1) Purchase re-usable cloth type bags to carry groceries home. To be effective this will require some planning. Pick a day to do a major shopping trip and remember to actually bring the bags. A backpack is also a good idea, but try fitting a weeks worth of food in it - you can only carry so much. In Sydney there has been an on going campaign to use "Go Green" bags to reduce waste of plastic bags. In the US we could do this to reduce use of both plastic and paper. The bags cost a dollar and proceeds go to an environmental fund. Yeah, it is a bit of a trendy was to be green - people flaunt their bags like bling and I'm sure a lot of people who buy the bags drive in rather than walk or take public transport, but it is about small steps and making cultural change so that the next, more difficult step only seems only marginally harder to make. I worked in the grocery business for years. It is quite amazing to see how much paper and plastic (pallets!) goes into the simple task of bagging up groceries when there is a completely impact-free method of doing this. I like Ireland's take on this: 5 cent bag tax if you don't bring your own.
2) Buy organic. This is easy to do in theory but difficult in practice for a couple of reasons. First, not every store has an organic section or even organic products (this is quickly changing!) So basic access to organic food might not even exist via the market. Second, if that market access exists, price may be a barrier to making the switch. Organic food can be anywhere from 25-100% more expensive than non-organic. Can you take that kind of hit to your grocery bill? I make an attempt to buy it when I can but having been a backpacker for the last couple years makes it difficult. In my view the benefits of buying organic ultimately compensate when price isn't an issue. For one, the food tastes better. Have a sandwich with organic bread, tomatoes, etc or use org. eggs in cooking or organic fruit and meat and the difference is immediately noticeable. Tastes are stronger and more distinct. Secondly, based on my initial research into organic farming, and actually having worked on one, I am fairly confident in saying that these farmers are more likely to practice crop rotation, soil/water conservation, sustainable agriculture, permaculture and holistic farm management than non-organic, green revolution era corporate farms. What does all this mean? Mechanisation will be less likely to be used - reduced diesel for farm output. Pesticides and artificial fertilizers won't be used, preserving the natural soil balance of nitrates and reducing demand for natural gas that goes into the fertiliser. These are just a few of the pros to organic farming; it is too vast to list all!
3) Start a compost heap to reduce waste output. This is directed at the home owners out there. For those with flats or are renters there are alternatives. Set aside a small part of your yard and construct a small box to start. Have a quick look on the internet to see what makes a good compost pile (Wikipedia!). Where I lived in Sydney, free classes on home composting where offered through local environmental agencies, so I've no doubt something similar is offered where you live. An important reminder: it is not an outdoor garbage can! Incorrect setup and poor maintenance can lead to an increase in greenhouse gases. It is very rare that waste inputs can be turned into useful outputs; it's why I like this idea so much. A decent pile will create a fair bit of "black gold" and you can use it in conjunction with #6. For those without yards, volunteer a couple hours each week at a local urban garden or greenspace. If you don't have one, organise with a council, parkboard or other authority to start a new project on unused land.
4) Don't use the dryer. Invest in a clothes drying rack or put up a clothes line outside. During the winter when I lived in London, we would use the house radiators to dry out clothes, though for most of us this is only practical in the summer months. Either way, taking a major appliance out of use will reduce electricity consumption during the peak summer months when the cost of electricity is highest, cutting down your utilities. I don't want to hear the groans about how air dryed clothes are too stiff and abrasive - you'll get used to it ya pansies! 10 minutes after you put your clothes on they are soft. There is no reason for a machine to artificially (wastefully?) dry your clothes when nature can do it for free. Call it solar power.
5) Turn off your computer! Do not put it on stand by or leave it on over night. A computer/monitor can cost $25/month to run nonstop. A home PC probably won't be used more than 8 hours each day - usually less - so save yourself $96/year and click 'Start Menu' ---> 'Shut Down' ---> 'OK.' Do this at work too. As computers get faster, power usage will only increase. I remember buying 250W power supplies a few years ago. These days they are closer to 550W/600W!
6) Start a garden. With all the nutrient rich compost you have been churning out, put some of it to good use in your own garden. Easy and useful things to grow include potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, raspberries, herbs. If you live in Iowa you might even have corn growing back there too, no matter whether you live in the city limits! You have the major ingredients to stews, curries and pasta sauces in your back yard, not to mention the fresh factor. No tomato in the grocery store is naturally ripened the way it is in your garden. Even by growing just a few of your own foods, you are reducing your dependence on logistics chains thousands of miles long. What you can't do with #6, carry on to #7.
7) Buy Locally! As in, utilise the farmers market. Buy fruit and veg, meat, fish and dairy and other products from your state or region rather than from the other side of the world (Vietnamese cashews, Nicaraguan bananas) or even the other side of the country if you live in a big one. I'm not sure whether petrol that is used in the transportation of food is classified as an industrial/commercial or personal transport purpose, but no matter. Transporting food for long distances requires huge amounts of fossil fuel inputs. In theory, reducing demand for things that travel along shipping or trucking lanes that are thousands of miles long should reduce the use of diesel. Ultimately, as global oil production declines, economies will have to localise anyways so you might as well get used to it now. Ones food miles will be forced into reduction. In fact, us northerners may well be USC when it comes to wintertime food. Canned, jams, conserves and preserves to the rescue.
8) Switch to halogen light bulbs. This is probably one of the easiest ways to reduce a) your energy bill b) your light bulbs bill and c) your eco print and personal chunk of greenhouse gases (it's not that light bulbs individually take up lots of power, but rather that we leave them on unnecessarily for long periods of time). Al Gore was recently infront of the U.S. congress giving an address on greenhouse gases, global warming and the like and rightly proposed the banning of incandescent bulbs. These are the traditional type that give off that soft, yellow glow we all grew up with. Example #1 of what we grow up with will not be what we live with in the future (the recency effect - it was this way yesterday, it will be the same tomorrow). OK, maybe example #2, after petrol prices. Incandescents produce far too much heat along with light given the amount of energy used (watts to lumens) compared with more efficient halogens. Of course, just buying and installing these is only the first step. Other actions go hand in hand with more efficient devices. Technology will not be the silver bullet of our plight (and neither will the supply side Jesus!). General conservation is will become a way of life no matter how far technology advances. The mantra will always exist: technology is not a substitute for energy.
which is a great segue for #9!
9) Conservation. Lots of ideas, both good and bad, come to mind when people hear this word: tree huggers, hippies, environmentalists, political suicide, activists, why bother? why me? pointless, asinine, etc. In the near future we will need to begin a concerted effort of conservation on a grand scale. Fact is, we cannot continue with our Western lifestyle. I would argue that the US (or at least the English speaking countries) is the envy of most of the developing nations. People from those countries see how we live, and they want to match (surpass, most likely) our way of life. Look at China and India with the demand soaring for cars as an example. As the global leader of extravagant lifestyles, we probably have a moral responsibility to lead the way in reducing our energy consumption via conservation.
A lot of the other ways to reduce your eco print already listed are a way of conserving energy (#'s 4, 5 and 8), but my idea of conservation goes further. We have to start thinking more about need versus want in all of our everyday actions right up to the grand scheme of things. For example, do I need or want to drive 6 blocks to the grocery store for a couple of things. Or, do I need or want to have the A/C or heating on today. I believe if we give a little more though to this concept we can change our resource consumption patters and still not suffer any sort of decrease to creature comforts and standards of living - Europe is able to! This is a population that has similar or even higher standards of living than us in the U.S. yet consume less oil/fossil fuels, water and other natural resources per capita (Richard Heinberg in his book Powerdown, and my own personal experience). I have my own disconnect between what I believe are necessary steps for the world to take and how I am living my life at the moment. Do I need or want to live around the world, flying from place to place (28 times in the last 18 months) and touring for extended periods of time, doing things that no doubt harm the environment? This is certainly a want - yet there are those who would not recognise this. Not because the are unable to but because they simply don't bother.
10) You, your mind and your creativity. I've come up with a few things here, and will no doubt continue coming up with new ideas and setting new goals for myself to use less energy. This year I want to take fewer flights, for example. I saw in a book store recently a title 500 Ways to Save the World or something like that, a lot of them having to do with conserving energy. Come up with a couple of easy changes to make to your lifestyle. Get used to those, then make a few more changes that may be a bit more difficult. I believe that Peak Oil and the coming energy crisis are bigger threats than global warming and terrorism. The Media, Academics and Politicians are not giving any attention to this oncoming storm. Because of their inattention, it will necessarily be up to us to make change. At the moment it seems our only available mechanism to make that change is with our pocket books. When all goods and services related to increasing energy costs rise in price, will we sit back and whinge about petrol prices and demand action from the government? Probably. Or we could start change while we still have that choice. Soon enough, that choice will be burnt off with the remainder of our cheap fuel.
10 comments:
Creativity is the key, and determination. The hardest part of implementing the steps you listed is the first step; once you get beyond that and get into the routine of the thing you're doing, it's easy.
Will comment more on this later...good stuff!
fjzSo I was wondering when you were going to post on here.
Ireland has SO much going for it concerning newer laws and regulations since they joined the EU. I'm very impressed by how they're not afraid to change.
This morning I heard on MPR that MN passed legislation regarding renewable energy resources... I can't remember the exact percentage businesses are now required to use (or buy credits for more... which makes those shy of doing more b/c they're paranoid about the economy) but Pawlenty is expected to sign it.
Ok I sounded incoherent. But you get my general drift.
BTW, I almost always fail the word verification test and have to retake it several times. Harumph.
OK we have 10 fantastic suggestions for reducing our impact on climate change. I will confess to generally shopping by car because there are not shops near. I do this on my way to or from some other place to reduce car usage.
We all need to work on this and we need to help business do so also. The small business sector is the group that needs the most help because many of them are so busy and short of money that the environment is just one more problem to address after tax, work place safety, ever more forms to fill in etc etc and often they feel that their little bit does not make a difference. Have a look at www.itiseasytobegreen.com and www.enviro-action.com for information about how small businesses can both save money and help the environment at the same time.
A few things. Sorry about the formatting/text changes midway through. I looked through the HTML and cannot figure out what is happening (my programming skillz aren't what they used to be!). I also fail hard at these bloody word verification things.
There are lots of things we can do with renewable energy in MN. We do have the Mississippi river going through a good portion of a state after all! Take a look at your next utility bill. You should be able to elect and pay an extra user fee ($4/month?) so that Xcel will provide something like 20% of your power from renewable sources. I dunno, maybe it's 10%. I dont have a utility bill. ANd it was a couple of years ago I was looking at this at www.xcelenergy.com capacity is probably bought out but we need to CREATE the demand for renewables.
If you think Ireland is doing well, look at Sweden and Iceland. Those are two countries exempted from my statement about politicians not doing anything.
Bru knows and has written a lot more about this than I but to comment on re:"I will confess to generally shopping by car because there are not shops near." This is a problem. The standard layout of the American Metropolis is doomed. I like to cite European cities (Stockholm, Copenhagen, etc) as an example to proper urban development where you have neighbourhoods with everything you need in walking distance, and where you would most likely be penalised from driving. And you are right. Supporting small (and smart) business will be key, along with reconnecting to the local rural and agricultural centres of where we live.
Didn't mean to turn this into another article, I'm just floored at how the comments came up so fast! Thanks
First of all, the formatting changes are my doing. In order to put the Russ Feingold Stop the Iraq War widget into the blog I had to change something about Blogger's template. I wish it wouldn't jumble text up like that either.
The Minnesota bill would require Xcel Energy to generate 30 percent of its power through renewable sources, and 25 percent for other utilities. At 895 MW, Minnesota already has the 4th largest wind energy capacity, behind Texas, California, and Iowa.
The American city is in dire straits as far as energy goes. Most cities are way behind in adapting their infrastructure for our world's impending energy shortages. London and Stockholm both have "congestion charges" in which motorists pay a tool to enter the central city. In London's case, the measure was unpopular when first proposed by Mayor Ken Livingstone, but became very popular after people found out how much it alleviated downtown congestion and aided buses in more quickly reaching their destination.
There's only been one hint of a congestion charge in the US - this past Earth Day, in fact, when Mayor Bloomberg proposed such a charge (which he had up until then opposed) for Manhattan.
Re: the first item on Eric's list, San Francisco just adopted a ban on plastic bags at grocery and drug stores, and Portland is considering either a tax or a ban on them as well.
Jean's situation is unfortunate: there should be a reliable grocery/food source within walking distance or at most a short drive from every house and apartment in the U.S. With GIS technology, communities can now do food access assessments which find the places where substantial and healthy food is not close by ("food deserts" as they are called).
One technology that will help to save us is LED lights, which will make the fluorescent light interest a passing fad. In the meantime, fluorescents are the simplest way to reduce your energy costs. A lot of cities sell them for reduced prices; Chicago gives them away for free at their green technology center. I have 7 fluorescents in my apt., and usually about 1 to (at most) 4 are on during my waking hours at home. So I'm often using less energy for lighting than 1 incandescent bulb.
Another big thing that Eric briefly mentioned was heating and A/C. Simply put, no house should have to rely on a heater or an air conditioner more than on a limited basis. With well-insulated walls and windows, and the use of passive solar heating (e.g. a south-facing window) and shade for cooling, not to mention a simple geothermal heating and cooling system, houses can be heated and cooled using minimal fossil fuel energy.
Great ways of reducing our ecological footprint! Thanks! In Canada if you wanted to know, one grocery store charges 25 cents (or was it more) for the use of plastic bags.
it's only five cents for a plastic bag in Canada
those are good ways to reduce the footprint (lies all lies) u are all fucking lieing
fuckin lies
Post a Comment