My 5: James Glave, Author

BPGL: What are the five most important things we can do to save the planet?

James Glave, Author, Almost Green: How I Saved 1/6th of a Billionth of the Planet

To me, saving the planet means so many different things. It’s deforestation. It’s depletion of fisheries and fish stocks. You can easily get overwhelmed with what do we need to do. To me, it just comes down to global warming and climate change. Whatever we can do to reduce our emissions, we should do. So, if you’re looking at five ways to do that, I would say:

• Figure out how you can use your car less. If you’re in an area served by transit, try using it. If you’ve got a bicycle you haven’t dusted off lately, get on it. If you can move from two cars to one car, great. If you can have some kind of casual car-sharing arrangement or join a car coop, even better. It’s really about burning less petroleum, burning less fossil fuels.

• In the States, I would certainly look at the electricity piece, given that as much as 50 or 60 percent, depending on where you live, of your electricity is generated by burning coal. See how you can make your home more efficient, how you can use less electricity. Don’t choose the largest TV, just ‘cause the guy next door has a bigger plasma than you. Think smaller, think better, think more efficient, think easier to deal with, easier to clean, easier to repair. That’s really the big message.

• Try to shop less.

• Try to shop more locally. Stimulate your own local economy so that you can start to get it going again if it’s down in the dumps. Eat locally, as much as you can.

• Grow your own food, even if it’s just a couple of pots on the back porch with lettuce in them and herbs. All of these things will make a tremendous difference. Expecting strawberries in December is basically we’ve been fooling ourselves. Try and look at what you’re eating and how that can be part of the solution.

Joe Hennager

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)

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Choosing to Value a Sustainable Life

Almost Green: How I Saved 1/6th of a Billionth of the Planet