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Open Letter to Humanity…

carolineselle — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:15:15 +0000

Ask me why I’m fighting against climate change, and I might give you some science speak answer, all about changing temperatures and ocean currents and parts per million. But really, for me, it doesn’t matter whether climate change is a fact or a myth. I’d still be fighting for the same bills and the same targets, because the things that contribute to climate change are messing with the planet whether or not they’re also heating it up.
I’m not fighting against climate change because of the graphs and charts and numbers showing an increase in the proportion of carbon in the atmosphere. Though I agree with the scientists and the facts, I rely more on what is in front of my face. The effects of climate change are difficult to sense from day to day. We might recognize that storms are becoming more frequent and more powerful and that the sea level is rising, but these changes are occurring so slowly within the realm of human perception that it is sometimes difficult to tell they are happening at all. The other effects of dirty energy, however, are problematic and immediately visible.
Every day, coal-fired power plants spew vast amounts of pollutants into the sky. Even so-called “clean coal” has detrimental effects. The pollutants might not be going into the air, but they’re still going somewhere, and that somewhere is onto the land and into the water. Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like. The tops of mountains in Appalachia are blown off to reach the coal seams underneath. And, as one might expect, the toxins in coal (mercury and cadmium among others) are released as beautiful landscapes are destroyed.
It’s not just the coal. It’s all the dirty sources of energy — nuclear, natural gas, oil… There’s a long list. And it’s not just the dirty sources of energy, either. Part of the problem is our mentality of want, our constant drive to buy more and more and more and more. It’s our desire to build bigger houses closer and closer to the water, our desire to find ways to power our computers and iPods and cellphones every hour of every day. (I’m not saying that I’m not guilty. I use my computer and my cellphone regularly. I’m part of the problem that’s contributing to our current need for these dirty sources of energy. But I’m working towards becoming part of the solution, too.) There are easy ways to reduce our energy consumption. We can unplug appliances at night, turn off the lights when we leave rooms, and increase the energy efficiency of our houses. We can wear an extra sweater in the winter and turn down the heat. We don’t need to lead lives of asceticism; we need to be more aware of our patterns of consumption and the effects of it.
I’m fighting against dirty energy because when I walk out of my building in the morning, I see trees. I see green in the summer and reds and browns and golds in the fall. In the winter I see the plain branches patterned against the sky. Looking up, I see a vast expanse of blue and sometimes gray, sometimes partly covered by clouds and sometimes splashed with the colors of a sunrise or sunset. I see the sun or the moon and the stars. It’s what has inspired people for generations past and will inspire people for generations to come. It’s why we’re here — we need the land to live off of, physically and emotionally. If we destroy it, we won’t be around for very long.
I don’t want those scenes to disappear. I want to be able, on every day of my life, to walk outside and see the trees, to see the sky, to hear birds chirping. I want to be a part of this natural world and to have the natural world be a part of me. I’m fighting this fight because I care about everything that’s affected by human selfishness, and that includes all the cliches like the bunnies and the trees and those pesky future generations. I’m doing this because I care about all the irreplaceable things on this planet, and that includes you.

Bread

carolineselle — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:22:12 +0000

New obsession: baking bread. I made a loaf of french herb bread a couple of days ago and I’ve been making a sweet (or savory, depending) flatbread a lot recently, which has mostly just resulted in my clothes being covered in flour. Recipe below.

Quick Flatbread: serves 4 or 8

2 cups bread or all purpose flour

2/3 cup water

3 tablespoons oil

1/4 cup sugar OR 1/8 cup honey OR garlic/onion/herbs/other seasonings

Knead together. Dust hands/table with flour.Split into eight golf ball sized pieces and flatten. Grease a cookie sheet and bake at 400F until lightly brown on both sides. (For best results, use as mini-veggie pizzas or eat with curry).

No Impact Man

carolineselle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:15:18 +0000

I just finished reading “No Impact Man,” by Colin Beavan, and wow am I feeling guilty. “No Impact Man” is the story of how Beavan and his wife and daughter lived for an entire year steadily reducing their impact on the Earth until it was zero. They didn’t just reduce their carbon impact. No, they made sure to reuse everything, use as little electricity as possible, waste no water, give up air travel and (as Beavan points out several times) give up toilet paper as well. The idea sounds crazy at first. I mean, who in their right mind would give up *everything*?

Beavan’s hope is that a lot of people would, if they truly understood the consequences. It’s easy not to think about the consequences because the oil and coal and gas companies are helped along by the government, while the renewable energy companies have to limp along mostly on their own. The true cost of products that are detrimental to the environment is hidden. Beavan has a long list of things we should change about the way our world (and especially our country) operates, and that’s one of them.

But Beavan also points out that although he gave up a lot, he gained a lot too. By turning out the lights when the sun went down, he was forced to step away from the computer and television and spend more time with his wife and child. When he stopped buying takeout because of all the packaging, he learned how to cook with local, in season produce. He got more exercise and lost weight because he walked or biked everywhere and stopped using elevators. The list goes on. He and his family did give up some creature comforts, but as he points out, they never strayed towards asceticism. Instead, they learned to value what was necessary and give thanks for what they had.

What I found especially cool (and which was probably not the intended lesson) was that the book itself was made from sustainable materials. The cover is recycled cardboard and all the energy to make the paper came from biomass. Ultimately, though, what I took away from the book was an idea that I’ve recently come to embrace and that Beavan brings up several times. It’s not enough to preach about the problems in the world. It’s not enough to sit on our butts and bemoan the state of the planet while we go and buy another cup of coffee (handed to us in paper cups) and a sandwich (wrapped in plastic) from the shop we drive to three miles away. If we want to see a difference, we need to make a difference. Nothing will happen if everyone waits around for something to happen. We need to get up, walk down the stairs (no elevator), walk to the store with our reusable mugs/jars and ask for whatever is in season. We need to go to the farmer’s marked instead of the grocery store and turn off the lights when the sun goes down. We need to walk and bike more and drive less. Some of the changes will be difficult and some of the changes will be easy, even fun.

Tonight, I’m going to cook something using vegetables that are in season. I’m going to wake up tomorrow and try to go an entire day without turning on the lights. I’m going to air dry my clothes instead of using one of the school’s dryers. And I’m going to start writing more letters to my Senators and Representative and make sure my voice is heard.

My question for you is the same one that Beavan uses to end his book. What are you going to do to start making a difference? What do you stand to gain by making your lifestyle sustainable? And what about the people around you?

obligatory first post.

carolineselle — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:52:23 +0000

Hi. If you’re reading this you’re probably a friend, so thanks for being awesome (and curious). I’m hoping that this space will become a place for me to write about all the interesting things going on with the youth environmental movement and different environmental activists. And food. Always food. (Because what’s life without inventing almost-edible recipes?) So yeah, thanks for looking and hopefully more to follow soon!