What is so friggin’ happy about it?

OK, I hate to sound like Debbie Downer here, especially after yesterday’s blog post about Gratitude, but we’ve got to have a serious talk about Earth Day. I’m sick and tired of all the “eco-friendly” blah blah blah and the corporate greenwashing that lulls most Americans into a complacent stupor. Sadly Earth Day has become another Hallmark Holiday with people wishing me a happy Earth Day like its Easter or Valentines day. ENOUGH of the hype, let’s talk about what really matters.

Earth day was originally created in 1970 as a nationwide  teach-in to challenge corporate and government leaders about environmental issues.  Today, thanks to collective environmental apathy, our continued existence on this planet is more questionable than ever. We’ve thoughtlessly depleted resources like fossil fuels and water to name two. This is the only planet we can live on, there is no “Plan B”.  If each one of us doesn’t wake up and take some solid action, we are screwed.

I’ve known this information most of my life. My dad read a book entitled “Limits to Growth” in the 1970′s. As a tween, I rolled my eyes as he rambled on about future economic, political and environmental instability as we waited in the gas lines to fill up our car.  My dad is no longer with me, he passed on in 1999, he’d be saying “I told you so” if he was here today.

So what can YOU do to have a “happy Earth Day”? Please don’t buy another “eco-tote” or green cosmetics.  Read a book instead. From your local independent bookseller or from the library if you like.  Here’s two that will help you to understand what my dad knew back in the ’70s and will help inspire you to move forward in creating a better world for all of us.

One of my favorite authors, Bill McKibben, explains that we are already living on a different planet.  He eloquently opens our eyes to the kinds of change we’ll need to make in order for our civilization to endure. The endorsement below says it all:

“Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important.” —Barbara Kingsolver

I stumbled upon The Transition Handbook  a few years back. As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.  This handbook is a goldmine of inspiration to get you started.

There is a growing Transition Movement worldwide and in the US, check it out online, connect with those nearby or start a group yourself.  I’m part of Transition Westchester.

Speaking of gratitude, I am very grateful for Bill McKibben, The Transition Movement and Transition Westchester. As I said yesterday, what you think about grows. Stop thinking about useless eco-friendly stuff and start thinking about real solutions: Transition is  the one that I’m focusing on.

Happy Earth Day.

When life hands you lemons, there is often an opportunity to make lemonade. Last week, one of my daughters cleaned her room by overloading our wash machine with all the clothes that had been festering on her floor. This overload of laundry caused my 10+ year old wash machine to up and die.

The repair man confirmed the death of my washer and then launched into an informative lecture about why we want to invest in a front loading machine this time around. While a front loader can cost more money than a top loader, front-loading washing machines use:
40 to 60% less water
30 to 50% less energy
50 to 70% less detergent
than top-loaders! These machines spin your clothes super fast, they end up spending less time in the dryer. My repair guy said depending on the cost of water and electricity, you could recover the extra cost of a front loading wash machine in less than a year.

Considering I live in a town with the most expensive water in the entire country (no kidding), I was sold.  As an added bonus, we found out that making the switch qualified for a ”Cash for clunkers” rebate along with a NY Great Appliance Swap Out. These two rebates brought the price down to close to a top loader. Not bad.

Next on my wish list to go along with my nifty new wash machine: a high tech outdoor clothes dryer!  This is at the top of my birthday wish list.  I’ve been a big fan of Project Laundry List for quite some time now.  I can’t wait to post a photo of my laundry line on their map.  If we’re every going to cut back on greenhouse gases and prepare for a life with less fossil fuels, these are the types of changes we’re all going to have to embrace.

re·sil·ience
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s\
Function: noun

1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress
2 : an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

Resilience. The word keeps surfacing for me lately, it’s become a mantra to help keep me balanced through a bumpy few weeks. A heavy duty snow storm downed trees and power lines just two weeks ago. Everyone’s yard is littered with branches and debris.  This past weekend another freak storm with high winds and heavy rains uprooted trees all over the tri-state area. Half of our county didn’t have school today due to power outages and obstructed roads. It takes an attitude of resilience to deal with these inconveniences.

What the heck is going on with the weather? Donald Trump suggested that Al Gore to return his Nobel Peace prize because of all the snow this winter.  I’m starting to believe like Thomas Friedman, that Al Gore underestimated the impact of climate change. Bill McKibben and his new book, Eaarth suggests that we’ve already managed to change the planet in such fundamental ways that it’s not really the planet we thought we knew.

When I think about changes in climate, first thing that comes to my mind is food. We need to create some resilience in our food system to withstand whatever shocks that climate change and fossil fuel depletion are causing. We don’t have to wait for governments or giant corporations to wake up and figure out that we need to make big changes. We can make meaningful changes  from the bottom up by getting our hands dirty and growing some of our food. Creating a small, diverse local/ regional food supply is the first step in creating resilience.

Climate change and peak oil is pretty scary stuff to contemplate. Many of my friends don’t want to acknowledge these changes are close at hand, its so much easier to remain blissfully ignorant and continue on with business as usual. But once you’ve had the wake up call, it’s impossible to go back to sleep.  This is where Transition comes in.  Transition US is part of a worldwide movement  that provides inspiration, encouragement, support, networking, and training for Transition Initiatives across the United States.

Transition Initiatives are part of a vibrant, international grassroots movement that builds community resilience in response to the challenges of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. What’s great about Transition is that it seeks promising ways of engaging people in strengthening their communities against the effects of these challenges, resulting in a life that is more abundant, fulfilling, equitable and socially connected. I’m now working with others in my community to form Transition Westchester.

To learn more about Transition and to find a group near you, visit the Transition US website. Or check out the Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins.  You’ll find that resilience is a comforting concept.

December’s UN climate talks in Copenhagen failed to failed to produce a strong, binding agreement to cut carbon-dioxide emissions.  Most Americans are painfully aware that burning fossil fuel contributes to  increasing CO2 levels, pollution and climate change, but did you know we’re starting to run low?

Fossil fuels are not in endless supply under the earth’s crust, many experts feel we’ve already passed peak production. As demand for petroleum and petroleum based products continue, the costs will continue to rise. We’ve got to prepare for the time when cheap oil is not longer an option.

Peak oil and climate change can easily leave one feeling depressed and disempowered. Most of us avoid thinking of what it will be like when the oil runs out or becomes prohibitively expensive. But, without a doubt, we will see this happen within this decade.

With crisis comes opportunity. The silver lining to this crisis can be seen in a new concept called Transition.   Not just another “green” group, Transition focuses on creating awareness of sustainable living along with building local resilience. The focus of our lives will become increasingly local and small scale as we come to terms with the real implications of the energy crisis we are heading into in the not so distant future.

Transition Towns started in the UK back in 2005 by permaculture designer, Rob Hopkins and others. Similar transition initiatives are springing up in communities across the US and throughout  the world.  There is a Transition US organization to serve the growth of Transition Initiatives.

John Bell of Ossining has taken on the task of getting Transition Westchester started.
He’s set up a series of film screenings in both northern and southern Westchester counties over the first 3 months of 2010 along with some organizing meetings for those who wish to get involved in a leadership role.

John is not your typical tree hugging liberal granola crunching greenie. He hails from Houston Texas, with a PhD in Chemistry and has worked with both the oil industry and agricultural chemical industry for more than 30 years.  John’s “aha” moment happened when he read William Kunstler’s book, The Long Emergency.

“Transition is the best way to prepare for an unexpected future”John Bell

Transition is hopeful:  a life without oil could be far more enjoyable and fulfilling than the present. By shifting our mindset, we can recognize this to be an opportunity rather than a threat.  Transition helps us visualize a low carbon future that is thriving, resilient and abundant. One that is  better than our current consumer culture based on greed, war and the myth of perpetual growth.

The goals of Transition Westchester for 2010 are to inform the public of the challenges of peak oil, climate change & economic instability and to start to build the structure for Transition Westchester.

To learn more, visit www.transitionwestchester.org

WORD OF THE DAY: Global Weirding

n. an increase in severe or unusual environmental activity often attributed to global warming.

Note: Global weirding includes an increase in average temperatures, heat waves, cold spells, hurricanes, blizzards, plant and animal die-offs and population explosions, and new animal migration patterns.

photo credit: Capitan Giona

Climate change makes the weather weird.

The hots hotter

The colds colder

Heavier rains, more frequent severe hurricanes.

Cold snaps in strange places

How did it get so weird? We don’t know anymore. In the past 200 years of burning fossil fuels, we’ve put so much CO2 in the atmosphere, we no longer know if our weather is an act of nature or an act of man.

Its safe to say we can count on unpredictable and weirder weather to continue. We’re going to have to learn how to live with a higher level of uncertainty in the years to come as the weather gets weirder.

photo credit: gitsul.

While many Americans are wasting valuable time oggling the news for the latest update on Tiger’s sex life, our atmosphere is filling up with greenhouse gases that may make human civilization unsustainable in the not too distant future.

By now, you’ve probably heard about CO2. Carbon Dioxide is the main greenhouse gas that everyone is talking about. Bill McKibben has done a great job getting the word out about CO2 levels with his group 350.org

There are other gases that create even more damage than CO2, and what you eat on a daily basis creates them.

Methane is 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2. The largest source of methane is industrial animal agriculture. Here’s how it works. Cows eat corn and grain which results in belches and blasts out the other end loaded with methane gas. What we need to do: eat less animals.

Nitrous Oxide also known as laughing gas in the dental office, is no laughing matter. A molecule of nitrous oxide traps heat about 200 times more effectively than a carbon dioxide molecule. It’s produced when nitrogen containing fertilizers are applied in conventional agriculture. What we need to do: support organic and sustainable agriculture.

Clearly what we eat and how we grow it can have a big impact on climate change. Research by Rodale Institute demonstrates that we could offset 25% of our annual emissions if we converted existing farmland to organic methods. We’d also save more water, induce less erosion and conserve more resources than conventional farming does.

The bottom line: If you care about our future, focus on what’s on the end of your fork instead of Tiger’s escapades. Our children and grandchildren will thank you for it one day.

Saturday’s world wide day of action got alot of people thinking about the number 350.

What’s the big deal about 350?
To paraphrase from the 350.org site:
The science is clear: global warming is happening faster than ever and humans are responsible. Global warming is caused by releasing what are called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The most common greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide—measured in “Parts Per Million” in our atmosphere. 350 PPM—it’s the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.

In addition to calling for bold and meaningful climate change legislation nationally and world wide, there are LOTS of things that each one of us can do right in our own yards.

• Fire your lawn guys and buy a battery powered Neuton Mower and cut your own lawn.
• Got leaves? This magical little mower also does a great job of mulching those autumn leaves so you’ll have no need for noisy, CO2 spewing leaf blowers. Think of the cleaner air and the trimmer waistline you’ll have by doing your lawn yourself.
• While you’re outside in the yard, find a great spot to start a compost pile. I’ve got one corner of my yard where we toss leaf mulch along with branches that drop out of our trees from time to time.
• Hanging your clothes outside to dry will save loads of CO2 and will reduce your utility bill. Visit the Laundry List Project for more details.
• For more inspiration on what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, go see No Impact Man, a movie that tells the story of one family in NYC and what they did to reduce their CO2 emissions.