Recently Newsweek’s cover article was about global warming nay-sayers and big business’ role in perpetuating skepticism about human caused environmental damage. The article likened the public relations behind the attack on the science of climate change to tobacco industry’s long time denial of the risks associated with smoking. It was very interesting, but I left the article thinking—Who cares if human being’s responsibility in global warming can be definitively, scientifically proven or not? The indisputable fact is that forests and other natural land and animals are being destroyed unnecessarily all the time, and pollution of all kinds plagues us. Those are sufficient reasons to reduse, reuse and recycle, even if global warming is in fact a ‘hoax.’
Then I read a fascinating and personal account of the climate changes happening in the Arctic by wayfarerscientista. She ends the post by offering the idea that ‘global warming’ is not a technically accurate description of what is happening in the environment, and that the term obfuscates a serious problem with its cuddly and cozy word choice. Both the Newsweek article in its description of big business smear campaign on global warming and wayfarerscientista’s blog entry’s revelation of the psychological impact of environmental terminology made me fear that the latest risk to the environment is the attack on what we know to be true. At the very least however, these things made me want to get as practical as possible in a time when I had begun to fly off into the land of negativity and rants about why its is that this country has the worst train system of all the first world.
So here goes—a couple of questions: How long is it reasonable to use a sponge? Are there any other longer lasting dish-washing tools? Garbage bags—what are some less wasteful ideas for waste? And speaking of waste, I live in an apartment—does anybody have any ideas for what I could do with organic waste? I’d love to hear some tips to get me back on a practical, positive track!
The Skeptics August 28, 2007
We’ve come a long way baby… August 16, 2007
I’ve got a couple of small victories to celebrate. First of all, I got it together and bought a canvas shopping bag. Now, I have finally had a week run of remembering to take it to the store! Yea! Progress! Painted Maypole—I’m really glad you brought up the issue of how to navigate the awkward social situation of handing your own bag to the cashier. I still feel shy about this for some reason even though I’ve had nothing but uneventful bag handing experiences. I just put the bag on the conveyer belt with the rest of the groceries and the cashier uses it; no questions no comments. As an aside, I happen to have bought a really pretty bag with a picture of a forest on it that says, ‘Reuse, Recycle—Save a Tree.’ I think having a bag I like has helped me remember take it to the store. Whatever works…
I’d also like to give a cheer to John and Joe who carpool to work everyday thus halving their gas and emissions. Good job, guys! I heard about a service on line that puts people together for trips to common places like Target, etc. I thought it sounded like a great idea but one that might take a while to catch on. Has anybody tried anything like that?
And on a more ideological scale; I was recently reminded of how far we’ve come as a consumerist culture in general. I happened to turn on HBO when the early nineties movie Singles had just started, so I decided to watch it even though when I saw it originally, I could barely sit through the whole thing because of how much it reminded me of my own lame dating life at the time. This time around, I was struck by the fact that the Kyra Sedgwick character worked at an environmental defense type not for profit and her love interest Campbell Scott played a traffic engineer who was working on the plans for a ‘super train’ for Seattle commuters. As it turns out (spoiler alert) Campbell Scott’s proposal is rejected by the mayor, but more shocking is that his train idea is also rejected by his environmentalist girlfriend whose rationale is “I love my car.” Could this be a believable, and not alarmingly hypocritical exchange now, 15 years later? I don’t think so. I think we are, as a whole, making some progress in how we think. I think that when we as individuals hand a canvas bag to the cashier, buy recycled toilet paper, use more efficient light bulbs, choose more viable means of transportation, and in other ways make sensible and more sustainable choices we are not only helping the environment by lessening the total carbon load on the planet, but we are sending a message to everyone around us—We’re all in this together. Power to the people! Power to the planet!
Lights Out August 8, 2007
It’s time for me to get back to brass tacks, whatever that means. I think I was starting to feel hopeless and overwhelmed because I haven’t really made any more progress in the lifestyle change department. Furthermore, the last lifestyle challenge I took on, I didn’t really follow through with (yes, I ended up buying the books and DVD). So, it’s time. Time to get back to the ‘phantom energy’ issue. First of all, HELP!!! I have had no success with unplugging things. Here are my excuses: my entire entertainment system, where most of my phantom energy happens, hinges upon the DVR which needs to stay plugged in all the time (I think. Or does it?); my computer is set plugged into a power supply that’s connected to our cordless phone charger which needs to stay plugged in all the time (I think. Or does it?); my husband’s computer is plugged into an outlet that’s almost impossible to reach. Does anybody have any ideas, comments, solutions, etc? Here’s another electrical issue. I want to change to those light bulbs that look like soft serve ice-cream, but I don’t know if I should just replace all of the light bulbs in the house now or if I should wait to replace them as they burn out. Has anybody made the switch to soft serve? How did you do it? How has it worked out?
Can Good Vibes Save the Environment? August 7, 2007
Every time I see Viva paper towels advertised, I go slightly mad. Furthermore, I think I am becoming annoying. I’m worried that if I mention CALPIRG or cloth napkins one more time, someone may take a swing at me. This is all a result of my growing hopelessness which is quickly followed by the none too pleasant thought, “If everybody would just get on board here, we would be living in a smog free, tree loving, non-globally warm environment where everybody drives a Prius and uses solar panels to light their houses.” This is when I begin to hate ‘them,’ realize I am ‘them’, and a cycle of unproductive negativity begins. The thing is, I think unproductive negativity is our worst environmental offender. After all, if I can’t be kind to myself and ease up on the fact that yes, I forgot to bring bags to the grocery store for the 26th time (Jenni I feel your pain), and trusting of the rest of the world to make positive changes at their own pace, I’m not only part of the problem, I’m actually creating the problem.
That being said, I want to promote a great blog by a woman who is also trying to be part of the solution by doing what she can do. She has some great ideas for simple steps to try to make the world a greener place to be (Karen, she’s got some wonderful posts about her experiences composting and other nifty ideas).
