worldwatch

The verdict is in: We may or may not be on the verge of a catastrophic global climate change, and it may or may not be the fault of the human race; a fate born of our own reckless poisoning of the earth and its atmosphere. But, the dirty truth is that we do not need an imminent global tragedy to know that dumping pollutants into environment is not a good thing.  Action; firm, decisive and painful action, is necessary to halt the pollution of our shared land, air, and sea.  Earth hour was a symbolic gesture, so use it a catalyst to initiate some real change.

As a society, we always leap on great movements: The War on Terror, The Red Scare, The Salem Witch Trials; all examples of exaggerated over-reactions to perceived dangers. In each, initial action was warranted for a threat, but the momentum of a movement that is unchecked leads to false information and unintended actions.  This leads to disproportionate action taken to remedy the systems of the problem, and not to cure the true cause of the disease. Many innocent victims fall prey to the good intentions of the uneducated, whose actions in the name of a good actually caused harm. Their ignorance and mis­information was often due to information fed to them by powerful organizations with alternative motives.

Another dirty truth about salvaging our environment is that it will cost us more hardship on the economic front; but it is a necessary evil. Prices will go up for many consumer items and we may have to sacrifice certain luxuries on behalf of our local environment. These sacrifices are nothing more than an investment in our futures, not much different than the money put away in savings.

We the people must look past the macro-view of world climate change and focus our sights on mitigating individual pollutants within our community control. If we desire to be truly “Green,” (my personal favorite new buzzword), then we must strive to be green as a community, as a city, and as a state. Get active and demand enforcement of sound environmental protective standards.

Encourage your neighborhood to lobby as a collective to your state and US congressional representatives. Ask them what they are doing and then tell them what you want done as their constituents. And, if you are not satisfied with how your representatives are performing - vote for someone else. Consider the third party and independent candidates that are not buried by bi-partisan politics and heavy-handed influences of the political lobbyists.

Are there industries in your area that are part of the emissions exchange? If you do not know what that is, you should look that up and learn more about pollution controls in your local area. Are the waste treatment plants in your area capitalizing on the latest technology? What is your local government doing to protect your environment? Asking these questions is the first start of building community momentum in the direction of progress. Community action is a powerful lobby in itself, but individuals seldom feel compelled to take the initiative and become that catalyst of change.

 INDIVIDUAL BABY STEPS TOWARD A BETTER WORLD

Ask yourself, what are you doing to make a difference? Do you recycle? OK, that is a good start. Do you own a hybrid car? Terrific. What about power and water conservation? Do you really need to have the greenest yard in the neighborhood? Fertilizer run-off directly affects the water table and eventually affects rivers, lakes, and the estuaries on our coasts. If just a few brave home owners stop trying to, “keep up with the Joneses,” the impact will be significant. Go all natural with your yard - start a new trend and make an immediate difference.

 Practice gasoline conservation and do your part to reduce the global demand and consumption of petroleum products. How often do you drive to and from the convenience store each week? How often do you and your friends all drive separate to event instead car-pooling? Try shopping for two-weeks at a time, try riding a bike to the store. How about you try walking to and from the store and do something good for the environment and your body? See how many simple things you can do without your car and think of the money you will save.

The biggest thing earth citizens need to do now is reduce the amount of needless solid waste we produce. Let’s start a movement for collective trash conservation. Together we can greatly reduce the rate at which our landfills overtake our natural landscapes. Why buy a bunch of 8 oz cans of soda when you can buy one 3 liter bottle?  Do people really need disposable floor wipes, razors, and toilet brushes? The standard re-useable ones work just as well. Why are we buying disposable digital cameras? Have we become that lazy as a society?

Putting just a little extra time in for the sake of your environment will go a long way. Buy canvas shopping bags and reduce the demand for paper and plastic bags. Stop buying disposable and start buying re-useable and family sizes. These are small sacrifices that really do not take a lot of extra time and can even save you money. Buy a broom with a wooden handle and old-fashion bristles - I dare you.

Now here is a challenge for you green-blooded Americans: Ever heard of a hybrid house? Imagine, if you will, a home that has both commercial and solar power supplies. The concept is simple, solar power will supplement demand for commercial power by supplying electrical power for all of your low demand items. The big-power demands will still require commercial power, but the reduction in need for commercial power is significant. Just think of the impact if communities started adopting this practice. My vision: a solar panel array on every roof-top. Will you be the first in your neighborhood to take advantage of this technology? Will you petition your local government to provide incentives to power companies that enable this concept?

 Here is a crazy concept that can pay big dividends to help our planet globally:  Cut down on the amount of red meat in your diet. Just try cutting beef from your diet one or two days a week. Sound crazy? Did you know that 42% of the world’s rangeland is used for grazing livestock and almost HALF the world’s cropland is used to produce livestock feed? On top of that, one-third of the world’s fish catch is converted into fish meal for livestock. If we the people should begin to reduce our consumption of beef, the collective reduction in worldwide demand can redistribute these food resources to homes around the world. The environmental impacts can be enormous as a reward for these small sacrifices. A full eighty-five percent of US top soil is associated with livestock grazing and cattle contribute 12-15% of all methane released into the atmosphere. A little cut back on beef can add up to a whole lot for the environment and world food supply (see previous blog).

Let’s be honest with ourselves, although there are several targeted and corporate-funded research projects that have attempted to poke holes in the climate change theories, there is enough hard facts to support that our planet is slowly warming over the long-term. A lot of smart people who have spent their lives studying the planetary climate have come together in agreement that the phenomenon is real and their evidence is well documented. There may be some argument about the overall cause and the timetables, but the changes are happening now. We need to educate and prepare ourselves for coming change as necessary. The facts are out there, so look them up for yourself, the information is right at your fingertips, thanks to the world of the internet search engine.

 There is little argument that burning fossil fuels, dumping toxic waste, unsustainable depletion of natural resources and excessive solid wastes are bad practices that threaten our health and way of life; particularly for our children. We the people can make an immediate difference in healing our environment and bring our consumption to a sustainable level. Our individual efforts to conserve trash, gasoline, electricity, and water will cumulate into a collective momentum towards a cleaner community. Do not, for a second, give any slack to your local, state, and US representation. Put them on notice that their political future rides in step with the health of our environment. Let them know that dis­satisfied, citizens, not lobbyists and corporations, are their bosses.

 To see what more you can do, visit these websites:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/index.html

http://www.epa.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envirowiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_websites

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