Fri 18 Apr 2008
Have you made any attempts to change the environment for the better? If so, what have you done? Do you bring your own bags to the grocery store, or use CFLs? Do you find it easy to live a greener life?
Posted by IndigoRain24 answers so far!
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1) I bring bags to the grocery store
2) I use public transportation when possible
3) I’m planting my own vegetable garden in an effort to be more self-sustainable
4) I am now firm in my habit of turning off my computer at night and when I go to work (it used to be on 24/7)
5) I’m also anal retentive about turning off lights not in use, but that’s not new. (Really, leaving lights on in rooms I’m not in has always made me anxious, since long before I cared about the environment or anything like that; I have this “it’s burning, it’s burrrrning” reflex that I simply can not turn off. It’s as if I’ve left water running.)
6) Needless to say, I recycle (we have a great recycling program: it’s free, they take everything, and we don’t even have to separate it)
7) I installed new storm windows in my house last year and over the winter my gas (heating) bills were about 10% lower than before, so that’s nice, but I did that in an effort to save money, not gas.
I have a long way to go, however. In all those “compute your ecological footprint” calculators, I am WAYYYYYYY over where a single person should be. It’s embarrassing. Some things I can’t help unless I move. (My home’s lot is bigger than one person needs, and it’s plain expensive [financially and ecologically] to live here.) At least with the veggie garden I feel as though I’m putting some of that space to use. Some things I plan to start doing:
1) Switch to CF bulbs (I haven’t had many bulbs burn out lately and have a few regular incandescents stockpiled, so I’m using up what I have)
2) Drive slower. I work in some offices that do not allow me to take public transportation (and that are 45 miles from home, so biking isn’t an option because it’ll take too long) and my favorite speed is 80mph. I’m currently in the middle of an experiment to find out how much gas I’ll save if I slow down to 60mph, despite the fact that driving that slow will make me a hazard on the highways here. (To clarify: the speed limit is 55mph, but that speed will get me killed the first day out. On 294, 75mph is and has always been the common driving speed. So I figure 60 is a safer bet than 55, and that’s the speed all the “slow down to save gas” articles seem to quote.) In addition to fearing for my life, slowing down will also make it take longer to get to work, and I bill hourly, so I’ll have to get up and leave for work earlier. But this is something I’m willing to do if it can actually help. (I should mention in all this car/commute talk that I’m a freelancer so I work a great deal from home. In between my 90-mile commute days I can also go a couple weeks without driving farther than the grocery store.)
3) When I buy my next car, I’ll probably go hybrid (or whatever the cool technology is when I buy again). I did buy my car with gas mileage in mind so it’s not a guzzler, but I can do better. The only problem here is that I need a car that can accommodate my 2 greyhounds, so it has to be a hatchbacky thing (like my current car, a Toyota Matrix) or an SUV. (I wonder if two greyhounds can stand up in the back of a Prius? Will the salesmen let me test that out?)
One thing I would love to do is switch to solar power, but that would be a humongous job, and I really haven’t done enough research on how much power one can get from the sun in Chicago. So that’s just not going to happen. Maybe in my lifetime, but not in the next two decades.
I find it extremely easy to do the things I’ve mentioned. I feel I do very little at all. My worst offenses, I think, are my driving (which I can change) and my house (which I can technically change, but there is a quality-of-life issue involved; sometimes I feel I should downscale and move into a little condo but my dogs will suffer without a yard, and fuckit, I LIKE living on a lot with a yard and a garage and all that). I’m actually trying to think of something–ANYTHING else I can do right now, but my mind is blank. I look forward to other replies for more ideas.
Regarding point 2 of driving, I have a Scion Xd and I’ve experimening some with the high-speed MPGs. At 65 (the speed limit where I drive on the HW), I get upwards of 34. When I go up to 80, it drops to around 27.
My goal, someday, is to live in a city where I can ditch my car and live off walking/mass transit.
I try to turn out lights I don’t need, and we recycle pretty faithfully. No car — I walk everywhere that I don’t bus, and Portland’s bus system itself is making some small strides toward green vehicles with some hybrids in the current fleet.
Being a middle-class pedestrian in an apartment in a downtown metro area probably more significantly defines my ecological footprint than any specific control I could apply to the details of my lifestyle.
I have indeed — in some ways it was a concerted effort, in others, my general lifestyle was already on the green side.
I bring my own bags to the grocery store, and other stores as well
I commute via bus, and also take the bus or walk to many places — I have been doing that for a long time, so that’s part of how I was already doing things.
I recycle almost everything I can. I get pretty happy when my amount of recycling exceeds my amount of garbage
We are very mindful of keeping our heater at lower-than-usual temperatures, and wear warmer clothes indoors to compensate.
On a larger scale, I’ve become a lot more aware of the relationship between consumption and garbage. Buying cheaper things just because they are less expensive, but with the knowledge that they will have to be thrown out and replaced, is something I try very hard not to do.
My wife and I do lots of little things:
1). CFLs pretty much everywhere.
2). Cloth bags for the grocery store.
3). Composting.
4). Our own little garden.
5). Insulating the basement.
6). Putting in new windows with better insulation.
7). I gave up my car two summers ago; we’re now a 1 car family. I ride transit almost everywhere, and my wife bikes when she can (it may not sound like much, but I live in a very, very car dependent city – not having one was a big adjustment).
8). Power bars almost everywhere – the TVs, the computers, etc…when we are done, we don’t just shut down, we power off.
I forgot the recycling service and Bullfrog power.
I admit to not doing much. (I don’t drive, but that’s because (a) I hate driving and (b) I live in New York City. It has nothing to do with the environment.) It’s tragic that I do so little, because I really care about the environment. I haven’t voted recently, but I’m thinking of becoming a one-issue voter: find out the candidate who cares most on the environment and vote for him/her. Fuck what he/she thinks about anything else. That’s how important I think the environment is.
I don’t do more because I feel hopeless. I feel like I can go out of my way to bring my own bags to the grocery store, turn out all the lights, etc. and it won’t make any difference. That we’re so far from being in a world where enough people care — where the key people care — that there’s no point.
I’m jealous of people who can get satisfaction out of “Whether it does good or not, I’ve done my part,” but that leaves me totally cold. I want the actual problem solved, period. And I want some evidence that my personal actions actually help solve the problem. Otherwise, doing them all the time just reminds me of how hopeless it is, and I get depressed.
By hopeless, I don’t mean I think we’re necessarily all doomed (though it wouldn’t surprise me if that was true). I mean that right now (given the current political climate, etc.), my actions won’t help. Or at least I feel they won’t. I do think it’s possible that various political and social forces might change for the better.
But right now I feel like my house is on fire, there’s no fire department and all I have is a thimble full of water. If you were in that situation, what would you do? Knowing it wouldn’t put the fire out, would you throw the thimble, anyway? Just so you’d know you’d “done” something? I wish I could be like that. I’m not.
What I should really do, given my convictions, is to become an activist. But I don’t have the stomach for it. Politics depresses me so deeply, I’d be depressed all the time if I engaged in a political life. So, selfishly, I stick my head in the sand. It allows me some happiness.
Good thoughts above! I think I may be recycling some of these ideas… Hmm, iguana, I need to work on the jack-rabbit starts some…and, am also becoming more prone to keeping near the speed limit. I’ve become a bit burnt-out on the activism front – I should do more there…
I do all the standard stuff: reduce, reuse, recycle. Basically, I find that being “green” is the most economical way to go.
I’ve always recycled since it was first available about 15 or 20 years ago where we lived – even when we had to take it to a collection center (which partly negated the effort due to increased fuel use.)
Was principally involved in a local group called EcosLocos trying to promote green before it became popular. Outreach was a big key back then – now green is the new buzzword.
Worked in a green architectural office that renovated an old gas station into new digs – every thing possible was recycled and most of the reclaimed building materials were re-used in the renovation. I’m fond of reuse – it sounds so much better than my first reason for recycling – it’s cheaper!
Provided labor for one of the first (in our area) green roofs (roof planted with succulent plants). Learning by doing/volunteering is a wonderful experience – it adds to proselyzing legitimacy.
Have always used compact fluorescents for lighting – once again being a cheapskate.
Organic Gardening and composting is a passion. I used to grow as much as possible. Now, I’m without a gardening location. Also, used to have a small worm farm under the kitchen sink for easy access – productive critters those little worm-ies. And, no, they don’t smell. (It’s a good science fair project for younger kids too.)
I pick up other people’s trash.
I shop at goodwill for clothing.
I have the first new car I’ve ever owned and it’s an ultra low emission high gas mileage vehicle. We don’t have mass transit here, and I cannot move to a high density location until my family obligations change.
I’m starting to bicycle some, and hope to bike to work when I become fit enough.
For housing, I’m currently living a more meager existence than desired (which is more ecological, I suppose). However, whenever I’m able to have a home of my own, I plan on using wind power and solar water heating. I don’t think I’ll be able to afford pv power. The building envelope will be tight, solar orientation optimized and the power demand will be lessened. Indoor air quality is a key design criterion, so low/no voc materials will be used. Roof water will be collected and reused to water my future garden! Big dream is to have a few chickens too!
I drive a hybrid, I’ve replaced most of the bulbs in the house with compact fluorescent bulbs, and I’ve replaced leaky flapper seals in the toilets and last year installed a high-efficiency HVAC system (got a tax credit for that….who knew?). I recycle paper, plastic, and aluminum ( mostly — some it it gets trashed because I’m lazy or the recycle bin is full or whatever).
But I still toss cigarette butts out the car window because I am Essentially Evil.
I’ve been bringing my own bags to the store, and we’ve been switching to CFLs as our incandescents burn out. I’ve also been driving more carefully – for example, if I see a red light up ahead, I’ll try to just slow down sooner so I don’t end up having to stop for it completely.
Grumblebee, here’s something you should read: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/09/the-power-of-on.html
IndioRain, thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading it, but in the end it was too mystical for me: All it takes is for us to believe that how we purchase and how we act can really make a difference. And it can.
I do get the point. It’s a simple point and one that’s often true: if each person does one little thing (or several little things), the total impact will be stupendous. I agree that this is often true, but it’s not always true (I’m not even sure it’s true most of the time.) It also assumes that lots of people WILL do that one simple thing.
If I pick up one piece of litter, will that act help keep my neighborhood clean? Maybe. If EVERYONE (or many people) are each picking up one piece of litter, the neighborhood will sparkle. But if I pick up one piece and everyone else does nothing, my contribution is meaningless. (Meaningless if the only goal is cleaning up the neighborhood. I respect people who feel there are other — more spiritual — benefits, but I’m not a spiritual person, so such benefits are lost on me.)
Also, if tons of people each contribute, that doesn’t necessarily solve a problem. It’s a ton of good intentions and hard work, but it still might not be enough. I’m not convinced that all this effort will solve the impending environmental disasters.
Anyone who wants to convert someone like me needs to show a clear likelihood — or even a fighting chance — that my actions will help save the planet.
My wife and I have found that the cloth shopping bags are actually much easier to use- they hold more and are much more durable than the disposable paper or plastic shopping bags. We are starting our garden, as we finally moved into a house in the city with a yard. We walk or ride bikes, and put CFLs in fixtures that are left on a lot, like bathroom and hallway lights. I am always yammering on about turning off lights etc. when you leave a room.
Philadelphia has recently upgraded its recycling program, so we can recycle plastic bottles etc. more easily (curbside, so we don’t have to load them into the van and drive them to the collection center at the church any more).
Now, I wish I did less driving, but when I do drive I am a total miser- I never stomp on the pedal, and I’ll coast a block or two if there’s a stale green or yellow or red ahead. Now I have a question for the group – we are having some 40-yr-old kitchen cabinets replaced. What is the ecologically responsible thing to do with the wood? Hardwood frame and doors, plywood sides. Any ideas?
Mister_A: I’d reuse it somehow, obviously. Know any little girls who’d like a dollhouse? That’d be cool. Or build yourself a nice liquor cabinet.
Craigslist or Freecycle?
Mister_A – Any way you can find to reuse or give away the cabinets is a step up from the landfill. I don’t know about your location, but our Habitat Reuse Center will accept many types of building materials, including cabinets.
grumblebee – For some people the most motivating factor towards greening their lives is that many of the efforts are more cost effective, and result in a bit more o’ the green in their pocketbook.
If you have any inkling to do any of the aforementioned “green” actions, consider ones which give YOU the most benefit. You don’t have to do everything.
A little delayed in responding, but thanks for the suggestions. I’m looking to see if there’s anythign like the Habitat Reuse Center by me. Ditto the Freecycle deal.
Thanks!
grumblebee said: “Anyone who wants to convert someone like me needs to show a clear likelihood — or even a fighting chance — that my actions will help save the planet.”
Well, I’d take you to tour a landfill. Then a strip mine. Then an oil refinery. Then a clearcut old growth forest. If you’d seen all these places and realized that we could slow down the depletion of these non-renewable (at least in a reasonable amount of time) resources by just making a few simple changes. That shoudl be convincing.
Have you ever seen the top of a mountain removed for coal? Have you ever been to an oil field?
Are you patriotic? Did you know that the bald eagle was down to a few hundred nesting pairs before DDT was banned in the early 1970s? I remember when it was a rare thing that you could see one. Now they’re in all of the 48 contiguous states and Alaska. Hundreds of thousands of them. It’s almost to the point that they’re considered a nuisance in some areas. They were de-listed completely last year. That’s just one easy example of the difference that can be made in 35 years.
You could be the 100th monkey. Give it a try.
pdxvp, I repeat:
Anyone who wants to convert someone like me needs to show a clear likelihood — or even a fighting chance — that MY actions will help save the planet.
Your appeals are all emotional. That’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for, if you do X, the likelihood that bad-thing Y will happen goes down.
And saying, “if EVERYONE does x…” doesn’t exactly cut it, either, unless you convince me that it’s even somewhat likely that everyone (or enough people) WILL do x.
It is not an emotional appeal to see a strip mine. That is a real example of resource depletion that you will take an active part in slowing. I am talking physical evidence.
see now, grumblebee, you misunderestimate the power of your own actions.
The eagle story is an emoitonal appeal – I’ll stipulate that. I did not make an emotional appeal about the landfill, oil field or any of those. Think of these things a stuff. Stuff we are using up. And once the stuff is gone, there is no more. That is real, not emotional.
Because, you see, in the long run, I don’t care. I will not be around long enough to witness the long-term consequences. Heck, I actually believe the Earth will be better off once we extinct ourselves. My own motivations are self-interested: I want to increase my quality of life. That’s why I bike to work. Because I get off on the endorphines. And I get that self-satisfied feeling from blazing past all those suckers stuck in traffic. And I am adding years to my life. Everyone else can go suck on an exhaust pipe for all I care.
Economically I spend my money on as much locally produced and organic products as possible. Why? Because the money I use locally gets recycled locally, which again raises my standard of living. Based on the marginal propensity to consume of my region (which I am guessing is somewhere around 80 – 90%), my $500 spent this way circulates through my local economy many times over (1/1-mpc = multiplier). Those dollars are taxed locally, which adds to the public goods supply in my region (think lush green rainforest in the city, open spaces, public art). Also, when more folks are working locally, crime goes down (think Chicago right now as an example of contrast, a corporate city where dollars are siphoned off and not respent locally), businesses open up, my consumer choices are greater and I see more innovation in the marketplace.
If self-interest is an emotion, then yes, this is a logical, rational argument based on macro and micro economic principles with a slant on my own economic self-interest as a rational consumer.
But, you do have a point that is unassailable: you v. the GDP is a losing battle. But it is irrational. If you are really open to be convinced, you will abandon the irrational resistance and become cognizant to the reality that everyone makes a difference. That is the brilliance of democracy and the free-market. The latter half of the 20th century has taught us that, if not anything else. In the year 2000, ~532 people in Florida made the difference in voting. If only 300 of them had voted the other way, making a differential of less than 100 in an election where tens of millions of voters cast ballots, then our geo-political and economic world today would be drastically different.
Not that I’m saying it would be better, I think that life is better when folks make these types of choices on their own accord, rather than by force (think about the policies the Gore Administration would have espoused – I’m thinking environmental totalitarianism on some level – the Green Gestapo).
I am normally a drive-by commentor, but I’ll check back in on this one if you care to let me know where your trepidations still lie. I’ve been doing this for decades and I can address any and all of your concerns on any level. Plus, I need the writing practice. You just have to be willing to listen and understand. If you aren’t, then all your points are mute anyway.
you will abandon the irrational resistance and become cognizant to the reality that everyone makes a difference.
This is the sticking point. If my point is irrational, fair enough. But I’m waiting to see evidence that it’s irrational.
Let me be as clear as I can about what my point is and what it isn’t: my point is NOT that individuals can’t make a difference in ALL cases. You brought up the Gore/Bush election, and — I agree — just a few votes made a difference.
But it’s not logical to deduce — from that one example — that individuals can ALWAYS make a difference.
What about elections where 80% of people vote for Jack. Will my one vote for Jill make a difference? How? (It may have some sort of effect in the world, e.g. showing up in certain poles, sending certain messages, helping Jill raise money for her next attempt… but I’m not talking about that. I’m just talking about the gaol of GETTING JILL ELECTED. Will my one vote have any effect?
Let’s say that I need a new car. I can’t afford it, but I work out that if my wife and I don’t eat out for a year, we’ll be able to afford it. I tell this to my wife, she refuses (she loves eating out). Will I still get the car if I forgo eating out by myself? (I need the car one year from now, not two years from now.)
To me, it seems irrational to say that individuals never make a difference; it also seems irrational to say that they always make a difference. The rational stance is that sometimes the do, sometimes they don’t.
We also don’t always know whether they will or not. For instance, let’s say an election is coming up and we have no access to surveys or statistics about public opinions. Is it worthwhile voting if our vote MIGHT (but might not) make a difference?
I don’t think that question has one answer. It’s needs to be answered by each individual person. If person X will be EXTREMELY UPSET if he discovers his vote makes no difference, maybe he shouldn’t vote.
So here’s my question (maybe there isn’t an answer): IF I start acting “green,” what is the chance that MY actions will make a difference (to saving the human race)? I know no one can say for sure, but if you can tell me — and back the claim up with evidence — that there’s a reasonable chance that my personal choices will make a difference, you’ll sway me.
If you tell me, “we just can’t know,” (that we can’t even estimate odds), then I’ll just do whatever I want.
(I won’t “do whatever I want” out of simple selfishness — though in the end my motives are selfish. I’m like that guy who will be extremely upset if he votes Democrat and then finds out that 98% votes Republican.
IF I devote the next 50 years to “green” living — and then I find out the the planet is in the same sorry state it’s in now (or worse), I’ll be deeply upset. I know that now, and I don’t want to open myself up to that sort of pain.
I know many people would bask in some kind of glow of “well, at least I tried,” but I’m not built that way.)
grumblebee – I am not (oops, I should say I am pdxvp) altruistic enough to care whether my ‘carbon footprint’ makes a difference in saving the earth. My motivations for living a lifestyle with elements that are popularly labelled ‘green’ are purely selfish.
More benefits of riding my bike to work: my thighs are marvelous, my calves are big and cut, I have the stamina of a freaking stallion (I’m edging up quickly on middle age) and my prostate is so incredibly strong that, well, it’s strong and my sex life is better now than it was 15 years ago when I was in my 20’s.
Benefits of using my own mug for coffee at work: s-t-y-l-e, knowledge of where the mug has been, knowing that some donkey at the coffee shop isn’t going to mistake my drink for their half-crap chappykino.
Benefit of switching to CF lightbulbs: I’m freaking lazy and cheap.
Benefit of giving my old clothes to Goodwill: tax write off.
Benefit to me for saving the world: nothing, really, so why bother to pretend to care?
I find the whole “green movement” and all the variations a chance for people to make money selling people shit they don’t need. Reusable bags? No thanks. Ugly CFL lightbulbs? Hell no.