ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, PART II (A challenge to all)

[Dick Nagtegaal]

Meghan Kraley's blog about environmental stewardship and her quest to become green is an excellent segue into a challenge to all justice seekers to become green in their workplace [or home].

Please ADD to the list below [since this is certainly not an exhaustive list] and contribute to the cause !

Here is a preliminary list of ways to go green:

1. Drive with a friend to work [or walk or bike if you can]
2. If you drive, use biofuels.
3. Turn off as many lights, computers, electronic gadets as possible.
4. Take your lunch in a cloth (recyclable) bag.
5. Recycle everything possible.
6. Buy responsibly. "Every purchase you make is an ethical decision that affects people"
7. Use recyclable cloth shopping bags.
8. Change all incandescent light bulbs to energy saving bulbs.
9. Use only energystar widows (with high ER rating). [www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energystar]
10. Use solar or wind power. [www.cleanenergy.gc.ca]
11. Collect rainwater from your roof to water lawn grass, plants, etc.
12. Don't allow your carwash soap to go down the street into the storm drain. Save the fish!

[Cindy Verbeek]

There are so many it's hard to know where to begin and where to end Dick and I add these suggestions on not as a way of adding to a growing list of legalism (thou shalt recycle or thou shalt not be considered a good Christian) but as a way of engaging as many people as possible and helping us understand that no matter where you live, who you work for or what you do you can do SOMETHING! So here goes:

13. Use www.blackle.com as a search engine instead of google (saves electricity because of the black screen)
14. Calculate your ecological footprint and work to reduce it at www.myfootprint.org
15. Eat less meat
16. Watch less T.V.
17. Spend more time outside
18. Grow your own food
19. Make your own bread - make your own everything
20. Use LOAF to make decisions on the food you buy (Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fair trade - in that order - i.e. if you have a choice between local non-organic and non-local organic go for the local!)
21. Don't buy a flat screen T.V. or computer monitor just because it's flat (a pet peeve of mine)
22. Do more than your share...encourage others in their efforts by adding to this list :-)

[Beth DeGraff]

23. Now that the weather is warmer in the north country, and recycling causes me to take out the kitchen trash once a week or so, it's time to start a compost pile (phew!).
24. Preserve those garden fruits and veggies you're planting -- freeze em, can em, enjoy em!
25. Now that the weather is warmer #2, hang up some clothes on a rope strung across your back yard. They'll smell great and get white without bleach.
26. Stop buying new stuff if you don't need it....Old stuff isn't obsolete...it's a good value!

[Cindy Verbeek]

Hi Beth - great ideas! We live in a very cold climate (Northern B.C. in the middle of the mountains) and I just add to my compost pile during the winter and deal with it in the spring by adding a bit of Rot It to speed up the process (or get a worm composter if you are in an apartment). I also bought a $30.00 dryer rack to put in front of our heater for winter clothes hanging (way cheaper than replacing our broken dryer) and hang clothes all year long. It can be done even in the cold:-)

[Beth DeGraff]

Nice environment you live in. My family used to own some land off Vancouver and about 3 years ago we made the lovely drive from Edmonton area to Banff. I'm still looking for a spot in the universe that ranges from 50-70F and isn't damp or muggy. ;) I've been in the broken dryer situation and found that everything wet will dry -- eventually! Thanks for the Rot It idea.

[Steven Oberg]

27. Never get on an airplane, for any reason. Your energy use will be equivalent to you driving, all by yourself, in a 24 mpg car for all of those miles. Airline industry personnel can find another way to live.
28. Never buy a new car. As first user, you are mostly responsible for the 20 to 40 barrels of oil needed to manufacture it. People laid off by the car industry are not likely to die of starvation; millions worldwide who are starving to death because our fuel addiction habit has boosted the price of their food, may die.
29. Do not drive a car for any reason unless you are an emergency responder or doing STRICTLY God's work. Call or email relatives, send cards at graduation time, design your life and work for walking and cycling; public transportation is no great improvement over a 35 mpg car. You may have to leave a harsh climate to be responsible. Watch sports on TV instead of in person.
30. Ensure that you live in no larger, nor energy-wasting a house than you absolutely need.