Quick Note

I just wanted to alert any interested readers of a contest running on the Nature Conservancy website right now.

Most of you are probably familiar with the Nature Conservancy which is one of the leading conservationist organizations in the country. They are also known, at least around my house, for their really gorgeous nature photos that are featured in their magazine.

Well, they are currently running their 5th annual photo contest, and are inviting everyone to submit their favorite nature pics online. The winner will be featured in the Nature Conservancy calendar for 2012.

If you're interested, visit this website for all the details. The deadline is October 4th.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year, all!

Last year was a really good year for me. Among other things, I traveled around Europe, I learned a tremendous amount, and I graduated from a Masters program.

Unfortunately, last year was not so great a year worldwide (as I'm sure we're all aware.) I won't bore you with a recap of the year, but let's just all agree we have our work cut out for us this year and decade.

The problems we face right now are large. It's undeniable. And it's easy, given the size and scope of these problems, to simply throw up one's hands in the air and say, "Forget it. There isn't anything I can do, so I might as well do nothing."

I have been very tempted to throw my hands up in the air, time and time again.

And yet I continue to persevere. To plod. To hope against hope.

There were some days last year when I was miserable. When I was sure that I wasn't smart enough, good enough, or educated enough. But I took it day by day, I kept working, and at the end of the year I somehow had a shiny Masters degree.

Although it may seem ludicrous to compare the climate change crisis to graduate school (torturous though it may be) I believe the same principles apply.

Take it day by day.

Because if we all keep pushing on icebergs, big things can happen.

So this year, I resolve to persevere. To hang tough. To look cynicism in the eye and say, "To hell with all that."

And to keep pushing.

Happy 2010 everyone. May this decade be infinitely better than the last.

Yes, This Is Important

I've been thinking a lot about Melinda's recent posts about environmental social change. Read her thoughts here about how to get people to change their lifestyles, participating in your community, and how doing it alone is not enough. It's a great series of posts and it asks a lot of important questions. Why is social change important? How do we affect change? How do you build a social movement? These are questions I have been pondering myself for the past two years.

There are a lot of people critical of individual action in the name of the environment. It is easy to poke holes, to label people as hypocrites. It is easy to point out that the changes we all make are microscopic drops in oceanic buckets. But none of those critics ever have a better solution. Almost everytime I go to a lecture on climate change, without fail, someone in the audience will ask what they can do about the crisis we face. And almost always, the answer given is, "Well, the truth is there isn't much you can do aside from vote."

How is that helpful?

I remember many years ago when I saw "An Inconvenient Truth." I still remember the combination of fear and helplessness that washed over me. The world as I knew it was coming to an end, and there was nothing I could do about aside from changing a few lightbulbs or considering a Prius. After I saw that movie, I immediately went online and bought a Terrapass. Then I continued to do nothing. For about a year. Because well, there was nothing I could do anyway!

And then one day everything clicked. I realized there was something I *could* do. So, I attempted to do it all. I stopped shopping, I started air drying, I even made my own jam and butter and started taking public transit in Los Angeles of all places. And then I moved to London in order to attain a better grasp of environmental policy issues.

Almost every seasoned environmental social activist knows that none of the changes we make are enough or anywhere near enough. But we also believe that our work creates a ripple effect. It is hard to determine the exact results of social action, especially one as amorphous as the environmental social movement. But it seems to me increasingly clear that the world is growing more environmentally aware. And part of that is due in part to a growing band of environmentalists who are challenging conventional rules on air-drying laundry, increasingly patronizing farmers markets, as well as advocating for a global deal on climate change in Copenhagen. Individual action at home begets slightly more public action which begets large scale activism for international change.

Do we need a global deal on climate change? Yes. Do we need more government investment in renewable energy? Yes. Do we need higher efficiency standards? Yes.

But we need social change to get those things. We need social change to help us maneuver to a new era of renewable energy.

In the movie Who Killed the Electric Car, one of the culprits cited is the American people who were not ready for the electric car. As I drove around the city of LA, I would be haunted by this failure. I'd drop by the library where the only empty parking spot was that reserved for electric cars. I'd drive by my coffee shop and see another empty parking spot labelled "electric vehicle only." The infrastructure was there, but we had not been able to change people's behavior. Of course there were many other reasons for the failure of the electric car, but I believe that this example demonstrates the need for a social movement. We cannot transition to a new era of renewable energy without changing people's behavior.

And that's why this social movement is important. In the end it's not about the plastic bags saved or the reusable coffee mugs used though those are good things to do. It's about the large scale awareness that is gradually being generated. That's why I continue to fight and work to grow this movement.

Yes, this is important.

Monday Non-Depressingness

So sorry for depressing all y'all with my post from Friday. I agree with many of the commenters that sometimes it is necessary to be positive in order to incite people to change. I agree that telling people The End Of The World Is Nigh is not overly helpful for a lot of people. I still remember seeing Inconvenient Truth, being COMPLETELY freaked and also feeling helpless in the process.

So I'd like to reiterate that while I think we may have to entirely change our way of life in order to deal with climate change, I also believe strongly in the power of human beings to innovate and adapt. And I don't at all believe our situation is hopeless, nor do I think the great number of changes we may have to make in the future will be all bad. Change is scary, but change is often more scary in theory than practice.

And today it's Monday. A happy Monday!

So instead of depressing all y'all, I am offering some link love to a couple posts I have enjoyed recently. Leela Raina writes "Why I Shouldn't Date an Annex 1 Guy."

And a rebuttal (of sorts) from Fergus Auld on "Why Annex 1 Guys Can Be A Good Date After All," although Fergus doesn't particularly provide a good defense of his American Annex 1 brothers. Maybe *cough* because there isn't one.

Both posts come from the blog "What's With The Climate," a forum for the environmental youth movement on the Indian sub-continent. I interviewed several people from the youth movement for my MSc dissertation, and I have to say that the work youth activists are doing all over the world is truly inspiring. If you're interested in learning more about the youth movement, check out "It's Getting Hot In Here," which is THE website for the international environmental youth movement.

I Know, I know

I said I was going on hiatus, but then I read some controversy-producing blog posts and articles and I can't help but comment on them. Also, I'm trying to stretch out the three hours of dissertation work I have left as long as possible for maximum crankiness.

Beth recently posted a link to an article by Derrick Jensen in Orion Magazine entitled "Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change." The first couple sentences of his piece are pretty abysmal actually. I mean he invokes the NAZIS for crying out loud. And unfortunately those sentences do Jensen a great disservice because the rest of his article is actually quite thoughtful and insightful.

What Jensen is arguing is not that an individual's actions don't matter; rather, he's arguing a very specific point: that individualist environmentalism is not particularly helpful. By individualist environmentalism, I mean environmentalism that is not part of a broader linked-up action, but is done on a personal basis in the home.

Now, recently, one of my friends A got her landlord to put in a gray water tank into her bathroom. Which is pretty awesome, right? Anyway, she was telling us all this, and my friend J interjected and pointed out what a small difference one gray water tank is. Not that he didn't think it was worthwhile, but what's one gray water tank when there are wide swathes of residential lawn, golf courses, and water intense agriculture all over California? And the truth is, my friend J is right as is Jensen who also points out how small residential water usage is in comparison to agriculture and industry.

The point Jensen is making is ... well ... It's the Institutions, Stupid. (Seriously, I HAVE to get tee-shirts made saying that.) Given the crisis we're in, individual action isn't going to cut it. It's kind of like taking an Advil when your appendix is bursting. What is needed is institutional reform.

So, basically, ludicrous and easily refutable first few sentences aside, I completely agree with Jensen. But, in my mind, Jensen doesn't go far enough. Pointing out that individual action isn't enough ... that's the easy part. Look, we all KNOW individual action isn't enough. But as Jensen points out, we're in a double bind. One can give up, and go with the status quo, or one can participate in semi-meaningless individual action. There aren't really many other options for most people.

I think the point is, that individual action can result in two things. One: it can result in complacency. Oh, I recycle and bring my own bags to the grocery store, so I'm doing my bit and I can just sit back.

Or, two, it can propel people to action.

The thing is, if it weren't for individual environmentalism, I would probably not be here in London procrastinating my dissertation. I became individually involved and then became part of a political movement LATER. So I think the real question is, how do we motivate more people to take individual environmentalism one step further? How do we harness the energy from the individual environmentalist movement and use that to change institutions? Those are the real questions that need to be addressed, and it would be great if a few journalists put their thinking caps on and started working on that instead of trying to just shit on personal environmentalists.

Speaking of sh*tting on environmentalists, Elizabeth Kolbert goes after a few in her recent New Yorker article, specifically Colin Beavan and Vanessa Farquharson. Basically, she accuses them both of participating in one-year eco-stunts in order to gain publicity.

To which my response is, "Yeah ... so?"

Did Colin and Vanessa engage in eco-stunts? Sure. But what's wrong with engaging in stunts? Participating in stunts is valid political behavior to attract public attention. Again, speaking from personal experience, I was motivated to change my lifestyle because of people like Colin and Vanessa. And as someone who has arguably participated in her own stunt (though I never wrote a book about it), I can testify that you don't come out the other end an unchanged person. Although my year of strict non-consumerism is over, I shop much, much less than I used to and my entire life philosophy has changed greatly. And knowing Colin and Vanessa as I do, I know they have been transformed as well.

The most ridiculous part of the article is where Kolbert talks about how Colin needs to engage in more political behavior instead of personal environmentalism. I ... kind of don't understand how Kolbert completely missed that Colin is ALL political environmentalism ALL the time these days, what with his new organization, and his protesting, and his meetings with politicians. In fact, Colin has had his ass handed to him by his readers several times because they MISS the personal stories. So if his book, which I haven't read yet, is heavy on the personal anecdotes, that's probably just because Colin knows his audience.

In the end, Kolbert accuses Colin and Vanessa for missing the forest for the trees, but really it's Kolbert who misses the personal transformation because she's too busy criticizing Vanessa for flying places and getting laid.

What Motivates You?

I've been contemplating this a lot recently. What motivates us? Me, you, your friends, your spouse? Are we motivated by posters? By ads? By pop-stars? By sticks? By carrots?

And how do we motivate others? Is the answer to our problems taxes and tazers? Do we motivate people to lessen their environmental impact by force?

Or do we motivate people to lessen their environmental impact by appealing to their altruism?

Can we use force to get people to care, or does force turn people off? Will cap and trade or a carbon tax or another top-down approach make people care more about the environment, or will it make them care less?

What do you think?

Should We Be In The Business Of Changing People's Minds?

I honestly am not sure.

I'm not a big fan of proselytizing, in general. I dislike smug environmentalists, and I try not to be a Judgey McJudgerson. I am all too aware of my own failings as both an environmentalist and a human being. (To wit, at this moment, I am sitting with my back against the radiator, not because I need the heat per se, but because it's loosening the knots in my back.)

This is why I like to participate in other people's challenges, but I've only ever issued one small challenge. I'm just not comfortable with that stuff. My general philosophy is kind of: I do what I'm doing for me, and if others follow, they follow. If they don't, they don't.

On the other hand, I do have a blog. So obviously I'm not just quietly sitting in my room eating my sad organic apple and spinach salad. I guess the thing is, I really don't know.

I write this all because of a conversation Melinda and I had recently. She was voicing her frustration at all the people who didn't participate in Earth Hour, and talked about how she sometimes feels isolated by trying to live an environmentally conscious life when so many people around her don't seem to care about the environment at all.

I argued that just because people might not be concerned about reducing their individual footprint, that doesn't mean they don't care about the environment. It might mean that they don't think individual actions don't matter, and that ultimately we have to allow and accept a multiplicity of views on the matter.

Melinda contended that of the people who are not concerned about reducing their footprint, those who actually care about the environment, but simply don't think individual actions matter are probably a small minority. That we don't have time to waste, and while we should respect people's varied opinions, we shouldn't ACCEPT them. We need to work to change their minds.

Who's right in this little debate?

I don't know.

I actually think the percent of people who don't think individual actions matter is much larger, but who knows. Polls on climate change are notoriously topsy turvy, and you'll see one poll arguing that Americans really care about climate change! Followed by another poll stating that Americans doubt global warming is happening!!

And Melinda's right about us running out of time. Maybe we don't have time to deal with dissenters.

Except ... that feels ... wrong somehow.

I don't know. Maybe I'm trying so hard to be non-judgmental that I've gone too far to the other side. Maybe social stigmatization is an important component in changing society. Maybe there is a place for proselytizing. Certainly, I believe that governments should be paying more attention to climate change. If I think that it's okay to lobby governments, why isn't it okay to lobby people?

I just can't decide. What do you think?

Why I Continue To Have Hope

Yesterday, I found a passage of Anthony Giddens' book The Consequences of Modernity that struck me as really relevant to yesterday's conversation.

Giddens discusses "adaptive reactions" to risk and classifies our reactions into four broad areas:

1) Pragmatic acceptance- this involves not really thinking about the risk too much because, ultimately, it's out of your hands. 

2) Sustained Optimism- faith in rational thought and science; a trust in the ingenuity of human beings

3) Cynical Pessimism- often involves use of black comedy to alleviate one's emotional response to risk

4) Radical Engagement- engagement in the risk to reduce it; a belief that we can practically mobilize to diffuse risk

Honestly, I've fallen into all four categories at times, but yesterday I was in cynical pessimism mode.

Today, I'm in radical engagement mode. 

You see, as I read your wonderful comments, and then Chile, Rob, and Crunchy's blog posts, I realized that we can mobilize, and we are mobilizing. And maybe our individual contributions are small, but to paraphrase Barack Obama, collectively, we are more than the sum of our parts. 

How can I be a pessimistic cynic when you all, every one of you, show me what's best about human beings on a daily basis? How can I be hopeless about the crises we face, when people I have never met, from all around the world, are rallying to cheer me up? How can I believe that human beings are fractured and doomed, when I see so many people of different religious affiliations (or non-affiliations), political parties, and ethnicities uniting together to drastically reduce their impact,  to give to others, or to pee on their plants.

I can't.

I believe in the power of us, because I have seen us. You have shown me, you continue to show me, what is so wonderful about humanity.

Thank you.

Et Tu, Klean Kanteen?

Hi there! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas/Hanukkah/Thursday. My family and I had a wonderful day together, opening presents, eating too much food, watching Wall-E, and playing Monopoly.

Good times! But that's not actually what I want to write about today. Instead today, I'm going to talk a little about plastic. Or more specifically, the plastic found in the caps of Klean Kanteens.

So, as most of you know, my Klean Kanteen was stolen with the rest of my contents of my messenger bag. Which meant that last Friday, when Beth of Fake Plastic Fish and I went to Rainbow Grocery, I decided to replace it.

And that's how Beth and I found ourselve staring at a bunch of water bottles for about 15 minutes discussing the relative merits of one water bottle that had a stainless steel cap but came packaged in plastic versus another water bottle that had a plastic cap but was unpackaged.

Now, first of all, I want to clear something up. Beth says on her blog that I said that shopping with her is stressful. Now it is true that I did say that. But what I also said was, "This is why I don't shop!" It's not just Beth, it's shopping in general. Because frankly, being a non-consumer is much less stressful and guilt-inducing than staring at water bottles for fifteen minutes. I came extremely close to saying, "Screw it, I'm just going to use a glass jar." Except that, I'm sorry, I know Mr. No Impact Man uses a glass jar, but I just dont. want. to. I did the whole glass jar thing for a bit during my non-consumeristic days, and it made me feel a little like a bag lady. Also because I'm clumsy and always dropping stuff and glass, you know, breaks.

The point is, I needed a new water bottle, and the lack of a perfect option caused me to be paralyzed by indecision for fifteen minutes.

So. First off, Beth and I would like to encourage all y'all to write Klean Kanteen and ask them to not make the plastic caps their default cap. (Also it would help if Klean Kanteen didn't package the stainless steel caps in plastic, but one thing at a time.) Here's the email I wrote to Klean Kanteen:

I wanted to write to you as a loyal Klean Kanteen customer because while I
love your product, I do have a concern about your water bottles. Specifically,
that the water bottles now come with a plastic cap as the default cap. One of
the reasons that I switched to Klean Kanteen was to get away from plastic, so I
was disappointed when I learned that now Klean Kanteens all come with plastic
caps, and that if you want a stainless steel cap, you still have to purchase the
Klean Kanteen with a plastic cap and then purchase a separate stainless steel
cap. I would really love it if instead you offered two different options so that
people could choose to pay a little more for a Klean Kanteen with zero plastic,
if that's what they wanted.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Okay, so that's my letter to Klean Kanteen, and if you want to email them, you can reach them at Klean Kanteen, 4345 Hedstrom Way, Chico, California 95973 or email them at original@kleankanteen.com.

But beyond that, there is something else I want to talk about, which is, this. There are very rarely going to be perfect choices. When Beth and I were at Rainbow Grocery, we found cocoa powder in bulk, and fair trade packaged cocoa powder. But we never found bulk fair trade cocoa powder. Similarly, my bulk food store in London sells bulk organic sugar. But it doesn't sell bulk fair trade organic sugar, so instead, I buy packaged fair trade organic sugar.

The point is, we have to make choices sometimes. And as frustrating as it is to have to choose between fair trade sugar in plastic versus plastic-free unfairly traded sugar, unfortunately that is life. So what I'm trying to say here, is, if you find yourself staring at sugar for twenty minutes, and you think you're going insane, well, you're not alone. I've been there. We've all been there. And in the end, you just need to take a deep breath, and make a choice. And then, yes, maybe talk to the grocery store manager about why they don't have fair trade sugar in bulk, or write Klean Kanteen a letter, or what have you, but, at some point you then need to let go and accept that you made the best choice you could make given the circumstances. Don't go home and beat yourself up over sugar. Or Klean Kanteens. Or cocoa powder. Because life is too short, and beating yourself up and feeling guilty doesn't do any good anyway.

Also, next time Beth and I hang out, we are definitely going to karaoke. But not because shopping with Beth is stressful so much as karaoke is just awesome.

On Food and Tom Vilsack

I've spent a lot of time in the past few months pondering the whole 'food' question. Namely, how are we producing it and why, who are the losers, who are the winners, and what the hell do we do now?

Some of the things I've learnt: 

The giant grocery stores are squeezing everyone dry. Walmart and Tesco may offer low prices, but those low prices come at a very, very steep price.

The money in food comes at the value-added step. So, simply harvesting cash crops doesn't allow for much of an income. The real money is in the processing.

Famines can occur even when there is food IN THE VILLAGE if people can't pay for the food. There have even been situations in history where the food supply has been taken AWAY from a famine stricken village to a city because no one in the village could afford the food.

On the other hand, when you give food away for free, like the controversial US Food Aid program, you risk depressing local farmers' wages even further.

GM crops *might* have a place. But we need to be really careful in figuring out what that place is.

Rules governing worldwide trade forbid many third world countries from placing subsidies or tariffs on food crops, but the US is still allowed to subsidize their corn.

The food situation is extremely complex, there are no easy answers, but I do believe that the way that we're doing things now simply reinforces current power structures that keeps the first world dominant over the third world.

I don't know what we do about our damn food situation. But I do know this: we need a major change. And unfortunately our "change" president has saw fit to appoint a "more of the same" Secretary of Agriculture. 

People. I cannot repeat this enough. Just because a Democrat will be in office, doesn't mean we can take our eyes off the ball. Vilsack might be our new Sec of Ag, but that doesn't mean we have to take things lying down. As Green Bean writes, we need to constantly be pestering him and Obama both.

Because at the end of the day, what's more important than the food you eat?

Armchair Activism- Getting Back Into It!

Okay, guys. I am SO sorry to have abandoned you all in my first challenge that I opened up to other people. I am a bad, bad challenge leader.

How has everyone been doing? Got any letters written? I know Megan has, but anyone else?

Here is the letter that I have written to the Obama campaign:

Dear Future President Obama,

I write future president, because, well I know the election is still a few weeks out, but the polls are looking darn good for you. So, hey, pre-congratulations!

Anyway, I know you'll have a lot on your plate come January, but I exhort you to make climate change a primary issue. 

I believe we need to (1) substantially increase federal funding for renewable resources in the model of the Apollo project. (2) We need to then enact a plan so that these renewable resources are also distributed to people in India and China.

But fundamentally, in the issue of climate change, we cannot treat the world as us versus them. This is not about the United States versus China. This is about the United States AND China. It is only if we act together, that we will ever be able to deal with the crisis the world is facing.

Thanks and good luck in November.

Trying Better

I'm sure none of you are aware of this at ALL (snicker), but I'm kind of a competitive person. I like to be the best at things, but when I can't be best, I grudgingly settle for really damn good. If I can't be really damn good something, I have a bad tendency of not doing it all. 

Well, last week, I went to my very first choir rehearsal in oh ... over ten years. Back in high school, choir was my life. My senior year of high school, I was in both the school choirs, AND I was vice-president of our choir society, AND I was an alto section-leader. I was hard core. And I loved it. I loved that I was able to help my choir, that I could lead the alto section, that people would stand next to me in rehearsal when they were having problems so that they could get the notes down. I loved singing, but a lot of my love of singing was wrapped up in being good.

But I haven't sung in years. I've lost my range. My ear, which used to be fantastic (being an alto will do that for you) is now pretty mediocre. I have no sight-reading ability. Hell, I have difficulties reading music!

Still, when I came to school I decided to join the choir. This was a huge part of who I was, and I love music. I love singing. I'd like to have this piece of me back.

So last week, I went to my first rehearsal. And ... I sucked. I really, really, REALLY sucked. First of all, the piece is an extremely difficult piece of Handel's that in a previous life I would have loved because it requires all of these crazy, intricate runs that have to be done in absolute precision. But in my current life, as a non-singer, it was seriously intimidating.

Secondly, the choir director kept pushing through to cover more and more music. After a couple vain attempts at sight-reading I basically gave up. And I have NEVER been that girl in the choir who stands mute while others sing around her. But I was.

Thirdly, and this kind of exacerbated everything, I was sick. So though I have lost most of my previous range, last week, my range was roughly half an octave.

By the end of rehearsal, I was a mess. I kept thinking, "I'm awful, and I can't sing, and what am I even doing?"

Today was the second rehearsal. And I almost didn't go back. "I'm busy, and I'm tired, and I don't feel like it," I told myself. "It's not fun." But the truth was I was scared. Scared of not being good. 

But, in the end, I pushed myself to go. To give it another chance.

And you know what? 

It was better. 

I'm still not good. 

But I'm better. And everything: the singing, the sight-reading, the hearing, the crazy runs? Was easier. And while no one leaned on me for singing support, I did sympathize with a couple of my fellow choir members who found the piece difficult, and helped them feel less alone.

I'm not going to be a leader of this choir. 

But I'm a participant.

And sometimes that's okay.

I think there's a broader lesson, somewhere, for me to learn. 

As I've been immersed in classes that have talked about the problems of Kyoto, GMO crops and everything in between, I've begun to feel a little well ... despairing. In one seminar, someone was talking about how food aid should be changed to promote self-sufficiency, and I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and be like, "Sure! Why don't you re-write the American food aid bill, and while you're at it, can you please re-write the farm aid bill? And maybe give us universal health care?" Sure it would be nice if American food aid were different, but it ain't gonna happen, the leadership isn't there, so what's the use of even raising the point? Just take the food aid. Or leave it. Most Americans won't know or care either way anyway.

But there is a use in raising the point. There is a point in trying. Even if you know it's not going to be good. Even if you know there's no way America will ever rewrite its food aid bill. Maybe something else will come of it. Maybe you'll learn how to better negotiate. Maybe you'll convince one person, and that person will be your ally. Maybe nothing will happen, but you'll know that you gave it a shot. That even if you weren't the best, you did show up and make your case.

And in the end, that's all any of us can do. Participate. And hope that our participation makes a small amount of good.

Armchair Activism For All!

If you want to participate in my armchair activism challenge, the great Green Bean kindly made me a little doodad to add to your homepage!

Apparently, Blogger has now made it super easy to add little images to your sidebar, so you just have to download the image to your hard drive, and then upload it using the "picture" gadget. Easy peasy, no coding necessary. If you are interested in participating, let me know. Let's do our best to bring environmental issues to the forefront!

Making The Environment A Right, Left, and Center Issue

A week ago, Joyce posted about who she was voting for and why, which led to a very interesting discussion on her blog.

And it got me thinking.

You see, Joyce and I are voting for two different people. And that's okay. There are a lot of reasons I am voting for my guy, and there are a lot of reasons Joyce is voting for hers. Our candidates differ on a lot of issues, and that's also important and healthy in a democracy.

But climate change need not be an area where they disagree.

When I first started writing this blog, I assumed most of the people reading it would be like me. Liberals from the coasts, or big cities. What I found though, is that the environment isn't an issue upon which liberals have a monopoly. (As well it shouldn't.) Now I am happy to count atheists and evangelicals alike among my blog friends. Conservatives, liberals, and moderates. And my readers came from all over the world. Europe, Asia, Oklahoma, Washington, Virginia, California.

I want Obama to win. I'll make no bones about that. The second my absentee ballot gets here, that's whose name I'll be ticking.

BUT.

We can't afford to waste four more years dawdling over climate change. If McCain wins, we liberals cannot afford to write him off and wait four years until we may or may not get someone more to our liking in the White House.

That's why I believe the politicization of environmental issues is dangerous. We simply cannot afford climate change to be seen as a left-wing issue. And the truth is, it shouldn't be. I now know many evangelicals and/or conservatives who care deeply and passionately about the environment. If we all work together, I believe that we can make climate change a bipartisan issue. We can make change if we ignore our blue/red divisions, and roll up our sleeves to work together.

No matter which candidate wins, we will still need to keep an eye on him. There are a lot of other issues that are going to draw attention away from climate change, and there are a lot of special interests that are going to do their darndest to keep any president, Democrat or Republican, from making much needed changes.

We need to remind McCain and Obama constantly that they do not answer to special interests. They answer to us.

So here's my proposal/challenge to you all. Until the election in November, email your candidate(s) once a week regarding an environmental issue. Keep it constructive. If Obama's health care policy gets you going, but his lukewarm statements on coal leave you cold, tell him so. If you love Palin's family values, but hate her position on polar bears, tell her so. Remind your candidate that you WANT to vote for them, but that they need to EARN your vote. If you don't know who you are going to vote for, so much the better. Write to BOTH Obama and McCain, and tell them what they need to do to swing your vote their way.

And you can write whatever you want, so if plastic is your big issue, talk about that. If peak oil is your issue, you can write about that. If you have no idea what to talk about, I'll be sharing my letters here, and you can use mine as a template. And if you're not an American citizen, you can still take part in the election madness by writing to your elected officials.

Climate change has been too much of a non-issue in this election. Let's make sure our voices are heard. If you want to participate in my Armchair Activism For All challenge, please leave a comment and I'll add your name to my side-bar. (And if anyone with any spare time wants to make a cute doohickey for graphically challenged me, I'd be much obliged.)

It's hard to believe that one vote, or one e-mail can make a difference, but remember, the past few elections have been decided by very small numbers of votes, and it doesn't appear like this election will be any different. If we all make our voices heard, we can change the world.

Three Cups of Tea- Book Review

While I'm not generally a huge fan of jet lag, I cherish the first few days in India when I wake up early enough to hear the morning call to prayer. As the loudspeakers summon the faithful out of their bed and towards Mecca, I stare out the window and watch the sun rise over Bombay.


Hearing the ritualistic prayer is a comfort, a reminder of the things that have stayed the same for centuries. For hundreds of years, Bombay Muslims have climbed out of bed in this pre-dawn hour to say their morning prayers. The prayer is also a reminder of the cosmopolitan city Bombay was and is. A city where a multitude of religions and ethnicities live together in relative peace.


But that peace is gradually under assault.


As our plane from London to Bombay flew over Pakistan, I discussed the degrading situation in Bombay with the man sitting next to me. His family is from Northern India, and he bitterly spoke about how the native Maharatis (full disclosure: I'm half Maharati) have been trying, with some success, to Maharati-cize this cosmopolitan city. I nodded in agreement and then mentioned the terrible ostracization of the Muslim populations. At which point, my educated and wealthy plane-mate, sat up straight.


"Well, that's not just a Bombay thing. Muslims have problems everywhere." And then he told me a joke about a man who had made the statement that "All Muslims are terrorists," and then finally, under much pressure, revised his statement to "All terrorists are Muslims." It was clear that this man sitting next to me on the plane agreed that while all Muslims might not be terrorists, certainly, all terrorists are Muslims.


I didn't know what to say, but not wanting to engage in a lengthy debate with a man I was stuck sitting next to for the next few hours, I shut up.


The world has changed tremendously since 9-11, and India along with it. Where once, Muslims may have lived next to Christians and Hindus, now Muslims are pushed out of housing complexes, regarded as potential terrorists by their neighbors.


And it's a vicious cycle. The more Muslims are ostracized, the more they resort to violence. And the more Muslims resort to violence, the more the rest of the world ostracizes them. It's a downward spiral, and an incredibly dangerous one at that.


That's why Three Cups of Tea is such an important book. Perhaps the most important book I've read all year. In a time when most of the non-Islamic world is turning its back on Muslims, Greg Mortenson is gaining the trust of Pakistanis and Afghanis, one school at a time.


Three Cups of Tea relates the true story of Greg Mortenson, an American former mountain climber. How a wrong turn coming down from K-2 resulted in his new life path building schools for girls all over Pakistan and Afghanistan.


Mortenson believes strongly that education and especially the education of girls is critical in diffusing tension and fanaticism. He points out articulately that terrorists are not created in a vacuum. And that when children are given education and opportunity, they are much less likely to resort to terrorism and fundamentalism.

Three Cups of Tea makes the case that the majority of Muslims are peaceful people who want the best for the children, just like the rest of us. So, today, on September 11th, I highly recommend you go to the library or your local bookstore and pick up this book.

Is it about the environment? Not really. But it's about humanity, and about the values and beliefs that unite us all.

Five out of five stars, and recommended for everyone, green, dark green, fuschia or turquoise.

While I Was Whining...

Green Bean aka Green Super Hero and Burbanmom aka Burban Rockstar were out there DOING.

Yesterday, I read about this and got very stressed out and upset, and, well, whiny. So I emailed Green Bean and Burbs, basically to complain about how terrible this was, and how I didn't want to send one more ineffectual letter and blah blah blah, you know the drill.

I kinda didn't expect anything. I was mostly just letting off steam. But then the amazing Burbs put me to shame with her response to me.

She wrote, "Then we need to send thousands of letters. Not us personally, but all the eco-bloggers and eco-readers." And she ended her email to me with, "We’re not helpless, it’s not hopeless. Let’s git er done."

She proceeded to write an impassioned post on her blog exhorting people to write to their representatives and make sure that the Endangered Species Act stays intact.

And then Green Bean got in the action, and Allie.

Wow. Who knew how much whining would pay off?

Anyway, they all said it much better than I could. Please write a letter to your Congressperson, to the President, to your Senators. Let's make sure that this effort to weaken the Endangered Species Act is derailed.

On a separate note, I am completely burnt out right now, guys. And my computer is being serviced for the billionth time so I have limited internet access. So as you may be able to guess, my time for blog reading, writing, and commenting has been drastically curtailed. If I don't respond to your comments immediately, know that I will get to it eventually. It just may take a few days. As for the posting, it *might* drop down. Then again, it might not because I have infinite numbers of things to whine about. :)

Summer Carnivals

Well, I guess great minds think alike. At about the same time that we were getting our APLS Carnival off the ground, Lynn at Organic Mania was launching her own Green Moms Carnival. Not being officially a mom (is BM an abbreviation for breast milk or something else, and if it is an abbreviation for breast milk, why does a two syllable phrase need to be abbreviated?) I didn't really look into submitting a post or anything.

As it turns out, the warm and welcoming Lynn was allowing moms, non-moms, and even some XY-chromosome types to participate in the carnival. Ah well. My bad. So I didn't participate in the first go around, but I think the carnival is important, and I wanted to mention it, and just for fun, here's what I might have said, had I thought to like, read the submission guidelines.

People often say that one person's actions can't change the world. That one woman using a reusable shopping bag won't do anything. That one mom buying her groceries at the farmers' market doesn't make a difference. That one family isn't going to stop global warming by composting.

And ... I think that's fair. It's true that my actions alone aren't going to STOP global warming in it's tracks.

But here's the other truth that those people never mention:

We can't curb global warming WITHOUT individual action.

I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating: social movement precedes public policy. And historically, women and mothers have been the backbone of social movements.

Most people, when asked who was responsible for abolition, would immediately respond: Lincoln. But Lincoln didn't just show up on the national scene in a vacuum. On the contrary, the moral crisis over slavery was first fought in individual homes, towns, and churches. Hundreds and hundreds of mothers read Harriet Beecher Stowe's landmark novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Hundreds and hundreds of mothers imagined what it would be like to have their child sold into slavery. And soon, hundreds and hundreds of mothers were declaring slavery to be immoral.

Abolition was quickly gaining steam in social circles and churches, but meanwhile, in Washington, Congress and the Presidents of the era were practicing avoidance. For eight years in 1830s and 40s, Congress was actually FORBIDDEN from even DISCUSSING slavery. Finally, in 1850, two years before Uncle Tom's Cabin was published, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, and with it, the Fugitive Slave Law, which made every citizen complicit in the slave trade. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property in the egregious Dred Scott decision. When Lincoln was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and the lame duck President Buchanan, actually sat around and did NOTHING. That's right. Nothing.

My point is, while the abolition movement was heating up, while this crisis that would eventually lead to secession was becoming a bigger and bigger issue, our elected leaders did very little. It was not until they were compelled to act by societal forces that anything ever changed. So while, yes, eventually, slavery was abolished due to the 13th Amendment, there wouldn't have ever BEEN a thirteenth amendment if it weren't for individuals banding together to create the abolition movement.

Today, our nation is also facing a major crisis. And just like in 1850, our elected leaders are showing a certain reluctance to actually lead. Indeed, if you were to look at the actions of our government to curb global warming, one would probably think, "We're all doomed."

But ... we're not doomed, and here's why. While the government dilly dallies, and the Earth grows hotter, individuals have been acting. Farmers markets are multiplying. Reusable bags are all the rage. People are driving less, and using public transit more often. People are recycling, composting, line drying clothes, and growing their own food.

And these people who seem to be responsible for most of these changes?

Women. Mothers.

It's very simple really. Mothers still tend to be the ones responsible for the management of a household. They are the ones who often are responsible for buying the groceries, cooking, and drying the clothes. And thus, they are the ones who wield the power to change how their family as a whole operates.

Mothers in our society tend to get ignored by everyone but advertisers and politicians. And the advertisers assume that mothers only care about shopping, and the politicians assume that mothers only care about soccer games and safety.

But the truth is, mothers are much, much more intelligent and complex.

Mothers care about safety, yes, but they're not just worried about terrorists and kidnappers. They care about the safety of our food systems. They care about the toxins that are in our household cleaning products. They care about antibiotics in our drinking water.

And beyond safety, these mothers care about people. They care about building a better society. Their hearts ache for the child whose entire life was dispaced by Katrina. They worry for the Bangladeshi mother who is going to bear the brunt of climate change.

The moms I've had the fortune to meet on the blogosphere are fierce, they are determined, and they are brilliant as hell. They may have a degree in environmental science, or they may never have finished college, but that doesn't stop them from reading, learning, and immersing themselves in the global warming crisis.

Many of our leaders and policy makers might think, "Oh, they're just housewives. What do they really know?"

Well, I'm hear to tell you, they know plenty. And frankly, our elected leaders ignore these fine women at their own risk. Because as each day passes, these women, these mothers, are growing more and more powerful.

And one day, very soon, these women, these "mere housewives" will be so powerful, that our elected leaders will no longer be able to practice avoidance. Our government will be forced to pass meaningful global warming legislation.

And perhaps, 150 years from now, a history book will claim that President Obama was the one responsible for turning around the crisis of global warming.

And the world will forget who was really responsible.

But if the crisis of global warming is overcome, it won't be because of an elected official in Washington D.C.

It will be because of mothers and fathers, singletons and families, in California, in Michigan, in Florida, in France, in Canada, and all over the world.

We are not doomed.

The world will be saved.

Because the mothers are on the march.

Your Weekend Homework

A few days ago, Green Bean wrote a really great post about reaching out to a diverse group of people. As much as we may all love reading blogs by similarly eco-freakish people, we don't only want to be preaching to the choir. It's important to keep reaching out to others.

Now, as it happens, I read a fairly random group of blogs, mostly because I like 'em. I am not a scientist, but I read a bunch of science blogs anyway. I am not in debt (though I soon will be!) nor do I own any big investments, but I think money blogs often offer very practical, important advice. I am not a mommy (yet), but I love the few mommy blogs I read. And while I'm not a hard core music buff, I enjoy reading music blogs and learning about new bands.

I don't read these blogs because I'm trying to find new people to convert to my cause. I just read these blogs because I like what those bloggers have to say. I enjoy smart, funny people and there are smart and funny people all OVER the blogosphere. I also like having many friends who are PhDs. It makes me feel all speshul and important. Or alternately insecure and stoopid.

But the side benefit is that I get to exposed to various viewpoints. All the bloggers I read are intelligent people who care about the environment. And while they may use paper towels, and buy new stuff from time to time, they also visit farmers markets or make their own cheese or bike to work. In fact, one of the most hard-core greenies I know is my science blogger friend CAE. (Seriously, NEVER OWNED A CAR. She is WAY more hard-core than I.)

I can't really say why non eco-bloggers choose to read my blog. I would like to hope that they come here for my unique viewpoint. Or maybe because I pay them to be my friends, you know it's hard to say. (Joking!) But I aspire to write posts that make all my readers (green bloggers or no) laugh or think or laugh AND think at the SAME TIME!

My point is, I think I am a better blogger because I read a diverse group of blogs. I also think my blog would lose something if the only people who commented were also eco-bloggers like me.

Now I know that we all have only so many hours in the day for blog reading and commenting. But this weekend I urge you to check out one new blog that isn't in your "blog field." Meaning, if you are a debt blogger, check out a mommy blog. Or if you are a mommy blogger, maybe check out a science blog. You can use my sidebar if you like, as a launching off point. I recommend every single one of them.

And then? Come report back here, and let me know what you thought.

Happy Friday!

Consuming Under The Greenfluence

Yesterday, there was a bit of a conflagration over at No Impact Man. Colin had a post up about how we "APLS" now have a new name. Yes, yes, we needed another one, and apparently the new name is "Greenfluencers." Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?

Weird name non-withstanding, this "Greenfluencer" thing seemed pretty cool. According to a Porter Novelli report, Greenfluencers are pretty important people. In fact, the report states that more and more, average consumers are turning to Greenfluencers to find out what and what not to buy:

Consumers can rely on Greenfluencers to sniff things out in a way that they may not trust brands and organizations to do- not just the issues but also the issues behind the issues; not just what corporations are saying, but also what they're not saying.

Sounds pretty good to me. But there's more:

They are active, not passive. They join, rally, lobby, write letters and generally believe strongly that collective and personal actions can impact global warming.

They stand out not just for their interest in the environment but also for their overall up-and-at-'em attitude to life... In short, what they lack in numbers they more than make up for in energy and presence.

Well that definitely sounds neat! And consistent with my idea of "APLS" or "Greenfluencers." The report thus concludes that corporations should pay attention to Greenfluencers and do their best to woo said demographic.

Great! Sign me up! I will gladly tell corporations how best to woo me. So I'm all set to leave a nice comment telling Colin how much I like this post, and how great this seems. And ... then I see the comments.

Turns out, I was in the minority in thinking this whole "Greenfluencer" thang was cool. And a lot of the commenters, far from thinking being a Greenfluencer was neat, found the whole thing very, very objectionable. Comment after comment talked about how "real" environmentalists don't consume, and how this was all very bad greenwashing.

Really?

Let me tell you something. Unless you are hiding your money underneath your bed, you too are probably a participant in a consumeristic society. The bank you use is likely a multinational bank traded on the stock exchange. The money you deposit in the bank is used by the bank to make a loan to someone else. And if you have a 401(k), or stocks or mutual funds, well, those are all corporations. To suggest that "real" environmentalists aren't consumers is patently absurd. Very few people have the wherewithal or the inclination to completely disengage from the system. Thus, in my view, it's imperative to find ways to achieve a sustainable life within the system. And that means engaging corporations instead of ignoring them and hoping they go away.

I also take umbrage with the idea that environmentalism is some sort of exclusive club and anyone who is not hard-core need not apply. Take my friend Honda. She's not as eco-insane as I am, but she recycles and buys recycled products. She brings her own bag to the grocery store, she tries not to turn on her a/c in the car, and she limits her a/c use in the house. Is she a non-consumer? No. Does she try to buy less while buying more consciously? Yes. Is she an environmentalist? I would say so. Is she the kind of person we eco-types need in our camp? Definitely, yes! Honda is exactly the type of person we want to attract. And while she's smart, and caring, and can definitely be "greenfluenced," she is going to want to buy things here and there. But she would also be willing to pay more for things produced in a more sustainable fashion. And in my mind, that's where Greenfluencers come in.

Now being a Greenfluencer doesn't mean that you have to lie down and let corporations walk all over you. It doesn't mean succumbing to greenwashing. Rather, being a Greenfluencer means positively engaging with companies rather than avoiding them. Take for example, The Take Back The Filter project I mentioned yesterday. I'll let you in on a little secret. Beth drinks her water straight from the tap. For that matter, so do I. Neither of us, personally, feels the need for a Brita filter. So why didn't Beth start an "avoid Brita and just drink tap water" campaign? Why ask Brita to recycle filter cartridges?

Well, it's because Beth recognizes that a lot of people do want filtered water. She's realistic. And so, instead of trying to boycott Brita, she's trying to engage Brita. In essence, Beth is using her "greenfluence" to make Brita a more sustainable company for us all. Would it be easier for Beth to just say, "Don't consume. Avoid Brita." Sure. But would she reach fewer people with that message? I think so.

Ultimately, I'm a non-consumer because I believe that this is the right thing for me, right now. And I write about my positive experiences with non-consumerism in the hopes that other people will be inspired by my actions. I love it when someone tells me, "I almost bought this thing, but then I thought, Arduous wouldn't buy it, so I didn't." I think that's great! I like to think I'm helping provide a road-map to an alternative life-style that people can choose to follow to whatever degree they desire. Part of my job as a Greenfluencer is to act as a role-model for a life based more on consuming experiences, and less on buying stuff.

But ultimately, these are my choices, and this is what is right for me, and I don't pretend to know what is best for other people. We all have to make our own decisions, and we all have to follow our own path. And even those of us who consider ourselves environmentalists may approach things in different ways. Some may focus on growing their own food, but will happily shop at H&M. Others will give up air travel, but will continue to drive a less efficient car. And really, that's okay. Because as a wise Thistle once said, "it’s better to be hypocritical than apathetic when it comes to the environment."

So that's why I'm happy to be a Greenfluencer. Even if I think the name is kinda dumb. Ah, well. At least it's better than YAWNs.

People Promoting

There's a movement afoot! It's clearer and clearer. Every day it seems like people are organizing at the grass roots level. Check it:

The Magnificent Burbsarino (that's her magician name) is hosting a Yahoo! Group designed to help people take baby steps towards the One Tonne Lifestyle. If you are interested in "doing more," but are unsure where to start, The Burb (that's her wrestling name) can help you out.

Meanwhile, plastic diva Beth Terry is continuing her quest to get Brita to recycle their filters. Did you know that Brita makes the most popular pour through filter cartridge in North America? Did you know that in Europe, Brita has created a recycling program for filter cartridges, but that here, Clorox (which owns Brita in North America) refuses to do the same? Did you know that I once performed in a short sketch wherein Big Brother used Brita filters to spy on people? Okay, the last one wasn't strictly relevant, but the point is, you should check out the Take Back The Filter website. And if you're an American or Canadian, I strongly urge you to sign the petition and ask Brita to recycle their filter cartridges.

In other news, a group of bloggers recently started an environmental book blog, an offshoot of Green Bean's Be a Bookworm Challenge. There you'll find tons of resources for environmental reading as well as links to various book reviews. I can't wait to see what all they may do with the site!

Not enough homework for you all? You want more! More! Check out No Impact Man's post from last Friday, and then go call your Congressperson asking him or her to halt the construction of new "dirty" coal plants. It will be more scary than you thought, and then afterwards you'll wonder if you could have been any more incoherent. But you will have done it! And that's the most important thing, really.

And while you're at it, why not drop your Congressperson an email as well asking him or her to uphold the ban on offshore drilling. Visit the Crunchinator's website for details and a sample email.

And after all that, take a few seconds to ogle the awesome retro furniture at this store. Beautiful furniture at Ikea prices! Did I mention that given that the furniture is retro and used, this store is also a non-consumerist's dream come true?

And after THAT, hell I don't know. Take a break. You've earned it. Read a trashy magazine. Have a drink. Go watch Wimbledon. (Second round and it's already gotten exciting! Anyone else watch that awesome match between Ivanovic and Dechy?) Or else, I hear that "soccer shit" is still going on....

So do your homework and check out these great sites, and then sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of your day.