In 1992, almost two thousand of the world’s leading scientists (including the majority of Nobel laureates) warned us that all eco-systems were in collapse. We know that things are changing and changing fast. Furthermore, Americans represent 5% of the world’s population, and yet we consume 25% of the world’ s resources.
Personally, I think most people are overwhelmed with their lives; we are just trying to find a little joy and time with the people we love, in an overworked, underpaid and complicated world. But if we want our children and our grandchildren to have peaceful and happy lives, then we need to make some changes in how we all live on the planet.
- Walk, bike, bus, or carpool.
Whenever you can bike to the store, walk or carpool to work. You will stay in shape and experience your life more fully.
My husband and I have been running our cars on straight vegetable oil for 8 years now. We haven’t been to gas station in all that time, imagine that! We get our “waste oil” from a local olive oil producer who use to pay to have it hauled away to a landfill. We share the oil with a group of people and formed a cooperative. The oil is free, but we have small membership dues to keep our little depot clean and tidy. My clever husband also makes our own biodiesel for our camping van. I feel like an ex-smoker and can’t believe I ever bought gasoline. We are saving lots of money and saving the planet at the same time. Ethanol is not the answer – the use of corn for fuel is not sustainable and actually contributes to climate change.
- Go solar.
My husband built our own passive solar house. He hadn’t built a bookcase when he took on this challenge. Passive solar homes take advantage of natural light and actually are positioned to take advantage of solar exposure. We added solar panels a few years back. Right now you can get panels for 0% down financing and lots of interesting tax right offs and ways to pay over 30 years and add on to your property taxes– it’s like getting free energy. Our monthly PG&E bill is about $5. max per month.
In many parts of the country wind is the answer. There is a group of 2000 homeowners in Michigan who are investing collectively in one wind turbine which will power all their homes.
- Move your money.
The most important personal decision you make is where your money is invested and which bank is using it. The big guys (you know the banks that we bailed out are backing the biggest polluters on the planet) are spending our tax money on
lobbyist to continue to manipulate the markets.Unlike banks, credit unions are not-for-profit organizations in which members pool their resources to support each other. Like community banks, they tend to practice “relationship banking” and use more than stats and figures to determine lending practices. To find out more about moving your money, watch this wonderful video.
- Bring a canvas bag with you when you shop.
Did you know one tree, that took 20 years to grow, is equal to 200 brown bags? We consume billions of trees every year – we are literally deforesting the planet, which also contributes to climate change, breaks the water cycle and causes desertification (the growing of dry arid land). We only have 2% of our ancient forests left in the US. Forests are disappearing at alarming rates worldwide. Be conscious of your use of all things. I actually have a big woven basket that I shop with – it has such a country feel and holds so much food.
- Go local.
As much as possible GO LOCAL. Support local and small businesses vs. big box stores that import from China and fly things in from all over the world. Think of all the gas and energy spent to get that bottle of Fuji water to you! It’s ridiculous.
- Invest in an electric car.
Buy or convert to an electric car (forget the hybrids). It’s the best investment you can make at this time. Not only because of the Gulf oil spill (which is the most radical personal statement you can make), but you won’t be buying gas anymore and save lots of money on gas and repairing your car. That’s the big secret about 100% eclectic cars. Right now the Nissan Leaf is really inexpensive with all the government subsidies and tax credits. Another good reason to buy an electric car: you won’t be supporting big oil and the toxic pollution, political unrest, oil wars and all that is associated with it.
- Weatherize your home.
Our greatest energy use is in our buildings and homes. Invest in double paned windows (there are even subsidies for this now), put a blanket around your hot water heater, turn off lights, transition to LEDS (light emitting diodes), which are better than fluorescents – less energy, last longer, no mercury, etc.
Insulate your home – there is even a new recycled blue jean fiber that feels and looks like silk and you can insulate your walls and attic or whatever with it. For more information about doing an energy audit on your home, click here. - Support the right legislation.
Support climate protection by supporting CAP AND DIVIDEND and NOT CAP AND TRADE. You can learn more from Annie Leonard’s short and funny animated video on the subject.
- Stop buying bottled water.
Scientific studies have proven that 95% of the bottled water we consume is NOT from pristine mountain springs but are just plain tap water from cities that have serious pollution problems. They have found major contaminants in bottled water, including lead, asbestos and other carcinogens. A water filtering system is a whole lot cheaper than buying bottled water and will save the world from all those nasty plastics that even leach into the water itself. And more importantly we throw billions of bottles into landfills each year – billions. They show up in the ocean, strangling and destroying aquatic life. Annie Leonard also offers a short entertaining film on this subject.
- Support community green energy.
Start a local green energy coop or find creative ways to fund your own renewable energy system in your area. In Marin County, right next to us, they started the first Community Energy Aggregation and are able to offer homeowners 100% green energy from renewable sources. Currently we get the majority of our energy in the US from Coal (52%) and less than 12% from clean sources. We need to push our local municipalities and government to fund these alternatives. Here’s a website with more information.
What changes are you making to live cleaner and greener?
I find this very very interesting. I happen to live in an highrise apartment building. It’s about 40 years old and we love the apartment and the location.
However, trying to live green, with such obvious energy holes in the building is ridiculous. Our windows have never been replaced. Our ducts have never been cleaned. Our appliances are either very old, or if they have no choice they replace them with the cheapest they can find. There is suppose to be a re cycle center in the basement, which happens to be in our case 6 floors away and at the opposite end of the building. (almost a city block.)
it’s hard to live as a tenant and do all the things I do, but my basic structure is ridiculous. we have no plans to move.
However, I would be very interested in seeing this same article you’ve written in the context of high rise living.
Please see the new documentary NO IMPACT MAN – a family in Manhattan who live in a tiny apartment show how you can lower your impact and have a blast at the same time. The film is VERY entertaining and Colin Beaven, the guy who took on this challenge (and brought his wife and 3 year old daughter along) wrote a book and is continuing to teach people how they can live more simply and greener no matter where you live.
You can watch the trailer here http://www.noimpactdoc.com/trailer.php
wow thanks for this. I just watched the trailer. Is the book published yet? I do many many things to live green.
yesterday I got groceries. I lugged home what felt like 200 lbs of groceries. Then I spent an hour getting rid of the packaging. I was truly disgusted.
I’m also re doing my kitchen this week. Tossing all my plastic food containers, replacing with jars as much as possible.
This exercise of mine has been going on for years. No paper towels, alone was a huge adjsutment. Huge.
Nana, I am so happy to hear that you do the things you do! Bravo!!!! Being conscious of what you consume is very challenging. I also try not to buy food in plastic bottles – vitamins, etc…which is just more petro-chemicals in our land, air, water, soil…
Here is a link to Colin’s book NO IMPACT MAN http://us.macmillan.com/noimpactman
The film is so brilliant, funny, powerful, personal and important. He has no garbage…imagine that…it’s worth seeing the film just to see how he does it all.
Now that I have noticed, I am aghast at the amount of plastic I have in my kitchen alone! This is the next challenge for me.
And pill and vitamin bottles. omg. Where on earth do you find them not in plastic bottles? I wonder if my pharmacy would fill my perscriptions in small spice jars? They’ll think I’m a real loony just asking.
better to be seen as a loony than be blinded by all the hype – keep up the good work…
As for vitamins – a few good companies wiht glass containers are:
Health Force Nutritionals, Country Life and New Chapter Organics.
Companies that go out of there way to put their goods in glass have a lot of integrity – which also tells me their products are probably better!
now that I am cooking again, and back in my kitchen. which is just a small galley type place:
and working on getting rid of my paper towel use:
I have acquired a whole collection of vintage aprons!
And a couple of kitchen towels which I have never used.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the article and the links to No Impact Man. And my friends think I’m crazy to go on a 90 day no negativity challenge. I am very interested in olive oil for cars. Do you have a link? Did you convert a diesel car?
Yes – you have to convert a diesel car to run on straight vegetable oil – I run on biodiesel that my husband makes from our vegetable oil – it’s a newer mbz and I some of the newer mercedes diesels don’t do so well…best resource for running your car on straight vegetable oil is Joshua Tickells book FROM THE FRYER TO THE FUEL TANK (he just produced a great film called FUEL)
website http://www.greasecar.com/ these guys sell kits and cars and guides…
and Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html – super site for everything you need to know about vegetable oil as fuel
Please tell me how I can add passive solar to my home. You said your husband hadn’t built a bookcase before. Well, I’m new to being a handywoman. Divorce will do that to you. How did he do it? I would love to add it to my existing home. My roof faces south.
Keep writing and sharing. Thank you.
Passive Solar Heating presents the most cost effective means of providing heat to buildings. Generally, the amount of solar energy that falls on the roof of a house is more than the total energy consumed within the house. Passive solar applications, when included in initial building design, adds little or nothing to the cost of a building, yet has the effect of realizing a reduction in operational costs and reduced equipment demand. It is reliable, mechanically simple, and is a viable asset to a home. Passive solar is not something you can add to a home (although you might be able to add skylights to your south facing roof). And depending on what state you live in – wind might even be better for you. Our home was built facing south west and has windows from floor to celing and skylights that take advantage of the sun.
Adding solar panels to your roof that faces south is absolutely doable. Right now there are many companies that will put solar panels on your house for 0% financing and property tax funding that makes the cost almost nothing.