sustainability – art, design and social practice

After going through the EPA Carbon Footprint Calculator I was pretty disgusted with my result for needing 5 planets to sustain life if everyone had my lifestyle, especially when it took Hugh and his family only 3.9 planets. I recycle consistently and shop locally diligently, so my 44,406 lbs of yearly Carbon Emission is a thorn on my eco-friendly halo. I figured that my biggest scar on the earth was through mobility, because not only do I have a car but I traveled through India (18473 miles, which came out to 7,047lbs Carbon dent) and through Dubai and Eastern Europe (13,294 miles, which came out to 4,389lbs Carbon dent) and that was just flights within the past two years. I am a transient person and move seasonally, so my habits must put a considerable amount to pressure on the earth. The calculations shook me to almost completely not use my car unless there were more than myself in it and for some greater purpose like moving heavy machinery rather than just not wanting to walk, and to take public transportation during the last few trips outside of Baltimore. I am going to look into better travel options, in Europe they have a sort of planned hitchhiking service where long trips are posted on the internet to create long distance carpools. I am going to find these, if they are in the US, more often and if trains are not available, (I hate buses more than I hate Carbon Emission).

I also did the Carbon Emission calculator for my parents house, turns out they had made all the changes to Energy Saving light bulbs, refrigerators etc. But we have these huge glass windows in one side of our house that act as a sort of green house, I am proposing a sliding barn door to shield the room from the sun, so we can stop baking and racking up the AC.

Also here is that crazy blog with a blurb about making clouds
http://pruned.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_archive.html

 My results for the carbon footprint calculators were all varied, and most seemed to be just slightly below average. Since the results were all so different, I feel like I cannot take them too seriously.

My energy use and changes I am willing to make:

Transportation:

I’ve put some thought into it and owning a car is something I am not willing to sacrifice. I plan on driving my car until it dies and then hopefully replacing it with a hybrid vehicle many years from now. I am trying to drive less and take public transport and bike more which will be easier as soon as I get my bike fixed! I also started taking the Baltimore subway this summer and realized how clean, nice and convenient it is. I shop at Target sometimes (which I feel bad about too) and now that one has opened at the Mondawmin mall, I am going to try to take the subway to it instead of driving to the one in Towson like I used to

Energy:

I use mainly compact florescent light bulbs in my apartment and am pretty good about turning off all of the lights when I leave. I will also make an effort to use my heat as little as possible this winter, which was easy last winter because I was living in a large apartment complex, so the apartments around mine kept mine warm, although this winter it may be more difficult. I am also making an effort to think about the “embodied energy” in things that I buy, and when I need things I will look for materials that are natural and long lasting as well as trying to avoid plastic.

Waste:

I recycle everything I can, although I am not sure if recycling actually helps or is neutral or possibly even harmful to the environment, especially after I started reading the section in Cradle to Cradle which exposes some truths about recycling. I always give away or donate my old clothes and other useful things, it makes me mad when people throw away useful items and sometimes go dumpster diving to rescue them.

Food:

I’m a vegan (no meat, dairy or eggs), and I feel that food consumption should definitely be a factor that we consider when assessing our own environmental impact. Producing meat takes massive amounts the energy and resources-much more than is required to produce plant foods. In the future, I am going to make an effort to eat more local and unprocessed foods and buy organic whenever possible and I also hope to have a garden or at least space to grow some veggies when I move to a new apartment.

Blah:

Honestly I feel a little burnt out and hopeless about this whole situation. I have been interested in and reading about environmental issues since I was about 14 and have made changes in my lifestyle and helped my family and friends become more aware and make changes as well. I am concerned about a lot of things right now, and the best thing I can think of to do is to live my own life the best I can and be a good example for others while trying to not worry so much and enjoy the more pleasurable things life has to offer. It got to the point where I had to read and listen to NPR less because so many of the things I was learning about just stressed me out. I understand that nihilism and fantasizing about the apocalypse are escapist but sometimes they seem really appealing…what would really boost a lot of people’s morale right now would be some strong leadership in the right direction.