Chill the Drill

When Alyssa, M., and I went down to Washington D.C. for the #ForwardOnClimate Rally, we anticipated meeting people who supported all sorts of environmental causes—people against fracking, people against industrial farming, people for green technology—but what we hadn’t anticipated was how we’d run into these people.

When we piled off the bus, we were immediately engulfed in crowds of hundreds of people, and soon enough we were separated from the rest of the Rhode Island Sierra Club       . Realizing that trying to find them again would be fruitless, we adventurously decided to go off on own. We squeezed our way through clumps of people with posters saying anything from the straightforward “I ❤ Clean Air” and “Forward On Climate” to witty quips like “Even Voldemort Doesn’t Support the Pipeline” and “Frack You”, but got stuck when we reached a parade of people with white and red hats, chanting: What do we want? Polar bears! What do they need? Ice! And somehow—still not clear on how this happened—we ended up in the front of their parade, chanting along with them, caps (that we can now see are the faces of polar bears) on our own heads.

When this parade reached the main event we broke off from our new friends. Disappointingly, however, they never explained to us their specific mission. We were left only with the clues that our hats gave us: Chill the Drill embroidered on the back.

Since then I’ve being doing some research and now, I think I understand.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its annual Arctic Report Card for 2012 a few months ago and the claims the organization makes are sobering. According to this report card the climate in the arctic over the last decade demonstrates a definite shift into a new “environmental state” based on “record low snow”, record “duration of melting”, “nearly ice-sheet wide melting”, “severe weather”, and “increased growing seasons”. Basically, it’s getting warmer. I’m simplifying for the sake of clarity, but this simplification of facts doesn’t make the message here any less serious.

If this new state is for-good it could hold dramatic changes and problems for the marine and terrestrial life of the arctic, as well as climate changes that would affect the rest of the globe. For instance, if the ice continues to melt, sea levels will rise drastically and ocean-side locations (like our very own little ocean state) will face flooding that could overwhelm our normal coastlines. Coastal cities and towns (can you say Narragansett?) would be ravaged by increased sea levels.

Having read all this I was still curious about the embroidered message on the hat. What was the reference to “drills”? What I found is not so surprising—perhaps I should’ve known.  According to the Sierra Club, gas and oil companies are, despite the advice of experts, trying to drill in precious arctic areas that host thousands of kinds of wildlife and tundra. As we’ve seen examples of in the past, drilling for gas and oil often leads to monumental problems, like oil spills, that kill thousands of animals, damage their environment, and essentially ruin entire ecosystems. Yay. And plus, drilling for oil in such a fragile area speaks to the completely ridiculous idea that fossil fuels and the industry that needs them are more important than sustaining life on Earth. The more efforts that we put towards finding and harvesting fossil fuels the farther away we get from finding alternative sources of power (like the solar/wind/water powers Alyssa’s told you about).

But, here’s something thrilling. We can do something about it. Below I’ve given you contact information for Rhode Island Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as our representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline. Contacting one of our representatives and letting them know that you care, letting them know what you think, is the first, and most important step to making a difference.

 

 

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

Senator Jack Reed

Representative James Langevin

Representative David Cicilline

After all, as Margaret Mead said, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

The “green thing”

Not too long ago, I read an anonymous letter that appears to be written by  a woman from an older generation–“older generation” meaning that this person could be probably be my grandmother. (Pictured left: My actual grandmother–>)

Either way, the purpose of this woman’s letter is to remind our “go-green” generation that although there wasn’t bag-bans and state-wide recycling programs; that the “green thing” did exist.

At first, the tone of the letter may strike any tree-hugger off guard.

BUT— and this is a very big and very important but– the overall take-way (at least for me anyway) is that being green, doesn’t mean following the eco-fad or spending tons of money on appliances that are guaranteed to save energy, reduce the amount of CO₂, and whatever else makes the planet greener.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do think supplementing the products we use from “greener” products is a good step forward. But it isn’t the only step forward… in fact, according to this fired-up grandma, being “green” can mean returning to old practices.

In an witty, but also condescending way, this woman reveals that the practices we used today (in order to be eco-friendly) were not necessary during her generation because the majority of people were already doing the “green thing” without labeling it as such.

A few of her notable examples are as follows:

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. 

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

“The green thing,” as this woman endearingly calls it evidently was omnipresent in past generations… at least when it came to daily living.

So I ask you: What happened?

Sure,  new technologies, like solar panels and hybrid cars have enabled us to live greener… but they also come with a steep price.

Think about it: Do you really need brand-new items to make your way of living more sustainable or could you return the old tried and true methods of past generations to make you daily life more environmentally sound.

Last I checked, pulling your old bike out of the basement was less than paying for a new, or even used, car.

The choice of taking the stairs over escalators and elevators never impeded anyone’s health.

And the option of cleaning things by hand, that means your dishes, clothes, cars, and anything else we opt out of manually washing, normally doesn’t require outside materials.

According to Public Radio International (PRI) “human behavior is critical to combating climate change… if we look at all these things like rising temperatures and species extinction … the cause really is us, is human behavior, and maybe the answer, at least in-part isn’t just in technological solutions, but in looking at how we might change the way we act and think and decide to do things. ”

Meaning that:  What we choose to do on a daily basis, like: using a travel mug instead of a one-use cup; replacing our napkins and tissues with hankies;  vowing to turn the lights on when natural light is insufficient AND turning the lights off when they are not necessary, will influence what happens to our Earth.

Our change in behavior can help change the world for the better. And we all can make that change by returning to past generations for guidance. We don’t need technology to be green (even if it does help), all we really need is the knowledge and motivation to do so.

–Alyssa