Trib special correspondent MaryJane Butters offers some Simple steps for cutting your carbon footprint - Salt Lake Tribune. I might note that not using plastic bags isn't just about your carbon foot print as it is about the giant raft of plastic the size of Texas floating in the Pacific. And don't kid yourself that such plastic from Utah can't make it to the world's oceans. I've seen those bags in the wilderness drifting along their not-so-merry way.
I am also going to be transitioning SN to its next theme--something to do with the environment. As I recall, I think I've done "Sustainability" before. It takes me a while to settle on such over-arching themes.
The article mentions a bunch of good things, but the two biggest have been left out:
ReplyDelete(1) Eat less meat, and eat only grass fed, pasture raised animals. They are leaner, and they don't depend on grain like corn, which it turns out burns a lot of fuel.
(2) Fly less, or not at all. One trans atlantic flight emits as much carbon per person as an average entire year of driving a car.
I know why these were left out. Meat and travel are the most fun and pleasurable things on the earth. Nobody in America wants to be told to do LESS of something. We'd much rather go out and BUY MORE STUFF, like a compost bin and canvas shopping bags...
For some information on the air travel carbon emission, see http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/ and scroll down to the Sep. 18 posting...
Excellent points, Will. I myself have been traveling way too much for work these last few years. I have 3 more to go, I fear. This is part of the reason I am not a car owner right now.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be preachy (wife just landed in SLC two hours ago). Academic life requires a bit of plane travel. Given the bad economy and (fingers crossed) democrats in power, the time is right for some huge infrastructure projects. First a carbon tax, which would fuel growth for rail/bus travel. Then build two-track high-speed train lines criss-crossing the country, all networked to smaller commuter rails, like frontrunner, and those networked to busses and trax lines. Make it the envy of Europe. I would sign on to that in a heartbeat!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm horrified about the flying thing, because wait, my daughter lives across the Atlantic! I'm going to have to think about that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, though, because I'm going to look into Blue Sky power now.