EARTH DAY, AN EVERY DAY COMMITMENT

Earth Day comes once a year, but preserving our big blue marble ought to be a daily practice, year ‘round. In order to bring the environment back from the brink of disaster and ensure a planet for our grandchildren fit to live on, we must have a paradigm shift in how we live. As the world’s largest consumer of resources and goods, the United States must lead the way in creating new communities based on sustainability and livability that in turn will benefit not only their citizens, but the entire world.

There is no one panacea that will fix the environment and end hunger. The solution will require the thought of our best scientists, civil engineers, and sociologists and the cooperation of individual citizens engaging in less selfishness, if not outright selflessness. We all need to view our existence on this planet in a new way. While we may have a legal right to continue business as usual—and to save ourselves we may need to change that—we have a moral obligation to be able to look back and say we have done all we can to create a livable environment for our offspring and theirs. We must wean ourselves from oil.

Use of a variety of alternative energy forms is our best weapon against global warming and terrorism. Reduction of use of oil will improve the environment and take away the main weapon from those who seek to destroy us. Our use of alternative energy must be balanced. The current effort to create more ethanol is bringing about hunger. We cannot simply grow our way out of our current energy crisis, importing corn from the bellies of third world peoples. Not only do we need to burn alternative fuels in our vehicles, we need to change our driving habits and our means of transportation. We need to if not divorce ourselves from our automobiles, at least try a separation.

Many Americans consider it their God-given right to drive wherever they want with no thought to the cost not only to their individual pocketbook, but to the environment in which we all must live. As gas prices inch toward $4 some people are beginning to plan their trips in their automobiles, making each trip count. Perhaps the government should have instituted gasoline rationing following 9/11, thus forcing Americans to be frugal with the commodity that is a component of the conflict in the Middle East. Americans managed to ration all manner of things during WWII, but the current administration would like us to believe that we may continue our oil-gluttonous lives with no inconvenience. Now Americans need to climb out of their cars and into buses.

Besides finding alternative energy sources, Americans must shift their view of community. City planners and civil engineers need to create communities within cities whereby citizens can live, work, and shop within a smaller radius than that which came into vogue following WWII. Affordable housing must be within a reasonable distance of peoples’ employment coupled with mass transportation. Where in the past realtors have told potential buyers to drive until they found a home they could afford, Americans need to shift their mindset from the suburbs to urban areas and be willing to possibly live with less square footage in order to avail themselves of public transportation and being within walking distance of shops and services. Americans must demand to live closer to work and services.

While changing their notions about transportation and living arrangements, Americans need to shift their thinking about food. People should be encouraged to support small local farmers and eat in season. While it is impractical today to believe that anyone can totally live within a hundred mile radius of their home, attempting to eat in season and support local sustainable farming will go a long way to improving the environment and community. Americans must make more conscious choices at the grocery store and let their money be their vote for better food.

In the process of becoming more selfless, the need to purchase “things” that ultimately winds up in the landfill declines. Through thoughtful purchases and recycling we can minimize our carbon imprint on the earth. Washington is one of the greenest states when it comes to recycling, a fact Washingtonians can be proud of.

If we want to maintain “the American way of life” we need to change what it is. As five percent of the world’s population, we do not possess a God-given or constitutional right to thirty percent of the world’s resources. The daily behaviors of each of us can make a difference to the environment and the earth.