What are some things that you do on a day-to-day basis that help preserve and save our environment? If you don’t do anything, what’s something small you can start doing on a regular basis?
What are some creative ideas for ways that ordinary people can make a difference? Kill off humans and the earth will correct itself. Until then, nothing? People in general wont make much of an impact. We need clean renewable energy sources. Not coal, not nuclear, but more creative ways such as thermal and tidal energy.And before you recycle, think of repair and reuse first!
The little triad I always heard was reduce, reuse, recycle, but repair fits just as well.
There are 3 torrents that got uploaded here yesterday called “The Story of Stuff.” (An ebook, an audiobook, and a movie.) I haven’t checked them out yet but I’ve heard about it before….the author basically traces the lifespan of the stuff we accumulate, and how it affects the environment.
Reducing the amount of stuff we have is a great thing, IMO. So much of it really is junk, that just ends up getting thrown out. Most of it we don’t need. And most of it ends up owning us, rather than us owning it. I know that has been stated so many times that many think of it as a trite little cliche, but there’s truth to it.
One thing I’m interested in is minimalism and simplicity. (We have a lot of material on it over at The Place… it doesn’t really fit here because it’s self-improvement related) This is one of the things minimalists talk about. When you own many things it creates anxiety, because they’re things that you’re invested in that can get lost, get damaged, get stolen, etc. They require maintenance. So not only do they take up physical space, but they take up space in our minds, that hinder us from being truly present.
Not only that, but Tim Ferriss (who isn’t a minmalist, per se) talks about how having lots of things ties us to a specific location. For a lot of people, having lots of stuff means they can’t do something like go travel the world or go live in a foreign country for a few months. Anyhow, that’s a pretty long excursus I just wrote but the point is that not only does living in simplicity and minimalism help the environment, it’s a vehicle towards personal well-being also.
People tend to attribute this to some sort of socialist ideology preached by Jesus, but the original meaning was that the material things distract you from the peace of mind. Plenty of things can be done, but will the human race do them? No. The human race cant even control their own weight or health on their own, how can anyone expect them to care about the earth in a group effort?
When I was a young man several decades ago, I would have been right with you. At my advanced age I have seen how politicians corrupt science, twist facts and manipulate the public.
Perhaps we are facing an existential environmental threat? or maybe not? One thing I am sure of is that there are politicians and Governmental officials twisting the truth and exploiting the situation in order to justify taking more control over lives and resources If you guys wish, I’ll see if I can find some material which illustrates how the Left has exploited this to advance their agenda.
Simple Solutions
Some simple ones are:
– recycle and reuse where you can (no brainer)
– accumulate only what you have a need for (who needs 3 eskys, 2 cars or a spare fridge?)
– set an example by passing on things that you no longer need for free to those that do need them
– repair things when possible, it decrease resource usage and landfill
– buy products with less resource usage or a longer predicted lifespan (e-books, digital cameras, quality furniture)
– counsel people on there finances (reduce waste & expenditure)
Here are some of the more creative things I do to promote peace… now that may seem off topic, but by promoting peace everywhere, wars will become less frequent and they are one of the greatest users/ destroyers of resources. Stress will reduce thereby decreasing medical expenses and other related resource usage.
– Discuss the inadequacies of tolerance and promote acceptance (I work mainly on religion, race and gender) in everything
– Promote the ideas behind the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (and similar groups), Interfaith, Multiculturalism etc
– Discuss individuality and promote free thinking
– talk about the possibility of bringing about a generational change in how we think as a way to abolish discrimination, promote peace and save the world
1) …and most importantly –
THE EARTH DOESN’T CARE!!!!
The earth has gone through many changes of climate in the past – and will go through many more in the future – long after humans are extinct.
2) WE should care, because the current *small* change in the climate is affecting US.
In the past, populations moved when the climate changed – now in our over-populated world, there is nowhere left to go!
It doesn’t matter WHY the climate is changing – we must adapt to this change, or seek to geo-engineer change to counteract this.
As individuals, we should reduce our ‘footprint’ – especially those who live beyond their (ecological) means. There are many ways to do this – reducing water use (and reusing water). Australia has, I think, a lead in this – with active programmes subsidising rainwater collection, and greywater reuse. So it’s clear that governments CAN act when the need is there.
Energy is a big issue – and not all ‘sustainable’ energy systems are as good as we may think – for example, solar (electric) panels currently consume more energy to manufacture than they will return in an average lifetime of use.
Bio-fuels are using valuable agricultural space – reducing food production.
There are many more examples! So we must be careful – the simple answers often proposed do not always make sense when considered in depth.
Leave a Reply