The Adventure Begins
The idea for this blog flowed from an email I sent out to a large list of friends the other day. My husband and I watched a show about climate change on the Discovery channel, and learned that the potentially catestrophic effects of this environmental phenomenon could have significant effects on the ability for humans to survive life on this planet. I guess I'd known that for awhile. I'm reasonably aware and care about Environmental causes. But, I was shocked to learn that the impact of global warming will begin very soon. By the time my daughter is my husband's age, she may have to struggle to survive our generation's dependence on fossil fuels. When I made my friends aware of this scary fact, right away I got an overwhelming response. Many of them (also aware, educated people) are concerned about this issue, but have no idea how to address it in their busy daily lives. So, our family has decided to become the prototype. We will be the researchers, testers and motivators. We hope to show over the next year that our actions will make a difference in our carbon footprint, and may also present us with some exciting opportunities as well. Please join us! I'd love to hear how others are joining us on The Green Adventure! I hope your kids will join in as well. Check out the old children's book, If Everybody Did.
Anyway, this is the email that got it all started:
Dear Friends,
Recently, Mark and I watched a show about climate change on the discovery channel. Despite considering myself an “Environmentalist” (hey, I contribute to the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy) and feeling reasonably up on current events, I was very surprised by some of the details of the science in this area. And, being the perpetual grad student that I am, I proceeded to do a lot of research checking out the ideas presented on the show.
The most shocking idea presented on the show was that Dr. James E. Hansen one of the premier experts on global warming said that if we continue down our current road of carbon emissions (using energy at the same rate that we currently are, that is generated by fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal) by the time Little A is Mark’s age, 50% of animal species around the world could be extinct and thus, humans will be struggling for survival as well.
Well, I must admit that that time frame took me off guard! That means that most of us will be alive (and old, YIPPEE! no beaches to retire to, we get to retire to Canada where it will only be 120 degrees in the shade… not fun!) Worse, that means that our kids will be literally struggling for survival, and even worse… why would they bother reproducing knowing what they will by then. So, GREAT!... I thought that the reward for raising children was supposed to be grandchildren! So, I’m going through the terrible two’s for NOTHING!
All kidding aside, this is serious stuff. And there is plenty of published information on the details of the science that I recommend that you read. (Some websites to check out…) http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1861
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/3/13/1
So, knowing all of this… what should we do? Fortunately, even the scientists that are knee deep in studying global warming are optimistic that humans have the capacity to take on this problem. We just need to get on it… NOW!
So, Mark and I are doing a few things by starting with our own carbon footprint. You can figure out yours at http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm. There are lots of others out there, but this one is pretty simple to do without looking at your energy bills. Secondly, we’ve decided to start a company to be a part of the solution to this problem. Since, right now, based on our footprint… we’re part of the problem! Our business ideas are only in the embryonic stages, but we’ve spent enough time in “the real world” to know that really people just don’t care much about saving the earth unless it will make them money! So, we’re trying to figure out if we can do both!
Anyway, this email is long enough! So, spend some time this week and learn a little more about this issue, figure out your carbon footprint, and check out some of the organizations locally and nationally that are working on this problem, and very soon you’ll be getting an email from me, full of ideas for minimizing climate change from the very simple to the very elaborate. Feel free to send this on to your friends… the more people that are helping the better. And, truly, you will see that little things will help A LOT! (Not to mention they may save you some money!) Let’s all talk about and work on this together. We really don’t have a choice if we want our kids to have a chance at a full life. If you found out today that your kids would die of cancer as adults wouldn’t you try to figure out how to save them now?
Take care,
Jess
Anyway, this is the email that got it all started:
Dear Friends,
Recently, Mark and I watched a show about climate change on the discovery channel. Despite considering myself an “Environmentalist” (hey, I contribute to the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy) and feeling reasonably up on current events, I was very surprised by some of the details of the science in this area. And, being the perpetual grad student that I am, I proceeded to do a lot of research checking out the ideas presented on the show.
The most shocking idea presented on the show was that Dr. James E. Hansen one of the premier experts on global warming said that if we continue down our current road of carbon emissions (using energy at the same rate that we currently are, that is generated by fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal) by the time Little A is Mark’s age, 50% of animal species around the world could be extinct and thus, humans will be struggling for survival as well.
Well, I must admit that that time frame took me off guard! That means that most of us will be alive (and old, YIPPEE! no beaches to retire to, we get to retire to Canada where it will only be 120 degrees in the shade… not fun!) Worse, that means that our kids will be literally struggling for survival, and even worse… why would they bother reproducing knowing what they will by then. So, GREAT!... I thought that the reward for raising children was supposed to be grandchildren! So, I’m going through the terrible two’s for NOTHING!
All kidding aside, this is serious stuff. And there is plenty of published information on the details of the science that I recommend that you read. (Some websites to check out…) http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1861
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/3/13/1
So, knowing all of this… what should we do? Fortunately, even the scientists that are knee deep in studying global warming are optimistic that humans have the capacity to take on this problem. We just need to get on it… NOW!
So, Mark and I are doing a few things by starting with our own carbon footprint. You can figure out yours at http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm. There are lots of others out there, but this one is pretty simple to do without looking at your energy bills. Secondly, we’ve decided to start a company to be a part of the solution to this problem. Since, right now, based on our footprint… we’re part of the problem! Our business ideas are only in the embryonic stages, but we’ve spent enough time in “the real world” to know that really people just don’t care much about saving the earth unless it will make them money! So, we’re trying to figure out if we can do both!
Anyway, this email is long enough! So, spend some time this week and learn a little more about this issue, figure out your carbon footprint, and check out some of the organizations locally and nationally that are working on this problem, and very soon you’ll be getting an email from me, full of ideas for minimizing climate change from the very simple to the very elaborate. Feel free to send this on to your friends… the more people that are helping the better. And, truly, you will see that little things will help A LOT! (Not to mention they may save you some money!) Let’s all talk about and work on this together. We really don’t have a choice if we want our kids to have a chance at a full life. If you found out today that your kids would die of cancer as adults wouldn’t you try to figure out how to save them now?
Take care,
Jess
posted by Jessica Drummond, MPT at
9:01 PM
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