I frequently
hear from people who agree with me, and want to know what they can do to help.
Here are some ideas:
Help
publicize my web pages and the ideas they contain. Create a link to my web
page(s).
Everywhere
you go, ask embarrassing questions that make people think about these issues.
Recently I spoke to a high school class in Japan, where my friend teaches. I
asked the students some basic questions that they probably wouldn't otherwise
think or talk about:
1. Who owns the Earth? (wildlife; they
have been here maybe 1000 to 100,000 times as long as we have)
2. Where can wildlife live? (nowhere;
there aren't any areas where they can live free from intrusion by
humans)
3. Why do we build freeways? (to let us drive somewhere a few minutes faster; the cost is
all the wildlands and farmlands destroyed in the
process, nearby crops contaminated, noise pollution, water pollution, etc.)
4. When will we run out of oil? (by
2010-2020 in the U.S.; 2040 in the rest of the world)
5. How can we live sustainably?
(it is impossible, since we have to kill to eat; the best we can do is to minimize
our impacts)
6. What is the value of wildlife? (they
are priceless; everything we need (e.g. food and clean air and water), and
everything we enjoy (being in or near natural areas), is based on wildlife)
7. Where does clean air come from? (green
plants filter pollutants out of the air; humans don't have the capability of
doing this on a large enough scale)
8. Where does most of our oxygen come
from? (algae & bacteria in the ocean)
9. Where does clean water come from?
(bacteria and algae clean the water; humans don't have the capability of doing
this on a large enough scale)
10.
Who cleans up cow poop? (dung beetles)
11.
Where does food come from? (from native
animals and plants, which are the source of the species that we have
domesticated; they need to be protected, in case the domesticated species,
which are genetically uniform, succumb to disease or other disaster)
12.
Where do our medicines come from? (most were
derived from plants)
13. Who
pollinates most of our food? (bees)
14. What are
the problems caused by mountain biking? (accelerating
erosion, creating V-shaped ruts that make the trails unusable, killing small
animals and plants on and next to the trail, driving wildlife -- and other
trail users -- out of our parks, and teaching kids that the rough treatment of
nature is acceptable, when it's NOT!)
My best
experience was in a college class in Chennai (Madras), India. I explained how I
used to think (as a kid) that insects belong outside, & were
okay to kill if they were in the house. Now I never kill them, but figure out
how to shoo flies out without hurting them. A girl in the front row asked
"what is the value of one fly?" I could write a book on that! And
probably should. I said that his life is obviously of great value, to him.
But I think a better answer would have been that if any life is of
value, then all life is of value.
A friend
calls this "Guerilla Questioning". She also goes into schools and
asks fundamental questions. Here are her questions:
1. What do you think is the biggest
problem facing the world? (If they fail to mention the environment: What about
the environment?)
2. What do you think needs to be done
about it?
3. What can you do about it?
4. Where do you get your hope and courage in
the face of these problems?
5. How has it been talking to me about
this?
You can start
just about anywhere you like. Protecting wildlife is not a job that can
accomplished by one person, one organization, one company, or one government
agency. Everyone has a part to play, and needs to do his or her part.
Talk to the
managers of your local parks and open spaces. Make sure that they give top
priority to the protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat, and restrict
recreation to as little as possible. In particular, make sure that only low-impact
recreation (i.e., walking) is allowed. Vehicles, such as mountain bikes,
mountain boards, etc. have no place in our parks, where they destroy wildlife
and habitat and make it too easy for people to invade wildlife habitat. The
same goes for dogs and other exotic species. Please help keep them out of our
parks!
Ways to save
energy, carbon, or pollution – NOW!:
1. Replace
incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs – especially those you leave
on for an extended period. LEDs may be even better.
Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them properly.
2. Use a
clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.
3. Walk,
bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor vehicle.
4. Put a
solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof. Besides saving
electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to get photovoltaics
installed over all of our roads, where they won't shade any wildlife habitat.
Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new, cheaper, more efficient form of PV
that uses a metal instead of silicon.
5. Grow your
own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will be able to eat fresh,
organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few chickens, if you are so
inclined. In general, eat food that is grown locally.
6. Paint your
house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat from the sun) or dark
(in northern climates, to absorb more heat from the sun). Plant deciduous trees
on the south side of the house to provide shade in the summer.
7. Turn off
the pilot light on your heater during the months (March-November?) when you
don't need it.
8. Insulate
your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the walls, preferably with
recycled cotton denim insulation (unless being flammable is a problem).
9. Put
an insulated blanket on your hot water heater. Putting insulated curtains on
the outside of west facing windows to minimize summer heat gain (shutters or
awnings work also).
10. Have no
more than 1 or 2 children.
11. Buy only
what you really need: reduce, reuse, repair, recycle.
12. Don't eat
beef. Raising cows is very energy-intensive.
13. Turn down
your thermostat. You may be surprised (I was) to be able to tolerate indoor
temperatures as low as 55. At night, you can probably turn the thermostat off
(all the way down).
14. Minimize
the amount of energy used in cooking. Eat raw rather than cooked, steamed
(heating a small amount of water) rather than boiled, fried rather than baked.
15. Minimize
the amount of water used in bathing. Use the shower rather than bathtub. Wet
yourself, turn the water off while shampooing and washing, then rinse briefly.
16. Share
your energy-saving ideas as widely as possible.
I welcome
other suggestions. I will update this document as I get new ideas.