I'm totally enrolled in a GREEN WEEK--in first looking at what practices we could be taking to be more sustainable, and then choosing to try these out for a week and see how it goes!
Again, one thing to be clear about is that these are ideas and suggestions from individual TMLP participants who have chosen to be affiliated as a Green Team, versus being part of or sanctioned by Landmark Education.
Below are some practices I see that people could try out for a week, and why. WHO WOULD YOU BE BEING IF YOU TOOK THESE ON?
In the realm of TRANSPORTATION:
-Find another way to get to work without driving if you normally do. Driving is one of the most harmful things we do for the environment in causing global warming through the burning of CO2, as well as through the use of gasoline, which damages ecosystems and causes harm on multiple levels. Could you carpool? Take public transit? Bike? Walk? Work from home? Even once during GREEN WEEK?
-Are there other places you would normally drive to that you could choose to get to through other means?
In the realm of FOOD:
-Eat lower on the food chain, and avoid industrially produced, factory-farmed animal products. Intensive livestock production has been deemed by the United Nations to be an even greter contributor to global warming than driving is. Industrial factory farms with thousands of animals densely confined in small spaces also pollute nearby water, air, and soil, as well as using hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides, and treating animals in ways most people are opposed to.
Can you try being vegetarian or even vegan for a certain number of days during GREEN WEEK? One TMLP member is playing for eating vegetarian meals everyday for lunch this week.
-Eat locally produced food. For GREEN WEEK, can you buy produce from a local farmers' market or co-op instead of from the super market? This supports local agriculture and a community-based food system rather than one that relies heavily on fossil fuels.
-Be cause in the matter of avoiding packaging. Bringing a bag or two with you when you go to the farmers' market spares the planet a few extra non-recyclable, petroleum-based plastic bags.
In the realm of ENERGY:
-Replace your standard light bulb with compact floursecent, as someone else suggested in another post. This saves money as well as energy.
-Put on a sweater or use a blanket when you're cold instead of turning up the heat. This will also save money as well as the planet.
THESE ARE MY IDEAS! What are yours?
Again, who would you be being if you took on any or all of these--just for GREEN WEEK--in developing sustainable, workable practices?
Which will you take on? Where are you confronted? What are you making it all mean???!
-Nora
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Hello Green Team. I'm a former LA TMLP coach (way back in the mid 90's...) so I'm not playing in Landmark now. I did end up on this list and am enjoying the game. Thank you for letting me tag along to read what's happening. Nora pretty much hit the nail on the head for me with the suggestions she has for leaving a lighter footprint. I don't remember my HTML so you won't get any paragraphs from me - this will be all bunched together. About 3 years ago I started reusing my paper grocery sacks at the store. This was before people started buying the cloth and reusable plastic sacks. It was fun to do and it made a statement without preaching. Now I use manufactured bags and it's no big deal since people are really waking up around the impact of bags. What I find is that a lot of people don't want to be preached to. They know their lives are wasteful in general but if you TELL them, they shut down and get defensive. So, for me, the visible steps, the ones people can see, go a long way. This is LA with a crappy public transportation system and I'm not willing to give up my drive to work, which is only 8 miles but with buses would take an hour. Nora asked where we’re confronted – public transportation in LA is my confront. I’ll do it in Toronto Canada, Washington DC and San Francisco but not LA. I do drive a Prius so I know my carbon impact is lower than with a regular car. I drive it consciously too. This is a big deal - watch how you're driving. Quick accelerations/braking use up a lot of gas, for example. Info about this (driving) is all on the web. If we see places where the traffic lights are not synchronized, we can start telling out communities to shape it up. We're adding a lot of greenhouse gases when we idle in our cars. I'm finding out who to write to in Culver City, which I drive through daily. They are so bad about allowing unimpeded traffic. Today of all places the Los Angeles Times had an article about reducing our carbon footprint through the food we eat! Check it out here if you like: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lowcarbon22apr22,0,7029685.story There's a lot of information you already know but they give some good numbers to have up our sleeves when we're sharing about our carbon impact. My husband was recently told to go Gluten free in his diet and I decided to support him in that by joining him so our diet has gotten a lot more conscious. We are eating more fresh fruits and veggies, almost all of it local and organic as much as possible. I still buy a pineapple weekly for our smoothies but we try not to buy the fruits that are shipped far. In the article they talk about how tomatoes grown in CA are shipped to New England and actually shipped back to CA before they are distributed! Only in America... If we can think of it, we'll waste it. At home we are blessed to have a garden so we can grow our own tomatoes, thank you, and since it’s Los Angeles, we get them year round. I know this one might be hard for some folks but I grew up in a septic tank household (vs. city sewage system) so my Dad always was concerned with using too much water since it cost him a couple thousand dollars to empty the septic tank each time. I learned to not keep the water running when I'm in the shower. I get myself wet, turn off the water, soap up, turn it back on and rinse off. If I'm washing my hair (long hair), I definitely have the water off while I'm soaping/conditioning. I know I save A LOT of water doing this. It's so easy. Keep the water off when brushing teeth, doing the actual washing of dishes. I know a lot of you are not in the USA. I was at a conference this weekend and it was about spiritual transformation. I watched a woman drinking water out of her water bottle and I wanted to scream. My head went all “Judgment” over it but one of the most awful things we Americans have given the world is our obsession over bottled water. I just saw “ugly American” as I watched her drink (but it wasn’t directed at her). If we could shift that behavior in the US from throw away water bottles toward using refillable bottles we can do ANYTHING, ANYWHERE. I still remember in a Landmark seminar Jerome Downes (I think it was Jerome) telling us how the bottled water companies have us twisted around their little fingers, convinced we need their product, which in most cases is nothing more than glorified tap water. Hubby bought us small stainless steal bottles to deal with the issues of plastic leaching and they work great. We fill large 5 gallon or so jugs with filtered water from a co-op and use them at home and refill our small water bottles so we don’t need to use the disposable plastic ones. And I forgave myself for judging that poor woman who is just doing what the advertisers tell her to do! What is so important is our consciousness vs. just taking automatic actions. As our collective consciousness around conservation increases, we intensify the vibrations supporting conservation more than just by taking an action. The people on this team, your commitment to the planet and possibility for all is truly inspiring. The fact that you are actively taking on the culture inside of Landmark and its programs bodes very, very well for our planet! Thank you again, Nora, for your amazing stand, love and commitment. And PS – I’ve read several of you apologizing for flying places. I know flight leaves a huge step and I still request that you forgive yourselves for flying. What you are up to may necessitate flight. You ARE making a difference on this planet!
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