My Eco-Friendly Living Guide

My thesis is nearly complete. A final draft is due in about one week, and my final presentation will be in early December. I have kept this blog going for about five months, and I have enjoyed interacting with people about various aspects of eco-friendly living. I first started keeping this blog as a way to share the events of my "summer experiment" where I tried living as sustainably as possible. This was a huge success. My roommate and I reduced our electric and water consumption, and we tended to consume less across all aspects of our lives. This is one of the best parts of an eco-friendly lifestyle. If initial consumption is less, then waste, even if recyclable, will decrease. Even more than that, living eco-friendly living became a lot of fun for me! It was a challenge to only buy items with recyclable packaging, use reusable bags, drive slow, and follow a diet that left out all meat, dairy, and eggs. I believe this was a life-changing experience. Before my research for this thesis began and my summer experiemnt, I was not too concerned with eco-friendliness. Now I constantly consider the impact of my actions and how I can incorporate more sustainable practices into everyday life.

My goal with this blog and thesis was to encourage people in North Little Rock and everywhere to consider their options. I hope people will consider, for example, buying a metal water bottle instead of cases of plastic water bottles every week. There are many options avaliable for people to choose when considering how to lower their impact on the environment, and I hope everyone will take just a few seconds through out the day to consider their personal impact on the environment. I recognize that some changes are out of reach for some people, but starting small is better than not starting at all.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in my thesis. Without strong support from friends, family, and my advisors I would not have been successful. And I would also like to thank everyone who read my posts and provided me with encouraging comments and suggestions. Once I have finalized my guide for North Little Rock, I will post them on here for everyone to see.

This is a difficult video to watch, but it shows the horrible conditions by which many birds die due to plastic waste consumption.

I haven't had a chance to mention that I love Sesame Street. This is such a great show for kids, and it really helps educate children. This season, the topic covered on the show will be things related to the environment and nature. Global warming, climate change, and other controversial and complicated issues will not be included, but simple and kid-friendly topics will be discussed. One example is natural gardening. In the season premier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama helps a few kids, and Elmo, plant a garden. Check out the clip below!

Let me start this post by saying that I am far from being a political expert. In fact, I am probably the last person anyone would want to talk to about politics. That being said, I glanced at an article to day by Scientific American about the new climate bill (S. 1733) that would, at least in part, put more stringent regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Some senators, Sen. Max Baucus in particular, is warning that the regulations on emissions may need to be lowered to allow the bill to be passed in the Senate. Even though he is suggesting they be lowered, I don't know if by how much and how they will compare to current emission regulations. Usually I am the first person to say that "small steps are just as important as large ones." I definitely believe in this, but regarding this climate bill I have a different opinion. I think it is time for us to not slack off our intentions and put together a bill that will actually have an impact on global warming. Many other nations in the world are taking a strong leading role in country-level climate protection, and we need to do the same. We have already slacked off by not committing to the Kyoto Protocol, and we cannot afford more backing down. When legislators back down on requirements for emissions, I belive it sends the idea to everyone that maybe we don't need to be more eco-friendly. And I think legislators need to set an example for how the rest of the country should approach global warming and climate change - with a positive attitude and the desire to push the limits on our environmental "cleanliness."

Tomorrow is the International Day of Climate Action. This is a part of the 350.org campaign that aims to develop solutions to the climate crisis. Across the world tomorrow, events are taking place to raise awareness of the climate crisis and promote the development of solutions to the crisis. There is an event taking place in Little Rock at MacArthur Park. There will be several guest speakers, including State Representative Kathy Webb and Glen Hooks, regional director of the Sierra Club. This event looks like it is going to be a huge success, with speakers, live music, and various educational booths and demonstrations. A cool feature of every event for the International Day of Climate Action is that people at these events "will gather at some point for a big group photo depicting that all important message. At 350.org, we'll assemble all the photos for a gigantic, global, visual petition." (Source: 350.org) I hope everyone checks this out tomorrow if they are around Little Rock.

Link to Event page at 350.org.

Happy Blog Action Day 2009! Today, all across the globe, bloggers are posting something about climate change in hopes of educating people about problems we are faced with. By creating debate, maybe some change will come to alter the current course of climate change. For a complete list of all the bloggers participating and additional information, check out http://www.blogactionday.org.

I have written about a lot of different issues related to eco-friendly living, and many of these topics are closely related to climate change. One of my favorite is driving and fuel consumption. Driving our cars releases carbon emissions that are a part of climate change. The more fuel we use in our vehicles, the more carbon entering the atmosphere. Slowing down to 55 miles per hour saves fuel, and over the course of your "driving life" you will cause less carbon to enter the atmosphere.

Slowing down isn't the only thing we have to do. We also need to figure out ways to get carbon out of the air. One way is to plant "green roofs." Instead of shingle or metal roofs, green roofs consist of plants that use carbon dioxide in the air and replace it with oxygen. Sure, these may not be possible for everyone, but every new green roof helps lower the effects of carbon emissions in the air. This is not a complete solution, but it may be the first or next step to a world unaffected by severe climate change. An article from Discovery News talks about this issue and sheds some interesting light on what green roofs are all about.

Environmental sustainability shouldn't all be serious; there is definitely room for some light-heartedness. Check out this video that Colin Beavan ("No Impact Man") posted on his blog. I loved it so much that I wanted to post it again on my blog. Hope you don't mind No Impact Man!