Contents of RauwLetter December 2009
- My Take: As Easy As Apple Pie
- Professional Home Energy Audits
- Enabling Conservation In New York
- Rauw Energy Is Going Commercial
- The Gift That Keeps on Giving
- Holiday Greetings from Rauw Energy
My Take: As Easy As Apple Pie
It’s easy to get down in the dumps these days with all that’s going on in the economy, in the environment, news reports of this and that recall, take this pill, wait, no, don’t take it anymore, etc. etc. With the barrage of controversy out there, you’d think we should all just go to bed, cover our heads with our blankies and stay there until things get better. May sound good but I firmly believe we have to “be the change we wish to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi). The impetus to that change is optimism.
I’ve been accused of being a Pollyanna. It’s true, I like to see the good side of people, I look at the bright side of things, and I choose to see the cup as half full instead of half empty. Not that I’m all little Miss Sunshine all the time, but I choose to go through life with a smile on my face.
We all have a story and mine is probably pretty typical of most. I’ve had struggles – emotional, familial, health, life. During stressful times my belief is that the challenges can bring you down or they can make you stronger. My approach is to see the good, see the potential upside and then work towards it.
It’s that way with the environment. I believe environmental degradation is the most important challenge humankind has ever faced. Logically, without a healthy environment, we won’t survive – it’s that clean water, clean air thing that plagues us humans – we need it to live. So, with millions more humans born onto this planet every year, we need to figure out a way to live, live well, and live thoughtfully, i.e. sustainably.
We can look at this challenge, which, I admit, is pretty huge, and just throw up our hands and throw away the key and jump into that beckoning bed, or we can all, in our own personal ways, get out of bed every day determined to do something positive to address the problem. We citizens can take the baby steps while our government takes the giant steps, hopefully starting this month in Copenhagen.
Some of the baby steps are as easy as pie. Recycle. It saves energy and decreases our need to tear up the land looking for virgin materials. Eat organically and buy from local sources. Not only does the food taste better and fresher, it decreases the need to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it cuts down on fuel usage, it supports local farmers who would otherwise have to sell their farms to big corporations who are very interested in the bottom line and not that interested in how they get there.
Don’t buy so much stuff (we’ll not go there again – if you’re curious, read last month’s newsletter). You’ll save money and save yourself the need to recycle or donate or throw away that item when it breaks or outlives its useful life. I’m lucky because I’m not much of an impulse buyer, in fact, some may refer to me as frugal – it’s that Dutch heritage thing.
Speaking of Dutch, those Europeans know how to live on a relatively small energy budget. Including Russia and Turkey, the 2009 European population is approximately 830.4 million inhabitants. The 2009 U.S. population is in the area of 305 million people. Europeans consume 17% of the world’s energy, the U.S. consumes 22%. Interesting that we consume so much more energy with a population about 1/3 of Europe’s. What a great challenge to figure out how we Americans can reduce our energy consumption.
Just like we pulled together in World War II with Victory gardens and everyone working for the cause, we must pull together to face this climate change challenge. Energy audits, organic gardens, insulation, Energy Star appliances, efficient cars, mass transit, renewable energy – it’s all right here, it’s all achievable and so much of it is as easy as apple pie.
