be personally responsible for stopping global climate change

I’ve found that I have have lots and lots of errands to be done lately that involve driving. But I still do public transport to work, and mostly drive only within a small geographic area. I plan my routes, don’t idle the engine, drive the city street speed limits. My health has also caused me to select driving more than usual because right now I haven’t the stamina to walk as usual. Oh well.

NPR had a story about Juneau where an avalanche has cut them off totally from their usual source of hydro electric power. They are getting all their electricity from diesel right now which will continue for several months and will increase their electric costs about five fold. People in the city have already rallied and have cut back their power use by about a third quickly.

That got me thinking about what else could I do if I had to to cut power. I’m already pretty low, and on the one hand I think it’s about time for everybody else to step up to the plate about this. But still, there must be things I can do. Here’s what I came up with:
Unplug the microwave when not in use
Cook only using the microwave plus the electric kettle
Unplug the electric clock and use only a battery alarm clock
Use the battery powered radio instead of the big electric one (buy one of those wind up radios, even better)
Unplug the emergency flashlight and the bathroom night light
Only use electricity to charge up the computer, work on battery power until used up
Carefully watch the phone charger, unplug the second it’s finished
Never leave the house with a light on
Only turn on one light at a time, move the lights as I move about the house
Never use the garbage disposal
Time my showers, turn off the water while soaping up, never take tub baths
If I get free wireless, don’t use my modem
Never watch the TV
Wash clothes only when they really need it, not just because I wore something. Never use the clothes dryer.
Keep all the food in one place in the frig and stuff the rest of the box with towels and blankets.
Go to bed at 2200 at the latest.

I probably could et radical about electric use if I needed, but I think I’ll wait until I really need to. At least I have options.

NPR had a story about how earth Day has been corupted by people who just want to sell us products. Well, Christmas, Easter, all the other shopping holidays got corrupted long ago. I can’t blame people for just doing what their work tells them to do (sell us stuff if one is e retailer, for example.) I know that Earth Day is not about shopping and so does every other true tree hugger around. We know just to ignore the buy something message. And if a person new to this green business obtains and uses a cloth bag, CFL’s, non toxic cleaning products, whatever, all well and good. Gotta start someplace. People have to start to think that this whole issue applies to ME NOW. Anything that starts people walking down that road is all good. Green is more than just a passing trend. Green living is robust and will be around for a long time.

I don’t know if any of you heard the twin stories on Morning Edition last week (maybe the week before) in which 2 families in the Atlanta area were profiled. One family lived a typical suburban life and the other one lived in a condo (maybe apartment) in the downtown some place. The suburban family was quite ordinary, they didn’t live in a huge place and didn’t have outrageous habits, they just lived the way so many, many people live these days. But the difference in the carbon footprints for these two families (according to the stories anyway) was HUGE.

I’m living now a lot like the urban family (exactly like them maybe.) I feel like I’m saving myself maybe, but what about all the others? All those so many others?

Then a few days later I heard this story in which a scientist that studies arctic sea ice talked about how they couldn’t do their research this year the same way as last year because of the way the ice had melted. That scientist stated that things are moving much faster than had been projected. He said that within 10 years there will probably be no sea ice at all in the northern hemisphere.

I suddenly had this vision that individuals are going to have to take drastic measures quickly because we’ve just waited too long thinking about whether or not action is needed. What if, within say, 5 years, the typical North American suburban lifestyle is just suddenly unsutainable?

One thing that I see possibly happening is this huge fruit basket upset thing. A lot of people all at the same deciding that they need to live very close to their work, for example. Some people will decide to move to a different home closer to their work. Others will decide to change their work to be closer to their home. I hope the numbers all kind of even out. I can see also people demanding more and better public transportation, but I really wonder if governments can respond well and fast enough.

I don’t see this as a pretty picture at all, and it worries me so much. I see a lot of pain for a lot of people. I wonder if anybody else shares my sense of panic. I’m trying, I’m really trying, to do as much as I can, but I can’t do it alone. I need lots of help, and it’s needed NOW.

The weather was terrible this weekend. Today it’s even snowing, so I didn’t want to go for a drive this weekend. But now that the nice weather is close by….may show up at any time…..I am feeling restless. I want to do some road trips, mostly for the sake of getting out and just seeing stuff.

I’m thinking about this travel thing though and about how much I really want to travel around. I read a great essay in High Country News about the idea of NOT traveling. The author has a cat that needs a lot of attention because of its health and the author said she has decided that she just can’t travel much as long as she has this kitty, and that there is nothing at all wrong with that. I agree with her. There is a lot to be said for travel, but there’s also a lot to be said for staying home and being content.

Right now I’m kind of thinking that I do want to continue to travel some, but I have already given up the idea of doing a lot of far away traveling. For example, I think it’s possible that I may never go to Florida again or that I may never see the Caribbean or Hawaii. I know I would love to visit all those places, especially in the dead of winter, but I think I can give up actually going to any of them. I’m ok with armchair travel to places far away like that.

Instead I see myself as thoroughly exploring the west, places much closer to where I live. My list of wanna see places in the west is huge. Unless I just hit the road totally for a few years, it will take me a lifetime to see everyplace I want to see out here. So I will be spending some gas money on some travel around my extended neighborhood. I’ll plan and ration for it, but I will be hitting the road sometimes just for the sake of seeing what there is to see.

I got another TerraPass that off set the trip back home last month and the upcoming one I’ll be making in April for a business trip to Seattle.

My last electric bill was a bit over $7.00 again. I don’t think I’ll worry too much about trying to go even lower. I would have to do things like unplug the microwave all the time, but that’s only one of 2 clocks that I have, so it stays plugged in. No doubt I could do better with an Energy Star refrigerator, but because I don’t own it, I can’t really replace it. Plus, at the rate I seem to use electricity it would be years and years for the payback.

Our laundry room is being re-done. It’s not finished yet, but most of the new washers are in. They are great! Energy Star, low water use, less detergent required. They are almost silent, and the clothes come out virtually dry. So far everybody that I have talked to likes them. I don’t mind having to do my wash in a shared space. It’s much more ecological to share things like this, I think. Not everything needs to be privately owned.

My bill this month was about $7.50 which is amazing, I think. Maybe those CFL’s actually have paid off. I have had to use the heat a bit on some days. It is January after all! But I only use it when I’m in the place, and I turn it off at night.

I’ve also only used the car once a week and then for a group of errands that aren’t very far away. Yesterday I parked the car in one lot in a shopping area and then walked from store to store without moving the car. (the stores were in different areas and many others would have probably moved the car from place to place.)

The forecast was for rain changing to snow. You know, jokes aside, most of the time the forecasts tend to be correct. Should have really thought about that before I went out this morning and dressed better. I walked and took TRAX to Trolley Square in order to get my locals only Sundance tickets and guess what? It is WET and COLD outside. I got soaked. Now I’m drying off at the cafe before I go out again to go home. But I didn’t use my car!

Now that there is snow and ice around, I’m hardly driving at all. I have had such harowing experiences in the past with winter driving that this is something I am ready to give up totally for life. My sister in Finland puts her car away for the winter, but of course she lives in a European city with great infrastructure for walking, bicycling and public transport. This is so much easier in the US in a city. I know I will do some winter driving, but only on clear days when the pavement is dry. I’m hard pressed to think of something that I will really need to go out driving in bad weather for.

Also, in my new place, I have yet to actually turn on my individual heating unit. There seems to be plenty of ambient residual heat from the building in general that I haven’t needed to top it off with my individual unit. I’m not sure if this is related to the different configuration of my apartment or to global warming.

Just got my new electric bill…$8.89…not too bad.