Friggin' Wawa

I am often at the check out at the local Wawa… purchasing a sandwich… or Coffee... or maybe fruit and cottage cheese for breakfast….whatever.

And I tell the checkout person, “No thank you. I don’t need a bag”.

Now, I admit that sometimes these Wawa worker folks are just to fast for me and they get the bag all ready before I say my standard phrase.

Here’s the kicker. When I tell them that I don’t need the bag they have prepared, they THROW THE BAG AWAY! It boggles my mind!

All this talk about being friendly to the earth, reducing, reusing, recycling… blah blah blah… it’s literally everywhere you turn these days. Do I really need to explain that I wish them to use the bag I have forgone for the next customer? It seems obvious to me that when I say “No thank you. I don’t need a bag”, it does not mean “oh yes and by the way just throw it in the trash and waste it anyway!”

Is it not clear that I am trying to do my part by not wasting plastic bags when I can just as easily carry my purchases in my own personal reusable bag? The worst part is that this KEEPs happening. What's the point of trying if we're not all on the same accord?


I’m seriously blown right now.

Earth Hour

This email was sent to me by 'Where I've Been.'

"---Where I've Been is supporting this year's 2008 World Wildlife Fund Earth Hour! What is Earth Hour? Click here for detailed information.

This Saturday we are shutting off all of our lights from 8-9pm! Why are we doing this? If all Where I've Been users turns off their lights for one hour, we can reduce this year's carbon footprint by approximately 22,290,910 pounds. That's equivalent to saving 400,000 trees or preventing 8.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. WOW!!!

What can you do? Turn off your lights! Last year 2.2 million people shut off their lights for one hour to show their awareness towards global warming.

If we can help to spread the awareness, we can become a part of a great cause that will help to preserve the earth! Join Where I've Been in this Earth-saving crusade by visiting our page and signing up! Let's help fight global warming together and keep our Earth a spectacular place to travel!"

To Do: Save Planet

On my way to the gym this morning (for only the 6th time in the last 13 months… I know man. Im working on it), I stopped at the book store to grab a magazine for my work out.

Knowing me and my quest to figure out how to live a more conscious lifestyle, its probably not a surprise to you all that I skipped the fashion mags… although entertaining, and opted for the June 2007 issue of Veg News.

The ever increasingly popular topic of global warming / save-the-planet-ism was the topic of a particular article entitled, “Can Vegetarianism Save the Planet?” I highly recommend you pick up the magazine and read it yourself… the article is truly enlightening.

Many of you know that I choose to forgo meat as a part of my daily diet. The decision was made as a small, (yet not without impact), statement against animal cruelty. Especially that experienced by animals in the “factory farms” of the United States.


The article previously mentioned highlights the following points that I’d like to share with you.

1. “Our self-destructive addiction to meat is killing us and our planet”

“How so?” you ask... read on for the connection.

2. “the lower your diet is on the food chain, the more ‘earth-friendly’ it is” – Robbins.

3. “Choosing vegetarianism lightens our environmental footprint because the less meat we eat, the less we contribute to worldwide air and water pollution, and water and land misuse.”

Here’s the kicker… the problem is not just the CO2 emissions from our cars (though it is certainly a huge adder.) It is estimated that methane is a greater cause of global warming than transportation emissions! “And where is all this methane coming from?” you ask. Uh… from all the moo-cows being “grown” for those juicy burgers you love so much. Imagine that?!

4. “While most major environmental organizations have focused on carbon emissions, recent reports… show that ‘CO2 emissions are not the main cause of observed atmospheric warming.’… ‘If we wish to curb global warming over the coming half century, we must look at strategies to address non- CO2 emissions. The strategy with the most impact is vegetarianism’”

5. “If we are going to stop global warming now – right now – we’ve got to go after the Goliath of greenhouse gases: methane.

6. “The EPA [The United States Environmental Protection Agency] estimates that animal agriculture produces about 80 million tons of methane annually. This potent greenhouse gas, produced in the gastrointestinal tracks of cattle and passed into the atmosphere by belching, flatulence and exhaling waste-water lagoons, has 23 times the global warming potential of CO2, according to [an] FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] report.”

7. “The annual greenhouse gas output from burger consumption [just burger consumption folks] is the equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas output from four million to 13 million SUVs”…

Good God.

There’s much more… I’ll save the rest for another day. But as always, I conclude the following:

There are of course many other reasons to go veg, and I’ve spent the last 2.5 years learning more about these reasons. I’m not one to shun those that still choose to eat meet… (Though I do cringe a little at the comment, “oh… I’m a vegetarian too… I eat chicken once in a while though.”) most especially since I don’t personally consider myself a full out vegetarian… (I haven’t quite phased out the sea-food yet…) However, to read is to be informed. I DO shun those who choose to be misinformed. So, I encourage all of you to at least find out a little bit more about vegetarianism, environmentalism, etc. etc. because you may find that there is something in there that you can do to help fix our many crisis situations. If not for you, then at least for those to come…

One way to help has just presented itself … while attending this summer’s cookout, if given a choice between a regular and a veggie burger, choose the veggie burger. It’s really as simple as that.

“If you can’t imagine what a future would look like if the whole world went veg, try harder. Picture a doorway, with 2050 on the other side. With global warming knocking, its not okay to pretend no one’s home. Open the door and walk through it. An entire generation free from the threat of environmental collapse is waiting to greet you with good news: Vegetarianism can save the planet.” – Jolia Sidona Allen, from “Can Vegetarianism Save the Planet?”

Living in the Green

I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainable and green living lately...

To live a life that uses what is needed and only what is needed. And of course, to give back as much as can be afforded so that this earth can replenish, re-grow, and rebuild itself.

“Green or Ecological living is a life philosophy. Proponents of ecological living aim to conduct their lives in such a way that they have an all-encompassing awareness of earth and its processes. Each choice made under such a way of life requires a consideration of the consequences of the choice, and the way that the decision will affect the environment and all living things within it. Ecological consciousness and care for the earth are of paramount importance in the decision-making process…”

As most of you know, I made the decision to stop eating almost all types of meat about 2 and half years ago. (Still working on eliminating the seafood...) Reasons for this have grown immensely but the decision came about simply because I didn’t want to support the mass neglect and exploitation of animals prior to their being prepared for our consumption.

So is it any wonder that my mind wanders toward the many aspects and behaviors of conscious living?

When I think of how we continue to abuse this amazing earth that we’ve been given (myself included), my heart aches. Why is it so hard for us to take a moment to THINK about how our actions affect ANYTHING other than ourselves? Would it really be that difficult to go a step beyond recycling? Dependency on cars as a mode of transportation has quite frankly gotten out of control… and with gas prices… well we’re all feeling that.

So what do we go? Walk when we can and reuse our plastic? I feel we can and should be doing more. I am committing to at least learning how to live a life that is as “Green” as possible. Having been raised in a purely consumptive environment, changing mindset, addictions, and dependencies will be no small task. For example, there is no way that I can walk to work… but I can change my light bulbs to something less wasteful of energy. I know I’m not prepared to grow all of my food and work by candle light at night… but it’s about the small steps. Those little, sometimes quiet but always powerful, statements that say to the world, “You don’t have to care. But I control me. And I do what’s in my heart.”