I wrote a blog this past July regarding the flooding in China and linking it to the careless global destruction of natural resources as a cause, (You can read it here:
(http://trennylynn.blogspot.com/2010/08/global-warming-its-for-real-and-its.html) and as a result I received the most reactions ever from a blog, and ones that were the most heartfelt, (sometimes angry) and passionate. I wanted to follow up and post some of the reactions here:
"What are you doing then to change this? I hear alot of talk, but what about suggestions?"
Those were just some of the points from emails that I thought exhibited the overall top feelings that were conveyed in most emails. Whew- well, let me try, as concise as possible, to answer and defend that I still feel the same way about the environment as I explained earlier, and also list some things that we can do daily (that I do) to limit some of this destruction. Having a response and rebuttal does not mean that you're thoughts are not valid. They are great and true and I've thought them all myself. I like that they made me think more.
I am not naive to the world that we live in. We were born as creatures meant to evolve. The urge for man to evolve and advance sealed it's fate the day that there was the invent of fire. There is not a generation today that could understand life without a light bulb, without electricity, many, that are not city dwellers, without a car, etc.. I watched 'No Impact Man" (the documentary where a man, his wife, and baby live in NYC for a year, as close to foraging cavemen as possible) and though I loved many of the things they did (ie-composting, recycling, biking more, growing their own food), there were many things that living in this society would deem impossible for them to continue for long. So, I am in full understanding that there is a slim chance that we will go back in our progress- but there is a fine line. Even the commune living hippies drive a car into a near town once a month to get 'supplies', so even they cannot do it in this society, as romantic as they think the idea. That's ok. That's reality. The point is we can try harder. We tend to (especially Americans) live in a 'too much' world. There is surviving and functioning happily, and then there is ego and greed. Big difference. No, we don't need a TGIF every 5 miles or another mall. I don't need 10 different fast food choices in a town with a 10 mile radius. I don't need my lettuce in a plastic bag and box and another bag. We live in a very "piece of cake wrapped in plastic, put in a plastic container, in a plastic bag with a plastic fork, eat in in five minutes and dump it all in the garbage" society. Many times followed by a cigarette which smokes up the air and gets thrown on the ground. It's not right and we can do better.See my point? .
There is a great article I read in the NYT's last week about an 82 year old Vietnamese man who came to New York to meet long lost family. At one point in his visit, they had taken a walk in Central Park. In doing so, they came across tree cutters cutting down tress. He asked his walking partner- a native New Yorker- 'why' they were cutting down such pretty trees? His friend told him that it was because they were putting in a concrete basketball court. When the Vietnamese man saw the chips going into a dumpster, he recounted his feelings the next day to the reporter. "I couldn't believe that not only would they cut down beautiful trees, but that they wouldn't use them to put back into the earth. In Vietnam, we make compost for other plants, re- plant them somewhere else or build houses and make things like paper resources. I had never seen such careless waste"
Yes I do live in New York. Not New York City, mind you, but Long Island, which is a whole different world. The reason I don't live in NYC is because I agree that it is too crowded and too polluted and I agree that because of that, it does promote attitudes that can be sometimes fear based. Very "me first, take what you can" kind of greed. Though anyone who does not live here does not know that there also is a lot of passion, kindness and intelligence in this city too. It is not like you see it portrayed on TV in criminal shows. There are many people who have great green incentive ideas and organizations here. Hopefully, I can be a small little bit of that group. So, onto solutions. Very briefly, here is a quick summary of global warming and how waste and pollution is affecting the earth and why these tips are necessary.
**Scientists have determined that a number of human activities are contributing to global warming by adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that normally would exit into outer space.
Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming
While many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, human use of fossil fuels is the main source of excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees means less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen.
During the 150 years of the industrial age, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent. Over the same period, the level of atmospheric methane has risen by 151 percent, mostly from agricultural activities such as raising cattle and growing rice.
The Consequences of Global Warming
As the concentration of greenhouse gases grows, more heat is trapped in the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate and alters weather patterns, which may hasten species extinction, influence the length of seasons, cause coastal flooding, and lead to more frequent and severe storms. ****PS- we are seeing the latter happening right in front of us!!!
Below, are some of my simple tips that, if we all practiced them, would make a tremendous difference:
1. Recycle. Just do it. More than half of American's waste is recyclable. That everyone isn't doing it is ridiculous
2. Eat less meat. Two times a week maybe. Id like to say be vegetarian so no animal gets killed, but the jury is still out on that whole animal kingdom food chain order. Buy the meat organic. The eggs and chickens 'free range'. Those farmers grass feed their cattle and chickens, and are much healthier. Also, we would save thousands and thousands of farm land acres as we wouldn't waste it growing corn and rice feed to get them fat fast so we can kill them faster and supply fast food chains and fat bellies with meat.
3.Change your lightbulbs. CFL lightbulbs are great and you can get them here: http://letsgogreen.biz/pages/lighting.html?gclid=CNLe5aLjyKQCFc9L5QodIlf7iw
4. Just turn off that light behind you when you leave the room , k? And you don't need to rock that tv all the time. You'll save brain cells this way too! ;)
5. Heat off when you leave the house, fresh air, open windows and less ac
6. If you can take the train to work a day or two in the week or carpool with a co-worker, just try it. One less day of driving from everyone would make such a HUGE difference!
7. When it's the season, shop at farmer's markets . Not only does this reduce waste of traditional grocery store packaging, you also support the farmer and the nearby land. What he/she grows puts healthy green oxygen back into the world. And, if you add it up, all these tips of following the natural order of the world the way it is, has the wonderful off shoot of making your body healthier and your mind sharper.
8. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth! This is such a habit to have this sound for many people. A habit that makes no sense and causes such waste. You are suppose to brush for two minutes and it is said that leaving the water running that whole time wastes 8 gallons of water! So unnecessary. :(
These are some of the things that I think are easiest and that I practice. You may think it naive or impossible. But, I am telling you if everyone just did the above, we would get progressively better at it and our bodies, minds and world would change. It would! For more earth friendly tips, go here:
**In closing, any of you from my generation will remember the Saturday morning PSA above. As a kid at 8 years old, it made me sad then. That was 30 years ago and we were in trouble already! Not many listened. If it helps to have his little energy head in your mind, then think of him. It helps me, oddly enough. Be good to your planet and it will be good back to you :) **
