There are some issues that many green folks just don't want to address. I'd like to call them "Green Taboos" because these issues are often either uncomfortably ignored or quickly dismissed by many greenies. But these are important issues and we have to look at them if we are truly invested in preserving our ecosphere.

The first taboo I've been thinking about is the green taboo of vegetarianism/veganism. While almost every vegetarian I've ever met is an environmentalist, there really isn't as large a percentage of environmentalists that are vegetarian or vegan as you would think. This is a difficult topic for many meat-eating greenies to discuss.

I've learned not to be overly judgmental of meat eaters, even though I've been a vegetarian for 12 and a half years now, mostly due to the difficulties I've had adopting a vegan diet. My primary reason for adopting a vegetarian lifestyle is environmental -- I read a quote somewhere that said "A meat-eater with a hybrid leaves a bigger carbon footprint than a vegan with a Hummer" -- but it was easy for me to give up meat because I've always been on the squeamish side and just the thought of where that hamburger came from was enough to kill any cravings I might have had. For many years I've wanted to go vegan but have found that step to be much more difficult because I really love cheese, yogurt, ice cream, whip cream, sour cream and feta omlettes (and the sqeamish thing doesn't work as well for that stuff). So I understand that for those that love meat as much as I love cheese, going vegetarian must seem like torture.

There are ways to eat meat in a more sustainable way, but even so meat-eating greenies would need to cut way back on the amount they eat to make the kind of difference we need to make for the climate crisis we now face.

There had been news about this issue from time to time. Common Dreams ran a story today that also comfirms the need for us to eat a lot less meat (and other animal products to a lesser extent) or give it up all together. From Britain's Environmental Agency: Go Vegetarian To Stop Climate Change:

When U.N. scientists looked at all the evidence, they declared in a 408-page report titled Livestock’s Long Shadow that raising animals for food is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all vehicles in the world combined. And scientists at the University of Chicago showed that a typical American meat-eater is responsible for nearly 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide a year than a vegan. (emphasis mine)

Again the dilemma comes if you really love meat and other animal products. In my opinion, every little bit helps. It can be as easy as starting with one meatless meal a week , then try one meatless day a week, and so on. I think it's better to cut back in a gradual and sensible way and never completely give up meat than to ignore this issue because you feel unable to become a full vegetarian or vegan.

A great resource for veggie food ideas and recipes: http://www.vegcooking.com/

I'm borrowing some resources from my food blog, Planet on a Plate, for conscientous carnivores:

• Eat Kind

To find farms using non-factory farmed methods:

• Eat Well Guide

• Eat Wild

Grass and pastured-based farms:

• American American Grassfed Association

• American Pastured Poultry Producers' Association

Humanly-raised:

• Heritage Food

Sustainable Fish:

• Seafood Choices Alliance
  
• Fish Forever Certification (from Marine Stewardship Council)

I also highly recommend the book, "The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I've also been told that The Omnivore's Dilemma addresses this topic, although I have not read it.

More to chew on from the Common Dreams article:

Indeed, study after study has shown that animal agriculture contributes to global warming and environmental destruction, yet instead of urging people to go vegetarian, most U.S. politicians and environmental spokespeople just continue to hype hybrid cars, recycling, and fluorescent light bulbs as solutions to our spiraling environmental problems.

(snip)

Carbon dioxide emissions aren’t our only environmental concern, of course. There’s deforestation, water and air pollution, world hunger, and more. According to Greenpeace, chickens raised for KFC and other companies that “produce” chicken flesh are fed crops that are grown in the Amazon rain forest. And according to the U.N. report, raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”

The entire article can be read here.

My family went to the main Step It Up event at Washington Square yesterday. We had a marvelous time: the weather was neither too hot nor too cold and the blossoms were out on the trees; there were a lot of interesting things to see like alternative vehicles (natural gas, converted electric,hybrid) and green organizations; a play area for the kids, great music (we were there for Salty Roots and Los Lobos). There was also a place that you could write your love letter to the earth and an internet cafe so that you could send your "step it up" message to law makers. After a very enjoyable and fulfilling day, I meditated about how we could have such a great time at an event dedicated to such a serious issue like the climate crisis.

Step It Up collage

One of several Step It Up Events around Utah this weekend. The big one:



All the Utah events:


More info at http://events.stepitup2007.org/events/search

Got some free time on Saturday? Here are Saturday's Sundance Film Festival films and events for progressives, political junkies, activists and greenies -- January 20, 2007
Waitlist Tips

I'm getting to this a bit late, so I'm only listing screenings and events for this evening. Don't worry if you don't have tickets you are going to Salt Lake Screeings -- wait listing is a great way to go and I've yet to not get into any film that I've waitlisted in the past 9 years that I've been doing it. You can find wait list tips here . Plan on a meal at one of the downtown eateries for the in-between time of receiving your waitlist # and lining up for the film (an hour to an hour and a half). Next door to the Broadway theatre downtown is Mr. Z's Cucina with really yummy eats. There are lots of great places to eat with in a very close walking distance of the Rose Wagner venue as well. Other Wait List Tips

January 19th (Friday)

[This is the first in a series of posts I'll be writing this week that highlight Sundance 2007 screenings of interest to greenies, activists, political junkies, and progressives]

The Sundance Film Festival starts in less than a week. If you live in or near Utah, the Sundance Film Festival is an event not to be missed.

For those of us in Salt Lake City, we can avoid the hassle of driving and parking in Park City (not to mention annoying star gazers) by attending screenings downtown. Almost every film at the festival screens at least once in SLC.

I prefer to go the wait list route for tickets. I have yet to be turned away from a screening using this method, and this year it's a cheaper option than buying tickets ahead of time.

Here's the scoop on what to see if you are an earth-lover.

Everything's Cool

"In their signature upbeat comedic style, Daniel Gold and Judith Helfand weave an entertaining, character-driven, behind-the-scenes tale about the mother of all problems: global warming.

Against a distinctly American backdrop of denial, deception, and delay, a group of global-warming messengers/prophets fervently searches for the right language and strategy to propel a reluctant, disaster-fatigued citizenry and its elected officials into action. Among this cast of characters are a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who repeatedly tries to retire but can't, the Weather Channel's first climatologist with a "global-warming beat" who must pack her Ph.D. into 30-second sound bites, two "bad boys" who aim a radical critique at the environmental movement, and a public servant who blows the lid off the White House's manipulation of key climate-change research.

Intercut throughout this strikingly shot journey are the trials and tribulations of a snow groomer turned biodiesel entrepreneur working on a solution, and the story of an Inuit Alaskan community that must decide whether to stay and risk getting washed into the sea or move their entire village. Hurricane Katrina blitzes the Gulf, U.S. consciousness on climate makes a seismic shift, and America finally "gets" global warming. Or do we? The way we're acting, one would think everything's cool.— Caroline Libresco"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 22 (Mon) 6:00 at Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 9:15 PM Holiday Village Cinema III
Saturday , Jan 20 8:30 AM Holiday Village Cinema II
Sunday, Jan 21 12:00 PM Screening Room, Sundance Village
Thursday, Jan 25 2:30 PM Prospector Square Theatre
Friday , Jan 26 2:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II

Manufactured Landscapes

"From its stunning eight-minute opening shot to the remarkable documentation of China's Three Gorges Dam, Manufactured Landscapes is an impressive experience. That's partly due to the size and space of the landscapes, but mostly because of the beauty of the images--their composition and color, a sharp contrast to the film's content: this is a luscious world of destruction.

Ultimately Landscapes is the portrait of one man's voyage as it follows celebrated still photographer Edward Burtynsky on a tour of Asia. Burtynsky takes large-format stills of industrial landscapes: factory workers lined up to infinity, giant ships eviscerated, massive recycling dumps, expansive strip mines. His goal is to portray humanity's relationship to nature as we pursue progress. His images are striking and picturesque, leaving viewers on their own to comprehend the negative global ramifications.

Director Jennifer Baichwal makes insightful choices. The film perfectly balances the images of Burtynsky with those of talented cinematographer/creative consultant Peter Mettler. Burtynsky provides the vision and philosophy, and the filmmakers examine the specific details. And when Burtynsky speaks, he neither celebrates nor condemns but simply explores who we are in relation to our planet. We extract things from the environment to survive, and that is damaging the world.— Mike Plante"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 20 (Sat) 12:30 p.m. [wait list time 10:30 a.m.] Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday , Jan 19 12:15 PM Holiday Village Cinema III
Saturday, Jan 20 11:30PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Sunday, Jan 21 11:30AM Holiday Village Cinema II

The Unforseen

"The American Dream of owning a house with a white picket fence goes head to head with environmental sustainability in Laura Dunn's lyrical and beautifully crafted documentary The Unforeseen.

Dunn tracks the career of Gary Bradley, a west Texan farm boy who went to Austin and became one of the largest real estate developers in the state. In the '80s, Bradley had plans to transform miles of pristine hill country into large-scale subdivisions. But the development jeopardized Barton Springs, a watering hole treasured by locals, and served as a lightning rod for mobilizing environmental activism that flourished under Governor Ann Richards. When George W. Bush took the state's executive reins, however, development patterns changed, and the water quality at Barton Springs, as well as the surrounding landscape of Austin, was irreversibly transformed.

The Unforeseen is a meditation on the destruction of the natural world and the American Dream as it falls victim to the cannibalizing forces of unchecked development. It is an intricate tale of personal hopes, victories, and failures, and debates over land, economics, property rights, and the public good. In a time when development and property values have skyrocketed in nearly every major city, Dunn makes a plea for our development-oriented society to consider restructuring the relationship between our values and the environment that sustains us.— Shari Frilot"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 21 (Sun) noon [wait list time 10:00] Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 2:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Friday, Jan 19 9:00 PM Screening Room, Sundance Village
Monday, Jan 22 9:00 AM Egyptian Theatre, Park City
Thursday, Jan 25 8:30 PM Library Center Theatre

Wonders Are Many

"Is there beauty in annihilation? This is one question driving filmmaker Jon Else's (The Day After Trinity) latest documentary. Extending his fascination with the now-60-year history of nuclear power, Else's new film achieves something remarkable: it is art about artists contemplating the science of destruction.

With infinite precision and formidable intelligence, Wonders Are Many unfolds as theatre director Peter Sellars and composer John Adams collaborate on Doctor Atomic, their fifth, and in many ways most complex, collaboration. The opera's subject is the 48 hours leading up to the first atomic-bomb test detonation in 1945. The film seamlessly combines footage of the making of the opera, candid interviews, and vivid archival material (much of it recently declassified) with journals and writings by J. Robert Oppenheimer and other members of the team that created the first atomic bomb. Though it largely concerns historical events, the film is startling in its immediacy.

Art, as Sellars says in the film, is in part about discovering something new in what we already know. In documenting the act of creativity, both artistic and scientific, Wonders Are Many draws parallels between science and art, truth and beauty, and succeeds in finding wonder in the heart of darkness itself.— Cara Mertes"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 21 (Sun) 12:30 p.m. [wait list time 10:30] Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 2:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Saturday, Jan 20 8:30 AM Prospector Square Theatre
Wednesday, Jan 24 5:30 PM Library Center Theatre

Low and Behold

"What our eyes behold has more to do with what we want to see, rather than what is actually there in front of us. Zack Godshall's emotional first feature, Low and Behold, tells the tale of a young man who comes to post-Katrina Louisiana and gets a new set of eyes after being forced to deal with the mass destruction that surrounds him.

Turner Stull arrives in New Orleans to take a job with his uncle at Bridge Catastrophe Service, an opportunistic company that has set up shop to process insurance claims on hurricane-damaged homes. Turner's no-nonsense attitude collides head-on with the brewing anger and frustration of his loquacious and salty southern clientele. One day, he meets Nixon, a family man who asks for his help in finding his daughter's lost dog. Turner heartlessly turns his back on Nixon, but the two men are destined to become emotional catalysts in each other's lives.

Shot in a largely destroyed section of New Orleans and interweaving slices of local survivors' testimony, Low and Behold is a powerfully evocative film that puts a complex, human face on the enormity of this national tragedy. You may leave the theatre with new eyes of your own.— Shari Frilot"

Salt Lake City Screening: January 27 (Sat) 6:45 p.m. [wait list time 4:45 p.m.] Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Sunday, Jan 21 Prospector Square Theatre
Thursday, Jan 25 5:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Sunday, Jan 28 Holiday Village Cinema IV

Documentary Spotlight (Doc shorts)

"In these true stories, the personal is always political, and art, self, and nature exist in delicate balance. A boy captures his childhood on tape where do-it-yourself videography and eccentricity intersect. Man battles nature in a glorious spectacle. Nature battles man, leaving man with faith in a higher power. The powers that be hold the future of two women in pursuit of civil rights. And through self-portraits, a woman makes personal art while acknowledging a world outside does indeed exist."

Salt Lake City Screening: January 20 (Sat) 12:45 p.m. [wait list 10:45 a.m.]Broadway Center Cinemas, 111 East Broadway (300 S.)

Other Screenings:

Friday, Jan 19 8:30 PM Library Center Theatre
Sunday, Jan 21 8:30 PM Prospector Square Theatre
Tuesday, Jan 23 8:30 PM Holiday Village Cinema II
Saturday, Jan 27 4:00 PM Holiday Village Cinema IV

Other Sundance Events for Greenies:

How "Movies That Matter" Can Matter (Panels at Prospector -- Ticket Required -- Jan. 22 (Mon) 2:30 pm)

'If "movies that matter" really matter, what does it take for them to be change agents in our society? How do you get important issues like genocide, climate change, and the war out of the theatre and into national focus? Can an environment be created that encourages activism and connects film to the tools of change (lawmakers, grass-roots efforts, and popular culture)? Documentary filmmakers Sean Fine (War/Dance), Judith Helfand (Everything's Cool), and Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib) and journalist and author Eric Schlosser, Gayle Smith from the Center from American Progress, Brian Steidle, the subject of The Devil Came on Horseback, and Diane Weyermann of Participant Productions join moderator Helene Cooper from the New York Times for a thought-provoking look at the juncture between film and social change. Copresented by the Center for American Progress."

The above reviews, along with more info on the Festival can be found here.

Grist reported on the rumors that GWB may be changing his stance on the issue of global warming. It's hard to imagine that there is any honest or serious change going on here knowing Bu$h and Co.'s track record to date. Speculation on what kind of game or political strategy this might be can be found here.

One possible benefit from this might mean that those who refuse to believe anything said by anybody left of Bush might take the threat seriously now and attempt some lifestyle changes.

I stole this from Stories America which talks about how the Amazon is dying and could become a desert.

When Dr Dan Nepstead started the experiment in 2002 by covering a chunk of rainforest the size of a football pitch with plastic panels to see how it would cope without rain he surrounded it with sophisticated sensors, expecting to record only minor changes. 

<snip>

But in year three, they started dying. Beginning with the tallest the trees started to come crashing down, exposing the forest floor to the drying sun.

By the end of the year the trees had released more than two-thirds of the carbon dioxide they have stored during their lives, helping to act as a break on global warming. Instead they began accelerating the climate change. 

<snip>

. . . the Amazon now appears to be entering its second successive year of drought, raising the possibility that it could start dying next year. The immense forest contains 90 billion tons of carbon, enough in itself to increase the rate of global warming by 50 per cent. 

(emphasis mine)

Update 10/25/06: There's now a gift card you can print up and add to your CFL gift which gives the gift that extra educational value. CFL gift card

UPDATE: Taraluna is offering free CFLs with a $50 or more purchase of Fair Trade, Organic and Green gifts and products. If you just want to buy CFLs it's also a great place to go. You can buy 75 watt equivelent CFLs for just $3. Each bulb will save you anywhere from $36 to $60 in energy costs over the life of the bulb, making it a gift that keeps on giving. Taraluna's CFLs

_________________________________________

Christmas Lights

I'm not a big believer in the Christian or Christian wanna-be theology. For one thing, I find it hard to believe that any kind of supreme being would be fashioned after the imperfect male, and the God of the bible's not exactly a nice guy either. Even if the bible was created from documents that started out as the word of God, there's been a lot left out, a lot spun to fit individuals' point of view, and so much time has passed that the story's probably been incredibly distorted from the original just from imperfect retelling.

I was raised in a religion however, and I did read or learn about some of the end-time myths. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse -- War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death --the upheaval and chaos and disasters on the earth.

Climate change may have been responsible for the severity of Katrina, and now there's a possibility that climate change could cause earthquakes and volcanic erruptions as well. That all can be added to the list of possible droughts and the famine, starvation and war that severe loss of water can cause.

This all brings to mind the end-times myths. There's no Satan behind it all, just our own inability to act in the best interests of the future.

I posted the following at Climate Crisis Action Team, but I thought I'd post it here as well to cast the net a bit wider:

I know it's only July, but I've been thinking about a campaign for Christmas to educate and help reduce CO₂ emissions at the same time.This idea has been growing on me since I hosted the Carnival of the Green a couple of weeks ago and read a post by fellow green blogger Al over at City Hippy that asked what one positive thing could he do to make the biggest impact.

My idea is this: in as many places as we can, we promote "Operation Bright Christmas" (or hopefully some better name). The idea is to get people to buy compact fluorescent lightbulbs for all their adult loved-ones and friends as Christmas gifts. There would be a PDF file with a card template that lists all the benefits of using compact fluorescents. The benefits of this campaign that I can see:

1. Education. The card "spreads the word" about how much the atmosphere can be saved from pollution by switching to compact fluorescents. The card should also mention the expected monetary savings from the reduced need of electricity as well. Getting the word out in a positive way seems like a good way to get people interested in making changes. Most of us have at least some family and friends that aren't "part of the choir" and it's a gentle way to preach the gospel of global warming reduction to a new audience.
   
2. CO₂ reduction. If we can give out a thousand or more lightbulbs to replace existing incandescent ones, we are removing a huge source of potential CO₂ from being released into the atmosphere. From the Energy Star website: "If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road."

I think it would be a good idea to spread this idea far and wide -- perhaps create a logo that bloggers and environmental organizations can use on their pages to direct traffic to a basic page with the campaign whys and hows and the link to the PDF Christmas card files. We can even list supporting pages/blogs on this web page as a thank you. We can maybe even create a PDF flyer for distribution with the tear off tags at the bottom listing the web address of the campaign to post in eco-friendly businesses and public places.

Is there anyone else out there interested in this idea and wanting to contribute to the planning of this campaign? Please comment to this post.

Global Warming Action Rally tomorrow at the Gallivan Plaza from 10 am to 12 pm.

"Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy...if we are successful in establishing a controversy at the public level, there is an opportunity to put across the real facts about smoking and health."

The above quote was found in a memo discussing how to counter the "anti-cigarette forces" back in 1969. It's also a quote that appears in the film "An Inconvenient Truth" and it's the same strategy used by the industries that have the most to lose if we take global warming seriously.
___________________

I was fortunate to see an advanced screening of "An Inconvenient Truth" this evening. The film opens officially in Salt Lake City at the Broadway Theatre on Friday. The opening screening will include a panel discussion hosted by KCPW which can be heard live.

Al Gore is the central figure of the film, which follows him as he gives lectures with a slide show on global warming around the globe. Interwoven are stories from Al's life and how that plays into what he's doing now -- trying to educate us to save ourselves and our planet.

As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I've been following the global warming issue for some time, but it wasn't enough to prepare me for seeing this film. It came together in such a real and powerful way, and I found myself with a stomachache from fear, but at the same time getting pumped up to go make some instant changes as soon as the credits rolled. For me, the most powerful aspect of the film was to see how much we could reduce the planetary threat if we are all willing to make a few sacrifices for the good of the whole world.  I had almost come to the belief that even if we changed things now, we were still doomed, so there was some relief for me to see how we as a society could somewhat easily bring down our atmospheric CO₂ levels to 1970 levels (which while not perfect, is far preferable to what they are now).

I ran through a list of things I could do or things I could do better as I walked next door to Mr. Z's where a discussion was to be facilitated by former Mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson and Salt Lake Tribune columnist Holly Mullen. There were about 20 of us there at the discussion, including Geralyn Dreyfous of the Salt Lake Film Center, Dr. Louis Borgenicht, Salt Lake County councilwoman Jenny Wilson, David Berg from UARC and several people whose names I didn't catch, but included a reporter from KCPW, a woman who works with helping set energy goals, someone from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.

I'm glad David Berg was at the discussion, because one of the main things missing from this film's suggestions of things to do (mostly shown during the credits) is to go meatless (or at the very least have several meatless days a week). Dave mentioned that the fossil fuels needed to produce one hamburger could power a car for 20 miles. A recent study that I posted about shows that vegan diets are the best diets to reduce global warming, but the article also mentions that by cutting down from "two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."

Holly Mullen talked about the difficulty in journalism of always having to balance out points of view. In the case of global warming, there are really no other non-corporate funded scientific points of view out there, which makes trying to balance out the discussion disingenuous.

What I got most out of the discussion is that this truly has to be change from the grassroots. The necessary force of will to make the needed changes is not going to come from the top down.

At the top of my new list of "things to do my part to reduce global warming" is to get as many people to see this film as possible. I'm offering to any one I personally know to take them to this film and then out to eat (or coffe or dessert) afterward, my treat. Since I'm fairly poor, I have to limit this, so I'll try to come up with a different incentive for those I don't know but read this blog to go see it (suggestions on what this could be are welcome, just comment to this post).

More info: www.climatecrisis.net

I received my stuff from TerraPass today. It included a cling decal that verifies how much CO2 I'm offsetting, a Climate Balanced Driver Info card to keep in my glove box, Green-e Product Content Label from 3rd party auditor, and a bumper sticker.

TerraPass

Feel guilty about how much you pollute by driving your car? You can offset it with TerraPass. I wanted to see how much CO₂ I'm putting out there per year:

Your car emits 5,302 lbs of CO2 per year.

You should get a Hybrid Terrapass.

A Hybrid TerraPass offsets 6,000 lbs of CO2,
enough to balance one year of your driving.

My primary reason for being a vegetarian for the past 11 and  a half years is environmental, so this isn't a big surprise, but it's intertesting to see study done on the effects of diet on global warming: Study: Vegan diets healthier for planet, people than meat diets :

The average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent, in the form of actual carbon dioxide as well as methane and other greenhouse gases compared to a strictly vegetarian diet, according to Eshel and Martin. And with Earth Day approaching on April 22, cutting down on just a few eggs or hamburgers each week is an easy way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, they said. "We neither make a value judgment nor do we make a categorical statement," said Eshel, an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences.

"We say that however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the mean American diet, the better you are for the planet. It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference."

(emphasis mine)

I didn't own a car until I was 28. It's not that I was trying to decrease air pollution -- I had a fear of driving that took me quite a while to overcome.

It was inconvenient at times, but I loved all the time I had for reflection while I walked -- it was kind of like a moving meditation. I also kept my legs toned and in pretty good shape. About two months after I got my car I gained 30 pounds (not sure if it was all from driving, or if a recent breakup from a boyfriend helped) and I was living life in the fast and busy lane. Suddenly I had a lot of errands that I just had to do, and almost all of them needed the car.

The car I bought at 28 I still own. It was an used, older car then, and now it's 7 years older. It's out of order more and more frequently it seems. My car is now family car for 4, rather than just a single-mom-of-one-child car. It's also our ONLY family car.

Last week we were unable to start the car, and we didn't feel that we had the funds to get it fixed right away, so we spent a week car-less.

My husband usually walks and takes public transport to work, so nothing much changed there. I had to re-learn how to get the basics done without a car, like grocery shopping and other various errands.

This experience reminded me of the extra mental work involved to survive in a car-centered community without a car. I could walk to a grocery store about a mile from my home, but I had to be very selective over which groceries I bought, since I'd be carrying them all home that same mile in late summer heat, for example.

I'm giving a lot of thought to arranging my life as if I don't have a car. A big priority when I go back to work this winter will be location, as will the daycare I choose for my soon-to-be two year old. I have a fantasy of being able to stroller Terra to daycare and then walk to work. My older daughter is now at an age where she can get herself to and from school.

This past week I got a lot of great exercise and a lot of respect for all those who choose to be car-less to help our planet out. Even though the car is now working, I'm still trying to use my car-less mentality and creativity to see which trips I really can take on foot.

I love that what's good for the planet is also what's good for me.

A couple of interesting reads on car-less living:

Living without a car

CARLESS AND CAREFREE

I've sort of half paid attention to the issues of global warming over the years. Not in the way the folks of the right wing have, but in the way of a person who is too afraid of the subject and living in a type of denial.

Today's headline on Common Dreams left me no choice but to pay attention:

BUSH'S HAND-PICKED EXPERT: WARMING AT POINT OF NO RETURN

The Bush administration picked this expert:

"A memorandum from Exxon to the White House in early 2001 specifically asked it to get the previous chairman, Dr Robert Watson, the chief scientist of the World Bank, "replaced at the request of the US". The Bush administration then lobbied other countries in favor of Dr Pachauri - whom the former vice-president Al Gore called the "let's drag our feet" candidate, and got him elected to replace Dr Watson, a British-born naturalized American, who had repeatedly called for urgent action."

But even this guy isn't going to play the fantasy game that Bush wants:

" He told delegates: "Climate change is for real. We have just a small window of opportunity and it is closing rather rapidly. There is not a moment to lose." "

snip

" He also cited alarming measurements, first reported in The Independent on Sunday, showing that levels of carbon dioxide (the main cause of global warming) have leapt abruptly over the past two years, suggesting that climate change may be accelerating out of control.

He added that, because of inertia built into the Earth's natural systems, the world was now only experiencing the result of pollution emitted in the 1960s, and much greater effects would occur as the increased pollution of later decades worked its way through. He concluded: "We are risking the ability of the human race to survive." "

I bolded the part I find most interesting. The weather around the world has been rather extreme lately. If this is due to the pollution of the 60's, I'm truly afraid for when the effects catch up to the present with the huge increase in gas guzzling vehicles and consumers.

This puts the deficit in perspective. My children will be paying for the irresponsiblitly of the deficit spending by foolish presidents. But that won't mean much when their survival is threatened by the refusal to do anything to reverse the trend. Bush won't likely have to pay the price -- he will most likely have passed away from old age. His daughters might have to, and their children, if they have any. Let's hope Bush cares for his progeny more than for his bank accounts and listens this time.

Does anyone remember the 1978 movie "Superman"? Superman's father on Krypton tried to warn others that the sun was going to explode, and no one would listen, and actively (from what I remember) tried to silence him. I wish I could send off my daughters to a safe place from the foolishness of the blind right.