Week 2: No More Drilling

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ / CC BY 2.0

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has left me feeling depressed and helpless. We do not even know the extent of the damage, as oil continues to gush from the ocean floor and make its way towards the coast. When all is said and done, it will be one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and it is heartbreaking to watch it happen.

I want to do something. So I'm getting involved with the Sierra Club. I've worked with them in Michigan and know that they do great work, combining local knowledge with a strong volunteer base and support from state and national expert staff. Today I donated money to help with their Gulf Coast efforts, and I plan to join in rallies and letter writing campaigns to send a strong message to our leaders in Washington calling for:

-The oil spill to be cleaned up quickly, and BP, Halliburton and the other companies held accountable; and

-An end to all new offshore drilling proposals.

This disaster shows us just how dangerous offshore drilling is. We have the technologies and know what it will take to reduce our oil consumption and move away from fossil fuels. Many of the solutions to our dependence on oil--like moving towards more fuel efficient vehicles, smart land use changes, and clean energy like wind power--will create jobs and improve quality of life. I am certainly willing to make further changes in my life to reduce oil consumption and put more of my energy into pushing for change, especially when I see so clearly the impacts of this oil addiction.

So the action item for week 2 is to take action. I spent the past decade of my life as a professional environmental advocate, and I have seen first hand the power of people to make changes happen, even when up against powerful special interests. But we have to make our voices heard. As a busy mother of two, I know how hard it is to make the time to contact our elected officials. But it really does make a difference.

For more information on what the Sierra Club is doing: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/adv_oilspill

Week 1: No More Coffee Cups

Image: Dino De Luca / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

No, I'm not giving up coffee. This experiment is not about torturing myself (or my children who notice when mommy does not get her cup of liquid patience). But I am going to go about coffee differently.

There was a time when I, working in an office, would buy a cup of coffee almost every day. Sometimes more than one cup per day. It usually came in a paper cup. It really didn't feel like I was doing anything really bad. I mean, one paper cup won't hurt anything right? Unfortunately, there were about a billion other people with my paper coffee cup habit thinking the same thing.

Here's the problem:

• In 2010, an estimated 23 billion paper coffee cups will be used. It takes 9 million trees and enough energy to power 77,000 homes to make these cups.
  
• Paper coffee cups are lined with a plastic resin called polyethylene, so they can hold hot liquid. With this coating they cannot be recycled. All of these coffee cups end up in landfills.
• What's worse, in the landfill the paper cups decompose and release methane, a greenhouse gas that traps even more heat than carbon dioxide.
  
• Most coffee cups are not made of recycled paper, as recycled paper is typically not strong enough to hold liquid.

(See http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/facts.html for more fascinating and terrifying figures)

Suddenly, my coffee has a bitter aftertaste.

My solution: Well, for starters I'm going to make my coffee at home and drink it from a mug. I've been doing this for a while now to save time and money, and I enjoy it just as much. On the weekends, I will still treat myself to a fancy coffee. But I will do it in a reusable mug. One study found that I'll have to use my stainless steel mug 24 times for it to be more environmentally friendly than paper cups. That's 3 months of weekend coffees for me.

There is a paper coffee cup sitting on my desk right now. I bought it this morning, and I plan to kick the habit today. I'll keep the coffee habit though.

Money saved*:
$624 per year
(Making my own coffee vs. 3 lattes and 2 coffees out per week)

Resources saved*:
350 cups per year
140 pounds greenhouse gases per year
21.6 pounds of solid waste per year
one tree every seven years

*My husband is making his coffee at work, and joining me with reusable mugs, so these numbers all double for our family.


Sources: http://www.edf.org/documents/523_starbucks.pdf p.25 Report of the Alliance for Environmental Innovation and Starbucks 2000 (with the Environmental Defense Fund) (Although this report is a good estimate of the carbon emissions of the average coffee cup, the current Starbucks coffee cup has a smaller carbon footprint because Starbucks has added 10% post-consumer recycled content to it cups.)

The year of green and simple living

It is time to make commitments, to throw down the gauntlet, to start walking the walk. Today I embark on a year of becoming more green and living more simply.

I think it will be an interesting experiment to see how my family can reduce our footprint on the planet. I have a feeling we'll be saving money and enjoying life more too. We are starting where we are today. Starting....NOW!