We need to change! We need to be more GREEN!!! We need to make BIG changes to save the earth!!! Alright. I believe you. However I continue to look for the "BIG" change I can make to make the big difference, and the fact that all I ever here Is "WE NEED TO MAKE BIG CHANGES" usually accompanied by some stupid little tip like don't run the water while you brush your teeth... well maybe reaching over and turning off a faucet during teeth brushing is a big change for some but uh.. I’d wager not for most... Let us examine the many suggestions in search of the "BIG" change. Use paperless billing etc. Check Recycle stuff Check Drive an efficient car Check, the most efficient I can afford and without a battery which generates huge amounts of pollutants during Construction. Again, Check Change your light bulbs Check Car pool Hmm yeah that’s one I should do more maybe, no check In winter, save bath water until the heat from it is gone Check, and its icky! Lower the thermostat in winter and raise it in summer Hell, I turned mine off entirely! Check Buy local (less fuel was used to transport) Uh... try to, but isn't that a mixed bag? What if farmer jim uses a tractor from 1953 that puts out more c02 per acre than the guy in china does farming it and flying/trucking it here? Check and not check...moving on. Use less hair spray (CO2 emissions) Check, I use none Buy Electricity from company which uses a renewable source Hmm, I should get on that.. No check (it costs 2-10times as much and me being bankrupt isn't good for the environment) Speaking of no check, use online bill pay from the bank (slightly different from paperless) Check Roll/slide down windows before using AC. Check, much to fiancée’s chagrin Take shorter Showers and don’t run water while you brush teeth Uh... yeah... check Use reusable containers rather than disposable ones (this includes bags at the shopping center) cheeeckkk...(or recycle plastic bags like I do) Buy windows which are more efficient Mucho dinero for minimal payback ($800 a window for an estimated 10 dollar a month reduction in heating bills…. I heat the house 3-4 months a year so 40 a year… oh ok in 20 years it will pay for itself… and they will all still be in pristine shape until long after that right? Yeah.ok.) No check and then.....? ummk... aside from the car... I don't really see any BIG change. And if you search for a carbon footprint calculator, I'm below the average American (like 50% below) but still like more than twice over what the new international goal is... Soooo there must be a list of things I can do achieve the goal they set right? The BIG change everyone talks about it on it... .....Right....? (cough) c'mon.... there's a list right??? Ok In case I'm being unclear, I'll spell out my point. Environmentalists need to shut up- Please--shut up with the "Make a change" bit and somehow perceive: WE, THE MASSES, WANT TO CHANGE, BUT YOU AREN'T GIVING US ANY "BIG" SUGGESTIONS OR DIRECTIONS ON HOW (TO CHANGE.) HHHHOOOOOOOOWWWWW Can we change to save the polar bear ?? And start .... I dunno... doin something, figuring out some sort of plan, that the rest of us out here, who are ready and Willing to make (more) changes may follow Give us something to do to further this goal of "Big" Changes. (Usually the reply I envision at this point is more hand waving, so I’ll illustrate below) "CLIIIIMMMAAAATTTTEEE CHHHHHAAAAAANNNGGGGGEEEE" (and my reply) yeah yeah yeah yeah... we get it... we got it... we want to fix it.... Stop preaching the problem, She's dead Jim, the horse is dead, and you're still beating it... and have been... for quite some time now ...stop... And start devoting your energies to the more productive use of time that is: Tossing out innovative ideas and solutions and technology which we can start adopting. Symbolic gestures that really do little or nothing to change the problem are nice but we need more than that! Much more! Sidenote: Commercials which say “we don’t need to make big changes, just do this:…..” are put up by even bigger morons than the BIG CHANGE groups. At least the BIG groups have the terminology right… they just wrongly assume that not using plastic bags at the grocery store will save the planet. BIG changes are what need to be made, even the most careful American (which is me of course) probably makes more c02 than the majority of the rest of the world. And there is no further BIG change he is aware of that he can make to fix it. Still deluded by the “Use New lightbulbs” or “lower the thermostat!” Ads? Austrailia made it illegal to have non-florescent lighting. Everyone must be switched over by 2010. That BIG CHANGE is estimated to have lowered world c02 emissions by 800,000 metric tons, or .003%. But it IS possible that by 2015 that BIG change will net a .011% drop in world c02 emissions (around 4 million tons removed). Meanwhile China’s auto industry produces new compact cars that put out more emissions than a ford expedition (the really BIG Suv which cut you off last night) But who-hawing at china is off topic.. Disclaimer: Comments pointing out the minority who doesn't believe its happening and citing them as a need for continued idiotic commercials inflicted on the majority...will be sacked and deleted. Comments requesting I provide direction will be made fun of as I am not the one with a million+ dollar budget putting on commercials to beat a dead horse and provide inane suggestions which make a difference but not a big enough one (and certainly not a BIG one) to push us back from the cliff we are approaching as a planet. Comments containing good (even if small) suggestions *might* be added to the list if I get the notion to sign into myspace within the next month and/or if I bother to check the comments. hey look, that new DTV changeover is finally here (again) try not to screw it up this time Barack. Hmm... anyone noticed all I ever seem to blog about in comedy are stupid TV commercials? Next Week, aamaco's check engine service !! | 
