The Christian Science Monitor (yes, even Athiests like me read it) is reporting that environmentalists aren’t seeing the change in behavior they’d hope in recognition of climate change (article here), which is why Al Gore has launched a new ad campaign to get people to wake up and pay attention today.
Stay with me here. It’s not about Al Gore…
Yes, there are many other pressing issues: the economy, the housing market, social security, “terrorism”… I won’t get too into it, but I understand there are other things people are concerned about. I’ve said it before – even if you don’t believe climate change is real, consuming and wasting vast amounts of our planet is no longer chic. Living simply is in. Excess is out.
Get the message?
And for those folks who pooh pooh things like energy efficiency and using less electricity….did you know that when Californians were asked to conserve electricity in August 2007 (prime air conditioner use time), nearly 1,000 megawatts (MW) dropped off the grid? To give you an idea of how much that really is, California’s summer demand at this time was 48,000 MW and today’s Springtime April demand is forecasted to be 29,000 MW. So 1,000 MW is no small potatoes number. And people weren’t turning off things like their AC. They were unplugging unused appliances (phantom appliances draw upwards of 20% of your home’s energy), turning off their TVs (it’s better for your brain anyway), and turning off superfluous lights.
Perhaps I am a small voice in a large crowd? I’m an eternal optimist in that I think I can make a difference, if even in my own little life.
In the past year, my household has been inspired and transformed.
Replaced 80% of the lights in our house with CFLs
Began riding our bikes to work
Began enjoying time in the dark for an hour once a week
Cooking more
Swearing off chain and big box stores
Eating nearly 100% organically
Eating as much as we can within 250 miles (localvore)
Buying fair trade, organic teas, coffees, and chocolate
Installed drip irrigation systems that use less water
Ripped out some of our lawn (with more to go)
Planted fruit trees
Canned for the first time
Discovered our local Goodwill
Stopped dying my hair
Switched to natural and biodegradable soaps, shampoos, and toothpastes
Keeping a bucket in the shower and around the house to capture clean wastewater
Letting the toilet…mellow
And I’ve never been happier. Seriously.
I glean inspiration from lots of sources. One of my Favorites is No Impact Man – the story of a family in New York City that lived for a year off local food and with little to no electricity, and bought nothing new. And was better for it. His family is living proof that the simpler we live, the better off we’ll all be – and the planet will be the ultimate beneficiary.
Most of the changes we’ve made aren’t hard AT ALL. Growing our own food. Easy. Riding our bikes to local stores. Easy. Changing the light bulbs. Easy.
In this next year, we’re hoping to start a garden that we never “put to bed”, eat almost 100% locally, ride our bikes more places as we get stronger, raise some ducks, and maybe have a little fun in the process. Like pioneers.
I hope my family’s quest inspires folks to make some of the changes we have, and be happier for them.
So, to quote Jerry Maguire, “Who’s comin’ with me?!”
