Hey there.

This is an easy-to-read webpage giving you simple but useful ways to help solve what is our greatest human challenge yet: living in a way that doesn't destroy the delicate balance that is life as we know it.

I can see your eyes glazing over already, so I'll make it real simple.

To read more about what this problem is, and why it might be something you would care about
CLICK HERE

For practical, inexpensive, painless tips on what you can do RIGHT NOW to really help yourself and everyone else
CLICK HERE

If you've been here before, CLICK HERE to find out what's been added or updated! Last update: 11/27/06

Relax. Don't sweat it. Read this in parts if you must, but read it. Bookmark the page and come back to it, little by little, if that helps. There's a lot in here, but it's all important. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, let me know.

The Problem

It's getting hotter, as you know. You see hurricanes, brush fires, floods, record heat waves and droughts occurring. You've heard of global warming. You're probably TIRED of hearing about it. You most likely do what you can, whether it be recycling, or anything else in that vein. You can't control what other people do. You don't have any say in the way big corporations run their company. Maybe you even believe that it's too late- there's no way we can force such an industrialized society to change its habits now, and, basically, we're all screwed. This is actually a lie we tell ourselves out of despair, out of a lack of knowing what else to do. The fact is, all is not lost (yet).

I'm assuming you do care, to some extent, at least, about the immediate future of our civilization. If you don't have kids, you will- or, at least, someone you care about will. Those kids will most definitely have to deal with the severe consequences of our actions, and I do mean SEVERE, because in the next few decades, every aspect of the delicate balance we call life is going to get severely disrupted. I know how extreme that sounds. Please keep reading, anyway.

Why do smokers smoke, despite knowing full well that smoking is destroying their bodies? Logically, the enjoyable short-term benefits of smoking don't outweigh the long-term consequences. But we're really good at believing in anything that gets us through the day, and if you believe you need that cigarette, then you WILL need that cigarette, lungs be damned. Belief is what leads us to achieve great things, as well as many horribly stupid things. Our non-action on the environment is no different. The logic in the following is obvious: if we produce more waste than the Earth can deal with, we will overload it with waste. If we produce gases that trap the sun's rays, those rays end up heating the Earth and disrupting an incredibly delicate order that includes all animals, plants, and the weather. There is no disagreement among scientists about this; there's the Illusion of disagreement in the media, but there are no scientists actually writing about the myth of the greenhouse effect in scientific journals. The evidence is way too conclusive.

Unfortunately, we don't really believe the problem is a Problem (or a PROBLEM) quite yet. What we do believe is that we need to drive big cars in the name of safety, that we need to constantly be in a climate-controlled environment of 69 degrees Fahrenheit, or that, when someone invents a newer, faster, smaller something-or-other, we need to own it right away. We believe all these things because it allows us to get through the day; if someone tells us otherwise, our instant reaction is one of defense and rejection. "Fuck you- I LIKE my Ford Explorer. Why CAN'T my home be 69 degrees all the time?" The thing is, you can. It's a free country, and you can live any way you want to. Remember the basic scientific premise, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction"? This is no different. If you're fine with the reactions that your actions generate, then why change? Just make sure you know what those reactions really are. There is a direct connection between our lifestyle and Hurricane Katrina. In a very real sense, the disaster that happened there is, at least partially, our fault, as crazy as that may sound. The combination of our lifestyles all over the planet (but especially the U.S.) has changed the conditions of our planet's weather patterns drastically over the last decade. Scientists knew that the increase in heat would create the conditions that favor violent storms like hurricanes. You just have to do the math... and now, here we are, one flooded New Orleans later.

The Earth wasn't always the way it is now. It had different climates, and different creatures who functioned well in those specific climates. Right now, we're the creatures that function well in today's climate. But if the climate starts to change, there will be a point when that's no longer the case, and we'll go away, with a new life form better suited to that new climate taking over. This may inevitably happen anyway, but it's pretty stupid for us to speed up the process with our insanely wasteful ways. I know life gets pretty intense, and often our immediate daily survival takes precedent over any lingering idealism we may have had... especially as we get older and life gets more complicated. But that's exactly why we need that idealism right now; it's the only thing that will keep us focused and driven to succeed.

Every thing we manufacture takes energy to make, ship, and run. Ipods are fun, but Ipods cost resources. Everything does, and we keep making more and more stuff in proportion to our planet going more and more out of whack. Maybe we can't just pull the plug on all this industry, but we CAN slow it down and reshape it, the same way it reshapes naturally right now. A few years ago, cell phones didn't exist; now there are tons of companies and workers in that industry. Those people weren't all unemployed before cell phones; they were doing other things. Naturally, those other things shrunk as the cell phone industry grew. We can similarly develop a functional economy with jobs for everyone that will help this planet, not destroy it. It's just a matter of us, as consumers, dictating the economic direction by consciously choosing what to spend our money on, rather than just buying whatever the ads tell us to buy. You can buy a hybrid car instead of an SUV, or not buy a car at all (and bike it instead.) If you're more ambitious, you can look into using bio-diesel as a fuel, or converting your current car to an electric one (yes, people actually do that.) You can get a misting-fan system instead of buying a super-wasteful AC. And so on. When manufacturers see where the people are spending their money, they will adapt their business model to the new terrain- it's simple Darwinian economics. Daily life will be different, but no different than the difference between life 50 years ago and today. Change is inevitable, but we can make sure it's a change for the better.

Here are some ideas how

Action.

All this theory is great for conversations over a beer, but what can we actually do, right now, that will have real effects on the future? Here are my ideas. There are links throughout that will bring you more information on that specific subject. All the work has been done for you. Can it get any easier than this? Hells, no!

Scroll down to read the entire thing, or skip to a specific section below:

MOVIE.

Al Gore, if you haven't heard, made a great documentary about this problem, called An Inconvenient Truth. Please watch it. Please take others to watch it, especially those people that would never go see it. In fact, if you (or someone you're taking) lacks the money to watch/rent this film, I will personally pay the cost for you via paypal. Just save your receipt and email me. The film will give you solid facts to back up your arguments, or, if you don't believe this is a problem, it will dismantle such ideas with clear, objective scientific facts. I'm not an Al Gore fan. I can't stand the Democratic Party, or any political party- but that's not important here. This is a great film. It states the facts better than I ever could, so go check it out. His accompanying website has a lot of free information on what you can do, right now, to help us all.

You can also check this place out for both facts about what this globar warming thing is all about, as well as tips on fighting it. .

And, of course, you can keep reading, since this site was designed specifically to give you simple, practical, and REAL solutions that will help you help yourself.

For example:

ELECTRICITY.
There are a couple of HUGE things you can do to help. This is the first. We all have electric bills, but did you know you can actually CHOOSE where you get your electricity from? Some of us have "heard of that" but no one knows how to go about it, so I made a lot of phone calls. Here's the deal:

Electricity comes in 2 parts: supply and delivery. Before, both those parts came from the same 1 delivery company, whomever that happens to be. Living in NYC, I get my electricity from ConEd. With deregulation (much like what happened to the phone companies in the 80's) the delivery part is still the same company, but the supply comes from any number of sources. There's this gigantic grid, see, that we all draw electricity from. This grid is fed by hundreds of sources: burning coal, nuclear power plants, windmill farms... when you turn on the lights at home, you're drawing from a combination of all these sources (each state has its own percentage). New York is 23% nuclear power and 58% fossil fuels, both being really unhealthy ways to get electricity (if that's not obvious, maybe you should read part 1.)

You can change the supplier with a simple phone call. You still go through your delivery company, which sends you the bill, but now you're specifying WHOM you want to feed the grid. The more we choose wind, hydro, and solar, the less we're choosing coal, oil, and gas. It's that simple!

How to switch to a healthy supplier:

1. Grab your electric bill and, if it doesn't say anything about alternate energy sources, find the company website. THAT should have a link to "green" or other sources (called ESCO's.) Beware- not all ESCO's are using renewable resources; many of them are just an alternative to what you have now, but still burn coal and oil. ASK the company when you call exactly where they get their energy from, and if they have a "green" or "renewable resources" plan.

2. If the website doesn't help, either call them directly or go to green-e. They have lists by state. I found their lists to be a little inaccurate, though; ConEd was more accurate, but that's only good for those of us in New York.

3. Shop around. In my case, I have 3 genuinely green choices. Two of them have fixed rates, while one goes up and down with the market (the way your normal electric bill does.) If you look at your bill, there is a "supply cost" (i.e. 14.3 cents per KWH) and then a total cost (i.e. 20.4 cents per KWH). The only thing you're changing is the supply cost- your delivery company still charges you their portion of the bill (in our case, 6 cents per KWH.) Choosing a "green" source may cost a little more than what ConEd charges, but it really won't amount to a big difference in cost- in my case, just a few bucks more a month, plus I get a tax break on the bill from New York State. As more people switch to renewable sources, the prices should go down, like with anything else.

4. If you happen to live in an area where you can't get electricity from renewable resources, you can still use what are called Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs). This is a little confusing, but I finally figured it out, so bear with me. The idea is that you CAN'T get electricity from a good source, so the next best thing is to OFFSET your usage by paying for that same amount of electricity to be taken from a good source. This amount then goes into the grid, eventually going to someone's house. So if I use 200 kwh of electricity this month and buy a certificate worth that amount, some "green" company will be paid to pump that much electricity into the grid INSTEAD of having it come from coal or oil. Of course, doing this is a little more expensive, since you're paying for the TRC on TOP of your regular electric bill, so this is only an option for those who save their money and really care about their effect on the planet. Which is you, right? Hello?

Regardless, this is the one of the two biggest things you can do to help, so please, do it. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to email me.

-saves you lots of money (and can actually EARN you money)
-reduces demand off the grid (i.e. blackouts)
-means less unhealthy methods of energy production

There are lots of different ways to stay off the grid, and people much more knowledgeable than me to show you how. Here is a hopefully growing menu of off-grid methods:

Solar - this is the best source of energy we have, though our current technology makes it an expensive proposition. Still, you can make small solar generators that can supply part of your energy needs. The good news is that solar panels last a long time, so after the initial investment, you are literally getting free energy.

Rainwater - collecting rainwater and reusing it for your household needs does many good things. 1) It's less water being pumped from far away into your home, which means less stress on our water supply. 2) Rainwater is, in many ways, purer than the water from your faucet. 3) It's a more simple & direct way of harvesting something that's there, for free, already.

Wind - The advantages of having a windmill are obvious, but add to that the fact that many states will give you big rebates or tax breaks (New York pays for at least 50%) when you set up your own wind-harnessing system.

Hydroelectricity - Hydro only works if you live near running water, but if you do, it's pretty sweet. Just set up the turbine and let the river do all the work. You can build small ones just to learn the process, or build/buy larger ones to power your home.

Off-Grid Resources:

Offgrid.net is a good resource for self-sustainable living.

Check out these guys in upstate New York who run workshops in building all sorts of cool things for your home.

The Altenergy Store has all the parts you need to build this stuff, plus resources and articles of their own. If you don't like that one, try Real Goods.

Utility Free sells kits for solar, wind, & hydro solutions.

Combine solar and rainwater to get your very own Solar Water Heater !

When doing laundry, instead of harmful, chemical-based detergents, you can wash with Eco-Balls instead. Crazy! If anyone has any more healthy, useful products, drop me a line

CARS.

I live in a city, but for those of you in the suburbs, don't drive your cars as much! This seems obvious, but cars are the biggest single contributors to our problem. Walk or ride a bike, please. Carpool. Get to know your neighbors and go to the supermarket together, in one car. I know this seems weird, but you'll get used to it. If you don't, you'll end up getting used to a lot worse in the next couple of decades- I 'aint foolin'. If you have an SUV- please, dear lord, get rid of the damn thing or swap that engine out for a battery! We've got some pretty big balls as a nation to deal with our pollution and environmental problems, NOT TO MENTION our dependence of middle east oil by BUYING BIGGER, MORE WASTEFUL CARS. We should have all been driving electric cars by now. Car companies have been promising electric cars for 3 decades now, but we've done nothing to force their hand. Who Killed the Electric Car? is a documentary you can watch to find out just how the Auto and Oil Industries went so far as to sell and then recall & destroy many such great cars that consumers loved and used without problems. But that's another story. There's a lot you can do right now:

-the hybrid: This is a sad excuse for an "environmental car" but it's the best we've got right now. My 1991 Honda Civic gets almost as good mileage as a 2006 Toyota Prius, which is pathetic! But you can get custom made battery upgrades that turn them into "Plug-In" Hybrids (batteries that you can recharge by plugging them into a wall). The more time on battery means the less time on gas. Until car companies offer this themselves, it's a little tricky to convert your hybrid, which is why some people are pushing and pushing for this to happen. The more people demand it, the faster and cheaper the plug-ins will come.

A couple of companies offering solutions for your plug-in are Hymotion and Edrive. Hybrids, on their own, do very little for the environment!

-electric cars: I know some people looking into ways to convert ANY car into an electric one. Hopefully this will happen, and I can put you in touch with them if it does. In the meantime, check this place for where to get your car converted, or where to buy an electric car!

Because this technology is in development daily, EV World is a good place to get the latest info on what's going on.

Just so you know, the Honda Insight gets you 60mpg, which beats any other car in the market. Perhaps this should be your next car, if going electric seems too weird or far-out for you?

-vegetable oil & biodiesel: There's a bunch of people out there who are driving around on discarded vegetable oil from Chinese food restaurants which they get for FREE. It's called SVO, which is similar to biodiesel, both of which are alternate, clean sources of fuel. If you own a diesel engined-car, or if you are looking to buy a cheap used car, buy one with a diesel engine and convert it, cheaply and easily, to either of these great methods. You can find out about Biodiesel here and here and Simple Vegetable Oil here and here.

The more people are driving these things around, the more people will see that it's not a crazy notion left to a few car nerds, but something everyone can be doing. One of the reasons car companies won't sell electric cars is that they require a lot less parts and maintenance. Car companies make a LOT of money selling you replacement parts and service- but, as an electric car technician said, all EV's really required was new windshield wiper and brake fluid every so often. There's no gasoline-powered engine, so half the junk under the hood is GONE. Not buying gas helps our planet, it helps your wallet, and it helps our horrible political situation by reducing our dependence on oil. Why do you think we're all over the Middle East?

PLASTIC.

Just think about what plastic IS. Plastic doesn't just go away. Glass, for example, is basically sand, and can be crushed and reused in a variety of ways. Plastic, however, is a bit more complex. It is convenient in the short term (carrying and holding stuff, is cheap to produce) but not in the long term (clutters our land, water, and air). It is made from petrochemicals (i.e. OIL) and takes literally millions of years to break down. Think of everything that has plastic in our daily life. When you order take out food, it comes in plastic containers with plastic utensils. Most items in stores have some piece of plastic in the packaging. How many items exist in one store, how many stores exist in one town, one city, one state? How many plastic bags are given away every day when people buy something?

Every time a store gives you a "free" plastic bag, they have to order more "free" plastic bags in replacement, which means the plastics industry has to manufacture more plastic bags to meet the demand. Quite simply, the LESS bags you accept, the less get made. Think of all the things you save in the process- less oil that needs to be pumped to make the plastic. Less gas consumed by the trucks and ships that carry that oil, then later, less gas used by the trucks delivering the plastic all over the world, all the time, business by business. The less you consume, the less will be produced. It's my responsibility to consume as LITTLE as possible, especially now. The Co2 levels in our atmosphere are through the roof- several times higher than during any natural "warming period" our planet has ever experienced in the last 650 thousand years, and they keep rising each year. That's an insane and disturbing fact.

We need to just say no. Every time I buy something at a store, I have to battle the cashier who is dead-set on sticking my item in a plastic bag. You can be polite, but determined- no bag, please. If they give you one anyway, take your item out and leave the bag there. They give me weird looks, but better that than a landfill full of plastic bags. If you can, explain to them why you're doing it, so that they get it. The more people refuse bags, the less bags will be made. Less bags, less raw materials, less waste. Going food shopping? Bring your own cloth bags. Never mind the stigma of being seen as some 70's-style, macramé-making hippy-dippy type. Bring your own damn bags instead of taking home thirty "double-bagged" plastic ones. If you work at a retail store, don't give people plastic bags unless they ask. I know it's against store policy... too bad for store policy!

If you DO have plastic bags sitting around, don't throw them out. Apart from the obvious uses (lining trash cans, picking up your dog's "gifts" when you take him for a walk) you should be able to recycle them at your local grocery store. Mine doesn't, though I'm in the process of getting them to, but if your bags have a 4 (HDPE) or 7 (LDPE/LLDPE) stamped on them, they are DEFINITELY recyclable. Most unmarked bags fall into this category too, unless they have a 7 printed on them, in which case, use them as sandwich bags. There is no need to ever buy a box of sandwich bags!

PAPER & COMPUTERS.

Use less paper! Computers were supposed to usher in a paperless society, but instead, we waste more paper than ever before. Going somewhere? Don't print out your mapquest directions- that generates 3 pages of banner ads and graphics you don't need (plus all that wasted ink). Just grab a scrap piece of paper instead- I like to use the backs of junk mail envelopes. Jot down the directions quickly, and keep that printer turned off. This goes for SO many things. The less paper and ink you use, the less resources we're consuming.

And please, recycle those ink jet cartridges- that's a crapload of waste right there. There are many places that actually PAY you for your used cartridges, like here here and here. That's right- instead of throwing them away, you can get money back by recycling them, and some places even sell you refilled recycled cartridges at substantial discounts. It's a great school fundraiser or a simple program you can set up at work for your coworkers.

Gamers, I know video games require constant computer upgrades, and that it's your right as an American to do whatever you want with your money. But the tradeoff for having the latest hardware is a planet full of junk. The truth is, there's no need to keep "upgrading" your machine every six months just to find new ways to kill time.

The computer world in general is incredibly wasteful- old monitors, scanners, drives... where does all that junk go to? Well, here's one solution I've found. Green Disk will send you or your office a box where everyone can dump unwanted computer parts, from floppy disks to laptops. The price includes return postage, so you just send it back and let them recycle it properly. If you work in an office, PLEASE TRY THIS.

And if you want to know where to recycle your old computers (or anything, really), ask Earth 911.

You can also buy RECYCLED computer supplies here- an incredibly important bit of help for an otherwise super-wasteful office environment.

If you can avoid using paper in the first place, even better. If you spill something, you can probably clean up the mess with a damp sponge better than you can with a bunch of paper towels. The sponge can be reused, while the towels get thrown out. A little thing, I know, but a lot of little things = one big thing. For example, there is so much junk mail generated every day, there's no need to buy pads of paper and colored stickies; I constantly write on the backs of envelopes. If you work in an office, take home their scrap paper and use it to write notes on, or for your kids to draw with. And at the office, use as little computer paper as possible- use as little ANYTHING as possible. As much as I love mooching off corporations, it's more important to save our limited resources.

Finally, if you want to live responsibly AND have a clean, hip ass, there's no better toilet paper than ShitBegone, which is 100% recycled, inexpensive, AND has the best attitude a toilet paper could ever hope to have. If you don't live in New York City (or Maryland) then you can order in bulk. How's that for peachy keen? We ordered a case and it's honestly the strongest toilet paper I've ever used (yet still quite soft!)

AIR CONDITIONERS (and other big ENERGY USING devices).

I know we all love our AC units, but they are a HUGE energy waster. Remember the East Coast blackout last year? What do you think caused it? Let's see... More Co2 emissions in the air = higher temperatures (2005 was the hottest year on planet earth... EVER We're talking 650,000 years. 2006 is already on track to beat that record.) Higher temperatures = more AC's powered longer to beat the heat = overload on our power grid, which is mostly powered by, you guessed it, oil, coal and nuclear power. I know, it's nice to watch tv in a nice, cool room, but we're really sucking up the juice. Here's what you can do to offset the problem:

generate your own energy. if your AC is running on solar power, for example, you can crank it all day long, guilt-free (if you have enough solar panels, of course.) How does one do that?

You can build your own solar-powered AC unit (this site has lots of other solar-powered stuff).
Or buy a solar-powered cooling system
Or just understand solar panels better in order to make your own devices
This home solar system is pretty expensive, but will not only cool an ENTIRE HOUSE, it will power other appliances AND feed any extra electricity back into the grid, EARNING you money. If you own a house, maybe this is for you.

LIGHT BULBS.

Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs have been around for a while now, so why aren't we all using them? This includes myself. I'm not sure, but I'm never buying a regular light bulb again. CFL's take less than 1/4 of the wattage of a regular bulb to produce the same light... AND they last 4 to 16 times as long. They give off light in a way that's less straining to our eyes. They cost a little more, but you save a LOT more in electric bills. So what are we waiting for? Just remember not to throw them in the trash when they do die- they contain a little mercury. When they die, bring them back to the stores that sell them, unbroken, or find out where to recycle them locally.

RECYCLING.

If you don't recycle, START. It's not that hard. It's the least you can do. When you do, keep these tips in mind:

-If it is raining, put paper meant for recycling in a plastic bag or save it for another recycling day. Wet paper sticks to itself and other recyclables and starts to deteriorate, making it difficult to sort.

-Scrape recyclables clean, but don't overly wash them or remove labels. Small food residue and labels are burned off or otherwise removed in the recycling process, so rinsing is unnecessary and wastes water.

-Either screw plastic bottle tops onto the bottles or discard them. These tops are recyclable, but when removed from the bottle, they become too small to efficiently sort. Recycling plants discard loose bottle caps.

-Try not to break glass intended for recycling. Broken glass is too small to efficiently sort and is one of the most common things recycling plants discard.

-Don't put paper or cardboard that has been soiled by food -- such as pizza boxes -- in the recycling. These cannot be recycled, and it wastes fossil fuels for recycling plants to sort them and truck them to landfills.

-Separate paper from other recyclables. Paper is more difficult for recycling plants to separate.

Find out where to recycle lots of stuff, including batteries

When you get styrofoam peanuts in a package, save them! Stick them in one of those plastic supermarket bags and shove them in the closet, so that when you need them, they'll be there. If you've got too many of them already, give them to someone who can use them. If no one like that exists, find the closest styrofoam peanuts recycling center and drop them off. Often, your local FedEx/UPS shipping center will take them.

If you're even a little crafty, you can make a really cool bean bag chair with a little fabric. Just remember you'll need a lot of peanuts, since they'll get crushed quickly as you use the chair. You can also use those damn plastic supermarket bags in the mix.

FOOD & STUFF

It's pretty simple: the closer you are to where something was made, the less work it takes to get it to you. Think of all the food we have to choose from in the supermarkets, imported from all over the world. Think of what had to happen for it all to reach your shelf- trucks, boats, extra packaging to make sure it's not damaged... it's certainly a lot simpler to buy from a local farm, even if it isn't exactly the brand you had in mind. More and more, supermarkets are carrying local and organic products because people are demanding it. I can now buy organic milk and eggs in my supermarket that cost the same as their "regular" counterparts simply because their farms are nearby.

Local Harvest and Food Routes both will show you all the farms, stores, markets and restaurants selling local products near your home.

It's really not a big deal to switch your habits a little... and it doesn't have to cost that much. I hate yuppie-catering places like Whole Foods that are so overpriced, they give the average person the idea that "organic" is synonymous with "rich, stuck-up, liberal snob". Trader Joe's sells food that is low in price but high in quality- like it should be. Support them, but support your local suppliers first- it means less waste for everyone.

First of all, we have all the extra plastic bottles we have to deal with. There's no deposit on them, so, unlike soda, manufacturers don't have to bother with the 5 cent refunds (why do you think they decided to market water?) Second, and here's the kicker: bottled water isn't any purer, or healthier, than tap water. Just ask Rolf Halden, an environmental health scientist. The federal standards for bottled water are actually lower than city water. It's impossible to compare the tap water of each town, but in most places, especially cities, you're actually better off drinking from the tap!

Here's another study looking at flouride levels in water. Bottled water has minimal amounts of fluoride- less than the EPA standards require. For kids, especially, this is a problem. Tap water, again, has much better fluoride levels.

Health-wise, tap water is the way to go. Tap water into a filter, whether it's installed in the sink or something like a Brita filter, is fine- but assuming you're getting nature's best because it says Evian on the label is a mistake.

Environmentally speaking, bottled water is a horrible, horrible idea. There are millions of free plastic bottles kicking around- grab one and keep refilling it with tap water if you need to carry water around. Stay away from those bottles!

-CO2 gases are the #1 cause of global warming.
-Animals (that includes us) emit CO2 gases.
-21% of all the CO2 emitted by human activity comes from the animals we eat.
-Plants absorb CO2 and spit out oxygen.
Ergo, if you eliminate forests (plants) to create more cattle (animals), you have MORE CO2 and LESS OXYGEN. The CO2 rises, gets trapped, heats up the Earth...

I'm not advocating vegetarianism. We don't need to eliminate meat eating altogether, any more than we need to eliminate using electricity altogether. This is all about keeping things balanced; Americans (on average) devour 279 lbs. of meat per person each year! Compare that with China's 108 lbs. per person. Even more poignantly, compare it to our own average of 107 lbs. in 1950! So you can't say overloading on meat is an "American Tradition". As we've gotten richer, we've gotten fatter and more wasteful. And it's only going to get worse; as Western Culture spreads worldwide, everyone is adopting our wasteful ways. As China gets more industrialized, for example, our environment is going to buckle even more under the strain. This planet is barely big enough for one overweight country as it is.

But if you buy less meat, and buy it from organic and local sources whenever possible, and I buy less meat, and we all buy less meat, and we all do lots of those other things mentioned here, then maybe our kids won't be asking us why we screwed them over, 30 years from now.

If you want to look up more interesting environmental statistics by country, check out EarthTrends.

Do I really need this? If not, don't buy it. If yes,
Can I borrow it from someone? If so, do that. If not,
Can I build one myself out of crap I already have? If so, do that. If not,
Can I buy it used? If so, do that. If not,
Can I get it from somewhere local? If so, do that. If not,
Can I save it and reuse it? If so, do that. If not,
Can I use it for a completely different purpose than what it was made for? If so, do that. If not,
Can I give it to someone, or sell it somewhere? If so, do that. If not,
Can I recycle it? If so, do that. If not,
Can I use it in a really cool performance art piece, or as a prop in a movie or play?

In other words, never never never never throw anything away unless you have no other legitimate choice. Thanks for indulging me there.

Last, but INCREDIBLY important- educate others: your friends, your parents, your coworkers, your barber. The biggest problem is the people that don't believe there is a problem. If this is you, I would love to hear why you think this. If you agree with the ideas presented here, carry them out, but also get the global conversation going! We can all cheer each other on in our happy progressive circles, watching our friends do their part, thinking everything's going well. MOST people are far less "enlightened" in this matter. Rather than looking at them condescendingly, understand that they've been shaped by a set of influences, including their culture and upbringing, just as much as we have been in our own ways. No one would rationally choose to destroy themselves. It's only because we're so good at believing "it's not REALLY going to happen to me" that we can do such self-destructive things. The more they're exposed to these new ideas, facts, as well as to people that think -and live- more constructively, the more Americans can start to change their old habits and shed that reputation for being ignorant, lazy, and apathetic. We don't have to be that pushy- just live by example and be willing to take the time to explain yourself if anyone asks. I wouldn't be so insistent about all this stuff if, you know, this wasn't like, the imminent end of life as we know it. Subtlety isn't going to do us much good right now.

WHAT'S NEW

11/27/06

Paper - Plastic Cotton Swabs... bad bad bad. Also, how to reduce the amount of junk mail you get.

Final Thoughts - A website full of actual evidence why this global warming thing isn't all B.S. (for those skeptics who refuse to believe it.)

9/24/06

Recycling - Styrofoam peanuts- what to use instead, what to do with them if you've got them.

Food & Stuff - Bottled water is actually WORSE than tap water in many ways.

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