Laura and her family (both as a child and as an adult) lived a very simple life, close to the Earth. They raised their own food, built their own things, and reused whatever they could. But they did not shy away from technology and advancements in many cases, either. Laura was allowed to buy name cards, and she spent her own money on pretty hats and clothing. Pa may have turned his nose up at threshing machines, but Almanzo sure didn’t. The elder Wilders owned a car and traveled long-distance several times.
We talk a lot these days about things like “eating locally” and “carbon footprints”, hearkening to days when people did eat food grown close to home and did not belch so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere just to live their lives. But just how “green” was Laura’s lifestyle? And how “green” would she be if she were somehow lifted out of DeSmet as a teen or young adult and planted into 2013? (For the sake of simplicity, let’s just focus on Laura around the 1880s.)
Certainly, I believe that even a modern Laura would have an extensive garden, if not a small farm. She’d raise chickens for both eggs and meat, and she would get virtually all of her vegetables from her own garden. Modern Laura would be a model for eating locally, as well as using as much as possible without wasting. She’d have a compost pile. What she didn’t reuse, she certainly would recycle.
I bet Ma and Pa would have kept the thermostat on their heating system turned pretty low in the winter. With the scarcity of wood in South Dakota, I imagine they would rely on the modern comforts of gas or electric heating, just as most households do in this country. The Ingalls family might have admired geothermal heating, but I doubt they could afford to install it. I wouldn’t rule out a solar panel on their roof, but even those cost some money to install. Turning down the thermostat to something in the mid-60s is how they would save money on energy costs.
But Laura was one for the occasional shiny gadgets. Her 1880s name cards and autograph books become the modern iPhone and Facebook page. Her schoolgirl slate becomes a laptop computer, and she’d spend hours researching, studying, and writing reports, even when she occasionally posted on Ida’s Facebook wall about getting together with Mary Power and Minnie over the weekend. She might even text Mary once or twice, though Ma might take away her phone until her homework was complete. Of course, all of these modern comforts require electricity to produce and ship, let alone to use, and electricity for energy is the biggest way that we modern folks are putting extra carbon dioxide up in the air.
Wouldn’t those cutter rides really just become modern cruising in a car? Almanzo might really have a nice “pony” … a shiny, well-waxed classic car that has been carefully restored and meticulously kept. Buggy rides to the lakes might turn into car rides out to see the sights and visit some places that were just far away enough to be out of the parents’ watchful eyes. With a car instead of a buggy, the couple could venture farther than just the Twin Lakes. They could drive over to those distant Wessington Hills, or maybe just down to Sioux Falls to hang out at Falls Park. It takes a lot of food and energy to keep livestock, but all of those weekend car trips certainly add carbon dioxide to the air.
I ran Laura’s lifestyle through one of the many carbon dioxide footprint calculators available online (The Nature Conservancy’s Free Carbon Dioxide Footprint Calculator, but there are dozens of others). Laura’s footprint of 17 was below the average U.S. person at 27, thanks to savings on home and water heating, eating organically and only occasionally meat, and recycling and composting.
How do you score? At 27, I matched the national average. My energy efficiency at home (we set the thermostat at 62 in the winter and use energy efficient appliances) was not enough to offset my travel habits or the fact that I don’t compost. You’ve got me beat, Laura! Now, what can I do to reduce my footprint? Who wants to visit and help me start a compost pile? 🙂