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Students who have been learning about the environment and the human role in it may be asking themselves exactly the question that appears at the top of this page. Since my goal as an educator is not to tell students how to live their lives, the focus here is not on what we "should" do, but rather on what we "can" do. I will even offer suggestions here that I do not necessarily follow myself. Each of us must find his/her own path. Feel free to look these over and try the ideas that work best for you right now.
Many of these ideas are not only good for the environment -- they are good for health and pocketbook, too!
If you have additional ideas or relevant web sites to suggest, or if you notice dead links, please let me know .
I have read -- and perhaps it is
true -- that the average item on a
dinner
table has traveled 1,600 miles to get there! The structure of the
grocery
industry makes it difficult for farmers to provide fresh products to
customers
nearby. The Northeast Organic Farmers Association (
NOFA
) not only supports environmentally-friendly farming practices; it also
helps
to link consumers to their food! See NOFA's
list of organic farms and vendors
, or check the NOFA-Mass
main site for more information. Even more local than food is your own back yard! In Texas, we had rented an apartment with a "lawn" area smaller than 0.01 acre, and were able to dramatically increase bird biodiversity in less than three years by planting native vegetation. In the four years since we purchased our house in Massachusetts with just 0.31 acres of land in the center of town, we have increased the biodiversity on the propery tremendously. We have seen a wide variety of butterflies, dragonflies, and birds -- including red-tail hawks -- as well as an assortment of mammals. My daughter and I will soon be applying for certification of the yard by the National Wildlife Federation. The NWF's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program provieds resources that can help any property owner -- and many renters -- to increase biodiversity, even on small land parcels. See the landscape section below for more of my specific ideas about home habitat. |
The energy
pledge campaign has helped thousands of people to identify steps
that they can take
to reduce their energy consumption, yielding both environmental and
national-security
benefits. I discovered that I am already following a number of the
recommendations,
but I found quite a few new things I can do to help! Be sure to view the "Green Ribbon Flash" movie to see an enlightening comparison between the patriotism of the 1940s and today's softer brand. |
The Center for a New American Dream has created
a new web site called the Conscious
Consumer . It has three main functions: first, it provides information -- in the form of case studies -- about how unconscious consumption causes real problems in the world. Second, it provides ideas for advocating changes in the ways companies conduct their business. Third, it provides online shopping for goods that are produced with better treatment of workers and the environment. See if you can figure out what those people looking at the television have to do with all of this! |
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More national and local groups are listed on my environmental NGOs page.
Visit some of the other web sites listed among my environmental links . Read as much as you can,
and read it critically. Take advantage of public radio and public
television to keep up to date.
Naturalist and Sierra Club founder John Muir once wrote, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." As you learn more about environmental problems, you will discover connections to other very human problems, such as human rights, education, and disarmament. Norbert's Bookmarks for a Better World is a project that can help you explore these connections. The site provides over 30,000 links to top-quality web sites on a variety of progressive issues. Explore and learn! |
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Don't LitterThis may seem obvious, but I am learning that it is not so, at least in my adoptive home state of Massachusetts. Consider the letter at right, which appeared in the May 28, 2006 edition of the Boston Globe Magazine. It validates what I have observed in what could be one of the most charming landscapes in the U.S., if only people treated it with a little more respect. Perhaps people here are too busy, too tired, or take the beauty of their surroundings too much for granted. In any event, the writer is absolutely correct. I once followed a car into the Cape Cod National Seashore as a woman and three teenagers started pitching fast-food wrappers out their windows -- on their way in to enjoy a pristine beach!Cigarette butts are a special problem. Some people mistakenly believe that these are biodegradable, or too small to matter. In fact, however, moving water tends to float them and concentrate them on shorelines in most disgusting ways, and they last for years. |
Welcome
to Trashachusetts On a recent road trip through Maryland, my husband commented on how clean the highways were. I huffed: "Every place looks clean compared to Massachusetts. We're just used to seeing garbage everywhere. We think we're literates, but we're litter-rats." (I was on a roll.) "The COmmonwealth has produced a culture of contamination!" My husband finished rolling his eyes and pointed to the car just ahead. We watched the driver flick a cigar butt out his window. "See," my husband said a little smugly, "there are jerks everywhere." Then we noticed the licence plate: "Massachusetts." ~~Karen Trais, Duxbury |
The energy
pledge campaign has helped thousands of people to identify steps
that they can take
to reduce their energy consumption, yielding both environmental and
national-security
benefits. I found that I am already following a number of the
recommendations,
but I found quite a few new things I can do to help! Be sure to view the "Green Ribbon Flash" movie to see an enlightening comparison between the patriotism of the 1940s and today's softer brand. |
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If you are interested in learning more, you can join S.C.R.O.O.G.E. - The Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous, and Ostentatious Gift Exchanges - an organization dedicated to the problem of holiday consumption. If you have a stamp and two dollars, you can join its 2,000 members and receive its snail-mail newsletter. Meanwhile, here are a few tips from the 1995 edition:
Update: in 1999, the day after Thanksgiving dropped to about fourth or fifth in the ranking. Even respected media outlets such as NPR refused to consider the possibility that this slip in the rankings came about because of the campaign.
Question: How much toothpaste should I put on the brush? |
Answer: A strip long enough to cover the bristles. That's what sellers of same recommend. They would. Experts otherwise motivated say a dab the size of a peanut is enough. |
Longacre, Doris Janzen. 1996. More-with-Less Cookbook. Scottdale,PA: Herald Press.ISBN: 0-8361-1786-7.
Even if you do not buy the book, here are a few ideas to get started on a healthier, less consumptive diet:
Walk. It is good for health and the environment. When buying or renting a home, consider a location that would allow you to walk to work, school, and/or shopping.
Consider fuel consumption when buying a car. Over the late 1980s and 1990s, stable gasoline prices have made us complacent, and have caused us as a nation to stop making progress on fuel efficiency. The worst offenders are Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), which have:
More simply, turn out the lights in rooms that are empty.
Turn off computers when not in use, or at least turn off the monitor. Some new systems automatically suspend the monitor or the entire system when not in use.
Keep the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer. Use
clothing and blankets rather than fossil fuels to keep warm. Set the
thermostat even cooler at night. Heat and cool only those rooms that
are used. At night, consider
turning the heat very low in the entire house and then using a
supplemental system (space heater) in occupied rooms.
ITEM: glass jars
USES: In place of plastic food containers, glass jars provide a better
seal, fresher taste, longer storage, and no plastic after-taste. Since
they are readily obtained by reusing jars used to ship peanut butter
and other food, they do not require the consumption of any new
resources, particularly petroleum. They are also easier to clean!
The Center for a New American Dream is a not-for-profit membership-based organization that helps individuals and institutions reduce and shift consumption to enhance quality of life and protect the environment. |
Escape from Affluenza is a PBS documentary produced by KCTS in Seattle. The one-hour program uncovers the environmental and social costs of "keeping up with the Joneses," and tells the stories of people who have escaped the rat race in a variety of ways. The program's web site includes 100 specific tips for slowing down, saving money, and helping the environment. Ironically, it also includes ordering information for the video of this and a related program. |
Reduce or eliminate the lawn area. We seem to have gotten the idea of perfect lawns from the English manor houses, and it does not make much ecological sense. Grass is both an invader species and a monoculture. I worked for a couple of years as a landscaper in Baltimore, and most of my energy was spent trying to maintain plants that were out of place. In most parts of the United States, the maintenance of grass requires:
For those living in New England, I recommend the New England Wild Flower Society
, which is the oldest plant conservation organization in the United
States. It promotes the conservation of temperate North American plants
through conservation, education, research, and horticulture programs.
If you live too far from New
England for this to be a useful guide, you can probably find a similar
group
in your own region, by doing an Web search on "native plants" and the
name
of your state or region.
The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) of Kansas City has an
excellent web site with information about lawn care, landscaping, water
gardens, and
water management for the home.
When water falls on a modern
roof, it usually runs off to storm sewers right away. This contributes
to flash flooding and reduces ground water recharge. Rain barrels connected to the roof downspouts can reduce these effects while saving on water bills! I am particularly pleased to suggest the New England Rain Barrel Company, because it sells recycled barrels and has special offers that may save on shipping. NOTE: Some other vendors offer food-grade rain barrels for people who wish to rely on rain water for drinking. Recycled barrels are not suitable for such purposes -- they should only be used for gardening and lawn care! |
Item | Use(s) |
Concentrated natural cleaner (such as Simply Green or a citrus-based cleaner) |
Use in a spray bottle at very small concentrations for glass and general cleaning; higher concentrations for tougher jobs such as floors, appliances, etc. |
Borax powder | Use to remove roaches or ants, in place of commercial
pesticides.
Also use as a laundry booster in place of bleach. |
Vinegar | This is very good for general cleaning, including glass, but not for mirrors, as the acidic fluid can seep around the back of the glass and react with the silver. (Ask me how I know this!) |
Isopropyl alcohol | Personal deodorant - much more effective and cheaper than
commercial brands, without irritating aluminum compounds (even lower
impact and more effective are natural mineral-salts deodorants such as The Crystal )
Use as lighter fluid - in Brazil it is common to soak a piece of stale bread with alcohol to start a grill - works better and cheaper with fewer fumes |
Baking soda | Baking soda is an excellent general-purpose cleaner -- sprinkle on counters with a little water for excellent cleaning or sprinkle on carpets (or automobile interior) prior to vacuuming. |
Both Real Goods and Tom's of Maine sell a variety of
earth-friendly products. Real Goods sells through its web
site and catalog; Tom's products are available in stores, including Trader Joe's , which also
happens to offer a lot of organic prepared foods.
Consumer interest in doing the right thing has led Consumer Reports
to create a new web site: GreenerChoices.org;
this in turn is part of eco-choices.org.
I learned about it from the Living on
Earth radio program of May 19, 2006. Listening to this weekly,
hour-long program on public radio is a great way to stay informed.
I am not a medical doctor or even a medical expert, but a few words about personal health seem appropriate here. It does us little good to clean up the environment as a whole if our own bodies are not being taken care of. This section should not be construed as offering specific medical advice. Consult a physician, nutritionist, or other health professional with any questions related to your specific health situation.
Having never been a smoker, I cannot speak to the incredible difficulty of kicking the habit, but I do know what the effects are: I've lost quite a few relatives to smoking, and more dying as I write. See my No-Smoke Zone for more information and help with quitting.
I also believe that artificial foods should be treated with great
caution. Aspartame
(Nutrasweet) and Olestra are artificial substances of dubious safety
that promise something for nothing. I know more about Nutrasweet than I
do Olestra. When Nutrasweet first reached the market, a friend with an
unusual neurological condition told me that his neurologist had warned
him to stay away from the stuff. I did not take this very seriously
until I wrote a research paper on
the process by which Aspartame gained FDA approval. It turns out that
following
several failed attempts to develop a safe artificial sweetener, the
government
was determined to win approval for Monsanto's latest alternative.
Political
participants in the process overturned the findings of the scientific
reviewers.
Incidentally, sugared soft drinks might not be much better - see
articles
by holistic-medicine practioner Dr. Vendryes
and the
American Academy of Pediatrics - Ohio Chapter . - in this case
"alternative" and "main-stream" physicians seem to agree.
Unless indicated by a medical necessity (such as diabetes or
morbid
obesity), I would consider "natural" sweets and fats in moderation,
rather than artificial foods in abundance.
Any questions? Contact me at jhayesboh@bridgew.edu . James Hayes-Bohanan, Ph.D. Bridgewater State College Revised: May 21, 2006 |