How Many Scientists Does It Take?

How many scientists does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to screw it in, and another 14,999 to convince us it is actually screwed in.

Like a scientist, the way I can tell if my light bulb is screwed in properly is to look at the results. When I flick the switch, does it  light up? If yes, screwed in. If no, not screwed in.

Speaking of screwed, look at capitalism. Or consumerism. Or the patriarchy. Or war. Democracy, extractive resource industries... the list goes on and on. Look at the results.

Do we like the world we have created? Are things functioning smoothly? How is the health of the atmosphere? The oceans? Is there an absence of poverty, homelessness, and war?

Are global citizens happy and mentally robust? Is there income equity and equality? Is racism increasing, or decreasing? Are we getting smarter? Are we evolving into the best we can be?

Do we respect life? All life? Is it precious, and if so, is that reflected in our behaviour? Do we live in healthy, loving and compassionate communities?

It only takes one person to see that things are not going as well as they could. The results of business as usual are grim to say the least. So scientists are again warning us of the consequences of keeping on doing what we have been doing. Is anybody listening?

If so, are they changing their behaviour in order to move from being the problem to being the solution?

Essentially, the 15,000 scientist said (again):

Dear Human Family,  

Our current ways of doing things have been hurtling us toward the brink for decades. There have been warnings for hundreds of years. In 1992 we issued our own warning. 

Since then humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in solving environmental challenges, and alarmingly, most of them are getting worse. 

Now, in addition to deforestation, pollution, habitat loss, overpopulation and overconsumption, climate mayhem threatens our very existence. 

If we don't act soon there'll be catastrophic biodiversity loss and untold amounts of human misery. Our planet may develop conditions that are not conducive to life, including humanity.

Time is running out. 

We are still here, and we are still warning you of the dangers of your ways, and the dangerous denial you are immersed in. Join us. Help us. Help yourselves.

Signed, 

15,000 Concerned Scientists 

P.S. Please heed our waring this time, and adopt new, more Earth friendly ways of living.  For example, use less fossil fuel transportation, enjoy a plant based diet, adopt 100% organic methods of agriculture, protect our last remaining wild places, consume less, have fewer children, and help build a more equitable, stable, and sustainable planet. Also, please end the infinite economic growth model - it's killing everything.

Or die. 

Thank you for listening. This time. Please don't make us do this again. 

Concerned

I'm not worried. I am concerned.

Happy Cows Are Living Cows

This is humane treatment of animals.

When a popular restaurant chain, started in the Canadian province of Alberta, decided not to source their beef there, they said it was because it wasn't certified as humane. But surely they know that there is no such thing as "humane meat", certified or not.

Well there is, actually. It is the meat that is alive, and stays alive. How can killing something ever be humane? Something that would rather live ends up dead either way.

There is a butcher somewhere called The Happy Cow. Isn't a happy cow one that is running wild and free, munching on grass and roaming at will? Isn't a happy cow a living cow being scratched by a human? 

There are many reasons not to eat meat, including fish. For me the greatest concern is the part surrounding killing things. I am not into that. But when you add how massively inefficient the whole process is, plus the health results of eating meat, it makes less and less sense.

Some people say that humans "have to" eat meat. Like to stay alive. Obviously this is not a true statement. Paul McCartney, dedicated vegetarian since 1975, is giving energetic 3 hour concerts at 73 years of age as we speak.

You might like meat, but no one needs meat.

If one believes that vegetarian diets are bland or boring, they have never tried dishes from India. Traveling there introduced Linda and I to the tasty tastiness of India's meatless cuisine. When we got home we decided that we did not want to, or need to, eat meat. 

I would be lying if I said I do not miss some meats. First of all, meat is easy. It is a fast hit of protein. Most of us in the West only know meat based diets, so it is not surprising leaving meat behind is so difficult. But once the transition takes place, you may wonder why there is all the fuss about meat.

Second, meat is tasty. Funny that the meats I crave every once in a while, are the worst ones for your health. Bacon, sausage, and smoked meats are yummy. So yummy. They are also linked to cancer. Thinking about that adds to my armour that defends me from Big Meat. 

Plus I have learned to make vegetarian dishes that are every bit as tasty and satisfying as any meat dishes that I used to make.

The humane thing to do is let life live. Yes, we need to eat something, but why not eat a diet that minimizes the taking of life, and maximizes on enhancing our health and the health of the planet?

We, the Earth and the cows, will be happier for making the change.

COP21: A Global Wake Up Call For Simpler Lifestyles

Wake Up! Time to simplify for the planet, for the kids, for all living things that love this Earth.

Finally, a global call for simpler lifestyles has been issued. I knew it would come sooner or later, but thought it would be later. Much later. But it is here now - it is time to simplify our lives and save the planet from catastrophic climate change.

That is the takeaway from the COP21 climate talks that concluded recently in Paris. Although you won't see the call to simplicity in plain language, it is woven throughout the recommendations. Experts are even saying that it is time for all citizens to "make changes in their day to day lives".

Looking at the changes recommended for the masses, we can see that they are one and the same as those being called for by simple living advocates.  Both see lower consumption/lower waste, reduced carbon ways of living as the answer to many of our problems, including climate change.

So what does an ideal post COP21 lifestyle look like?

• reduced travel
• eating lower on the food chain to minimize/eliminate consumption of high emission meat products
• changing transportation patterns that favour biking, walking, and public transportation, as well as relying on train and bus travel for longer trips
• smaller more energy efficient homes that use less energy and emit less green house gases
• reduced consumption overall means focusing on meeting needs and eliminating wants
• growing your own food, and buying locally grown food when needed
• increased investments in residential renewable energy solutions so the people can make their own clean power
• reduced work week 
• increased cooperation on all levels
• de-clawing capitalism and industry through regulation and reduced citizen demand
• embracing childlessness and reducing global population

We will only meet our goal of a carbon-neutral world by 2050 if there is a massive buy-in from citizens. The call has been issued - the richest 50% of the population responsible for 90% of carbon emissions are being invited to adopt simpler lifestyles and shift from being part of the problem to being part of the solution. I wonder how they will respond. 

If you have already evolved into a simpler, low consumption/low-carbon lifestyle, congratulations for being ahead of the curve. You will be providing a valuable role model for those who will follow, whether eagerly or reluctantly, because the need for simpler, lower emission lives has become undeniable.

Time to wake up citizens - simplify now and save the earth, or go on consuming wildly and hope that humanity makes it to a new planet before this one fails entirely. 

Frugal Heaven or Consumer Hell?

A little slice of heaven close to home.

It's official - planet Earth is done. The only heaven we have ever known has been despoiled. And its angels now have claws where we once had wings.

James Lovelock puts our biosphere's predicament very bluntly in his book The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back – and How we Can Still Save Humanity.

“If we continue business as usual, our species may never again enjoy the lush and verdant world we had only a hundred years ago. What is most in danger is civilization; humans are tough enough for breeding pairs to survive....but if these huge changes do occur it seems likely that few of the teeming billions now alive will survive.”

How bad do things have to get before people will voluntarily adopt lifestyles that the planet can support?

Scientists are letting us know that we are currently in Earth's sixth mass extinction event. They are also telling us that we are the cause. We are wiping out our Eden.

Ultimately, our desire for more and faster everything may lead to the demise of our own species.

The good news (yes, there is still some of that) is that those scientists agree with Lovelock and think that there still might be time to save Gaia. But if there is, they say, that door is quickly closing.

I look forward to the day that we close the door on conspicuous consumption, one of the major culprits in the current extinction event. Eventually it will be as socially unacceptable as other harmful, life-threatening practices, like throwing your feces into the street.

From the sounds of things that day will be coming sooner rather than later. Then we can work together to restore Earth to the divine status that it so richly deserves.

But there must be a sense of urgency.

The choice has to be made now. Part of the solution, or part of the problem. Live simply in a frugal heaven, or consume our way to a somewhat lower, hotter location.

10 Survival Foods You Can Grow

The iceberg lettuce in my grocery store is 95% water, all of it from California.

Never mind food security, the way our world is going we could slip into food survival at any time. What would I do if one of any number of threats tipped into crisis mode, and the supermarket shelves went empty?

One very real disruption (it is not a threat because it is currently happening) is the ongoing drought in California.

When I lived on the west coast a lot of our food came from California. Now I am 6000 km away on the east coast and guess what? A lot of the fresh food in the stores here is also from California. They are exporting a lot of water in the food I eat.

What if the drought there continues and that food supply no longer exists?

We were not always so dependent on food from far away - our diets were far more local, perhaps even from your own yard. Those are the days to which we are destined to return. And when we do, it will be good again.

“Before the 20th century, the majority of produce consumed in the United States came from small farms that grew a relatively diverse number of crops. Fruit and vegetable production was regional, and varieties were dictated by the climate of those areas.” - California Drought

10 Survival Foods You Can Grow

Potatoes

Kale

Beans

Garlic

Squash

Corn

Carrots

Beets
Tomatoes
Apples

These are only a few examples of foods that can be grown in temperate climates. Many store very well, and a root cellar would be an excellent way of preserving them without having to depend on an external energy source.

So far I am only growing chives. They were left here by the previous occupants. I have some work to do. But it does have to be done whether it is turning new ground, raised beds, or containers.

I think about growing food every time I am in the grocery store and look at all the California water brought here in things like lettuce. California water. Scarce water.

How are you "future-proofing" your food supply?

400 PPM CO2

Our atmosphere recently passed the 400 PPM CO2 level. It is a grim climate change milestone that must be addressed.

98% of climate scientists, every major scientific body in the world and increasingly the general public agree that human greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate.

Continuing to push the concentration of CO2 higher and higher is a very risky path to follow.

Increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy supply are good ways to lower levels of greenhouse gas production. More important, though, will be changes that lead to simple lifestyles with dramatically lower ecological footprints.

Civilization may depend on how we choose to live right now. We should not be planning for extinction, which is what doing nothing will result in eventually.

Stay Home

This wall of snow separates our house from our compost bin.
Doesn't everyone want to stay home on a day like today? 

The winter storm over the past few days has been so severe that the police are asking everyone to "stay home". I think that is excellent advise during winter storms... or pretty much any other time.

I am always surprised at how people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) on a house and then spend all their time "going out" or on vacation somewhere else. If I paid that much for a house I would never leave it.

Luckily we have a reasonable rent, so I can leave any time I want. But I don't usually want to. Especially on days like today. It is a good time to sit by the fire and read. Or to crank up the oven and bake some bread.

Or have a coffee and talk with a friend. Listen to music. Play music. Play in the yard. Plan a garden. Or a revolution.

Your home should be such a wonderful place that it is better to be there than just about anywhere else. Don't stay home just because the police ask you to - stay home because it is your ultimate sanctuary.

It's A Bird, It's A Plane

A great way to reduce your carbon emissions is to stay home, or close to home. Although air travel only accounts for about 5% of global emissions, it is an amount that is increasing quickly as people fly to far flung places looking for greener grass.

An article in the NY Times highlights the impact flying has on our carbon footprint in an article titled "Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel".

"For many people reading this, air travel is their most serious environmental sin. One round-trip flight from New York to Europe or to San Francisco creates a warming effect equivalent to 2 or 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person. The average American generates about 19 tons of carbon dioxide a year; the average European, 10.

So if you take five long flights a year, they may well account for three-quarters of the emissions you create."

We have some difficult choices to make moving forward and many current behaviours will need to change. For one aviator it all came down to choosing between civilization's technology and nature.

Charles Lindbergh, interviewed shortly before his death in 1974 made his choice very clear.

"Lying under an acacia tree with the sound of the dawn around me, I realized more clearly the facts that we should never overlook: that the construction of an airplane, for instance, is simple when compared [with] a bird; that airplanes depend on an advanced civilization, and that where civilization is most advanced, few birds exist.  

I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes."

Me too.

A Good Day To Take A Walk

Today was a good day to take a walk.

It was a beautiful day in Digby, Nova Scotia for having my own one person march to honour both the first day of Fall and the People's Climate March, the largest such gathering in history.

Fall is taking place everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere (happy first day of spring to all of you in the Southern Hemisphere), and the People's Climate March is being celebrated everywhere in both hemispheres.

We have so much to lose for such little gain if we continue on the energy path we are currently on. But The People are speaking, and The People want renewable energy development NOW.

If we aren't going to make this shift for ourselves, then let's do it for our kids. Our whole tribe will benefit.

Zone of Survival Monday

Experts agree that the best survival zone is established inside a sturdy cave. Wow, talk about back to the future.

There are an infinite number of things we don't need, but only a limited number of things we do require. Those are the things that guarantee our survival.

Ensuring we have everything we need to survive and thrive has always been difficult. With current challenges, like extreme weather and extreme capitalism, it is getting more difficult.

In the short term it is possible to create a zone of survival with a minimal amount of things.

In able to respond to natural disasters, or any other situation that alters the way things work, every household should have an emergency kit/camping supplies containing the following essentials:

• Water
• Food/Cooking Supplies
• Warmth/Shelter
• Medications/First Aide
• Sanitary Supplies

In a longer term situation like persistent economic trouble, the fall of capitalism, or the collapse of civilization, one needs to consider a longer term plan. Hardly alarmist, any one of these scenarios is possible in the coming years considering where we are headed globally.

Creating A Zone of Survival

No

• Within 500 + kilometres of the coast and potential flooding from sea rising, tsunamis, and water-borne contaminants.
• Under 200 feet above sea level, or at high altitudes susceptible to solar radiation exposure.
• Close to volcanoes and super volcanoes (Yellowstone in northwestern USA).
• In an earthquake/seismic/avalanche/fault zones (North American west coast, or New Madrid Fault Zone in central, USA).
• In a river flood plain, or downstream from dams.
• Within 200km of a coal-fired power plant, nuclear power plant or waste storage facility.
• In a large city.

Yes

• In a rural area with an ample water supply, 
• Plenty of fertile land 
• Abundant forests.
• Close to or with small groups of like minded people.
• In an area with unspoilt nature close by.
• Somewhere with a mild climate.
• Far from large population centers.

After looking at these lists, Linda and I realized that there are very few places in North America that fit the bill, or at least ones that don't experience 8 or 9 months of winter and cold temperatures that will definitely affect survival rate.

But if you are equipped with the supplies, skills, and knowledge for simple, cooperative and self-sufficient living I think you will have an advantage over those reliant on crumbling corporate for-profit systems, regardless of where you are living.

Meaningful Change Through Permaculture Design

"Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be." 

Looking to make meaningful changes toward a more sustainable lifestyle? Do you desire to do less harm through using less energy and resources? The principles of permaculture provide an excellent framework for making such changes happen.

This framework is not one-size-fits-all because different locations may require different solutions.

In The Essence of Permaculture summary (available here), David Holmegren says, "Despite the inevitably unique nature of future realities,the depletion of fossil fuels within a few generations will see a gradual return of system design principles observable in nature and pre-industrial societies, and which are dependent on renewable energy and resources (even if the specific forms of those systems will reflect unique and local circumstances)."


12 Principles of Permaculture Design


Observe and Interact 

- Pay attention.

Catch and Store Energy 

- Harvest energy while it is abundant.

Obtain a Yield 

- Make sure you're getting valuable results.

Self-Regulate: Accept Feedback 

- In a sense, our whole society is like a teenager who wants to have it all, have it now, without consequences. We have to be open to modify dysfunctional behaviours.

Use and Value Renewables 

- Reduce dependency on scarce resources like fossil fuels.

Produce No Waste 

- Waste not, want not. In nature there is no waste, only resources.

Design from Pattern to Detail 

- Observe natural/social patterns and apply them to design of systems.

Integrate 

- Capitalize on how things work together: land, plants, animals and people. Co-operative and symbiotic relationships will be more adaptive in a future of declining energy.

Use Small, Slow Solutions 

- Local resources and responses, manageable scale.

Use and Value Diversity 

- Diversity leads to greater resilience.

Use Edges: Value the Marginal 

- Important things happen at the intersections.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change 

- We can have a positive impact by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.

A one acre self-sufficient homestead.

"The idea behind permaculture principles is that generalised principles can be derived from the study of both the natural world and pre-industrial sustainable societies, and that these will be universally applicable to fast-track the development of sustainable use of land and resources, whether that be in a context of ecological and material abundance or one of deprivation." - The Essence of Permaculture

Peak Driving Monday

"Americans are driving less, and evidence suggests it's not about the economy."

In no year previous did Americans drive more miles than in 2004. It was peak driving since vehicle miles travelled has declined in almost every state since then. While researchers have a variety of explanations, they are not quite sure of the actual mechanisms at work.

Is our love affair with the car over?

For the past 8 years our personal experience has been following the same bumpy road and we have been driving less and less. Why?

• climate change
• price of gas
• we have been enjoying a more local lifestyle
• to save money on vehicle maintenance
• we don't want to support the fossil fuel industry
• we have been biking/walking/rolling instead of driving

Is the era of the private automobile racing all over the continent coming to a close? Are we learning to be more settled and content with where we are at?

How have your driving habits changed?

Common Sense Is A Super Power

"Don't worry - God (or technology, or the Gods of technology) will save me."

At one time common sense was common. Then common sense became not so common. Now common sense is so rare that it's considered a super power.

We ignore what we see around us and the gut instinct it triggers, and instead choose to believe the same old lies that pushed us to the brink in the first place.

Common sense will tell us that 5 planet lifestyles are not possible indefinitely. That the ongoing social, spiritual, and environmental destruction wrought upon the world in the name of profits before everything else is leading us to an appointment with collapse.

The disasters are mounting. The Canadian tar sands are an ongoing disaster, the weather is mighty suspect lately, and the rich are getting richer at a faster rate while the rest of us are heading in the opposite direction.

Catastrophic flooding, endless war, runaway oil trains exploding and wiping out a small town with great loss of life, illegal global surveillance, the destruction of the middle class - and those were just this week's headlines.

I don't know about you, but my spider senses have been twitching for a while now. That was one reason Linda and I began taking more earnest actions in changing our lifestyle back in 2001 - we had a feeling that things were not right and were likely to get wronger before they got better. We wanted to return to sanity.

How many more warnings will we ignore before we awaken our slumbering super powers and heed what we can see and feel in our bones? It is like the old joke which I interpret as being about failing to take action when opportunities present themselves.

A city is experiencing a terrible flood. A man is sitting on his front porch watching the water rise when a fire truck pulls up.  

“Get in! Everything’s going to be underwater!”  

“No thanks", the man says confidently, "God will save me. The firefighters drive away, siren blaring. 

An hour passes and the water is now lapping on the porch. A boat comes by.  

“Get in! You’re going to drown!”  

“No thanks", says the man. God will save me.” 

The water rises over the house. The man is now on the roof. A helicopter flies overhead.  

“We’ll lower a line. Grab it or you’ll die!”  

“No thanks. God will save me.” The man drowns.  

When he gets to Heaven and meets God the man asks, "Why didn’t you save me?” 

“First I sent a fire truck. Then I sent a boat, and finally a helicopter. What more did you want?”

It doesn't matter if one believes in a spiritual god sitting on a cloud, or the financial gods of capitalism sitting on the bull of Wall Street, or the science and engineering gods of infinite technical wisdom perched upon their super computers and rocket ships, we are going to need to save ourselves.

It is up to us to do what looks right, and what feels right.

The warning signs are there. It is time to reclaim our birthright, our super power. It is time to return to using our common sense and start making much-needed changes.

Fracking Facts in BC

Fracking poisons massive amounts of water with a unknown toxic soup.
But you can always buy 'clean' (and expensive) water at the mall.

• Natural gas is not and never has been a clean fuel. 

• The government of British Columbia wants to export up to four trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year from BC. 

• Natural gas has advantages over coal and diesel fuel. When combusted natural gas has fewer greenhouse gas emissions. But when the source is considered - shale rock - a broader view is required.

• Hydraulic fracturing or fracking operations free gas trapped in rock. This uses tremendous amounts of water, sand and toxic chemicals to create cracks or fractures in the rock that allow the trapped gas to be released.

• In northeast BC today, fracking operations at just one one shale gas pad with a dozen wells on it will toxify the equivalent of all the water in Saanich’s Elk and Beaver lakes, where Canada’s Olympic rowing teams train. 

• The greenhouse gas emissions associated with natural gas produced from such water-intensive operations are poorly understood. Some models estimate that the emissions associated with shale gas production are only slightly higher than those for conventional gas, while others place them on par with coal.

• The US Environmental Protection Agency, among others, underestimate actual emissions by as much as half.

• Gas production in BC’s remote Horn River Basin near Fort Nelson produces unusually high amounts of CO2, which must be stripped away before the gas can be piped and used. Currently, the stripped CO2 is simply vented to the atmosphere rather than captured and stored.

• Neither government nor industry appears keen to do field studies required to determine the impacts of this extraction method.

• Recently, members of the Fort Nelson First Nation raised objections to a potentially massive giveaway of water rights in their traditional territory to pave the way for accelerated shale gas production. 

• Responsible governments would acknowledge the obvious: We can’t in good conscience proceed with fracking in the absence of basic information - information that is obtainable given the will, and which they should be obliged to publish.

• The BC government is proposing a quintupling of natural gas production in BC.

source

Denialists Say, "Don't Worry - Everything Is Fine"

Just because you deny something, doesn't mean it isn't happening

The Canadian government recently withdrew from the United Nations Convention to Combat Drought and Desertification (UNCCD), the only country in the world to do so. My homeland, and its international reputation, is being destroyed by a denialist political organization.

Does that sound too alarmist? I don't think so.

Denialists choose to ignore evidence as a way to avoid uncomfortable truths. Science and first-person accounts are dismissed in favour of beliefs that allow the pillage and plunder of the ecosphere to continue. All for the benefit of the few, and to the detriment of the many.

Speaking of denialists, in a recent comment here, reader TJ Smith called my blog out as environmental alarmism. I am sure Steven Harper and his Anti-Environment Minister Peter Kent feel the same way when they drop by Not Buying Anything.

Here is TJ Smith's comment:

"Great for everyone who has a small home. More power to ya. I get tired of subliminal messages that America and it's hard earned wealth is wicked and we should all be emulating third world nations, as if they purposely choose a shack or lean-to for habitation.  

In a country where we produce more goods worldwide, are the most productive, the most generous, the most intelligent, the most pro-active in technology and research, has the best health-care (until Obama kicks in), you think we'd be free to build a home any size we want without facing ridicule from liberal socialist.  

The population only fills 3% of the earth, so overpopulation is really not the issue. If Texas had the same population percentage as England based on land size, there would over 100 million people in the Lone Star State. Last I heard England isn't running out of room.  

If people want a big home, that's their freedom in America. It is the American dream. My home size is actually under the national average for home size, but I'm certainly not going to berate or shame rich folks for doing so with some passive aggressive call to "save the earth". Trees are a renewable resource. We aren't going to run out.  

But guess what all you tree huggers, plastic is filling up the dump grounds and now Grocery stores are calling for paper bags! How ironic is that? The ones who thought they had the "new world" solution ended up screwing up what was the most efficient way to conserve. 

The earth is self sustaining and will support twice the population it now serves. In the next 20 years you will see this proven."

I guess me and thousands of other concerned citizens could be wrong about the direction our planet is going, and perhaps the Earth can support billions of high-consumption individuals driving big cars and living in big houses.

Given the evidence however, I don't think that I am being alarmist in warning that 3-planet lifestyles are not sustainable, and that a move toward smaller footprint living is required to turn things around.

The Traveler's Dilemma

I have yet to see significant changes in the amount N. Americans travel

What do you do when you want to see friends, but they live 1500 km away? It is a simple living dilemma. Stay and we don't get to see valued co-conspirators, go and increase our carbon footprint.


The Offer

Recently our beautiful, generous mates in the next province over invited us to come and see them. Problem is, we live 1500 km away from each other.

How generous are they? They offered to pay for our air fare, our room and board for as long as we want to stay, and a car for our own personal use while we are there.

The Dilemma

In seven years we have only left Vancouver Island once, for my brothers wedding. Even then, the event was only two ferry sails from home. Other than that trip, we have kept to within about a 50 km radius of our home since moving here.

Our no-travel living is quite a change from our previous life of near-constant car travel. We enjoyed a life of adventure and discovery out on the open road during our leisure time, and daily commuting was a part of having full time jobs in the city.

But then we asked ourselves what our lives might look like in a post-oil world. We asked, "Where do we want to be when we make the change to a low-carbon lifestyle, and can't travel as easily any more?

Our answer was the west coast of Canada, a place we have long loved for its natural, semi-wild setting.  We moved, and stopped traveling. We didn't really plan it that way, it just kind of happened as we were  slowly entranced by our locality, and felt less of a need to be somewhere else.

Then there is the expense, and the amount of carbon produced while using fossil fuel dependent modes of transportation.

One of the big problems facing humanity right now is climate change caused by the intense use of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution.

A great deal of those emissions were produced in the transportation sector.

"The combustion of fossil fuels. such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods is the second largest source of CO2 emissions, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. This category includes transportation sources such as highway vehicles, air travel, marine transportation, and rail." - source

The Solutions?

As carbon is part of the problem, reducing carbon-intensive activity is part of the solution. So does this mean we can't travel to see friends any more? Visiting friends and family is the number one reason most people give for the purpose of their travel.

We would really like to see people, but they are all far away, and we can't easily walk, bike, or ride horses to traverse the distances between us, as much fun as that might be.

But the current offer on the table is so very generous and enticing.

We have the time, and they have the money. But can the planet handle our recreational, non-critical travel?

Do we miss our friends, or increase our carbon footprint? Should we stay, or should we go?

It's The Traveler's Dilemma. 

Priorities

No, we aren't doomed.

We just have to start looking at the planet as a really big Twinkie.

And it's the last one.

Feeling Hopey-Changey

Why wait? You can create personal change NOW.

So how is that "hopey - changey" stuff working out for you? Pretty good actually. Just ask an activist.

Rebecca Solnit is one of my favourite activist/writers, so it was with delight that I discovered how involved she is in the global change movement. Her recent words, written to the individual agents of action (you and me) are hopeful and encouraging. They increase my level of ambition for working toward a brighter future despite the darkness that sometimes threatens to overwhelm.

"To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart. 

There are really only two questions for activists: What do you want to achieve? And who do you want to be? And those two questions are deeply entwined. Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style. 

That is the small ongoing victory on which great victories can be built, and you do want victories, don’t you? Make sure you’re clear on the answer to that, and think about what they would look like." 

- Rebecca Solnit 

More and more people are not waiting for their elected officials to instigate change - they are doing it for themselves. Why?

Because it is the right thing to do. It is in accepting personal responsibility for the planet's ills, and then changing them, that provide the best route towards hope, and a better world.

Our little personal victories add up and create monumental victories for all.

So, in spite of the obfuscassion and misdirection I hear coming from the mouths of politicians and bureaucrats, I remain feeling hopey-changey.

How about you?

Live Simply - Lower Your Carbon Footprint

Complexity and consumption increase the size of your carbon footprint

Want to do your part for climate change? Living a more simple, less energy-intensive lifestyle can be a good way to contribute. Taking responsibility for your own carbon footprint is a step you can take whether world leaders can agree on a Kyoto replacement or not. 

Climate change denial has been harder to spin since Sandy struck. Hopefully that catastrophic event, and other weird weather globally, will have an impact on the UN Climate Change Conference negotiations taking place in Qatar over the next few days.

Qatar, an oil-producing nation, has the highest CO2 emissions per capita in the world. But I can't say much about my country, either. Canada is the largest consumer of energy in the world per capita, and the second largest producer of greenhouse gases (after the United States). We have just over 30 million people, but we use as much energy as the entire continent of Africa, home to 700 million.

The good news is that there is a lot of room for improvement.

Lower Your Carbon Footprint

Living more simply offers many ways to reduce your personal contribution to climate change. It could be as easy as walking more often. As Steven Wright said, "everywhere is within walking distance if you give yourself enough time". 

Here are a few other actions you can take, ranging from run of the mill responses to more outrageous ideas.

Transportation

• live close to work, or to a pubic transportation network. Or work from home. Or, if practical, quit work.
• walk, bike, skip, hop, run, jog, roll - all are low carbon footprint activities.
• consider vacationing at home, or close to home. 
• quit vacationing altogether after you quit working and no longer  need to "get away".
• bus, train, and ships are the among the most efficient methods for long distance travel. Sailboats and horses are pretty good too.

Food

• grow/raise as much of your own food as you can
• if you don't have access to soil join a community garden
• support local organic farmers
• eat low on the food chain
• stay away from convenience foods of dubious nutritional value with a lot of packaging
• keep to the outside of the grocery store where all the fresh food can be found
• eat less - the average North American could eat a few hundred calories less per day and be healthier
• raise back yard chickens
• guerilla garden in empty or abandoned lots

Housing

• live in a smaller home and cut energy use, utility bills, and CO2 emissions. 
• replace lawn with a veggie garden and fruit trees
• make your home as energy efficient as possible
• install solar panels and/or a solar hot water system
• compost organics and recycle everything else
• stop buying unnecessary stuff - high consumption lifestyles are high carbon footprint lifestyles
• say no to single use/disposable products
• lower your thermostat in winter, raise it in summer

The Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of this year. Hopefully, political interest in lowering carbon emissions doesn't also expire. Either way, tackling your carbon emissions through your very own low-carbon, simple living protocol is a way to contribute now.