Monday, February 25, 2008

Top ten FUN ways to reduce GHG emissions!!

So, my last post got me thinking - it can't all be bad, right? There has to be a silver lining... And, in fact, worrying about climate change and trying to reduce my impact has led me to learn about several fun solutions:

  1. Going to the farmers' market: I love dogs, fresh vegetables, farmers, sunshine, and happy-looking people (boy, that sounds like a personal ad:)). The Farmer's market has all these things in abundance - going to the farmers' market is, perhaps, my favorite climate solution
  2. Eating local: a bunch of my friends and I took a pledge to "eat local" for the month of September - if you enjoy cooking and you want to get better at it, this is a great way to it. We learned how to make pasta from scratch, bread, tortillas, salsa, pasta sauce, cheese, granola, etc. I also spent a lot of time stocking my freezer with fresh vegetables and fruit. Now (in February) I'm reaping the rewards, with ricotta cheese cake made from scratch (ie, we made the ricotta) and strawberry sauce from my freezer bounty - yum. For recipes, check out www.vermontlocalvore.org. I also recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, as resources. Now we're part of a winter CSA that I'm really enjoying.
  3. Alternative Transportation - I've said this before, but I don't like driving. I also like being outside and exercising - cross country skiing to school, biking to work, canoeing to breakfast, taking the bus...I like it all. Mostly I just walk in the winter and bike in the summer.
  4. Living in a city. A lot of my enviro classmates would like to live in the woods (where you generally have a much higher footprint). Fortunately for me, I like living in the city. I like being able to walk to anything, and having a whole range of activities at my fingertips.
  5. Do it yourself anything - Growing your own food, knitting, wood-working, brewing your own beer - Fun! Not to mention the excuse to hang out with others and enjoy their company through parallel play.
  6. Renewable Energy - I know I'm a geek, but I think all things renewable are cool, whether you're making your own biodiesel or charging your i-pod with solar panels. And, yes, I know too much to think that any of these things is a panacea, but I still think they're fun.
  7. Raising a ruckus - I know I'm a minority, but I enjoy being an activist. I like taking to the streets. I like ruffling feathers. I like actively working for change, particularly when there's a solid group of others working with me.
  8. Not worrying about having the latest gadget, or the latest anything. I don't have a TV. I limit my ad consumption, and I think this makes me a happier person. This is not to say I never feel social pressure, but I think I feel less of it than most people, and that's a nice freedom to have.
  9. Snuggling to stay warm? 'Nough said.
  10. Craigslist - finding cool, used things...
  11. (The Carbonators - my moral and intellectual support group.)
Okay, so I can't stop there. There are a bunch of things that I don't really enjoy doing, but I don't mind either. These fall in the boring, but doable category:
  1. Turning down the thermostat (though not THAT much - I'm a cold wuss)
  2. Turning off my computer at night - I'm trying to get better at this
  3. Turning off the lights -duh
  4. Recycling
  5. Changing out my light-bulbs (I think we only have compact fluorescents now)
  6. Keeping my tires pumped up
  7. Unplugging appliances (I'm trying to get better!)
  8. Composting (this was not so fun when I had the worms inside the apartment and we accidentally introduced three species of fruit-fly - wash your fruit! - otherwise, I kind of enjoyed it, in a second grade, science experiment kind of way. Now our compost is outside - post fruit-fly coup)
  9. Shopping responsibly
  10. Carpooling, reducing, combining trips
  11. Voting - DUH!!
Alright, that said, here are some things I don't like and only sometimes do (I'm trying to be honest here):
  1. Forgo fun activities (booh!)
  2. Drive 55 mpg... I drive 65 on the highway, but 55 is a rough one...
  3. Travel less
  4. Forgo fun outdoor equipment that I don't really need...
  5. Wake up earlier - align my schedule with daylight (?)
Okay, I'm actually kind of struggling... I thought of five. I'm sure there are others. But I guess that's a good sign? My personal climate change solutions are, on the whole, more fun than annoying and hard with a lot in between...

What am I missing? (probably lots, since I'm just doing this off the top of my head...)

2 comments:

elaine said...

great post!!

holla Carbonators!

Quigliscious said...

yeah, nice one!

holla...