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Everyday Eco: Christians and Climate Change

1/28/2015

I have started writing a blog post on being a pragmatist vs. activist vs. slacktivist....and that blog is coming....but sometimes synchronicity wins out. If the head of the Environmental Protection Agency is getting a short audience with the Pope on the moral issue of climate....well we can all take a second to think this whole thing through.

Most Sundays I volunteer at my Catholic church here in LA as a small group leader with teens. A recent session was about science and faith, and I was telling my co-leader how excited I was to discuss environment/eco/climate change with the small group since I experience resistance all the time....particularly from conservative Christians on that topic. The words are hanging in the air, and I see a WashPost article on a study that showed half of Americans think the increasing severity of natural disasters is a sign of Biblical end times (77% of White Evangelicals and 74% of Black Protestants). Oh, where to begin...

I'm inspired that I'm nowhere near the first person to draw the connection between being a Christian and stewarding the environment (aka God's creation for all my non-religious peeps). Leading climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe from the Years of Living Dangerously first episode (watch for free!) draws from her evangelical Christianity when speaking with others about climate change and faith:
"When I look at the information we get from the planet, I look at it as God's creation, speaking to us. And in this case, there's no question that God's creation is telling us that it is running a fever."
Sit with that a second. That right there's the bomb diggity of explanations.

Until the Pope Francis encyclical on ecology comes out, you'll have to survive with my opinions! (Ok, well I'm basing it on off-the-cuff remarks he gave on the topic...but I digress...)

There's two reasons the mentality that is so prevalent in evangelical Christians is a huge problem....
1) it's a gigantic loophole and out for people who are causing climate change (Americans) to not deal with the issue (which I won't go into this blog post, but is important to note!), and
2) more importantly, it's antithetical to what being a Christian is all about, caring about the poor and social/environmental justice is at the heart of the Gospel....

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Inspirations: A Century of Passion

1/26/2015

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Especially when writing this blog, but often when writing about environmental issues, I feel like a lone voice crying out in the wilderness. And resonating with that phrase is not by accident...vox clamantis in deserto is the motto of my beloved college on the Hill where I spent 4 years learning about the environment (and getting a serious eco-butt-kicking!)

Recently, the prolonged lack of technology in my life has led me to reconnect, to catch up on my reading, to "slow down to speed up". Over the weekend I finally read my backlog of alumni magazines from the past year (sorry Jess!). In the Class Notes, there's an absolute gem series from a man named Edward Gerson, Class of 1935, who just celebrated his 100th birthday (HBD Ed!) Most Class Notes focus on the happenings of others, but Edward has taken this platform as his way to share his views, his thoughts, his passions, his worries and his hopes for the future (longer text below the jump). He draws similarities from growing up in the 1920s and 1930s to now. He worries about the future of our democracy, the power of corruption and advocates for exercising your vote. He encourages alumni to get involved, be the change we want to see, so to speak. It got me thinking....

So often I hear that my passion for the planet, my "fight", is because I'm young. That somehow age will make me give up and care less about what we're all doing to the planet. I've noodled on it, but never landed an opinion until now. With help and many thanks to Edward Gerson! I don't think age will diminish my passion at all. I hope someday to be living like Ed..."I still study every day because it opens up new worlds to me, and what could be greater?" Passion is a state of mind, and there's no reason not to have spades of it for the long haul!

Keep on keeping on Ed...GO BIG GREEN! :)

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EcoPartyDownload: Don't bring a knife to a Climate Fight

1/22/2015

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Climate has been a contentious issue for as long as I've been doing environmental work (read: over a decade). I wish it weren't a "fight"....I wish deniers hadn't trumped up a "debate" on climate in which they undermine the value of science itself and required non-profits to try to run counter-campaigns.....in which they take news of 2014 as the hottest year on record and 13 of the 14 hottest years happening since 2000 and nitpick about satellite vs. air vs. sea temperature. Most of all, I wish I could unring the bell of knowing that the same guy who fought against public health officials on the science that showed cigarettes causing cancer is a lead voice in the climate change denial movement (but I digress).

Point is, as environmentalish peeps we have to recognize that despite public opinion poll after poll showing Americans are starting to come round to the rest of the world's view, fighting about climate change science by many but not all conservatives is still a reality. A big spin reality in our news media. A reality that doesn't reflect the enviro(ish) belief in people being smart, logical and good. Therefore, an unfortunate reality. And in the face of this reality, we have to choose if we engage or avoid this fight. I have decided that because people look to me on environmental/eco/green issues, I won't allow the deniers to "win" the opinion of people I know just because they are yelling the loudest and because I feel pressure to back down. Nobody puts baby in a corner. Truth is on the side of climate science, and the future of our livelihoods and planet hangs in the balance. IMHO, that's big enough to be worth purposeful engagement. In the face of such opposition, I stand even more firmly planted and use the following facts and tools below the jump. But before I get all practical on how to engage in this "fight" and arm you with my favorite "weapons", it's important you get the skinny. This is not a theoretical, abstract experience for me, and boy, it can be draining....

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Being Personally Sustainable

1/20/2015

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Apologies for not writing here in a while. I've been experiencing a severe lack of technology since November 24 that led me to be disconnected, and then choose to stay disconnected. If you've read Meet Megan, well, you know where I work. Sorry to disappoint, but that's all I'm going to say about that experience.

The time "disconnected" has given me lots of insights though, and I hope to share. It's a new year, free from the experiences of last year (inshallah! Haha. XOXO). But those experiences, just like all of life's trials, leave impressions. Some of my coworkers had to work over the holidays, are still working at a breakneck pace....all while I had the opportunity to power down and recharge and renew. And it made me consider...most of the actions I focus on on this blog are about outward eco actions, external sustainability. It's time I take a beat to focus inward on the importance of being personally sustainable.

Below the jump are my top 5 activities to be personally sustainable this 2015. I believe our greatest source of power comes from and is renewed from within, so here's hoping you find these strategies helpful in your own life. To start us off inspired-like, here's a Buddhist parable that goes something like: "One day as the Buddha was sitting under a tree, a young, trim soldier walked by, looked at the Buddha, noticed his weight and his fat, and said: “You look like a pig!” The Buddha looked up calmly at the soldier and said: “And you look like God!” Taken aback by the comment, the soldier asked the Buddha: “Why do you say that I look like God?” The Buddha replied: “Well, we don’t really see what’s outside of ourselves, we see what’s inside of us and project it out. I sit under this tree all day and I think about God, so that when I look out, that’s what I see. And you, you must be thinking about other things!”
image courtesy of URL

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Inspirations: We Must Laugh (So As Not To Cry)

11/20/2014

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Stephen Colbert tweeted about climate change in what is hands down my favorite tweet ever. After I stopped laughing/falling off my chair I thought about exactly why it is amazing:

He undoes all of the climate change distortions in local media in less than140 characters. Holla @Twitter!
It reminded me how important it is to keep light-hearted about these seriously not light-hearted issues. When I worked inside the beltway, I made sure to watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report as a lifeline.

We must laugh so as not to cry/despair....it is important to enjoy and embrace everyday life. That is the enviro(ish) way!

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EveryDay Eco: Ban the Bottle From Your Life

11/18/2014

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So this post is a bit of a cheat, because I already did a post about Hydrating Reusably at the Office (read there for facts/data/why it matters). But last week we had an event at work honoring America Recycles Day and I got to meet environmental champion Ed Begley Jr....who was ONLY taking photos with employees that committed to refill. My coworkers did me so proud!

And it motivated me to take my personal commitment one step further. I changed a habit! When I traveled this past weekend, I brought an empty reusable bottle through airport security and filled up on the other side. I think for the first time!? I really felt good AND there was a bit of pleasure in sticking it to the man by not paying the absurdly high post-security price of food and drink.

Want to hear a horrifying fact? Those plastic water bottles behind Ed and I in the display represent the amount the U.S. throws away in less than one second. The U.S. threw away 273 times that amount during the 2 hours of our recycling event. Hundreds of people stopped by to look at it with disgust/horror faces, and it only made it clearer. Time to ban the bottle from your life, it's the enviro(ish) thing to do. Let's get to it!
psst....have you done it yet?? If not, why not?

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EcoPartyDownload: Keystone XL

11/17/2014

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Environmentalists threw down the gauntlet a few years ago on exactly ONE issue, and it was on the Keystone XL pipeline. The leader of 350.org, Bill McKibben, called it "gameover for the climate". Eco and civil rights protestors and hundreds of youth have been arrested outside the White House. It's been the single point of activism around climate change that galvanized eco peeps across the non-profit spectrum. Because the decision-making is concentrated in one guy: President Barack Obama. It's the Administration's ability to approve the pipeline since it will run over an international border with Canada. Or at least it was for many, many years until the House has passed the construction bill in trying to work around him.

Despite being pretty much not an activist (future post on that later), it got me fired up and ready to go. I wrote this letter to our President with my Hope bumper magnet (complete with dirt!) in a plea to not approve this disastrous pipeline. So what is it? And what's the big deal?

Repeat after me: the Canadians couldn't get through a pipeline on their own soil to the West/Pacific route (aka why are WE taking the risk they wouldn't do themselves?), tar sands oil is more energy intensive and harmful to the planet requiring us to evaluate our societal direction (answer: it's time to wean ourselves off of oil, not just for the planet but for the power/politics/money that flow with it), the economics are not beneficial (it will create only temporary jobs and a handful permanently, as well as the major issue of externalities).

This one is a doozy, so hold onto your butts enviroish friends!

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Inspirations: Getting Dirty

11/5/2014

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We had some miraculous rain on Halloween here in Los Angeles. About an inch when the last we've had was one tenth of an inch April 1. Considering the Biblical/DEFCON4 drought in these parts, it was glorious!

The next day I was playing flag football and got mud under my fingernails and had a moment. The kind of moment gardeners must have all the time...how wonderful that feeling of earth is.

It's all about the frame isn't it? Dirt on a chair/bench when I'm dressed up purty is very UNwelcome. But digging my toes into the sand or the feel of soil when you're playing on a field or in a garden is kind of magical. Do you ever have those moments? How do they make you feel?

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Everyday Eco: Get Your Butt Kicked By Nature

11/3/2014

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I'm not really sure how this title sounds to you, my lovely readers, but stick with me on this one. It's been a busy/fun/interesting couple weeks where I got to connect some dots in life. Always a great feeling!

I'm listening to the news today, and we had this gem from Mashable... "do national parks need wi-fi to stay relevant?" SMH. Oh so many things wrong with this idea. Maybe instead of injecting more and more connectivity to avoid "complaints from the teens", we should ask ourselves, what is the value in being disconnected?

A few weeks back I was sitting at the LA Athletic Club for a Women in Green breakfast listening to Kris Tompkins. She's the former CEO of Patagonia who built what is probably the most eco company up from scratch with Yvon Chouinard (Patagucci comments are welcome!). And since leaving Patagonia the company, she's spent almost all her time in Patagonia the region of Chile, buying land parcel by parcel to turn into national parks. It's a practice that has been controversial to some, but no one can deny the massive impact she's had in conserving land.

The conversation went a few different directions, but a couple nuggets have stuck with me. First is the importance of being in nature. This comes at a time when visits to National Parks are down, kids have more screen time than ever, local parks funding is challenging....all of which gets summed up into "Nature Deficit Disorder" in a book Last Child in the Woods (I had aspirations to read it before posting this, but alas, there is this little thing called life that gets in the way....thankfully #nobodysperfect is a core tenet here at enviroish!). Anyways, nature deficit disorder is a clever theory that ties kids behavioral problems and obesity with a disconnection with nature. Given all the trends, it makes a lot of sense.

Kris said something else that stuck with me and identifies why I'm so passionate for our planet. Basically, getting your butt kicked by nature is a very important, if not THE most important, experience that leads you to care for our planet. Ohmygoodness....YES! She encouraged us all to embrace the bugbites, rain, cold, windiness and unpredictability of nature because it reminds us where we peeps really stand. We're just one species on this giant Noah's Ark called Earth, and the sooner we behave that way, the better for all. So if you haven't gotten your butt kicked by nature recently, get out there! Go in the ocean, on a hike, camp in your tent...next time you're traveling, pick a more nature-driven destination. Go forth the way Thoreau intended!

You see, I spent an entire summer in a conservation park in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa getting my butt (and legs, and arms) royally kicked by nature in a way that cannot be forgotten. By rhino-sized ticks kind of nature. By charismatic megafauna NATURE. I pretty much spent 8 weeks of my life doing this....

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Robert Redford speaks for the trees

10/23/2014

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Listen to Robert Redford channel the Lorax and speak for the trees. In this case, the beautiful Redwoods in my home state of California (although Truffula Trees are fantastical). Nature IS speaking. And I welcome all voices great and small to join my beloved Dr. Seuss who is from where I grew up, went to that dear college on the Hill like I did, and wrote the most perfect book about conservation out there.

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you sir, at the top of my lungs. Oh please do not cut down another one."
-The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

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Inspirations: Conservatives working on climate change

10/21/2014

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We desperately need to change the conversation on conservation. Climate change is somehow a very contentious political issue (n.b. in the U.S. only, a study across 39 nations found it ranked as the #1 global threat...but I digress). The environmentalist in me finds the whole thing bananas....it's akin to having a national debate over whether smoking causes cancer. The American Academy for the Advancement of Science has a campaign on the facts of climate change because our "national debate" is a bad sign for science at large. And that doesn't even account for the fact that the climate change denial machine is not just using the same tactics - but the exact same people - that spent time a few decades back trying to confuse people about whether cigarettes caused cancer. Like I said, bananas.

It's easy to find despair. The poster child is a Republican Congressman from South Carolina who lost his 2010 primary battle because of backlash for his stance on climate change both existing and being man-made. He was on the House Subcommittee for Energy and Environment that got "Burn Noticed" for its lack of common sense on science basics.

But Enviro(ish) is extremely anti-despair. I'm a believer in MLK Jr's quote that the arc of the moral universe is long, but bends towards justice. And the first step we take is acknowledging the truth. It's been a few years, so I checked up on that Congressman Bob Inglis, and checked in with an energy initiative in Washington D.C. led by four-star generals. Seeing conservatives not just having discussions but taking policy action regarding climate change gives me incredible amounts of hope. Here's the EcoPartyDownload on conservative solutions for climate change. Yes, you read that right.....conserve IS the root for both conservation AND conservative....is it not? (See what I did there?? Boom!)

Photo courtesy of Securing America's Future Energy

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everyday Eco: say no to microbeads

10/10/2014

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So I'm at SXSW Eco, this amazeballs conference in Austin where lots of different types come together around environmental/good issues in an open and interesting way. I'm listening to a panel on plastic pollution in the ocean with Heal the Bay and 5 Gyres Institute, and am congratulating myself on having banned the one-time plastic use water bottle from my life. I'm a reusable bagger. High-five! I'm eco amazing! I'm free of one-time use plastics that go to the ocean right?

Wrong. Wait, what?!? There's these little thing called microbeads. I admit I've been using them because the texture helps my skin look oh so fresh and clean (when I forget to bring my scrub brush). In fact, the face wash I brought when I traveled to the conference had microbeads. I'm thinking these are just little hard bits of soap, same stuff the cleanser is made out of, right? Nope. Little tiny bits of one-time use polyethylene. Apparently every major consumer products company has these plastic microbeads in products or product lines. Even the companies that IMO are more eco than others (et tu Body Shop "Natural Products Inspired by Nature"? Unilever "Sustainable Living Plan"?).

AACK! And here I was, buying a product from Neutrogena, one of the worst offenders. I am eco-shamed, but shaming is not what we do here at Enviro(ish). It's all about the journey and learning. Phew!

Photo courtesy of 5 Gyres Institute

Starting today, I'm not going to use the rest of this face wash and promise not to buy personal care products with beads or using polyethylene. It's such an easy step that makes a big difference. Because the more I'm thinking about microbeads, the more CRAZY BANANAS it is....not just for the planet but for my health!

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Ecopartydownload: The ocean speaks

10/7/2014

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I'm here at SXSW Eco in Austin, and am wildly inspired by a standing ovation keynote from NatGeo Explorer-in-Residence, Oceanographer extraordinaire, former chief scientist of NOAA, and gender-barrier-breaking research scientist Sylvia Earle. You'd think SHE is all we need to speak for the ocean....but luckily there's others.

In the lead up to her speech, they played the ocean for "Nature is Speaking". It's perfectly the way we need to think about environmental issues (right in line with the EcoPartyDownload on climate march!). The planet will keep turning, but the systems we depend on for life and health will suffer as will we. You'll never guess who's voice is the ocean. Ok ok, since it's from Conservation International and he's been on the board over 20 years you might guess.... Indiana Jones! Badass as ever...this time for the ocean. #lovesit

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Plugging in for the planet

10/6/2014

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We have our first topic requests coming in here @enviro(ish). I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! "Why are electric power (plug-in) vehicles better for the environment than gas powered cars?" So this is not only a fantastic topic and related to the big eco news for LA this past week, but it's also personally one of my most favorite things at the moment. 1) Because getting EV workplace charging for employees has been a 3-year labor of eco love that finally got some great results this past summer; and 2) I now am the proud owner of a Toyota RAV4 EV...it's all electric and a Tesla on the inside (woot!). The timing of #1 and #2 would be completely suspicious if it weren't for the fact I was in a horrible car accident (thank you spacey LA drivers, 2nd worst in the nation, stop looking at your phone!). I'm a huge believer that it happened for a reason...the LCA of my old car was too good to replace....but I digress.

Short answer: it IS more eco-friendly to plug in than use the pump. Don't believe me at my word?? Ok, more answers below!

Just commit this to the mems, and then learn "why" below the jump:
Electric vehicles add no local air pollutants (aka no tailpipe nasties that go to lungs/smog) and the grid burns much cleaner/has less greenhouse gas emissions than your gasoline or diesel for your car (aka efficiency of scale, more natural gas, and some renewables).

The little internal combustion engine under your hood just can't eco-compete. Game, set, match!

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inspirations: Get Eco Started

9/25/2014

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Love this quote....helps me stay focused on what I can do, on my actions. Stop letting the scope of the eco prevent me from taking a step in the right direction. Epitome of enviro(ish), don't you think?

What inspires you to get started and keep going?

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Forward>>

Everyday Eco: Christians and Climate Change

Inspirations: A Century of Passion

EcoPartyDownload: Don't bring a knife to a Climate Fight

Being Personally Sustainable

Inspirations: We Must Laugh (So As Not To Cry)

EveryDay Eco: Ban the Bottle From Your Life

EcoPartyDownload: Keystone XL

Inspirations: Getting Dirty

Everyday Eco: Get Your Butt Kicked By Nature

Robert Redford speaks for the trees

Inspirations: Conservatives working on climate change

everyday Eco: say no to microbeads

Ecopartydownload: The ocean speaks

Plugging in for the planet

inspirations: Get Eco Started

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