The Green Revolution
Finally buying and living green is as cool as ever and it’s about time. Will it last? The fact is that just about 100% of us are not only consumers, but avid ones whether we like it, admit it or not. Finally it’s cool and often the smart financial thing to do to think before we buy.
There are plenty of reasons for us to reduce our consumption of petroleum and petroleum based products other than the environment. That’s another topic that I plan on spending some time with. Stay tuned.
It’s funny because I look back at my childhood and can pinpoint a couple of times when the lessons about consuming less was in my face but I didn’t make the connection. I remember asking my uncle Bill why they didn’t use paper towels, only old wet rags to clean the countertops in their Ashland home. I was so confused by it that I don’t even remember his response. I mean why in the hell would someone use a slimy old rag with a hint of funk to it when you could tear off a clean sheet from the paper towel roll? Of course my uncle’s response to that would be “Why in the hell would someone use a paper towel made from trees when you can re-use a wet rag 100’s of times?”
Then there was the time I was offering to apply all of my car buying wisdom amassed over my 14 years of life to my parent’s car buying decision. They were looking at new cars in the $9,000 range in 1994. I checked out the Auto Trader and found used Mercedes, SUV’s and bigger cars that cost the same as they lousy Nissan Sentra that they ended up buying (and driving for around 250,000 miles). So what if it got 40 miles and hour. I did the calculations and the difference in spending on gas was nominal at best.
My parent’s never bought a lot of new fancy stuff. They weren’t dancing around in hemp skirts, baggy pants and wearing patuli but they had (and have) a simple philosophy that bigger isn’t necessarily better. You should see my dad’s extra-short athletic shorts from 1975 and his laptop that fits in his back pocket. Sometimes I still think he’s taken it too far.
I’m the first to say that although I’ve learned important lessons from them along these lines, I haven’t even close to adopted their low key consumption habits. Thank God for the Neo-Green Revolution (Wired Magazine).
There are quite a few simple steps that I’ve been taking recently that will reduce my footprint, more specifically, my “carbon footprint” (www.carbonfund.org). I’m becoming a fanatical recycler, I compost, ride my bike almost every day to work, eat less beef, vote the environment, do my best to stay away from single use anything, run biodiesel in my car, try to buy local and organic, purchase more sustainable solutions for home improvements etc etc. At the same time, I travel and fly like crazy, heli ski, shuttle big dowhill moutain bikes up roads in gas guzzling trucks to ride down, purchase more shoes than I need, on and on. Four round trips across the US is equivalent to an entire year of average driving (Carbon Neutral). Here I am thinking that I’m doing my part while after a ski season that where I travelled all over the world not just to get on to diesel powered lifts, but jet fuel powered helicopters! Enter carbon credits.
Organizations like The Carbon Fund take consumers’ money and invest in climate-friendly projects that directly reduce a certain amount of carbon dioxide. No, it’s not a cop out or get out of jail free card. We still need to reduce, re-use and recycle. That said, organizations like The Carbon Fund, Terrapass and Carbon Planet are making it possible for us to calculate the amount of carbon that we add to the environment every year and offset it with a contribution. Sure, the cynics are saying that this sounds like a crock of shit and that someone is getting rich off of the deal. If that stops you from doing the research and doing what you can to get closer to carbon neutrality, you’re lazy. Then again, you can’t be that lazy if you are spending time to read this blog so check it out.
At evo we are chipping away at becoming a better company for the enivonment but we have a long way to go. We’ve established subsidies for employees who purchase bio or hybrid vehicles and bikes. We’ve invested in dual flush toilets, used bamboo and re-used all sorts of materials in our renovations and worked to help clean up a raise awareness in our neighborhood. Most recently, our new stellar intern Aaron Block has spearheaded the effort to measure our carbon footprint. We’ve started with car commuters and we are taking to inbound and outbound shipping with the eventual goal of becoming a carbon neutral company. We have some exciting customer facing stuff in store but I won’t let the cat out of the bag just yet.
I was pretty blown away to see Backcountry.com’s new “fashion” line. Not only are they making a statement, they are blowing past all lines of what most would call edgy with their Hummer bashing line of organic t’s. I definitely wasn’t expecting to see the back half of a torso on all 4’s performing a different type of hummer in the backcountry. This is company running towards $100M in revenues and I’m just about positive that they plenty of Hummer driving customers. I’m not sure I would have communicated my distaste for the gas guzzling disasters in the same way but I have a lot of respect for the leadership that’s saying “F— it, we aren’t holding back on this one.” Retailers, manufacturers, builders and all sorts of other entrepeneurs alike are making their stance clear and many are being paid back for their green ideas and products in a big way.
I have a ton more to stay so stay tuned for more info and please, hit me back with more interesting articles, stats etc etc. Hell, hit me back and tell me how wrong I am too. Let’s get the debate going.
Some more interesting articles, sites and other info…
VW TDI 4 Motion Anyone?: “Diesels We Want but Can’t Get“, Business Week
Cameron’s Green Too: “Green Tips“ -Sign up!
Better Check Yourself:- “Gore isn’t quite as green as he’d like the world to believe“, USA Today - None of us are perfect right? Gotta give all perspectives.
Not-so-weird Al: “The Ressurection of Al Gore“, Wired Magazine - Al Gore is leading the way and has been for a long time.
Learn More About Biodiesel: www.biodiesel.org
Both Sides of the Bio Story: “Biodiesel backlash continues a la Forrest Gump“, Seattle PI
Good Times in DC: Automaker Lobbyists, Union of Concerned Scientists - Dirty Business
Green Building and Incentives:
Posted: August 12th, 2006 under Environment, Call to Action.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Erin, the sister
Time: August 16, 2006, 1:16 am
i think you’re on the right track when you give examples of your own environmentally damaging decisions and attitudes. i was reminded of this while listening to ani difranco’s, “everyone is a fucking napoleon.”
everyone should make a list. awareness is the most obvious and important step but harder to put into practice. i’ll do it right now:
just today:
1) i left on lights when i wasn’t in the room; one is on right now in the kitchen and i’m in the living room, i’ll go close it now
2) i bought two items of clothing that i did not need and may not like in two weeks
3) i bought starbuck’s coffe in a plastic cup instead of bringing the mug that i bought for that very purpose
4) i didn’t check my work well before printing and therefore, printed way more copies of the same document than necessary
5) i ate out, wasting packaging and consuming foods that were aquired by an environmently unfriendly process: shrimp and tuna especially
6)i drove my car with a hole in the exhaust, leaking fumes into the air
7) i rarely shop at wal-mart, but i saw the shirt i wore today there for 14$ and bought it; i’m guessing that the person from bangladesh who made this shirt was not paid a living wage and offered benefits
ok, there’s plenty more but i have enough to work with already.
ANYBODY ELSE?
Comment from kirk
Time: August 16, 2006, 11:34 am
I just read Erin’s response and while I was drying my hands in the bathroom I realized that I used two towels instead of just one. Really one towel is all it takes, but two is just faster so I do two to ’save’ time. I’m going to make an effort to use only one paper towel to dry my hands.
Comment from Hans
Time: August 17, 2006, 12:12 am
Thanks for the links on biodiesel - very interesting to read some arguments against it. Still seems like a fantastic alternative to me!
Comment from Jake
Time: August 23, 2006, 1:04 pm
Bryce, you used to really annoy the hell out of me with this stuff; and actually still do sometimes but less than before. I now have you to thank for the little Bryce inside my head that keeps telling me to buy a different car, and make better decisions about my spending. I even started composting and have intensified my recycling efforts. As your sister mentioned, shedding light onto your poor decisions is a nice idea. Generally speaking, people are turned off by environmental do-gooders and potentially elicits an opposite response than is intended.
I’m being called to go throw all of my paper towels in the trash as I write this and go buy all new rags at Wal-Mart! HA! There’s a go get’em attitude….wait a minute…
Comment from Shilo
Time: August 25, 2006, 10:28 pm
For an entertaining and strange piece on some Texans that converted their truck stop to bio diesel, check out this piece on NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5698538
Comment from Chris
Time: March 18, 2007, 10:42 am
Bryce, you’re right!
Biodiesel, and a handful of other innovative alternative energies, are definitely a step in the right direction. Benefits from greater use of biofuels include better local environmental quality, more stable fuel security, and has a great potential to support the state economy. These reasons, and some others that you mentioned, led a group of farmers in Grant County to push for state legislation which would help subsidize growth of the biofuel industry in Washington State. In March 2005, Representative Janea Holmquist drafted and passed a bill capturing the county’s enthusiasm through creating incentives for local farmers and requiring the state to have 2% of its energy from biofuel (ethonol and biodiesel) by 2007. In a radio interview I had with her in the fall, she said, “This is an idea that came directly to me from a group of farm bureau members right here in Grant County and some from Adams County quite a few years ago and said ‘You know what Representative Holmquist? Washington State has all the tools in its toolbox to be very successful in the renewable fuel industry, but we need a little help from the State.’ And I was very thankful to be part of that solution, when we were able to pass the Renewable Fuel Standard.” From Janea’s comments it is clear that growth of the biofuel industry has palpable benefits for the state’s environmental quality and for a diverse and healthy economy.
Influential leaders such as Govenor Gregoire and King County Executive Ron Sims continue to demonstrate strong support for the increasing use of biofuels, along with a diversifying band of companies and organizations ranging from the Washington Farm Bureau to the Seattle Metro, including many others. Most informed Citizens of Washington State agree that this bill was designed to benefit Washingtonians in many important ways, and, according to the policy director of Climate Solutions (K. C. Golden) appears to be “a perfect anecdote to our energy dependence.”
But if this is the public sentiment, then why are some biodiesel producers in Washington State choosing to import their biofuels from abroad? The use of palm oil seems to undermine the very intent of the Renewable Fuels Standard, as palm oil is currently imported from rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia under unsustainable conditions, yet is being used by several of the State’s largest biodiesel producers. The use of palm oil overlooks local agricultural capacity, and fuels rapid tropical rainforest deforestation in Southeast Asia (1). According to a 2005 report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the amount of virgin forests decimated for palm oil farming has increased 30-fold since the 1970s. This is an incredible loss considering that 70 percent of Earth’s wildlife and plant species live in such forests. Palm oil harvests are also devastating to soil and water, but are unlikely to cease because it is a mainstay of both Malaysia and Indonesia’s economy and is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Introspection reveals that although fuels made from palm oil still benefit the state, they do not address the goals of farming-inspired legislation. The increased supply of biodiesel in Washington State was not intended to come from rainforests half way around the world. Instead of securing local production of biodiesel that offers revitalizing employment and environmental prospects, some companies, such as Imperium Renewables (of which Seattle Biodiesel is a subsidiary), continue to build business models based on bottom-line, profit-driven goals. As Imperium Renewables’ CEO bluntly explains, “The mission of Imperium Renewables is to produce biodiesel cheaper than the oil companies can produce petroleum diesel.” With this goal in mind, Imperium Renewables imports palm oil to its new facility in Gray’s Harbor, now the largest in North America.
An examination of state interests reveals generally related, yet slightly inconsistent ambitions for local biodiesel production, and captures the broader challenge of living in a capitalist society driven by the dollar. While biodiesel appears to be a miraculous plug-and-play solution to our impending energy crisis and environmental ailments, there are still serious problems within our current solutions. The true solutions to such great challenges that we face as a state (nation, and world), do not lie in finding a silver bullet. Instead, it appears that our energy would be best spent attempting to shift our values and social preferences to reflect quality over quantity, moderation over glut, and a greater emphasis on community and cooperation. We need to live consciously. As a start, we can allow ourselves to explore ideas that challenge the way we live, question the way we think, and dare to unfold the issues we have the power to change.
I, like you, am a reacreational Seattlite trying to find a balance between traveling to the places I love and maintaining a healthy awareness about my footprint. I am guilty of the same sins (if not worse) that you describe, while sitting on an elephant under the rug that is my environmental politics education.
Although sometimes painful, valuable learning can come from our mistakes (both personal and in public policy). Considering that improvement is essentially the avoidance of past mistakes, we can not be dismayed when sound strategies or policies (such as the Renewable Fuels Standard) become ineffective or are undermined; this is part of an important process. The Japanese process of improvement, called kaizen, captures this idea well, through “small improvements day by day, continuously. The key concept of Kaizen is that it is an on-going, never-ending improvement process. It’s a soft and gradual method opposed to the more usual western habits to scrap everything and start with new”(2). In the same spirit, we will always have the opportunity to build from where we last fell.
I could write for weeks on this topic, please give me your thoughts! My Best, Chris
(1)Palm oil biodiesel:
• http://www.cwbiodiesel.com/biodiesel/palm_oil.html
•http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=25127&SectionID=75&SubSectionID=&S=1
(2)Kaizen: http://membres.lycos.fr/hconline/kaizen_us.htm
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