Almost 39 years ago, the first Earth Day was celebrated. Since the inaugural event a lot has changed. The vast majority of Americans now consider the environment to be an important political and personal issue. Many levels of government have incorporated some aspects of sustainability into the decision-making process. Loads of people have made commitments to reduce their own carbon footprints.
While it is certainly true that great strides have been made in overall environmental consciousness, we're nowhere near where we need to be. Climate Change scientists have uncovered that much of the way we manage society is unsustainable and, if we don't change our evil ways, future generations will suffer dire consequences.
If a rich benefactor were to pop up in your life and she offered you two wishes to change your personal carbon footprint, what would you wish for?
The two things that I would ask for are an electric scooter and solar panels for my roof.
While Della & I have made a real commitment to lead sustainable lives, I know that we could do so much more than we do now. We're recycling mavens and we try to lead non-toxic lives (few, if any, poisonous products in the house). But one area that we fall down in day after day is that we drive our car too much.
As mentioned in this space before, we have a new vehicle that gets really good gas mileage and has a good emissions rating. These two pluses, however, don't cancel out the fact we drive everywhere in our small community. Part of the reason we drive so much is connected to health issues. We live at the top of 3 1/2 block long hill and walking up the hill (going down it isn't hard at all!) is both difficult and painful for both of us.
So, if we had an electric scooter, we could drastically cut down on our emissions when we need to putter around town (i.e., hop down to the bakery, pharmacy, grocery store, post office or library).
The other thing I'd wish for -- solar panels on our roof -- would not only help the environment but our pocketbook as well! Electric rates -- like almost everything else -- keep going up. So, it would be nice to make use of the sun as a renewable energy source and to sell back power to our electrical cooperative.
So, what would you wish for?
While it is certainly true that great strides have been made in overall environmental consciousness, we're nowhere near where we need to be. Climate Change scientists have uncovered that much of the way we manage society is unsustainable and, if we don't change our evil ways, future generations will suffer dire consequences.
If a rich benefactor were to pop up in your life and she offered you two wishes to change your personal carbon footprint, what would you wish for?
The two things that I would ask for are an electric scooter and solar panels for my roof.
While Della & I have made a real commitment to lead sustainable lives, I know that we could do so much more than we do now. We're recycling mavens and we try to lead non-toxic lives (few, if any, poisonous products in the house). But one area that we fall down in day after day is that we drive our car too much.
As mentioned in this space before, we have a new vehicle that gets really good gas mileage and has a good emissions rating. These two pluses, however, don't cancel out the fact we drive everywhere in our small community. Part of the reason we drive so much is connected to health issues. We live at the top of 3 1/2 block long hill and walking up the hill (going down it isn't hard at all!) is both difficult and painful for both of us.
So, if we had an electric scooter, we could drastically cut down on our emissions when we need to putter around town (i.e., hop down to the bakery, pharmacy, grocery store, post office or library).
The other thing I'd wish for -- solar panels on our roof -- would not only help the environment but our pocketbook as well! Electric rates -- like almost everything else -- keep going up. So, it would be nice to make use of the sun as a renewable energy source and to sell back power to our electrical cooperative.
So, what would you wish for?
(1)Solar panels on my roof
ReplyDelete(2)Solar panels on the roof of my car!
I would wish for a world government that would allow the proliferation of environmental safe fuels and not be in fear of shutting down the oil producers.
ReplyDeleteHuh. Well, I would wish for -
ReplyDelete1 - a four day work week which would save billions in operating costs and reduce stress because people would have more time to "play"
2 - that a law is passed dis-allowing companies the ability to cancel health benefits for people, who through no fault of their own, end up on disability and then are without health insurance.
Well, that's 2!!
Love Gail
peace.....
I wish people would realize that civilization itself and the ignorance that created it are the real problem. There is no cure for industrial civilization and the culture of violence and death that foster it, accept for it's complete destruction. People please, do you really believe that solar panels or fuel efficient cars are going to save this planet from a selfish, egomaniacle culture that is not even willing to sacrifice it's silly leisure luxuries let alone reform it's entire death culture. WAKE UP!!
ReplyDelete