When Meet The Press on NBC leads with a roundtable on the current state of the economy, and the lead story on the installment of 60 Minutes the same day is about a far off doomsday depository in far off Norway, for seeds, you know things are not great. I looked around on the tube today, and there just was not much levity, and when coloring eggs was mentioned on the local news, the announcer could not resist informing us that eggs are over two dollars a dozen these days, further confirming the state of our dollar. The only thing that might have brought the point home any better would be a toilet flushing as the announcer read the news.

The fact that after watching ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ one can easily go on the Internet and verify through several distinct sources that global warming is taking place, life for many is worse than ever, and the change that man is wreaking upon this planet is soon to be unrecoverable doesn’t drive the point home to too many people. (Perhaps those refusing to recognize the signs will be the first to go - that would at least be fair.)

So what do we do?

I recently wrote a paper for my daughter to present in class, as she couldn’t think of anything to write, and also it was to be graded on the presentation, and not content - so it wasn’t cheating, for those who care. It is designed for seventh graders, but when it comes to some of these concepts, it becomes necessary to bring it down to the level of those who refuse to listen, think, and comply.

Being Green without Being Silly

With all the ways to be environmentally friendly in our homes, it seems strange that some people are so upset by suggestions of changes in living patterns that will make a difference in the lives of all the people on the planet.

Though many ways to become green in our lives are most costly, there are also many ways to be energy efficient or conserve energy that allow those doing them to save money. Saving empty soda cans and bottles, and recycling them on the way to the grocery store allows a savings of money when using these items and allows the manufacturers to use less of the costly petroleum products in any further manufacture.

Another way to conserve is to use the local approach to what we eat. Although it is nice to be able to eat fruits and vegetables out of season, for hundreds of years people did without fresh fruits and vegetables in winter, as they would can or freeze extra produce during the summer, to be able to have food that was another color than brown during the late fall and winter months. By doing this again, it means that stores will not go to such efforts to import foods from the southern hemisphere in the northern winter. No matter how energy efficient the transport, if that food is not transported, still more fuel will be saved.

In our houses, we all want to be comfortable in both winter and summer. By making sure that windows and doors are properly fit, and that gasket material is used, heat will not move in the unwanted direction as easily. This will save on gas or electricity, and means less cost for the homeowner.

There are so many ways to save. All through the day a person can save and conserve at the same time. When getting up in the morning, instead of running water while brushing teeth in the sink, a person can brush their teeth without the water running or can brush teeth while in the shower. By hanging up a used towel after each use, it can be allowed to dry and be used again. After all, if all that is being dried is water on a clean body, it should make little difference to hang up and reuse three times. That is less water, detergent, and electricity or gas used for the washing of the towels.

Many people think that because we are able to do something means that we should do it. That just is not true all the time. Many of the habits that we have today would be strange to someone living 50 years ago. Convenience is very nice, but becomes better when tied together with responsible actions. That will allow all of us to live better, cheaper, and longer.

 

How many are unwilling to do these few things? If you are not willing to help out just a little, should you be the recipient of any help when the crunches come? When gas is scarce? When food is exorbitant?

A small amount of thought, and action, now, could save much suffering for many (including you) later.

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Tags: green, recycle, energy conservation, global warming, doomsday