Fewer companies willing to pay for green

As noted in a previous post, the worsening economic conditions pose a very real risk to the green movement. Now, this article from the Austin Business Journal seems to validate my concern:

"Companies are demanding green buildings but are less willing to pay for environmentally friendly office space compared to last year, according to a new survey from CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle.

Despite the fact that corporate real estate executives support the idea of energy efficient and sustainable buildings, only 42 percent of those surveyed said they were willing to pay a premium to lease green space"

We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about. - Joseph Campbell

Aggregation

I have noticed, lately, a polarization over environmental issues. There seems to be a sharp divide between those who understand how important it is to change our way of life and embrace environmentally responsible practices, and those who either don't believe it is necessary, or don't believe that they can make a difference.

This is the greatest challenge that environmentalists face today - getting the reluctant and disbelieving masses to overcome their skepticism and their inertia. It is made even more challenging by the fact that today's world is overwhelming. We are all working long hours and are victimized by information overload. Too much is coming at us too fast. It is hard to get someone's attention, let alone make a convincing argument which compels them to change their habits.

My neighbor, who is a very intelligent man, has a hard time getting his brain wrapped around the changes he needs to make in order to do his part to save the planet. Not only that, but he is put off by buzzwords and slogans. I have to admit that often the media latches on to words like 'green' and 'sustainability', and phrases like "carbon footprint," and uses them with abandon. Its as if every journalist is shouting, "Me, too! I'm hip!"

I understand how someone (particularly someone who has not yet been convinced of the immediacy and urgency of the issue) can get a little tired of having every article they read, and every conversation they have, peppered with these buzzwords. Pepper is nice, but a good chef knows that it must be used judiciously. Use too much and it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Use it too often and it soon ceases to have the desired effect.

So it is with some reluctance that I tender a new buzzword. But I have a strong belief that it can make a difference.

***

Epiphanies don't come often and they don't come easily. But I would be willing to bet that they occur often enough and to a wide enough audience that they can be considered part of the universal human experience.

It is an interesting and reliable phenomenon that when one has an epiphany, it is hard to understand why others just "don't get it." It is equally hard to keep from feeling superior because of newly won wisdom. But suppressing that tendency is important if you want to help others see the light.

So I must offer my new shibboleth with sincere humility.

***

I have a keen understanding of the dire consequences of mankind continuing down the same profligate path which has been followed for centuries. I also understand that it would be very easy to succumb to this fate. We all have a tendency to despair at complex, abstract problems - to shrink from enormous issues. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, and it is very hard to make meaningful changes in our lives. But perhaps one more touchstone might help.

In discussions with my neighbor and others I have noticed that there is a palpable tenor of helplessness and hopelessness. There is often an admission, sometimes tacit, sometimes reluctant, that perhaps the environment is in trouble. But along with these realizations there usually is the resignation of inevitability. The changes we need to make seem hard and the benefits hard to quantify. Why make an effort which most likely will entail some sacrifice if there is no assurance that it will make any difference?

That is why I need to interject a new byword into the environmental lexicon. It is because of a simple mathematical proposition that I am convinced that individual efforts do matter and individuals can make a real difference in the environment. I know it.

***

It is true, a priori, that the changes that I make and the changes that you make to use fewer resources and to preserve environmental integrity do not, by themselves, make much difference. But it is equally true that when many, many people take these same measures it makes a huge difference. It is the aggregation of small steps and small effects into huge steps and huge effects that will truly make a measurable difference to our planet.

The thing that we need to keep foremost in our consciousness is that individuals who come together with a like-minded focus and a unified purpose can overcome large obstacles. That is why, in addition to being green and reducing our carbon footprint, we also need to realize that aggregation is what will lead us to success.

I hereby propose 'aggregation' as the new environmental battle cry.

By remembering that our aggregation will allow a serendipitous accumulation of benefits, we can overcome our despair and our apathy. When we realize that we are part of a great effort which is propelled by great energy, we can resist succumbing to feelings of hopelessness. In our aggregation we will succeed.

Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. -- Lee Iacocca

Practical Environmentalism

I have long suspected that the only way to accomplish environmental goals was to compromise with business interests rather than fight them. A previous post, Compromise and Win, explored this hypothesis.

Now in an article in the July 29, 2008 edition of USA Today, Environmentalists, businesses reach compromise, there is evidence that some significant progress is being made in that direction. The two sides are working together to create win-win projects.

Governmental inaction is prompting environmental groups and big business to cut unprecedented deals to promote energy exploration and other development in return for major conservation initiatives.

The agreements preserve large amounts of undeveloped land, impose stricter environmental practices than required by law and generate big investments in alternative energy. The deals also clear the way for oil drilling, new power plants and large residential developments.

The article points out that not all environmentalists, nor all business interests, think that compromise is a good thing. But as more deals are being struck which offer real benefits for the environment without shutting down business, I believe that non-belivers will be converted.

Progress comes in small increments and thank goodness we have some trail-blazers willing to try a new approach! The increments will aggregate to the benefit of all.

Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don't change. -- Jane Goodall

A New Twist on Ethanol

The USA Today had an interesting article about sorghum being used as a feedstock for a new ethanol plant in Florida in the July 30, 2008 edition. This bodes well for the environment. Although ethanol is not a panacea for eliminating the usage of fossil fuels, it does help remediate the situation.

Ethanol from any source still has issues with water consumption and a very low energy payback (it takes a sizeable amount of energy to produce). But by using alternate sources like sorghum, silage, kudzu, or sawmill waste as is being proposed for a new East Texas ethanol plant, the competition for food products such as corn will be mitigated.

In a previous post I chronicled some of the research being done to eliminate corn as a source for ethanol production. There is little reason why corn should be used for ethanol since there are a variety of alternatives. Sorghum is a step in the right direction.

Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. -- Plato

Thinking Is Required

If you are following the crowd and going green, good for you... but you might want to utilize your grey matter before proceeding blindly toward the light. Yes we want to replace bad environmental habits with ecologically sensitive ones. But this can be accomplished without needless sacrifice.

One of the things that makes it hard to overcome our non-green inertia is the sacrifices that must be made. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by making it more difficult and expensive than it needs to be. Come to grips with the wasteful habits of the past, decide not to continue them, and move on greenly. But do it smartly. Gradual immersion into the cold, green water is much easier to take than jumping in with abandon.

If you have decided that you need to start conserving energy and you must replace your incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact flourescent bulbs (CFLs), you might want to wait until your current supply of incandescents is used up. The environment needs you to make the switch, but it can wait until the proper time. Don't waste your money by throwing away perfectly good light bulbs in order to jump on the green bandwagon. Your investment in incandescents represents a sunk cost and you might as well utilize them. On the other hand, the CFLs will save you a lot of money in the long run, so factor this into your decision.

Another way to help save the planet is to avoid the purchase of paper products when permanent, reusable ones will suffice. But don't throw out all of your paper plates in a misguided effort to promote using china or other permanent dishware. Don't throw out your paper towels so that you can start using cloth ones instead. Those paper products that you have in your pantry are a liability for our forests and our landfills, but sending them to the landfill prematurely does no one any good. Resign yourself to the fact that they will eventually end up in the city dump, but go ahead and get your money's worth out of them first.

The less painful it is to go green, the more sustainable it will be. The more thoughtful you are about new choices, the more likely they will become new habits.

Thinking in its lower grades is comparable to paper money, and in its higher forms it is a kind of poetry. -Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life, 1923

New(ly Discovered) Threat to the Environment

Our environment may already be embracing a new eco-challenge (as if there weren't enough already). Mankind, it seems, is ever ensnared by the Law of Unintended Consequence. More and more, the science that is intended to make our lives easier and safer, fosters malevolent byproducts and/or collateral damage.

It's Bad Medicine
.

.
Yesterday, in Medical News Today, an article was published which details the results of a study of the environmental effects of antibacterial soaps. Aside from the fact that their usage yields little benefits over "regular soap and water," the study shows that the two primary, closely related, antimicrobials, triclosan and triclocarban have been accumulating in estuary sediments for many years.

"Now, Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University researcher Rolf Halden and co-workers, in a feat of environmental detective work, have traced back the active ingredients of soaps - used as long ago as the 1960s - to their current location, the shallow sediments of New York City's Jamaica Bay and the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary."

"'Our group has shown that antimicrobial ingredients used a half a century ago, by our parents and grandparents, are still present today at parts-per-million concentrations in estuarine sediments underlying the brackish waters into which New York City and Baltimore discharge their treated domestic wastewater,' said Halden, a new member of the institute's Center for Environmental Biotechnology. 'This extreme environmental persistence by itself is a concern, and it is only amplified by recent studies that show both triclosan and triclocarban to function as endocrine disruptors in mammalian cell cultures and in animal models.'"

Although these east coast estuaries were the focus of this study, the implication is that the same type of accumulation might be found anywhere. The entire article can be found here. The recommendation is that we limit or eliminate the use of antibacterial soaps. The research shows adverse effects for shellfish and crabs among other species, but, being at the lower end of the food chain, these organisms' decrease or demise could eventually propagate up the chain.

Mother Earth Knows
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.
An equally compelling argument for eschewing antibacterial soap can be found in an article at Mother Earth News, called Why You Should Abandon Antibacterial Soap.

This article states:

"Triclocarban (TCC) is one of the most commonly used antimicrobials and is also a pesticide. TCC leads to reproductive complications (for mammals) as well as cancer, and, for human babies, can cause blue-baby syndrome. When TCC residue washes down the drain, it's immune to water treatments, meaning that most of the TCC resurfaces in municipal sludge and is found in over half of U.S. streams. Since municipal sludge is often used as crop fertilizer, TCC can even potentially appear in our food supply."

It would seem that the risks far outweigh the benefits of these products.

There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments, there are consequences. Robert Ingersoll (1833 - 1899)

Environmental Solutions Outside of the Box

The phrase, "Thinking outside of the box," has been overused and may, therefore, evoke raised eyebrows and yawns. However, dramatic leaps forward in science or technology always involve out-of-the-box thinking -- combining two or more known phenomenon in non-traditional ways to produce a third, breakthrough phenomenon. The moment of epiphany always seems like magic, and observers often are mesmerized by the ingenuity and creativity.

These breakthroughs sometimes evoke the feeling of "Of course! I should have thought of that myself!" Creative thinking isn't magic. It is the way that progress occurs, and it is our best hope for solving the many environmental crises facing our planet.

I have recently discovered a few important advances which promise huge environmental rewards. These ideas have come about due to generous applications of "out-of-the-box" thinking, but in hindsight, see if you don't have the "Of course!" reaction.

Clean Water, Free Labor

In South Africa, Trevor Field had a brilliant idea about how to provide clean, drinkable water where there currently is none, and do it with free labor. But that's not all! His project provides free playground equipment for the local schools, and provides AIDS awareness messages to the community. All of that from a single, simple, out-of-the-box revelation!

What was this brilliant idea? Mr. Field has designed a merry-go-round on which school children can play, and which doubles as a water pump! As the children push the merry-go-round, they also pump water to fill water tanks. A single such pump can provide enough clean water from deep underground to serve a community of 2,500 people. In another stroke of genious, he realized that the pump and storage tanks, once installed, become a prominent feature of the local landscape, so he sells advertising space on the tanks and raises enough revenue to maintain the merry-go-round pumps.



The labor to pump the water is free and the maintenance of the pumps is free! How's that for ingenuity and fortuitous benefits? It's pretty remarkable, but there's even more to the story.

One of the advertising messages Mr. Field provides on his tanks is an AIDS awareness message. Says Trevor Field, "I want this message to get through to these children, before they become sexually active. I think it can make a huge difference!" Indeed it can! Watch a video about this remarkable man and his idea.

Biofuel Breakthrough

The second example of out-of-the-box thinking which has yielded huge promise, is a simple, yet ingenious new way to make biofuels. Biofuels are fuels which are derived from biomass (plant material) instead of petroleum. They promise a way to break our dependence on petroleum and the many environmental risks and detriments that come with it.

Biofuels require much less transportation, less refining, and less scarring of the planet than petroleum. They also are sustainable and do not use up non-renewable resources. However, it is now generally understood that the current way of producing biofuels is rife with problems which challenge its economic and environmental viability.



Current efforts to capitalize on biofuels have mostly involved creating ethanol from corn. This has some very distressing problems: it is relatively expensive; it uses up food resources (food being diverted/converted to fuel is a major factor in the rise in food prices that we are currently seeing), it consumes a lot of water, both in the growing and in the manufacturing, and it does not produce a dramatically higher amount of energy than it takes to produce it.

However, out-of-the-box thinking may be able to provide a solution to at least some of the issues with biofuels. Dr. Stickland, Michigan State University, has engineered enzymes that allow plant silage (waste) to be turned into fuel. This allows the corn, for example, to be produced for food, and the waste left in the fields can then be used to create ethanol. Food is thus, not diverted to fuel. Cellulosic ethanol - not corn ethanol - can also be produced from wheat straw and rice straw, and other plant materials that currently have little economic value. Listen to this story at NPR's Science Friday.

Weeds to Fuel





Take the idea of using wasted silage for biofuel production to its logical conclusion, and you deduce the next big idea: using kudzu as your feed stock for bio-ethanol. Kudzu is a non-native weed that has invaded most of the southern states. It grows and spreads so rapidly that farmers and road-maintenance crews have a hard time keeping it under control. With its ability to grow in harsh conditions, and its remarkably fast growth, (and not having any current commercial use) kudzu would make an ideal candidate for providing the biomass necessary for a sustainable biofuel initiative. Read about it in this article from the Chattanooga Times. Also of interest is this article at NPR about a high school student with big ideas about kudzu and ethanol.

These breakthroughs portend great benefits for our environment and offer a sorely missing ingredient for environmental intiatives - hope. One of the main impediments to achieving a critical mass of public lifestyle changes is overcoming the attitudinal resistance that so many people have. There is a palpable feeling of hopelessness in our culture due to the belief that "my small contributions won't help."

But if people can see large-scale projects making a difference (reducing pollution, repurposing wasted products into fuel, making drinkable water available in places where it currently doesn't exist without wasting fuel to transport it) then they start to see how their individual efforts can combine and coalesce into a massive intitative for change! By providing hope, and some feedback mechanisms whereby people see results of their efforts, they get "rewarded" and motivated to redouble their efforts. It might even inspire more out-of-the-box epiphanies, creating a sustainable cycle of breakthough - hope - breakthrough.

There can be no doubt that our environment is in trouble. But mankind has always found a way to surmount the insurmountable. With so many bright minds ruminating on solutions, we have real reason for hope. By looking outside of the box, we will find the right answers.

Life begins on the other side of despair - Jean-Paul Sartre

Motivated By My Mantra?

Are you convinced that it's time to take action on environmental issues but uncertain about how you, as an individual can make a difference? Here are some suggestions of some simple things you can do to make an environmental difference in addition to making your viewpoint known to your government representatives:

Replace your incandescent light bulbs with the new, high-efficiency fluorescent ones. And when those new bulbs burn out, dispose of them properly - not in the trash!

• Avoid using paper towels, paper plates and disposable cups whenever possible. Sure it will mean that you have to wash a few more dishes and cloth napkins. But for heaven's sake! How much of a hardship is that really? Have we really been seduced permanently into such laziness?


• Stop buying bottled water. This, when collectively embraced, can have a tremendous impact, not only by reducing the number of non-degradable plastics going to our landfills, but also by greatly reducing the petroleum being expended to transport those bottles from factory to retail store.


• Spend a little more money at the grocery store to buy organic produce. It helps the environment on so many levels!


• Start talking up your cherished beliefs to your family, friends, and acquaintances. Yes, you run the risk of alienating a few, but are they really the people that matter in your life? Perhaps you can start a family project that will have the side benefit of revitalizing your family life!


• Start educating yourself on all of the environmental issues. Read everything you see which addresses them.


• Educate yourself on the opposing views. You can't seriously debate anything without being prepared for the opposing arguments you will likely face.


• I'm sure you can think of other ways to get started if you truly realize that It's time!

Here is a good place to start your research. Here is another.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself -- Chief Seattle, 1854

Compromise and Win

There are some people who are so single-minded about saving the earth for the creatures who live here, that they forget that we humans live here, too. They would, it seems, throw the baby out with the bath water. Returning to a primitive lifestyle, eschewing technological advances, economic progress, and our modern way of life, is not only impractical, but it is also absolutely impossible.

Such naivete is a luxury that many in the environmental community refuse to give up. Their hearts and their ideals are in the right place, but their understanding of political reality is seriously flawed. Why be an advocate for a solution which hasn't a ghost of a chance of being realized? Why not expend your energies in a more productive venture?

Then there is the other side which values commerce above common sense. Ignoring the environmental impact of human commercial endeavors is the worst form of short-term thinking, and we’ve recently been shown previews of the evils of short-term thinking.

Short-term thinking puts this quarter’s profits above everything including long-term viability (Enron). It puts a company’s stock price and personal enrichment above its business plan (Worldcom, Healthsouth, Tyco, et al.) It puts profit from natural resources (oil drilling in the Arctic, the burning of forests in the Amazon) above the long-term viability of the ecosystem. Short-term thinking promotes the institutionalization and rationalization of greed -- it promotes individual aggrandizement at the expense of humanity. Short-term thinking jeopardizes the future health and the very viability of our planet, and short-term thinking is winning disciples who are eager to prosper at any cost.

On the one hand we have a coalition of environmental concern which realizes that a future without a robust ecosystem and flourishing wildlife would be a depressing prospect. They realize that when America the Beautiful ceases to be an uplifting hymn, and instead becomes an vapid, ironic dirge, the United States of America will no longer have the history to inspire, the resources to empower, or the political will to lead. When the resources are used up and the land is scarred beyond recognition the music of liberty will stop.

On the business and energy side, we have interests which realize that our productivity and the economic engine of our progress require fuel. Our military strength and our ability to defend our freedom depend on energy. Our world class economy and the employability of our citizens depend on power sources. To surrender our energy sources would turn us into a third-world country bound in extreme poverty and fearful for our autonomy and our very existence.

Both sides have their heels dug in for fear that to give an inch would lead to ultimate surrender of those things held dear. Both sides seem to want a better world and a motivated existence, but have great difficulty in compromising their positions in order to harvest solutions.

But solutions always lie in accepting reality and working with truth. We must accept the reality of our environment, our economy, and our technologies, and design solutions around the premise of ensuring our long-term survival as individuals, as families, as a society, and as a planet.

Environmentalists must realize that our economy and our very freedom depend on being able to keep the economic engine running and the wheels of progress turning. If we do away with technology and a fuel-consuming economy we will lose our way of life and risk losing our autonomy and our freedom.

Commercial interests must realize that raping and polluting our planet is a short-sighted philosophy destined to short term viablilty at best. If, in fifty or a hundred years, we have used up all of the oil and timber on the planet and destroyed the ecology and the natural beauty in the process, will we feel better off? Would life be worth living in such a world?

If either side gets what they want, no one will get what they want. Either of the extremes will result in the impoverishment of our society and the surrender of our nation to those that would destroy us and our way of life.

Green energy sources must be pursued, discovered, and developed. Clear-cutting, strip-mining, and fossil fuels have to be replaced with eco-friendly alternatives. But unrealistic environmental demands must also be replaced with feasible alternatives. Somewhere in the middle is a robust economy fueled by environmentally friendly energy and moderated natural resource usage. In this Utopian middle ground, metals, minerals, and fibers would be aggressively recycled and remediation of present-day pollution would become a self-sustaining industry.

We cannot deny economic and cultural progress and return to a pre-industrial age. Nor can we continue on the present path to environmental anihilation. In order to succeed as a nation and ensure a bright future, positions need to be altered, philosophies transformed, and hard lines softened.

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. -- Sioux proverb

It's Time!

The environment is in trouble.

I believe it.

There are millions of American citizens who believe it.

With all of that Yankee ingenuity and American initiative to muster, one would think that this problem would soon go the way of the do-do bird. Unfortunately, this equation doesn't compute. Belief and action don't always coalesce.

Regrettably, it is easy to assuage our environmental conscience by sending some money to the Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club, and then convince ourselves that we have done our part. It's easy and it's relatively painless. But money comes and goes too easily. Effort and action are what's required.

Although the pollution of our environment, deforestation, a general loss of habitat, and the degradation of our natural resources portend very dire consequences for our children and future generations, one can witness an appalling disinterest among friends, neighbors, and coworkers. The environmental laissez-faire attitude of our culture is downright embarrassing!

What will it take to wake these well-meaning but actionless environmental zombies out of their collective stupor? I start to get indignant and self-righteous, but then I have to ask myself, "What am I doing to help?"

The answer which rudely confronts me has inspired me to do a lot of self-examination. I grow weary of my own excuses.

In an attempt to overcome my inertia, I have come up with a new personal battle-cry: "It's time!"

• It's time to quit talking and take action.
  
  
• It's time to quit making excuses.
  
  
• It's time to stand up for what's important.
  
  
• It's time to resurrect the long-buried belief that I can make a difference.
  
  
• It's time to reawaken the passion I felt about changing the world when I was young.
  
  
• It's time to make the time to write to a congressman.
  
  
• It's time to take the time to educate my family, my friends and my acquaintances about my concerns.

There are many things that we environmentally concerned citizens witness that moves us to lament the sad state of the environment, but do we expend any effort to be part of the soution? Are we moved to action? We have become too comfortable, but we cannot afford to be seduced by our comfort any longer! It's time!

If not now, when? Will we go to our graves knowing that we could have made a huge difference in this world and the quality of life we bestow upon our progeny... but we failed to take action? Will we fail to even try? It's time!

Now is the time to start making a difference in this world because the time is extraordinarily propitious.

Have you noticed, as have I, the recent green trend that is invading (if not pervading) the national psyche? It's time!

Have you noticed that many more news stories are about environmental issues? It's time!

Have you witnessed the gradual acceptance of the theoretical relationships and ramifications of global warming? It has been transformed from "a crackpot theory" to a generally accepted doctrine. It's time!

Have you noticed the new trendy buzzwords in the national conversation, "carbon"and "sustainability"? It's time!

Our opportunity to truly build a better world has never been better! The popular wisdom has been primed. The “tribal knowledge” is amenable. The public receptivity for environmental issues is at an all-time high. The field for discourse is very fertile. It's time!

Will you or I be able to make a big difference overnight? Probably not. The solution is a process, not a moment.

Will we be able to have any positive effect in isolation? Maybe.

But isolated efforts would be so much more profound if they were combined in a confluence of voices and efforts - if they came together into a raging torrent of poignant synergy. Such focused energy would surely render a palpable example of how the whole can be much more effective than the sum of the individual parts. It's time!

Perhaps you think that you don't have the time? That is going to be a difficult misconception for you to correct. But I firmly believe that once you start this process, you will find that you do have the time!

Will you have to watch less television? Most definitely.

Fewer computer games? Assuredly.

Less Internet surfing? Of course!

Fewer unimportant calls on your cell phone? Hallelujah! You have a tremendous opportunity to turn those chats into something significant!

Do you need to reevaluate your priorities? It's time!

Today is the day. Now is the moment. I am changing my direction and feeling empowered to make a difference in this world and I am inviting all of my readers to do the same. I encourage you to take my new mantra and embrace it as your own. It's time!

Can we make a difference?

When you realize that "Ye are angels, if ye only but knew it," can there be any doubt?

It's time!

We will be forever known by the tracks that we leave. -- Dakota Indian saying

Environmental Catastrophe? It Doesn’t Have To Be!

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but people do need to become alarmed. I don’t want to sound like an extremist, but people do need to realize the extreme importance of this issue. And I don’t want to be overbearing, because I could then easily be dismissed as a “crackpot”. This could then become a red herring which would make it far too easy to dismiss the message.

As I grow older, I become more aware of the degradation and disintegration of our planet and our ecosystem. I have been a birder, a nature lover, and a passive environmentalist for many years. I say “passive” because I have not been an activist. I think that might change. Perhaps it must change.

When my own daughter lectures me on my wasteful habits as regards the environment, I realize that I have been fooling myself into believing that I have been responsive to our ecological responsibilities, and our stewardship of this rapidly disappearing planet. I have been doing the “easy” things, but ignoring the difficult choices; rationalizing that “it is too inconvenient,” or “it won’t really make a difference,” or “I just don’t have the time to worry about it right now.” The irony is that none of us has the luxury to NOT worry about it. We are all running out of time with our environment. We are fiddling while the planet burns. Individuals must disabuse themselves of the notion that they can’t make a difference. We must abandon our excuses and be prepared to make sacrifices, convenient or not.

For a few years, I was a member of the Sierra Club. But I could never really identify with that group, their agenda, or their tactics. They see everything as black and white: they are the good guys in white hats, and anyone who disagrees, or who doesn’t fully embrace their agenda is the bad guy in a black hat. That deliberate polarization around the issues does more harm than good. The Sierra Club has given the term “environmental activist” a bad connotation. I am advocating activism without being adversarially polarized. Rational discussion of the issues and compromise are the only way to move forward.

How does one do this? By subtle reminders. By finding ways to make the topic enter into everyday conversations. By doing what we can as individuals despite the lack of governmental support. By giving each other encouragement. By discovering true compromises that both sides can embrace. And by thanking those that are making an effort, no matter how small, to conserve our energy and our environment.

Any solution to our energy problems will have an impact on our environment. And any solution to our environmental problems will impact the way in which we can manufacture, produce and consume energy. Both sides of both issues must be open-minded and willing to compromise. The two issues, energy and environment are inextricably linked in a symbiotic relationship. Intertwined with them are issues of the economy and of technological progress.

But can any lifestyle be comfortable if our wilderness and our wildlife disappears? Can there be any point in making a living and trying to better our lot, if the fate of our very planet is that of a barren wasteland? Nobody alive today has to worry about witnessing this tragic scenario. It won't happen tomorrow, next week, or next year. That is one reason why it is hard to be heard on this issue. Environmental catastrophe is not imminent even though our current path does make it inevitable.

We may not witness doomsday in our lifetime, but unless attitudes change, we will witness the point of no return – the point at which it truly will be too late to avoid environmental devastation. Unless attitudes change, it will be our legacy that we had a chance to save the environment but ignored it. One day mankind may discover that the earth is dying and it truly will be too late to save it!

But it is not yet too late.

A major obstacle is the fact that everyone is so busy surviving in today's economy, that few have the time to be contemplative about the issues. We may search for answers, but all the while we are serenaded by the siren song of maintaining a comfortable lifestyle - ordinary people tethered to the daily habituation of making a living. Few have the luxury of time to consider the possible ways an individual or a small group can make a positive contribution.

This inertia will be even harder to overcome than the adversarial relations between the environmentalists and the economic interests. Because everyone is overworked, over-stressed, and over-informed, it will be hard to even get their attention, let alone their action. The demands of survival for many Americans seem to dictate disinterest and apathy about all worthy issues that transcend their immediate, personal concerns.

We must fight this mental torpor and properly engage the issues. We need to embrace the problem and make it a cornerstone of our mental framework. It doesn't have to be an all-consuming effort, just a subtle, directed energy. It doesn't have to be in the forefront of our thoughts, just comfortably housed in our subconscious. It doesn't have to be hard, just a habit.

When motivated, thinking individuals can, and will, make a difference. Small contributions do add up. If you listen to public radio and are familiar with their semi-annual fundraising efforts, you know that they set a goal they want to achieve (say, $500,000) and ask everyone to contribute what they can – even as little as $25. That seems like a daunting task to raise a half-million dollars $25 at a time doesn’t it? Yet that is what they consistently do, every time! People are motivated to take small steps if they can see the aggregation being accomplished.

Conservation can be like this. We need to save a billion barrels of oil, one quart at a time. We need to reduce carbon emissions a particle at a time. We need to clean our rivers, a cup at a time. Americans need to eschew environmentally expensive choices, and embrace environmentally friendly ones. We need to reduce our collective footprint on this planet by each of us squeezing into a smaller "shoe".

I am naïve enough to believe that small efforts will not only make a difference, but will also eventually lead to larger efforts. And though we may not be able to reverse some of the damage that has already been done, we can prevent future damage. Perhaps some of the scars can be remediated and others healed. But I predict that concerted efforts will reap a serendipitous bonus: we will be surprised to find that we are not burdened by our sacrifices! The pride of our success in a noble and global venture such as this will ameliorate any pain or discomfort we encounter!

The immovable object which is responsible for preventing the realization of individual efforts is the inertia of attitude. It is far too easy to say, “Someone else will solve this problem.” But conservation is important on a grand and cosmic scale, and the effort to heal the environment is worthy and noble. It demands that we not rationalize our involvement. It demands that we not abdicate our responsibilities. It demands that everyone make better choices.

Conservation of resources and of our environment must be brought to the forefront of public consciousness -- without causing adversarial positioning. Individuals must be made to realize that their small contributions will make a difference. These individual contributions just might combine in a synergistic aggregation which is disproportionately large compared to the effort expended.

I truly and fervently believe that the tipping point from trendy, "feel good" novelty to environmental efficacy is not only within reach, but also much closer than we think. By keeping the easy, low-hanging fruit in the forefront (or at least in the visible periphery) of the consciousness of Americans, we can reach a critical mass of small efforts which will combine to achieve significant results. Many people will feel that they don't have time and can't be bothered by this issue. But if the remediation is portrayed as an adventure of epic proportions, they, too, might be compelled to get on board!

Three things have proven to motivate individuals to high action: catastrophe (Hurricane Katrina), common threat (communism), and magnificent adventure (the race to the moon). In saving the environment, we have all of these elements present. We just need to publicize, proselytize, and organize.

I know it can be done and the key is to recognize that success will come in small increments. But in order to keep individuals motivated about their individual efforts, there needs to be some kind of feedback mechanism to let them see these incremental improvements, and to let them know that they really are making a difference. More on that later.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. -- Henry Ford