Saving the Planet

I saw the premiere of "The Age of Stupid" here in SF. We went to a theater that had a live feed to the premiere in NY. This is the same little bit of technology that allows people to see live opera from the Met in New York in their local theater. This technology is amazing to me. One could, in theory, link the world through local theaters to all see the same broadcast at the same time. Very 1984. I digress.

The movie is set in the future, post disaster, after we have done nothing but talk about global warming. It is a disturbing film that follows the stories of six people living now and their struggles with the global warming question. Here is a review of the movie, written by Mr. Green and picked up by a blogger named piece 2.0: http://bit.ly/14JYeW

The movie left me feeling overwhelmed and wondering what I could possibly do to stop being a contributor to the problem. How do we really buy out of the oil pipeline? Like Really. Without sacrificing things that are important to us and without it becoming some sort of weird obsession.

I've been mulling this over for a while now. I've decided that, as I explore the options for personal sustainability, I'll share them here. I already do quite a few things to make my earth footprint smaller. I ride my bike, garden, sort my trash, eat local food, dine in restaurants who seek out local ingredients, turn the light switch off, keep the heat at 68 degrees and I don't buy a lot of stuff.

We'll start with one of those. . . I bike to work at least 3 days a week, weather permitting. I take the bus home more often than not.

This does not mean that I'm never in the car. Mr. Green drives me to work probably once a week, on average, depending upon what I'm doing. Sometimes I need to run errands for myself or work. Sometimes I just don't want to spend an hour on the bus. Take today, for example. It's pouring rain. Mr. Green will be driving me. Will he drive me home? Possibly. I'll decide later this afternoon.

How inconvenienced am I willing to be? That's the real question, isn't it? I get that right now there are people screaming "Stupid Spoiled American!" at their computer screens. It's true. I am. I have the privilege of access to a car. Could we choose to use it smarter? Absolutely.

We won't be getting a more fuel-efficient car. We own the truck. It gets about 15 miles to the gallon in the city and 20 on the freeway. This isn't great, but it is what it is. We paid it off last winter and, unless someone hands us a set of keys, we'll be driving it for a couple years longer. Of course, there are great fuel-efficient choices out there. And, if you are like me and are not in particularly impressed by the body style of the 3rd generation Prius (can you say Ulgy?). You could always drive a Tesla. Now there's a midlife crisis car that's all about sustainability! Saw one on the street over the weekend. Boy do they go zoom-zoom!

We don't really drive a lot now. Comparatively speaking. But there is always room for improvement, right?

Here is what I am willing to do:

Work from home? Would LOVE to! Definitely in my future. With my current job? Possibly. Could probably make the case for one day a week. Never hurts to ask. . .

Ride my bike as often as possible. This can be up to five days per week and also to the Farmers' Market on the weekend.

Batch our trips. If I am going to ride to work in the truck in the morning, we will run all errands that we need to do that day during that trip. Which means anything we forget gets put off until next time. Will take some planning.

Consider using Muni, biking or walking instead of driving the truck Every time we leave the house. This may seem small but I can tell you there are many times that I can recall when we've been driving around downtown looking for parking and have agreed that we should have taken Muni.

Pay an annual carbon offset fee for the miles we drive. This is a grey area for me. I don't think that sending money to someone to grow a tree should let us out of making better choices. . . but, there's also no getting around the fact that som

etimes I will be riding in a car. Yes. I will do this.

I consider it a privilege tax. No different than entertainment tax. There are lots of carbon calculators out there. TerraPass, Carbon Fund and Sustainable Travel International are all good ones.

If carbon offsetting is new to you, here is a short definition from carbonfund.org: A carbon offset represents a reduction in emissions somewhere else - like a renewable energy or a reforestation project - to balance out the emissions you cannot reduce. Basically, you send money, based on info you enter into a carbon calculator, to a carbon reducing project. With some sites you can choose which project your money will support. With most, you support a portfolio of projects. Here is a more in depth description of why one would do this with some pros and cons.

I want my fee to be used to offset carbon locally. There are a few choices. I like the idea of the Chino Basin Dairy Farm Biodigester. I don't really want to give through one of the websites. I'd rather see the project and hand the project manager a check. For me this is the same as buying a chicken from a farm that I have visited. It makes sense. This will require more research. I'll keep you posted.

What are you doing to save the plant? What are you willing to do? Please leave your comments and suggestions here.

Coming up next. . . Grow Your Own!

Enough!

*cartoon by Nataliedee
Here is an article about "green" impulse buys. It bothers me. I don't think buying more stuff is actually Green. Do we need more stuff? Even if it's green? And it's women who make these purchases. . . I don't know what the items are, but they must be pretty tempting.

One of my goals lately has been to go a whole week without stepping into a regular store. We get our food from various farmers' markets or from farmer friends and if we plan well, we only need to go to a larger store for other perishables (like toilet paper and dish soap) a couple times a month. I also have the privilege of Mr. Green doing most of the shopping, which totally works for me. Somehow, not shopping gives me a sense of freedom. Freedom from consumerism. I don't need anything. I have clothes. We have a home. We have all the creature comforts necessary to live a comfortable life.

And now this idea of not really needing anything has a label and a vocabulary, thanks to Lynne Twist, the author of The Soul of Money. It's a great concept. It works for me. It's the concept of "Enough".

While on vacation in Ketchum, Idaho, Mr. Green and I purchased a CD by Lynne to listen to on our long drive through Nevada back to San Francisco. It is called Unleashing the Soul of Money. I haven't read her book, The Soul of Money, but Mr. Green has and he's been considering a re-read.

Mr. Green was driving, two days later, when I put the CD in the player. Lynne is pleasant to listen to and the subject matter was certainly engaging. I don't remember everything about the CD but I do remember the part that "stuck". It was this concept of "Enough".

At this time, in the U.S., people are considered consumers. We "consume". That is our purpose according to mass media, the banking system, our government, etc. Everyday we hear about the consumer index and whether or not we are buying - buying homes, buying cars, shopping, shopping, shopping. It's a bad day if no one buys anything. This has always bothered me. Makes me feel like a locust. One of the many.

Yes, I do buy things. And some of the time they are things I don't actually need, but just want. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. What bothers me is senseless buying. Buying with out consideration or thought. I've done it. I've come home from the grocery store and taken something out of the bag and thought "What the Hell did I buy THIS for?!"

And yet, I gave up on being a super-consumer a long time ago. Long before I got rid of the huge storage room of extra "belongings" that I had amassed through raising two kids and moving three times, I decided I didn't need any more stuff. Looking at the stuff in my storage actually used to make me feel sick. I would get queazy and headachy in anticipation of dealing with all of it and at some point deciding was important enough to keep. I hoped it would all just disappear.

Unfortunately there was no act of god and when it became clear that my stuff was overstaying its welcome in it's free home in the basement of a building that belonged to a friend, I finally went through it and got rid of about 75%. I gave it to good will. Books, furniture, clothes, nick-nacks, gee-gaws, yard tools, sports equipment - you get the idea. Do I miss any of it? Hmmm. Let me think. NO.

Lynne mentioned that we used to be called "citizens" instead of "consumers". Citizens are responsible. They take care of, and care about, their country. I'm never a fan of stepping backward to some idealized time. It feels like regression to me. I believe that the concept of being a citizen has a new meaning now. Think about it. Not only do we care about our country, we care about our world. And there are a whole pile of us who want to take care of our world by not consuming it.

Next Lynne started talking about considering the possibility that what we have right now is enough in a different way. That we are enough, what we do is enough, who we know is enough, what happens around us is enough. That it's all enough. Whoa! This startled me. If what we have in this moment, in this bigger concept, is enough, what is there to strive for? Why bother to go to work in the morning? Why create anything new? If the universe meets my needs, exactly, right now, what's the point of doing anything besides laying in bed all day waiting for the universe to provide what's next?

I was totally resistant to this idea that it was All Enough. I kept listening but the little voices in my head had grown huge and were screaming, "No!" "It Can't Be Enough!" "You Will Die!" I could barely hear the world around me. I kept listening to Lynne and to the voices and I have no idea what she said, but suddenly I got it.

It's not about there not being enough. There is plenty of everything for everyone. Yes, the portions are screwed up and that's something to work on, but there really is no scarcity on the planet. We can choose to frame it all differently. Right now in this moment. To put it in the context of contribution and passionate living. Everything we do, we do because we want to. Not because someone told us to. Or, because of the almighty dollar.

I can spend my day working in non-profit making a buck, or I can spend my day working in non-profit being a contribution to the mission of the organization. Let me tell you, the latter makes the work much closer to play and much more rewarding. All those phone calls? The outcome is what it will be. The contribution is making the connection with another human who also wants to be passionate about the choices they make.

I already knew this. I've worked in non-profit for years. What is new for me is holding the context of Enough everyday. It's changed the way I make choices. It has lowered my stress level. It has shifted the lens through which I view life. As odd as it may sound, it's made my life better. Easier. More focused on passion and acceptance and caring. I'm more thoughtful about the choices I make.

This concept is important. It will change the world. If it's all enough, why would we want too much? Why would we hoard anything? We won't. We will share. We will put our resources where they are most needed: to support our families, our communities and our world.

Local Beef -IT's What's For Dinner!

Last week there was a recall, by JBS Swift Beef Company, of 41,280 pounds of beef. Possible E. coli contamination. Then, on Sunday, they expanded the recall to 380,000 pounds! click here Say that out loud once! Three Hundred and Eighty THOUSAND pounds of beef. . . that's 1,520,000 Quarter Pounders. Yikes.

On Sunday I ate a slider for lunch. I'm sure you all know what a slider is, but just in case you don't, it's a mini-hamburger. About a quarter of a quarter-pounder. When I got home and found out about the recall, I wasn't worried. Because the slider I ate was made from local beef. It came from a happy cow who used to life at Marin Sun Farms click here. Delessio, the restaurant where I ate, serves local organic food click here and they post where the food comes from. This is not only good for the restaurant's business and their customers, it's awesome for the farmers.

If you eat beef, you should be concerned about this huge meat recall. E. coli contamination means there's poop on the meat. Who wants to eat that? Not me. And I'm sure not you. There are lots of ways to find local beef. Ask around. Google "meat CSA". You'll find a source and you'll be glad you did.

And when you are done enjoying that rare t-bone steak that came from a critter who used to mow a pasture just down the road, watch Food, Inc. click here. You'll be glad you did. . .