'm really glad that people feel so moved that they will canvass. It's a really hard job with a high turnover rate. I guess I'd just feel differently if I thought they were actually doing anything for the environment. Obviously, I understand that the political side is important, and there are folks who will donate to those causes -- I'm just not one of them.