| Global Warming
My first priority right now is Global Warming. Stopping global warming is a matter of reducing
the C02's (carbon dioxide) emissions we humans are putting into the environment.
This is a straight forward matter, and a serious issue. If you haven't
seen Al Gore's movie "An
Inconvenient Truth," please do! It's eye-opening and educational.
I've educated myself, and taken action, which feels good to do.
- Climatecrisis.net has a great list
of actions outlining what you can
do to reduce CO2's. That list covers several things we've done in our household. Grab a pen and
paper, and go through the list yourself! There are some surprising items on this list, things you'd never guess (like that buying organic foods over non-organic, reduces CO2's! Who knew?).
 We're
using some of the great new compact flourescent light bulbs in
our house. We got Philips brand "Marathon" bulbs that look
like these, and we love them. They're warm in color tone (not blue-ish like some can be!), and
they don't blink or flash. They screw into regular
light fixtures. These bulbs use less than 1/4 of
the power for the same light output as our old incandescents, and will dramatically lower your electricity bill! - Years ago, we lowered the temperature on our water heater. Ours was set hotter than average, and lowering it saved us $35 on our electricity bill! To test your water temperature, run the hot tap water for a minute, and use a cooking thermometer to test a glass of water. If your tap water is hotter than 130F, consider lowering it. For every 10 degrees you lower it, you'll save an estimated 3-5% on your electricity bill. Further info, and instructions on doing this, can be found at The Natural Handymanwebsite.
- There are some areas where we cannot eliminate our CO2 output.
For these areas, we are paying money to actively offset them. Native
Energy offers
programs for offsetting your car, your home electricity, home
heating, and even air travel. So, for all the CO2's you produce,
you can pay to see them reduced elsewhere in the world, to effectively
"offset" your CO2 production. Similar programs:Terrapass to
offset our car use, and a local organization (for instance New
England Green Start) to offset electric use. Of course,
if you have the means, a solar or other green system for your
business or home would be even more exciting. We plan to install a solar water heating panel this year, which is said to pay for itself in 5-7 years of saved energy costs.
- Simply inflating
your car's tires makes a substantial impact on feul consumption;
but it's the kind of thing you will likely forget to do if you
don't write it down! So make a list! Start with that checklist
(again, it's here). Thank you for doing what you can.
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Natural
Living in the City I've
got this link working again!
This
picture is from one of the most inspirational websites I've ever
seen (no longer active, but I've linked to an archived version of
the site). This family lived in a small city house in Oregon and
turned their back yard into a completely productive vegetable garden.
They even went so far as to utilize their slanted roof
for container gardening. They collected water from their roof
and stored it and sanitized it for household use. They
built and utilized a sawdust toilet system which allowed for composting
of their wastes (completely sanitary when done properly,
and an excellent environmental choice). Last I heard they'd
moved and built their own house elsewhere, but I've not been able
to locate a current website for them. If anyone does, let me know!
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Co-op America
is one of a kind.
I am a proud member. ~Amy
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Here's some other environmental steps I've taken in
recent years:
- Zero Waste events! By far the most environmental fun I've had in years.
- Recycle recycle recycle. I used to actually pay an
extra $60/year on top of trash collection fees so that I could recycle
my stuff. Now it's included with my trash fees. Thank goodness!
- I eliminated
all junk mail a few years ago (what a relief that was!
Hallellujah!)
- I now buy primarily
organic foods, and buy from local sources where possible . (Farmer's Markets are magical!
So are CSA's!) My current
challenge is how to store local produce over the winter, since my
farmer's market doesn't stay open all year. Perhaps a root cellar
is in my future!
- I'm big
on composting. I can't imagine NOT composting. It's so easy,
and so great for the garden! An great-looking compost bin system
can be made by simply attaching wood pallets in a square shape,
using bungie cords for the front so it's got a removable door.
If you don't have much room, or
are worried about critters getting into it, get your hands on
one of the black plastic ones that are the size of trash cans.
They have lids and are critter proof.
- I found
out a
few years ago that
it takes an average of 17 teaspoons of pesticides, and 3 teaspoons
of chemical fertilizers to make one cotton T-shirt! So, I try
to be conscious of not buying too much new cotton. Buying used
items are fine with me, I figure if they're used,
purchasing them is no longer
supporting the industry that creates cotton this way. For many
items, I'm sucking it up and going organic! (Check out the "Green
Pages" on the left, for places that sell
organic cotton clothes.)
- I am determined
that when I have children, they will wear some of the wonderful, comfortable
cloth diapers now available! This was an easy choice, since there
are so many great
options these days. Beyond the well known landfill problem of
disposable diapers, is the lesser known dioxin
issue that diapers share with sanitary napkins and chlorine bleached
tampons.
- For basic
health reasons, I've decided to eat a vegetarian diet. My husband
was the one who started this trend in our household. He researched
the facts, and insisted I educate myself too. We've both been happy
and well fed vegetarians since Spring 2002! Here's some more
on that topic
- I've renewed my membership to
Co-op America, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping
American consumers make educated choices. For instance, they publish
the National Green Pages, which is the "yellow pages" of
environmentally/socially responsible businesses. See the links on
the left for more of their awesome resources.
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GMO's
Once I started reading about GMO's, it didn't take me long then to realize that I don't want to eat
them! These foods have been genetically modified to either kill
certain pests that attach them (they've been made poisonous to
some creatures), or they've been altered to resist pesticides,
so that the pesticide can be liberally used when growing. GMO crops
tend to have outrageously high pesticide use. For this reason
alone, I feel strongly about avoiding
them when possible!
In Europe, the public
has pressured large supermarkets not to carry any GMO foods.
Some of those markets are American chains, like Star Market. If
we put pressure on these markets, we too could be free
of GMO's! They're scary, environmentally destructive, and they're
currently in at least 70% of the packaged foods in America! As
consumers, this is completely our choice, we don't need to settle
for this. Why risk the certain envonmental impacts, and the likely
health impacts of GMO's? To protest GMO's, and to avoid eating
them, eat organic! If the label says organic, it's GMO free. (Also
look for "GMO
Free", or "GE
Free" on
the label.)
Yes, food costs money
Is organic food "expensive," or is non-organic food just second-rate, "discount" food? I suppose it simply depends on how you look at it. Take a look at the measurably reduced vitamin content in conventional, non-organic food, before you decide for yourself. What constitutes "real food" to you?
Modern, conventional food growing practices, result in foods with measurably depleted vitamins and minerals, as well as depleted anti-carcinogen properties. Studies have shown
this;
do a web search and you'll find plenty of info, such as this
summary. That's right, Organic foods are actually more nutritious, and have measurably stronger cancer-fighting properties. Organic foods also, of course, are also far less likely to be coated with pesticide residues that contribute to cancer.
I like the idea of buying organic, not just for my body, but for the earth. I don't like to buy chemically grown foods or products at all if I can help it. I cringe at the idea of paying someone to dump chemicals on the earth. Give me organic, thank you! |
