The Span of Days Ahead –

     This essay is about the commitment I am making to become a better, more informed consumer. In the process of getting to know social media, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I’ve become aware of the environmental issues that are most stridently pushed forward by both the industries that benefit from consumer awareness to those topics, and the startling fact of how terribly ignorant I am of those matters.

    Here’s a list of things I’ve learned, and that guide me, when making some of my decisions as a consumer:

1)    Planting trees & seeds that will help the problems we’re seeing in the natural world. We’ve got to help the birds & bees & butterflies, not because it’s pretty or hippie-dippie or looks good on a bumper sticker. We’ve got to do it because the natural world is where we get air and food and water. If we don’t try to make an improvement, it will be asthma/emphysema everywhere, less food at affordable prices, and foul water that will make us wish we could drink out of gas station toilets. Get involved in causes that plants trees & bushes that benefit other species, which in turn will obviously benefit us. Even your final arrangements can do that, i.e. benefit the natural world. Look into that issue and learn about the ways to make end-of-life choices that truly will be a lasting testament.

2)    Reduce-Reuse-Recycle – yeah, I know, that’s a catch-phrase invented by marketing departments  meant to get people to start buying “organic” items or “environmentally-friendly” goods at slightly higher prices, but it also has a modicum of integrity, even if it is advertising gibberish. It's not difficult to do. Look at how you consume, review what you throw away, and go from there. How can you make your weekly contributions to the garbage truck lighter? What products can I purchase that will help me do that? What can I recycle, even if that means it's only a delay before that stuff gets thrown into the land fills? Is there anything I can do to help clean up beaches? Of course there's something you can do! The next time you go to the beach, pick up some trash that's washed up or been left by others. Simple as that!

3)    Give up plastic bags altogether – easy to say, but not very easy to do. But make an effort, all the same. Use fabric or paper bags for carrying your shopping, laundry, lunch, and whatever else you’ve got to carry. You will always have a number of things that are throw away or disposable – do the best you can to get 2 or 3 uses out of it. Thrift stores will provide you with at least 90% of the stuff you need (apart from consumables like food, gasoline, etc). Electric cars or hybrid cars reduce the dependence on oil, and everything we know about the oil industry shows petroleum products to be a hugely negative influence on our society, on our culture, and certainly on our planet. The continuance of the petroleum industry is a sure-fire way to nudge our species forward on the path that was trodden by dinosaurs, which oddly enough, were contributors to the petroleum sources we are currently using. Consider the car options for the next purchase you make. Will it be an hybrid or an electric car? There may be some terrific tax write-offs you can qualify for and everyone likes those, right?!

4)    What else is out there? What other kinds of energy sources exist now? Is there anything new on the horizon? I’ll bet there is, or will be very soon. Ask those questions and keep asking, until you get some answers. Humans are a fairly successful animal and that’s because we keep asking question and seeking the answers. We’re relentless. Be relentless. Ask Monsanto and Kellogg and General Mills and Ford what they are doing to keep you as a consumer of their products. They may not respond, they may not seem to care much what we have to say, but they bloody well do listen to the money in our wallets, and they care very much about consumer trends that will most probably be the guide you use when you make your next car purchase.

5)    Voting – I have a voice, one voice, not any louder than anyone else's, but it’s a voice. When I vote, I have a moment to sound off and that voice has its moment to be heard. If I don’t vote, I’m an idiot – simple as that. People fought a war – actually a few wars – about that very thing, and I’m not gonna disrespect their sacrifice. I’m gonna vote, and you should too. Make it an informed vote, please. Read about the candidates and about the issues. Read a few things about those men & women in their power suits, and about the issues on the ballot. Be cynical. Be skeptical. Get informed. At the same time you are preparing to vote, why not write a letter/email to the candidate asking him/her to consider getting involved with something you care about, whether it’s bears in Tahoe or no-kill animal shelters in your county or the availability of electric car charging stations in your community or homeless shelters in your neighborhood. Communicate with the people who are gonna represent you in the Mayor’s Office, the Governor’s Mansion, the Congress, the Senate, in the White House. They work for you and don’t you ever forget that. You pay their salaries and pensions. You pay their mortgages and car payments. You are The Boss.

    In conclusion, I’m certain that many of the FB people who will read this essay will recognize certain themes that I’ve posted or commented about. The Internet is a damn good tool we can use to make things work better for human kind, my Friends. It’s not a coincidence that COSMOS came back to tv last spring. We needed to get some perspective on our existence and that kind of production is a great way to find it. Ann Druyan calls it the “cosmic perspective” and I agree. We need a good healthy shot of humility now and then. We need to be reminded of who we are and where we fit in. We have the technology to travel into space, but we also use that technology to destroy great swaths of the natural world. That’s representative of human kind. We’re good at building stuff and using tools, but equally effective at damaging and destroying what we need to exist and poisoning ourselves.

    Dear Reader, I’m giving you a mandate, sending you on a quest. In the span of days you have on this planet, you will be both a consumer and a creator. You will be taking things out of the environment, and you will be putting things in. It doesn’t seem to be difficult to remove/ consume/use, but it does take more effort to create/produce/improve. Life is based on doing both, in my humble opinion. Life is about learning as much as you can about the World. Life is about understanding and appreciating the path we’re on. If you’re at the point in your life when you decide to make a commitment to something, please consider giving our World some attention.

     It certainly needs it.