(I posted this earlier today at MichiganLiberal and DailyKos and in GD)
Through all the work I've been doing recently on the movement to Draft Gore to run for president, I've become more and more aware of the simple things all of us can do in our daily lives to become more carbon neutral and I've been starting to try to do my part. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how each of us, by trying to spread the word to others, could in our own little ways be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
In our office of about 200 people, we have a couple of "cruise directors" who plan office events, etc. I decided to send them and our office administrator an e-mail to see if maybe we could start an educational initiative in the office to teach people about global warming and make them more aware of the things they could do to help -- both in their personal lives and at work. Well, their response was amazing. We met yesterday and talked about some things we could do.
We're going to start with baby steps and kick something off for Earth Day, but we're going to make this an ongoing thing. For starters, everyone in the office will receive a blue spruce sapling (from a Michigan company) next Friday as a kick-off and introduction to what we'll be doing. We're going to wean people off of styrofoam in the office by purchasing a mug and plate for everyone in the office that can be personalized. Once we phase this in, they won't have a choice -- styrofoam will not be available anymore. If we get enough interest, we will have a speaker come in from the Climate Change Project to talk about global warming and what people can do to help.
We will have a showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" and give a reusable grocery bag to everyone who shows up. We will post weekly ideas of things to do to become more carbon neutral.
Last week I attended a DFA meeting and saw a documentary called "Kilowattours." It was a wonderful movie that showed what people can do in their lives to become more carbon neutral, as well as case studies of a school district and a town that did some simple things that saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs. Simply by changing all of their lightbulbs, getting new windows and filling up the cracks in their buildings, the school district was able to save tremendous amounts of money. By changing their traffic signals to new LED lights, the town was able to save also. I ordered a copy of the DVD and we're also going to show that in the office.
These stories got me thinking -- we need to get this DVD into Governor Granholm's hands. There are some ideas here that could help the budget --statewide and at the municipal level. Not so much in the short term, but certainly in the long term. If we could institute some of these things, it could help put Michigan at the forefront of becoming part of the solution to global warming.
Last night at our meetup, I spoke to Andy Meisner
about these ideas. I gave him the website to go to to order the DVD -- http://www.kilowattours.org -- and told him someone needs to talk to the governor about this. I told him what we're doing in our office and how I thought if there was a statewide campaign to get workplaces and individuals to get on board with doing this we could set a great example and start a real movement. He was very receptive.
So, come on, everyone, get on board -- start changing your lightbulbs to CFLs; if you're getting a new car, get a hybrid or register for a Smart Car (which will be available early next year -- go to http://www.smartusa.com ); recycle everything you can; talk to your friends and family; start an initiative where you work. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue -- it's a global issue and affects everyone of us. It will take individuals, as well as government, to solve this problem, and we need to get started now.
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