Our office is also our home. So the green changes we’ll be making in the weeks and months ahead will range from pens made from car parts to dishes made from recycled windows and sliding glass doors.
Most importantly, we suspect there are hundreds more small changes like these we can make in the greening of our home/work life. Yet, as much as we’d love to make all these changes at once, it’s simply too overwhelming – mentally, physically and financially. That’s why we’re comforted by Essential Skill #2 in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook:
Change slowly.
“Most attempts at change fail,” writes author David de Rothschild, “not for lack of will, but for lack of planning and pragmatism.” His suggestion – concentrate on one goal at a time. Our suggestion – make a list of everything you ultimately want to accomplish in the greening of your life, then choose your first change from these items and act accordingly.
In making our own list this week, we’ll be going from room to room, making note of every product, service or habit that needs to be greener – from biodegradable laundry soap to eco-friendly pest control. At the end of the week, we’ll share our list in the Comments section of this post, and we invite you to do the same.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Essential Skill #1: Commit
If we’re going to live the Live Earth Pledge, the first step is commitment. And who better to lead us in this journey than adventure ecologist and author of The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, David de Rothschild. Instead of committing himself to the life of luxury that this British heir to a large banking fortune could pursue, de Rothschild is committed to something that all the money in the world cannot buy – a healthy planet.
David de Rothschild is the founder of Adventure Ecology, an organization that promotes environmental action through a combination of education, arts and adventurous expeditions to parts of the world most affected by global warming.
"It was during a polar adventure that I truly began to grasp the scale and complexity of climate change," writes de Rothschild in his introduction to the Survival Handbook. "Standing in the midst of the Arctic, surrounded by 14 million square kilometers of frozen ocean, I felt like nothing more than a speck of dust on the endless horizon of Earth’s most raw, majestic, and environmentally significant ecosystem."
"That expedition, to cross the Arctic Ocean, was halted when warm temperatures made the ice too vulnerable. And it suddenly became clear that thinking of protecting our planet was no longer enough; what we have to think about is our ability to survive on this planet. We need to have the necessary skills in order to so."
So this week marks the beginning of our virtual expedition through de Rothschild’s "77 essential skills to stop climate change – or live through it."
As the leader of this expedition, de Rothschild’s Essential Skill #1 is "Commit," including his directive to "CHILL" – an acronym that will serve as something like our map in this virtual ecological adventure:
Commit this book to memory
Hunt down and destroy your excessive CO2 habits, one by one
Inspire others to do the same
Lobby your leaders to make big changes
Laugh a little – saving the planet is going to be tough, but it doesn’t have to be boring
We may only need five minutes to commit this acronym to memory, but we’ve got all week to fully comprehend what it means. Let’s use these 7 days to observe our habits, making mental note of all the areas in which we can strengthen our commitment to surviving (and stopping) climate change.
Then, on Saturday (or anytime throughout the week), let's share our thoughts in the Comments section of this post.
David de Rothschild is the founder of Adventure Ecology, an organization that promotes environmental action through a combination of education, arts and adventurous expeditions to parts of the world most affected by global warming.
"It was during a polar adventure that I truly began to grasp the scale and complexity of climate change," writes de Rothschild in his introduction to the Survival Handbook. "Standing in the midst of the Arctic, surrounded by 14 million square kilometers of frozen ocean, I felt like nothing more than a speck of dust on the endless horizon of Earth’s most raw, majestic, and environmentally significant ecosystem."
"That expedition, to cross the Arctic Ocean, was halted when warm temperatures made the ice too vulnerable. And it suddenly became clear that thinking of protecting our planet was no longer enough; what we have to think about is our ability to survive on this planet. We need to have the necessary skills in order to so."
So this week marks the beginning of our virtual expedition through de Rothschild’s "77 essential skills to stop climate change – or live through it."
As the leader of this expedition, de Rothschild’s Essential Skill #1 is "Commit," including his directive to "CHILL" – an acronym that will serve as something like our map in this virtual ecological adventure:
Commit this book to memory
Hunt down and destroy your excessive CO2 habits, one by one
Inspire others to do the same
Lobby your leaders to make big changes
Laugh a little – saving the planet is going to be tough, but it doesn’t have to be boring
We may only need five minutes to commit this acronym to memory, but we’ve got all week to fully comprehend what it means. Let’s use these 7 days to observe our habits, making mental note of all the areas in which we can strengthen our commitment to surviving (and stopping) climate change.
Then, on Saturday (or anytime throughout the week), let's share our thoughts in the Comments section of this post.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Living the Live Earth Pledge
On Sunday, July 22, we'll post the first eco-friendly tip in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. All week, we'll green our lives accordingly, share our experiences, and ask you to do the same.
There are 77 essential skills in the book, so this Live Earth project will last for 77 weeks. And everything we learn and do will be in accordance with living the Live Earth 7-Point Pledge below.
Please read (and live) the Live Earth Pledge below and, if you haven't yet, be sure to sign it here: http://liveearthpledge.org/msn.php.
Live Earth 7-Point Pledge
1) To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth
2) To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral"
3) To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2
4) To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation
5) To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal
6) To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests
7) To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
There are 77 essential skills in the book, so this Live Earth project will last for 77 weeks. And everything we learn and do will be in accordance with living the Live Earth 7-Point Pledge below.
Please read (and live) the Live Earth Pledge below and, if you haven't yet, be sure to sign it here: http://liveearthpledge.org/msn.php.
Live Earth 7-Point Pledge
1) To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth
2) To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral"
3) To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2
4) To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation
5) To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal
6) To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests
7) To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
