So, what are you going to do about it?

[Flaxbee]

Experts Fear Collapse of Global Civilization:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022178391

Lots of comments. But what should we actually be doing? What can you, as an individual, commit to doing regularly as a way to change your habits and reduce your impact on the environment?

Each one of us doing a little - or a lot more - to help can add up to a significant, positive impact.

Here are fifty suggestions, the first few are listed. And the first one is one of the most important:
http://www.squidoo.com/reduce-climate-change

1. Eat less meat, and eat more vegetables. Cattle are one of the largest producers of methane, a gas that helps contribute to global warming. Cut back on the meat, and you'll be contributing to less methane.

2. Use a more energy efficient vehicle to reduce emissions and oil use. The Toyota Prius always tops the list of most efficient cars, but don't forget the Accord, Sanata, and Jetta.

3. Plant a tree on your own, or in Brazil. You can make donations to help plant trees far away, or plant one locally to help produce more oxygen and filter our air.

4. Take public transportation. Even if you only take public transportation once a week or once a month, you're lessening potential emissions that contribute to climate change.

5. Turn the temperature down on your thermostat to save energy. Any energy you save lessens the amount of fossil fuels used at energy plants.

6. In the warmer months, use window and fan ventilation over air conditioning when possible instead of air conditioning (in your car, too).

[Flaxbee]

1. Really? No one?

nt

[99Forever]

2. Do the words...

... "preaching to the choir" seem relevant?

[Flaxbee]

3. Not really -- it never hurts to post reminders, and I see a lot of liberals bitching, but

not necessarily willing to do something about it. We all vote progressively, but when it comes to daily habits, how progressive are we, actually?

Do you eat meat? Every day? Do you dry your clothes on a clothes line? Wear a sweater at home instead of turning up the heat?

This wasn't so much a criticism, as a way to see who is doing what...

[RebelOne]

13. Well, I do not ever eat meat.

I live in a mobile home park and we are not allowed to have clothes lines. And yes, I wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat. So, I am sort of progressive.

[hfojvt]

9. wouldn't you think that a choir

would be very quick to say a loud 'AMEN'? http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/171

[cbayer]

4. K & R

We are already doing a lot of these things, but we can always do more.

[Flaxbee]

14. hey, cbayer.

I also posted this is the Frugals forum:

[cbayer]

16. That's how I found it!

[marions ghost]

5. This is what people were saying 30 years ago...

Consumers can do those conserving things which help, but really they are a drop in the bucket.

We need REAL leadership at the top on renewable energy, mass transportation, and sustainable farming.

The "Collapse of Global Civilization" needs more than a bandaid.

[Flaxbee]

15. absolutely true. But we also need to change our consuming habits -- Americans consume WAY TOO MUCH

and every person in this country cutting back could make a significant difference.

Ain't no reason to sit on yer butt and do nothing, waiting for politicians to do something...

[marions ghost]

20. True but you are dreaming...

"Every person cutting back" will not happen unless there is leadership and MASS compliance....

The only thing that will really help is for us to DEMAND that politicians & corporate interests do something, in other words...that they actually LEAD on these issues.

I'm sure we all at DU try to do our best to recycle and don't over-consume--but then what else can those of us who care do? This is the question. Because it's NOT enough just to be a conscientious consumer. It makes people feel good, like they're "doing something"--but it doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. It's just not enough.

[hfojvt]

6. I am not liking #2

because I bet my bicycle is WAY more efficient than a Prius.

[marions ghost]

21. True but...

for biking, but consider that not everyone can. Cities need to be redesigned for biking, but how many are going to make that a priority? Very few. They have chained us to cars and not even given us decent mass transit.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. K&R

Many tend to become complacent, or fear their little contribution or impact is futile, which is understandable, so I understand why you posted here.

I'm a firm believer in multitasking: Doing what we can on an individual level, while simultaneously working toward BIG CHANGE at the top (legislatively, etc).

If we've done our best each day, at least we can hold onto that -- in spite of others not seeming to do their best and in spite of the huge impact of Big Agriculture, Big Oil, etc.

We can hope that our example will trigger a chain reaction. It often does.

Saying small efforts are useless or hopeless seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[bluedigger]

8. Move, adapt, or die. n/t

[DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav]

10. We never use our kitchen stove. We have both an earth oven and a rocket stove we cook on.

For baking, roasting, grilling, we use the earth oven. They make the best pizzas! For stove top heating we use the rocket stove since it just uses small twigs that break off the trees for fuel.

We don't eat meat, line dry the clothes, grow a garden, ride the bicycles and vespas in place of the pickup when we can, and we went solar on the city house.

[Flaxbee]

17. that's fantastic! Can you imagine what a huge difference it would make if even half of this

country did what you do?

[meow2u3]

11. Problems with your suggestions

1. What if you don't like vegetables? Do I have to force them down my throat just because someone says they're healthful? I'm not a kid anymore and I don't like being dictated to.

2. What if you can't afford to buy a newer car? Someone on a fixed income can't make car payments and the extra insurance premiums without suffering further hardship.

3. What if you live in an apartment, or in a rented house where the landlord doesn't allow alteration of the property?

4. What if you live in the country where the nearest bus stop is miles away, too far to walk? Taking public transportation makes perfect sense if you live in an urban or suburban area, but it's impractical out in the sticks.

These are questions that need to be answered and often are obstacles to living an ecologically sound lifestyle.

[Flaxbee]

19. Learn to like vegetables. They're good for you Or at least, eat more rice and beans instead of meat

And soy isn't a great alternative - lots of land use, and most of it is genetically modified.

Really, the meat industry is very wasteful and it takes an incredible amount of water and land just to produce 1 lb of beef.
Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food. It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons. A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.

You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year

So, find some alternatives.

Just keep your older car in good condition. Part of helping out is also reducing consumption; not buying a new car at the drop of a hat helps reduce consumption. I never buy new cars, always used, and hang on to the car as long as I can - decades, if possible.

You can always put up interior window treatments as insulation. There are many things you can do to reduce your energy consumption, even if you don't have 100% control over your form of shelter.

I know, re transportation. We're in the sticks, too, and ain't no way I could walk to the grocery store and trying to bike on the road into town would be suicidal. So, lobby for better public transportation. Just because you can't use something personally doesn't mean you can't advocate for it.

Here -- 25 tips to make your apartment more eco-friendly. Not all will apply, but that certainly doesn't mean they should all be ignored:

http://pyrmontvillage.com.au/25-tips-to-make-your-apartment-an-eco-friendly-sustainable-green-paradise/

[meow2u3]

23. I gag on most green, leafy veggies

I can't like what I can't get down my throat.

[yewberry]

24. I've been vegetarian for 26 years, and green leafies don't comprise the bulk of my diet.

And no one forcing anything down your throat. If you don't want to make changes, don't, but there's no need to crap on those who do.

[Squinch]

29. ^this.^^ Said crapping is extremely childish.

[HereSince1628]

12. Me? I'm planning on finishing this run, giving my all, and donating my ashes as fertilizer

well before the apocalypse.

[stopwastingmymoney]

18. Ok

Use canvas bags every time, cloth napkins too.

If you have a yard waste can (and don't compost yourself) you can put all of your food scraps in it and reduce methane from the landfill.

Don't use chemicals in your yard, mulch and compost instead.

[HereSince1628]

22. Better check your ordinances first. Food is banned from some yard waste

In Sept, I put large a jumbo zucchini I found in the garden into the yard waste, and the city worker tossed it back on the lawn and turned us in to code enforcement.

[lunasun]

31. +1 do check your ordinances

[handmade34]

28. when I lived in the city

I used a bucket under the sink with worms in it to compost all scraps




http://unclejimswormfarm.com/

[Fawke Em]

25. How come you didn't include any American cars on your list?

The Ford Hybrid kicks the Prius's butt in nearly all the reviews.

[yewberry]

26. The OP didn't write the list.

It's from an article.

[Archaic]

27. The Volt is awesome too...

For the folks it will work for. It's not the family-mobile, or a moving van. But if you're a commuter, and can't do mass transit due to on-call/emergency call out type stuff, it's a tremendous car.

250mpg doesn't suck. I think I've gone 1800 miles since I bought gas. And when I plug it in at home, I am wind powered.

[handmade34]

30. everything I can

One of the best and quickest methods for trying to reverse climate change is to eat less meat

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michellemaisto/2012/04/28/eating-less-meat-is-worlds-best-chance-for-timely-climate-change-say-experts/

Eating Less Meat Is World's Best Chance For Timely Climate Change, Say Experts





Five years ago, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization published a report called “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which maintained that 18 percent of greenhouse gases were attributable to the raising of animals for food. The number was startling.

... that the number was too small. Two environmental specialists for the World Bank, Robert Goodland (the bank’s former lead environmental adviser) and Jeff Anhang, claimed, in an article in World Watch, that the number was more like 51 percent. It’s been suggested that that number is extreme, but the men stand by it, as Mr. Goodland wrote to me this week: “All that greenhouse gas isn’t emitted directly by animals. ”But according to the most widely-used rules of counting greenhouse gases, indirect emissions should be counted when they are large and when something can be done to mitigate or reduce them.”

... running out of clean water, and by some estimates it takes 100 times more water (up to 2,500 gallons) to produce a pound of grain-fed beef than it does to produce a pound of wheat. We’re also running out of land: somewhere around45 percent of the world’s land is either directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, and as forests are cleared to create new land for grazing animals or growing feed crops, the earth’s capacity to sequester greenhouse gases (trees are especially good at this) diminishes.

[AverageJoe90]

32. Now there's some real solutions!

Thanks for posting this, Flaxbee. Truth is, it really isn't that hard to lessen one's negative impact on the environment in some ways. In fact, some of these solutions are actually as easy as pie!