the next step

[the_siobhan]

Every resource I've ever seen about climate change gives the same basic instructions. "Turn down the AC. Get a more fuel efficient car. Buy locally."

We don't have air con. We bus and bike everywhere. We eat vegetarian most of the time, and every lightbulb in the house is compact fluorescent. We patch, repair, reuse and freecycle.

Now what? Where is the environmentalism 201?

*sigh*

I guess I could always write more letters.

What I'm listening to right this second: Knucklehead

Comments

[aidan-skinner.livejournal.com]

Microgeneration? Tends to need a fairly hefty capital investment, at least here, maybe Canada has better grants available?

I suppose by posting, again you already are... but -

[shillolo.livejournal.com]

educate.

environmentalism 201

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

as Aidan said, microgeneration (it'll be getting way cheaper soon!), and sustainable water and wastewater.

use grey water recycling systems. install a water butt and save runnoff rainwater for watering the garden. compost. put bird and bat boxes in your eaves.

[sweetfuckall.livejournal.com]

We don't have air con

I purchased my first A/C last year, against my better Environmentalist judgement. We try to use it as sparingly as possible, but when the humidity is as such that we can't even run the vaccuum across the carpet, it's time to plug 'er in.

I think it's that whole "the rich get richer while the poor get poorer" scenario coming into play. Those of us who do our part and do what we can to reduce the effects of climate change grow more heat-oppressed as the years go by in some last-ditch effort to make up for what Joe SUV is doing.

I knew the world was in beeg, beeg trouble when air-cooled patios became all the rage at downtown eateries. Once the sun goes down, they turn the A/C off and fire up the heaters, lest pubgoers suffer a chill. We are heating and cooling the outdoors now, folks. Why do so few of us see this as fundamentally wrong?

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

http://www.bwea.com/you/byo.html ?

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

As far as air conditioning goes, that's one area where replacement makes sense. New system use FAR less power than old ones. Not less than none, obviously, but it's a place where it should be encouraged rather than discouraged.

[girfan.livejournal.com]

There is a brand of bottled water in Canada that melts iceburgs to get this water. Maybe protest against this brand?

[ihvpave.livejournal.com]

I wonder things like this often.

I'm working on creating microhabitats in my yard by mowing less and using a higher blade height, no pesticides, companion planting, bug-inviting plants, etc. I compost and do the three Rs, and I try to use as many companies that use sustanable resources, minimal packaging, and so on as I can (which is the main reason I use LUSH for the stuff I can't be bothered to make myself). I DIY as much as I am able (or, more accurately, fussed to as I tend to be impatient and convenience-oriented).

I've been thinking about researching solar power conversion and grey-water recycling for my house but... Again with the "convenience" factor.

But then I look at my girls and I think I really need to.

[montieth.livejournal.com]

Where is the environmentalism 201?

Go off the Grid. Get a BioDiesel reactor. Start making your own BD (you'll need a vehicle to go collect the fuel). Then get a Lister cycle Engine (http://www.listeroid.com/) and start generating your own power and also use the system as a supplement for your heat (the radiator for the generator will work as a great heat exchanger for your furnace).

Or you could co-generate power with solar panels and battery banks. Though Solar Panels are more pricey.

[montieth.livejournal.com]

Oh, start hunting for your meat. It's the original free range.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

You're channeling me again.

Do you compost? It's so effort-free even I can do it.

[caspervonb.livejournal.com]

Writing letters is really good. Most people never do (no
matter what they say).

I think you're doing the most immediate things you can do.

Real change is down to governments and corporations. As
with everything else, it comes down to exercizing political
power.

Don't buy from places with poor environmental policies. Vote
for people who are willing to give a serious and unbiased look
at climate change and pollution.

Tough call with all the misinformation flying around though.
Likely, putting some wingnuts like the green party in charge
would cause more problems than anything else.

It is important to balance societal needs with environmental
ones. What that means is that we need to impose tough legislation
on reckless pollution, especially airborne pollutants. At the same
time, create government grants and subsidies to make factories and
enterprises more environmentally friendly. Make it fiscally viable
and profitable for companies to go eco-friendly and that part of
the problem will resolve itself through standard market forces.

[shara.livejournal.com]

Well, "sustainability" is basically a life-cycle thing... in a broad sense, there's consumption, use and waste.

So you can either look at what you have in your life which consumes, and try to reduce that consumption - electricity, "raw" resources, what have you. You probably have heat - the best way to cut down on heat energy consumption is to optimize latent heat generation in the house so that as little as possible needs to come from "other" sources. So, get windows which point the right ways, make sure the house is VERY well sealed and insulated, invest in tripple-glazed windows and so on. Then get a heat system which requires the least amount of actual generation - radiators against inner rather than outer walls, or radiating floor systems. You also need good circulation - the amount of energy used is equal to the cube of the rate of flow (this is a piping thing).

Or you could limit waste. Look at what you have in your life that still generates truely end-of-life material. How much garbage, recycling and compost do you put out? Can it be reduced? What can be bought in bulk which you don't already use? Can you use cloth napkins/paper towls/ hygenic products?

Unfortunately for us 21st-century types, technology is a great source of waste... computers and their bits don't really have a post-consumer life. But you can still do little things, like have a flat-screen rather than LCD monitor (far fewer toxins) and make sure you have a machine which can be broken down so that you need to replace only small bits at a time.

I'd also like to second the "educate" plan...