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Tools for Change

Concepts, Products

Instead of beating each other over the head – use more of this, less of that – today, let’s talk about some really cool innovations that are out there, and some devices that make me go, “Wow!”

  • The Vertical Whirlpool Generator is a device that caught my eye recently (thanks to the power of advertising algorithms)! This generator actually has a very small footprint, and it doesn’t require the entire river to be dammed. Check this out:  Fish-Friendly Whirlpool Turbine Makes Hydropower Green Again!Though these aren’t the massive generators that are going to power an entire state or region of a country, they will sufficiently power local areas. Something that makes these sustainable and nature friendly is they divert a small portion of the water and feed it right back into the water flow. This way, many generators can be placed along the same stretch of water source and not be detrimental to those downstream. Overall, it serves many people and areas
    and not just one big system to feed the many communities.This feeds into a relatively new concept in power distribution called “microgrids.” If you haven’t read anything on microgrids, check out this article: Meet the Microgrid, the Technology Poised to Transform Electricity. I like both of these concepts because someone out there was looking at the traditional way we do something, then rebuilt it differently and efficiently, all the while making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
  • Solar Power Shingles are another impressive product that’s popped up on the radar! Sun Roof: Solar Panel Shingles are a great change from the “standard” solar panel. In many HOA neighborhoods, many people can’t place solar panels on their roof. This gives people a new option, and in general seem to be a great change and substitute for the traditional solar panel. On the surface (pun intended), these are a great example that sustainable doesn’t have to be drab or gaudy. They would blend into a standard house roof, and at a quick glance nobody would be the wiser. It’s a great alternative to win over a few more people who are on the fence, especially when the only thing holding them back is the mounting of large solar panels on the roof. Likewise, a person could have a section of these on all portions of their roof and be able to capture the sun all day, all year.Remember, sustainability is all about change and doing something different for the overall good of the planet and human beings. It’s important not to get stuck in the same “rut” that we are attempting to change. We don’t have to continue to do something the way we do today. The key is to always be ever evolving; that goes for existing products and design!
  • The Zéphyr Solar Balloon really got me excited! The balloon was designed to bring electrical power to areas that have been struck by natural disasters. Typically, what slows down the effort to restore electricity to areas that have been hit by a catastrophic event is the ability to get equipment to the places that need it most. This device can be carried in and provide localized electricity to help the relief efforts from within the area that has been struck. I like the fact that someone looked at a problem and figured out a way to do something from the other direction!

I am constantly looking at the ever-evolving world of sustainable ideas; it keeps the creative wheels spinning! Many cutting-edge technologies or products are awesome. However, some might not be fully available until a few years down the road. A good deal of them are built on technology that is remarkable in a lab, but not necessarily scalable or cost efficient to bring to the public. Some are just too forward thinking now and are a “hard sell” because it takes a mind and cultural pattern shift first; after all, Bluetooth was invented in 1994, but the first Bluetooth phone didn’t hit the market until 2001!

What sustainable ideas have you seen that have tickled the creative imagination? Do share!

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The Dirt on Recycling!

Concepts, General

Recycling has become so commonplace that we often don’t think about it anymore. In general, many who recycle take what they think can be recycled and place it in a bin; then the recycling service comes and picks up what’s in the bin to be processed… and that’s the end of “thinking about it.”

What happens to recyclables after they have been taken away? Do you know, or have you ever investigated it? Have you ever asked if you are recycling correctly?  Do you really know what properly goes in to the recycling bin?

I checked with a few recycling services in my area, including the one that comes and picks up my recyclables; both had some good information on what can and cannot be recycled. I actually learned a few things!

So, what can I put into that bin? With so many services out there, it can be hard to tell what can be sent via the recycling bin. Speaking with others over time, I’ve heard multiple opposing opinions on what can and cannot be tossed into the recycling container. If you haven’t checked recently, do so! Since the recycling industry is continually evolving and changing, check with your service annually to clarify what and how you can recycle. In checking with mine, I realized that I can now recycle almost all my household’s junk mail, which used to not be allowed!

Guidelines change because services are added, new technology is developed, there are changes in the industry, and other various elements shift, so more of what would have formerly gone into the trash bin is now recyclable.

One major recent change in the industry has to do with where we were sending trash. Prior to 2018, most of the world’s recycling went to China for processing. Whatever you placed in the bin was separated into metal, plastic, glass, and other. Then it was baled up and shipped to China for further processing.  In 2018, China closed its doors and stopped accepting trash for recycling. This obviously caused some changes in our recycling practices. For more information on this, you can delve into the articles below:

To add to the confusion, recycling can be difficult to navigate. Often what and how you recycle often changes from region to region and service to service. If you’re not sure about recycling a particular item, then instead of relying on friends or family, call your service or look it up on their Website; many recycling services post lists of what is and is not acceptable from their customers. You may be surprised that you have been tossing things in the wrong bin for ages and didn’t know!

What Can I Recycle… and Why Is It Important?
Materials that can be recycled can either be reused to make something that they already were, like cans into cans, or take on a new form altogether. For example, plastic can turn into many different forms. That plastic bottle could become the carpet in that car you had your eye on, or you could be putting it on the next time you go and do a workout.

This is what happens to many materials and why recycling them is good for us and the planet:

Paper
Glass
Textiles
Plastic
Cans and Metal
Cardboard
Electrical Items

Paper
Paper is pulped and used to make new paper materials including newspapers and magazines. It can recycle into fresh new paper in just 7 days!

  • Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, and 2 barrels of oil.
  • Every ton of paper recycled can save the energy equivalent of 165 gallons of gasoline.
  • 17 trees can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
  • The process of recycling paper instead of making it from new materials generates 74% less air pollution and uses 50% less water.
  • Manufacturing recycled paper uses only 60% of the energy needed to make paper from new materials.
  • The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use recycled paper is 50% to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.

Glass
Glass is sorted into different colors, washed and crushed into small pieces. It is then melted to make new glass bottles and jars.

  • The cost savings of recycling is in the use of energy. Compared to making glass from raw materials for the first time, cullet melts at a lower temperature. So we can save on energy needed to melt the glass.
  • Glass produced from recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%.
  • Recycling glass reduces the space in landfills that would otherwise be taken up by used bottles and jars.

 

Textiles
Good quality textiles are reused and sent to various markets, and lower quality textiles are turned into rags and cloths for cleaning. Learn to love your clothes! This article, The Importance of Recycling Textiles, has a lot of information that expanded my understanding of this area.

 

Plastic
Plastic is one that I have found that people have the most problem with. Not all plastic is the same. Check the container; you’ll see that there is recycled symbol with a number. Many believe that this relates to recyclability. Nope! The number is what the plastic is made of. That make up determines how it can be recycled.

Plastic bags that you get at the grocery store, convenience store, or take out are not recyclable in general plastic recycling (check out one of my previous blogs).

  • Plastic is sorted into different grades and then sent to the recycling facility where it is turned into new plastic items such as bottles, fleeces, clothes, food containers, and auto carpet.86% of plastic bottles in the U.S. end up in a landfill or incinerator. That averages to around 60 million plastic bottles ending up in landfills and incinerators every day.
  • Exactly What Every Plastic Recycling Symbol Actually Means
  • Recycling symbols explained

Cans and Metal
Cans and metal are melted in a furnace and then used to make new metal products such as tins and more cans.

  • Recycling steel and tin cans takes 94% less energy used to make them from raw materials.
  • A used aluminum can is recycled and back in use as a new can in as little as 60 days.
  • Used aluminum cans are the most recycled item in the U.S. Other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
  • There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled.
  • A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces water pollution, air pollution, and mining waste by about 70%.
  • Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours or saves the equivalent of half a gallon of gasoline.
  • Every three months, Americans throw enough aluminum in landfills to build our nation’s entire commercial air fleet

Cardboard
Cardboard is pulped and then reprocessed into corrugated card or cardboard boxes.

  • Recycling cardboard (a very helpful article)
  • Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy need to make new cardboard
  • Recycling 1 ton of cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil
  • Over 90% of all products shipped in the United States are shipped in corrugated boxes, which totals more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard

Electrical Items

Electrical items are stripped down to their component materials, e.g. plastics and metals. These are then reprocessed into new items depending on the grade of material. Typical items include traffic cones, new steel products, or even new circuit boards.

  • Electrical items contain a range of materials that can be separated for recycling and used in new products, such as plastics and precious metals including gold and copper.
  • All this saves resources and energy.
  • Many old electronic devices contain toxic substances that include lead, mercury, cadmium, beryllium, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and chromium. When e-waste is tossed into landfills, these chemicals leach into the soil, polluting the ground water as well as the air.
  • For every million cell phones we recycle, 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.

So, recycle away! Hopefully, I’ve helped to shed some light on current recycling practices. This was a great topic for me to cover because it pushed me to bring my understanding around recycling current, too!

Here are a few articles with additional reference material:

 

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What Shade is Your Green? Shifting Our Eco-Focus to Zero Impact

Concepts, General, Policies, Products

“Going green” is great! In so many ways, it’s fantastic that “eco-friendly” has become mainstream; there’s quite a growing industry focusing on green products and services. However,  the next thing we need to ask ourselves is, are we really being green, all the way from manufacturing to delivery and use?

Of course, every bit helps… but most often, we focus on the product at the end of the process, and forget about some of the peripherals, which are ultimately just as important in the bigger picture! Manufacturing processes, packaging, and delivery are a few of the many.

I’ve been looking at toothpaste as an example of a product that’s been “greening up,” better, healthier ingredients are being used… and yet the “standard” packaging – which has been used for a very long time – tends to be used, which is very wasteful to the environment. One product in this realm that caught my eye recently actually did a great job at green delivery of a product from start to finish, including the packaging. The company sets up the customer’s initial purchase of the product in a reusable container; then all subsequent purchases – refills – are sent in an environmentally reusable or recyclable package. The customer keeps the initial container and reuses it so there is far less waste; from beginning to end, the customer and the company end up being greener than “traditional” use of toothpaste. But that’s a blog for another day (stay tuned!)…

There are a multitude of ”green” products out there that might look “green” on the surface – particularly the product itself  – but most often, there is at least one aspect of it that isn’t, such as packaging or sourcing materials. Human nature plays a role in this too; the habit is to not solve a known potential problem until that problem presents itself, and there’s no choice but to react.

A common example of this kind of human habit is how culturally, we do a lot of things that are abusive and/or unhealthy to our bodies, – like poor eating and bad, self-destructive life habits – knowing full well that at some point we are potentially going to have repercussions from this behavior. Then one day, our bodies start to feel bad, we start to have limitations, we get sick… and that’s when we decide to do something about it. We get in shape, eat better, and/or quit the bad habits. Why? We think that since it isn’t a problem today, why worry about it? We will deal with that later when we have to.

This translates into how we tend to do things on the large scale. Consumer and industrial markets are full of examples like this… and unfortunately, this also includes eco-friendly products and the need for sustainable practices. We might find a green or better solution to today’s problem… even if we have the knowledge that  something in the process can present a future related issue that isn’t so environmentally friendly. However, we often write it off to “We’ll figure it out later…” Sure, it’s great to be fixing that problem today, such as employing green energy… even if there are some challenges we don’t yet have the answer to. However, the problem is, once we have that market or product, we tend to write off the future problem…and conveniently forget about it because it’s not a currently pressing issue.

When politics and finances become the primary deciding factors on issues, usually we all lose on the deal. It usually comes down to the question, “How can we manage with the least cost and only fix the immediate issue of today, right now, with the least amount of effort?” That solution then becomes the accepted standard, and then trying to get additional funding for further research or better, proactive fixes is difficult. Why? Well, the habit is to say, “We already have a solution for right now… we’ll get to that later, when it’s more pertinent…” Getting money to fix a future problem today or further improve the current solution often isn’t a good selling point to someone who holds the money… until it becomes debilitating in some way.

Green power is no exception to this. One of the areas where there’s a white elephant in the room has to do with lithium ion batteries.

Lead/acid batteries – traditional batteries – are an environmental nightmare.  Before lead becomes a battery, it must be mined, and has potential to be an environmental disaster and poses health concerns for the worker and surrounding areas. However, today, most people are familiar with the lithium ion battery.  This battery technology has advanced greatly in the last couple of decades, making it the go-to battery for the green industry.

With technology advancing, so is the need for the resources. Obtaining lithium is actually pretty hard on the environment. Very rarely we do we speak of that aspect of these batteries… yet they power everything from video games to hybrid and electric cars. Have you ever thought about where and how the raw materials are obtained? What are we doing about all of these batteries at the end of their life?

Here are some good articles around the lithium ion battery issue, and what we’re facing in their long-term use:

While we look to the future for our energy needs, we also must be wary of what that vision brings with it. For every solution, it’s vital that we look at the real cost of that solution, from the higher perspective, manufacturing from beginning to end. If the solution has environmental impacts on either end, then it isn’t the best solution, or we still have some issues to work out. Simply saying that trading a greater evil for a lesser one isn’t good enough. Though we’re taking great strides in creating more and more Earth-friendly solutions, it’s quite important for us to refine our focus so from end to end we have almost zero impact. “Zero Waste” is a great slogan… and even better one is ”Zero Impact.” We need to prioritize funding and finding the best solutions to tomorrow’s problems that result from today’s discoveries and methods… and continue evaluating and developing better solutions. Writing things off isn’t good enough anymore. Demand better of our leaders, demand better of companies… and commit to it ourselves.

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The Cartoon of Conflicting (and Paradoxical) Information

Concepts, General, Policies

In doing research for this blog, I was actually surprised to find that the cartoon “Non Sequitur” is still running in newspapers, as I would enjoy its snarky commentary when I would still look at a physical newspaper! (It’s somewhat surprising that there are still a LOT of printed newspapers… but that’s a blog for another day…)

Non sequitur: noun

A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. “This cat has a long tail; therefore, blueberries are healthy.”

The beauty of Non Sequitur as I knew it is that it was a beautifully encapsulated representation of the things we are experiencing around us – institutionally, politically, and culturally – by showing us visually the non sequitur – and paradoxes – in which we often lose perspective in everyday life.

Paradox:  noun

A self-contradictory statement that at first seems true. Ex: “Nobody goes to that restaurant; it’s too crowded.”

When considering sustainability and renewable energy, there is an abundance of non-sequiturs and paradoxes used as the argument both for and against either/both.  However, these arguments really don’t show how they support one over the other until you take a much closer look at the details included in each argument.

For example, one of the continuing debates has to do with the land mass needed for renewable energy when compared to conventional energy production landmass.

I came across these studies:

The first two studies in the list talk about how much land mass in the United States would be required to produce the equivalent amount of energy comparing renewable to current fossil fuels. It is quite clearly stating that renewable energy would take up a good amount of land when compared to the current methods of fossil fuels. However, the study report really doesn’t discuss the amount of land used for mining drilling or rail, so it’s actually incomplete in its information. The third one was really the eye opener for me; it at least admits that there are studies that only measure the specific portion needed for generation.

The paradox (note the notation symbols… deemed to make something accurate by many):

“Renewable energy will save land^#” and “Current methods will save land*+”

Discussions for fossil fuel look at only the amount of land the generation of electrical power takes, even though renewable energy discussions looked at the total land use.

The third study places it in perspective to something people can understand, and states that they account for generally all parts needed to use fossil fuels. For example, to power 100% of the needed energy estimated by 2050, today with today’s current technology it would require about 1,550 -4,250 square miles of solar panel fields. The author states that one third of that land space needed is what we already devote to golf courses alone, AND – as with golf courses – all of that doesn’t have to be in one place. We can spread it out in land that isn’t already developed or is generally considered undevelopable, such as deserts. On the contrary, roughly 13,000 square miles of land are used for coal mining.  In employing renewable energy instead, we would recapture that land for better use, and gain back the land used for coal, oil and gas.

Budgets and money are another paradox when it comes to sustainability, which of course easily gets  a lot of attention. Because it is such a hot topic and hits close to home, cost is also one of the easiest areas to manipulate so the public sees it a certain way. A good portion of talking heads assume that the public will take their word at face value and not dig into the details… which in many cases, is true.

The paradoxes here:

“Renewable energy will save money^#” and “Current methods will save money*+”
“Renewable energy will be too big of price tag^#” and “Current methods will be too big of price tag*+”

Be careful with this one! The argument against sustainability is often talked about via a 10-20 year period, and the total dollars for that timeframe is used from the perspective of today’s cost; however, what is NOT typically discussed is that the estimated cost is over the total time frame, accounting for all factors.  For conventional energy, the dollar figure used often excludes many factors or discusses only a portion of the time frame. While not an outright lie, the public presentation gets skewed, and most of the public doesn’t dig for the details. The belief is, “It has notations; therefore, it must be true#$%^&!” Legally, the presenter of the information is just fine because in the actual speech notes or paper, there are notations! Belief is that it isn’t the presenter’s issue if those present to receive the information don’t dig into that reference and see for themselves the details that have been excluded or glossed over.

One non sequitur that has been recently prominent is

“Renewable energy (wind) kills wildlife” and “Save the birds, don’t use wind power”

Let’s talk about this for a minute…

How many birds a year are killed with oil slicks, and other fossil fuel pollution? Where is that statistic when this argument is used? Sure, oil spills don’t happen all the time, but the amount of wildlife hurt or damaged when they do is quite significant.

(On a side note: One of the most incredible paradoxes out there right now is the mass marketing – and propaganda – of a certain major brand dish soap that has been capitalizing on “helping to save animals via cleaning them up from the oil spills.” What’s the paradox? That the product is, in fact, petroleum based… and contributes to the continued mass use of petroleum… which is the reason the oil spills exist in the first place! I can’t tell you how many I’ve known who’ve actually said they use the product because of that marketing manipulation… without realizing ALL of the information! But, again, that’s a blog for another day…)

Even if you spread that damage over years, the wildlife death via conventional energy numbers is quite staggering compared to the long-term use of renewable energy.  Also, many don’t take into account what we’ve done in our population expansion altogether. How about skyscrapers? How many birds hit the windows annually? Also, when skyscrapers were first built, birds had similar issues with migration and avoidance. Now they have adjusted and work around them, but still many are killed, even by cars on the congested roads or flying into buildings. It’s the same with wind energy. Wind generators are “new” to the landscape; birds will adjust in a relatively short time, and the number of deaths will be mitigated. The argument against sustainable energy and wildlife assumes that the number of deaths at the introduction of the wind generators will continue to be the same and renewable energy will only add to the death toll that currently happens, until there are no more birds. What isn’t discussed is how with renewable energy, the scales will quickly balance, because the pollution toll will be far less, and more wildlife will actually be able to propagate and thrive. Eventually, the scales balance to be better with renewable energy. Sure, it will be several years before that happens, but it will be better long term.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Though I don’t particularly care for the use of the word enemy in this quote, I agree with where it comes from. If we don’t use the literal meaning and use it in the context of opposing thought/position, we can see that knowing both sides and understanding the details of what all the outcomes could be from both points of view is most beneficial. In doing so, we can  accept some adjustment periods where we might take some losses in a cause because the outcome is much more beneficial in longer term and bigger picture – the health and vitality of the planet and its organism – than what we’ve been doing to today.

The success of false or failed logic, paradoxes and non-sequitur, is proportionally based on the self-imposed ignorance of the masses. Those who are most invested on one side of an argument or the other – those who stand to profit or loose on the outcome – rely mostly on the assumption that a vast majority of people will not care to look too closely at the facts. This creates the paradox and allows it to thrive and propagate, sometimes even growing to the point that it is assumed to be factual… and the notation eventually gets lost altogether. How much folklore and urban mythology do we accept to be true and perpetuate every day that isn’t based on any factual data?  (Here’s a simple one that so many parents still use today: “Waiting an hour after eating before you go swimming; otherwise, you might drown!”) Think of all the things that we once believed to be true that today we can’t conceive of ever believing them in the first place.

In conclusion, it is great to be passionate about any topic! My only ask is to be open to both sides, look at all the data… even (especially) if it doesn’t support your thoughts and biases. I don’t mean look at that data and try to find ways to counter that information… I mean, open the mind to all sides of the matter before making a final decision on your favored preferences. Look at the details; look at the bigger picture and make sure in comparing one thing to another that it’s not apples vs. oranges, which is most often the case! Look for the notations and dig further and look at that information as well. All too often a writer can find a reference from a reliable source (to give credence to the piece) find one comment in it that reference material that supports their point of view (even though the rest of the reference debunks it) and use it to support their point of view.

If we don’t allow ourselves to be lied to, we won’t be the sheep that some leaders hope we will be. Ask the questions! When confronted with full facts, many paradoxes fall apart. Though, unfortunately, the snarky cartoons will have to cease… we can then move forward together, committing to perceive from the bigger picture, as the one organism we are.

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Turn and Face the Strange: Ch-Ch-Changes…

Concepts, General

In many discussions I’ve had and in articles that I’ve read, it seems that there is one common theme about change – particularly regarding sustainability: The belief that “it’s  too hard.”

Why?

Just think of all the cultural and societal changes that have occurred over the last 40, 50, 75, or 100 years! Clothing is one of the most obvious examples: There are many things that we accept today were scandalous yesteryear.

It’s too hard (not really) or I don’t want (or shouldn’t have) to (translation: ”I’d rather stay comfortably here…”) is the crux of the issue of change. Computer operating system updates and developments are a great example of this. I remember when a new computer OS was released a couple of years ago. There were a good number of individuals I knew that claimed it was the worst thing ever. According to them, the old one was good enough and there wasn’t a single redeeming thing of the new OS.  Now, several years later, after everyone was “forced” to change to that one, a new OS is released. Now every one of those same individuals claim that the one they hated before is far superior to anything ever released and the new one is junk.

So, why is that?

Simply put, ego and fear. Fear of being different, fear of “making a mistake,” fear of having to put in extra effort to facilitate a change/difference, and the basic ego of, “What I think is right for me is right for everyone else.” However, once change occurs, everyone grows accustomed to how things are…they get pushed into taking the time to get used to the difference. And, a vast majority of the time, the world doesn’t end. Eventually the new becomes the norm, it becomes embraced into our comfort zone (by the ego), and we can’t believe we ever thought the way we did.

This seems to be particularly true with sustainability.

Switching to sustainable methods or products can initially be uncomfortable and scary. It’s different, new, and there are often “what if“ doubts because of the unknown. It also starts to incorporate an entirely new and different way of thinking and living. Also, often a major but to sustainable things is typically boiled down to someone not wanting to be that person on the block or in the office or be viewed as weird or different.

In today’s world of consumerism, we spend money on all kinds of things, because we believe those things empower us, or make us feel better than or equal to our friends and neighbors. We’re conditioned for it by media, family, peers, and society. Who has bigger/nicer houses, latest fashions, better cars, better gadgets? What are the celebrities we admire using/promoting? If one is motivated in this respect, they will generally change to meet that need and feel better about themselves.

However, when someone changes something in their lives that is different from the “norm,” others around them often judge it at every turn. Not because it is “bad” or because it is harmful, but because it is different. For example, put a generator on your house and you’re the cool person on your block, because you’ll have power during an outage. However, put a solar-powered power backup on your house, and suddenly you’re the gossip of the block. Some will think/say, “Why couldn’t he/she put a “normal” generator on their house? He/she must be one of “those people…” Yet at the end of the day, it’s the exact same thing; it just achieves the result it in a more sustainable, environmentally friendly way.

(By the way… when that emergency happens, and the power on the block is out, you can bet the neighbors won’t be laughing so much anymore!)

Before getting all defensive about why/how getting that standard generator is “good enough,” providing a dozen reasons why “it’s wrong” to have something like this in your neighborhood (there are even neighborhood HOAs that have very strict rules and all kinds of limits on solar equipment) and begin the claims that sustainable methods or products are inferior, clunky, “unsightful,” or don’t measure up…take the ego and fear of change out, and really look at what you truly need and why you believe what you believe. In this example of the generator, you might’ve gotten a generator almost big enough to power the entire block. Did you really need one that substantial? Did you actually buy it to power the entire block? Likely answer, no you didn’t. Often, we get something far bigger than is needed because let’s be honest: If something that just does the job is really good, we believe something bigger must be better, right? Especially if we “get a good deal on it”! Also, sometimes there’s the almost subconscious factor of now having the mega-version… and bragging rights to that. To go to the core need, the solar-powered one will last longer and cover what is needed at your house, which is really why you wanted it in the first place. Why not have the bragging rights to being an Earth steward and leading the way?

Keep in mind, there is also the other side of the coin: Implementing change for the sake of changing. That typically stems from political or financial interests of a company or institution; excessive marketing and media is put out there influence consumers to “get the latest gadget” to “be the coolest kid on the block” and “in the know” (I know, it sounds sort of ridiculous, but as a society, we ARE influenced by it every day)! One arena where this is prevalent is cell phones and computers. I’ve definitely been guilty of that one! In this area, we have such a throwaway society for “what’s new and improved” that we’re often convinced to spend $600-800 on a new phone (more on computers and computer accessories) when the one we have is often still quite up-to-date  Not only is it wasteful of our personal expenditures… it’s bad for the environment, too.  Personally, I love new tech gadgets; however, I’m now following my own advice, and striving to purchase new components only when my device is broken or truly not realistically functional in areas I need it to be.

For me, change and the incorporation of sustainability requires thought and long-term thinking, considering the bigger picture vs. the immediate fix. Can we be honest with ourselves? Can we look at what’s really important with honest, hard facts beyond what our ego believes will “make us look better/ more important,” which in turn is most often influenced by consumerist manipulation by individuals and companies who pad their pockets with your decisions?

Doing what’s purposeful rather than what is comfortable is something for us all to prioritize. That includes purchasing with a focus on sustainability… which is far more than the product itself. Do your homework. I mean, really do your homework. Don’t just look at things that conveniently bolster your preconceived notions in your comfort zone. You dig for all the details and reviews before you by that new appliance, and will even spend more on it just because it might have a rarely – if ever used – feature (that you can brag about having). Then why not spend a little more on a sustainable option? And instead of judging and condemning those around us for doing something different to make such strides… look at what THEY’RE doing, do some more research on whatever that is yourself, to see if it actually fits parameters of something you need.

If we all are willing to change, then changing to sustainable options will be easier and become the norm. Then we won’t judge or avoid being that person anymore, but instead embracing the idea of being the path-cutters and lead the effort!

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