Things that make you go, "hmmmmm....."

As I have written previously, I am trying to go "green." My attempts have been modest: I purchased a car that gets 35 mpg, I am recycling my paper, plastic & glass (which has decreased what I put curbside by about 75%). As I consider getting ridden of my allergen permeated wall to wall carpeting, I am probably going to go with carbonized bamboo. It looks nice, is renewable (believe me, I have seen how hard it can be to get rid of that bamboo), and has an excellent hardness rating.

Recently, I was reading an article in Science magazine about biofuels. I had heard, what I believe is likely an urban legend, that biofuels burn less efficiently and that they tear up gaskets in cars. This article suggests that they burn more efficiently. However the very disturbing information was that grain-based biofuels, under their current form of management, may be causing more environmental harm! Due to tilling crops, with the burden of soil erosion, the need for fertilizers, etc. this may be a source of increased global warming.

PEOPLE! We need, no HAVE to start thinking in this country. The incredibly detrimental impact of fossil fuels on our environment has been well documented. Why would we choose to up-ramp another fuel source, that will potentially increase the global warming effect? Oh, yeah. It's easy.....fail.

The article goes on to describe cellulosic ethanol. This is a type of biofuel produced from the structural material that compromises the "mass of plants" -- the corn stalk, grasses, woodchips can all be starting material. This has great promise since the starting materials are potentially in much greater supply than that used for grain based ethanol. For reasons that are beyond my brain this morning, although this material takes more processing to get to the sugar monomers that are needed to ferment the alcohol, cellulosic ethanol is predicted to reduce greenhouse emissions by 85% over reformulated gasoline. Also, it can be made from sources that be grown without annual tillage, thereby reducing soil erosion and helping preserve soil integrity (without the need for toxic fertilizers). Actually, it sounds like something that might be grown on the less fertile land that we have in my area.

As we go forward, we need to think about our choices. As I watch the current financial debacle, I see a panic response to something that was predicted over 9 years ago when the subprime mortgage business started (there was an interesting article in the NYT written in 9/99 predicting the bailout that is now underway; I must admit that they didn't envision the magnitude of the bailout). It seems that there is a panic patch being applied to something that many were writing about and suggesting for the last several YEARS. We can not afford to apply the same panic response to our environment. That being said, we also can not afford continue to stick our collective heads in the global sand and do nothing....which seems to be the approach that our government has perfected.

Just my 2 cents...probably shouldn't be writing in a sleep deprived state, though.

About being green

Our world is toxic. I am becoming convinced of that. The conveniences that we have generate an incredible amount of waste. Perhaps, I shouldn't have purchased that "green" car, and it's still gas....just gets better mileage. I think it's watching Planet Green on cable.

There is an interesting article in today's New York Times: Our Ocean of Plastic. Good gravy! Plastics from Asia and Russia are washing up on the Alaskan shores (not to mention all the plastics from the good ol' U. S. of A.). Reading this article has cured me of any desire to swim in an ocean.....but, people, we are supposed to be stewards of this world. What are we doing?

Last night, I went to local Starbuck's with one of my work colleagues. Although in Smalltown American, it looks like any Starbuck's, the clientele as a little different. In the corner, sitting in two winged back chairs, were two older gentlemen. My colleague knew the one and introduced me, "this is So-and-so (I hate to say this, I didn't catch the name), he's one of the city counsel-men so if you have any gripes, let him know." I took my opening, "Hey, I do! How about getting some organized recycling here?" I have been trying to find some place to recycle goods -- there is an organization that takes newspapers, pop bottles and card-board, but nowhere for many other recyclables, and I am tired of storing them for trips to the Big City. His response, "A lot of people have been asking about that." WRONG RESPONSE! If a lot of people having been asking about it, why aren't we looking into it? They are passing all sorts of crappy ordinances to "clean up" Smalltown America, but if we don't do something to raise awareness of how much we are polluting, and we don't do anything to cut down on our "footprint" not having fences in the front yard is just somehow missing the forest for the trees, the boat for the ocean.....you get my drift.

So, I will continue to do my little part. I am collecting my soda bottles and newspapers. I collect the magazines and glass to haul into the Big City. I am thinking about getting solar panels, but so far, I have found only one contractor in the metroplex. Still, one is better than none, and he does serve this area.

Don't get me wrong: I know that I do a lot to have too large a carbon foot print, but I am slowly trying to modify my behavior. I continue to drink Diet Coke in all of those plastic bottles, but I am weaning myself of that habit. As I see people getting cancer that just shouldn't be getting it, I am becoming more and more convinced that our world is toxic, the additives to make our food pretty are toxic, the stuff we spew into the air is toxic, the run-off in our oceans is toxic.....no, I won't be able to go all green by tomorrow or next month or next year....however, I think it is very important for all of us to try to do our part, however big or little that part may be. Hug a tree...or better yet, go plant one!