Sustainability

Sustainability has been a topic of discussion in our family for some time now. Ideas come and go with various urgency.

When we get in the "World's Ending Tomorrow" mood, nothing seems more important than becoming totally self-sufficient and fossil-fuel free. We're gonna have a little organic farm, walk and bike everywhere we need to go, and live in an energy-efficient house with our best friends. Really, we are!

Then my brother and I get in long conversations about sustainability while driving for ten hours to visit our sister. I mean, we're literally sitting in a car, driving on the freeway, talking about how we want to eliminate petroleum from our lives.

Yep! This is our dilemma.

I'm not trying to make light of these efforts. We are all deadly serious--we do, I'm pretty sure, believe that the environment is on the verge of catastrophic change that will impact our lives in ways we can't even yet imagine.

We're thinking it's time to get prepared. It's time to change the light bulbs.

The whole compact fluorescent vs. incandescent bulb thing gets me. Yes, you can save all this energy which is usually lost to heat. Yes, you can have these bulbs which last virtually forever. But seriously, how much difference is that going to make in the long run? Compared to making endless needless war, all the major industries, Wal-mart, all that stuff. How can we even make a tiny dent?

We've changed all our lightbulbs, we've turned off the power on the power strips, we've turned the thermostat down a few degrees.

I like the changes we've made as a family. I think, even the tiniest dent is still a dent in all the energy usage in this country. And, we're becoming more conscious and conscientious about energy and resources. I think we're becoming healthier as we make healthier, more earth-conscious choices.

For instance, members of my family regularly now:

• dry clothes on a rack or line
• walk or bike as much as possible
• grow vegetables at home
• buy local produce and organic products when possible
• save sink or shower water for flushing the toilet with
• dumpster dive for discarded food
• shop for household goods and clothing at thrift stores
• use biodegradable, naturally derived cleaning products

My personal challenges in energy usage are:

• not buying stuff I don't need
• fix it instead of replacing it
• flying across the world too much
• love that hot shower
• love those grapes from Chile

I keep thinking about that goofy guy we saw in Oban promoting his low-carbon lifestyle. He was pretty funny. His most persuasive point: making love = low carbon.