The Omnivore’s Demise

On November 16, 2007, your Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released a 23 page report for world governments that included the following statement on its first page in bold print:

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.” The balance of the report consists of supporting data and the consequences of delay.

Unequivocal! This is a blunt warning. About as blunt as one can get. It was carried in some of your news papers for one day, and is now either forgotten or ignored. This report speaks to the greatest threat humankind has ever faced . . . far greater than your current wars or future pandemics. And yet . . .

This is what your Mother Nature can’t understand. Why would the most intellectually advanced species on the planet, with full knowledge of certain danger, choose to die? Perhaps readers can help me out here. It is a mystery to me. The report clearly shows what will happen on this planet the longer the majority of people dither. Their future is already bleak. Continuing to do nothing, or not enough, will doom everyone. Yet, for most of you, this crisis is not even a part of conversation. Is humanity committed to suicide?

Doing the Easy Stuff First

To return planet Earth’s atmosphere to its composition prior to 1850, though desirable, is probably unlikely, so long as human beings have oil and coal to burn and no tax is applied to discourage this practice. However, that target should at least be the goal if humans are to avoid extinction. Right now humans are just beginning to talk about all the other species now facing that future, completely overlooking that fact that the life form at the top of the food chain is the one most at risk.

Well, how do you even begin clean up the atmosphere? Start by doing the easy stuff first.

Your Mother Nature should not have to tell you to change all the incandescent light bulbs in your house to the compact fluorescent variety. You should have already heard enough about the reasons for doing so and made the switch. But if not, here’s why. To save money. And, to spare your planet’s atmosphere the pollution caused by burning coal and oil to generate more electricity than you would otherwise need. You see, a 13 or 14 watt CF light bulb will provide the equivalent light output of a 60 watt incandescent, thereby reducing energy consumption in this case by 77%! You would think that everyone on this planet would be lining up to make the switch. That’s not the case. Billions of people haven’t even heard about them yet. It’s time they did

Your Mother Nature should not have to tell you to “share the ride” if you commute to work. If you watch traffic stalled on freeways during the morning and evening rush hours, you will see almost all of the vehicles have only one person in them. This should be a no brainer. If everyone were required to have four people in each vehicle, that would reduce traffic by as much as 75% and, what do you know . . . vehicles would actually move during those times! Think of the savings in gasoline and the reduction in CO2 emissions.

Mother Nature should not have to remind you to use the power of the sun. But, as you have become more “modern” it seems you have forgotten such practical uses of the sun as drying clothes on a clothesline. Remember, the sun is the source of all energy and the drying of laundry is simply a direct use of it. I, your Mother Nature, should not need to remind you that every time one drys a load of laundry on a clothesline, they are saving the energy it takes to run a gas or electric clothes dryer. There is an instant money savings and a reduction in CO2 emissions too.

These are just a few things that can be done to help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cost little or no money. Quite the contrary, they all save you money in the long run. But that is a minor point. They actually work to save you.

Lawns to Vegetable Gardens

Replacing lawns with gardens for growing your own vegetables offers far more benefits than just saving enormous amounts of fresh water. The benefits go far beyond healthy eating, too.

You see, if you were to ask where much of your so called fresh vegetables come from, you would likely find many of them are shipped thousands of miles by plane from other continents! Because of this, you may enjoy your favorites almost anytime of year, regardless of their growing season in your own area.

But this is really an unnecessary and wasteful luxury when your planet is already in crisis. By insisting on having whatever you want, whenever you want it, you are helping put the finishing touches on your own civilization.

If Mother Nature were in charge of making your earthly laws, I would either outlaw the practice outright, or apply a luxury tax so high that it would pay for all the damage done to the environment. But I, your Mother Nature, do not make your laws. So this is something you should lobby your lawmakers to do. If the value of the tax were accurately ascertained, no one could afford to buy these products, the number of intercontinental air flights would go down and much less CO2 would be added to the atmosphere.

So, you see? Basically a single individual could, by dropping the rather silly practice of growing and mowing a lawn, in favor of growing and eating vegetables, by influencing friends and neighbors to do the same, ultimately have positive effects that span continents! You will be saving fresh water and lowering greenhouse gas emissions too!

All starts with your making a rather simple lifestyle change toward healthier eating. It is up to you.

Conserving Fresh Water, and more

Lest you think your Mother Nature has turned into an abusive parent, let me assure you that I really don’t want to see humanity die off on this planet. So, let me help you a little. Remember, I have already told you that you must be willing to save yourselves. Here’s a little unsolicited advice from your Mom:

Look around you, and when you do, look for stupid things that you and others are doing. If you take the time and really look, I promise you won’t have to look very far. How about looking outside your own home? Well, if you live in a typical suburban home, you will look out your front windows and over your nice green lawn to the street – or, if you look out your back windows, you will usually find yourself looking over your nice green lawn to your backyard fence. On your weekends, you will feed these lawns and you will spend precious time cutting them. Then, you will collect grass clippings into a black plastic bag and lug them to a trash container. Now I want you to sit down and think about this. Does any of this make sense to you? Does it not seem, perhaps, stupid?

Who decided that it was important to have a bright green lawn growing in the front and rear yards of homes anyway? I’m sure it wasn’t you. You just saw them and accepted it as normal. Well, as your Mother, I can tell you that this makes no sense to me. Not only that, it is harmful in a myriad of ways. I won’t list them all, but here’s a few.

You are dedicating a portion of this planet’s skin to a single species, or trying to. If other plants attempt to grow on your “nice green lawn” you will either pull them out or poison them. So now you are poisoning the earth for the benefit of your lawn. Talk about mis-placed priorities . . .

Your neighbor remarks on the fact that his lawn is greener than yours and the first thing you do is run and purchase some lawn fertilizer. Well, while this is food for your lawn, it’s eventual runoff into streams and rivers will be harmful to other species. But, it does make your lawn grow faster . . . so you can spend more free time mowing it.

Let’s talk a little about water. Not just any water, but “fresh” water. That’s the kind that is in short supply in most places on this planet. While most humans on this planet have too little to even grow food with, you are spending far more than your share on your lawn. This will make sense only if you graze a herbivore on it, or eat it yourself. My guess is that you will do neither. You grow it, you cut it, and you throw it away. While your next door neighbor, who is also accepting of this misguided tradition may admire your lawn, your neighbor in the dryer parts of this planet look on you as greedy, self-serving, and stupid.

Think for a moment about how many people are doing what you are doing. And, for a moment, imagine that instead of using this precious fluid on your lawn, you planted a vegetable garden there instead. Front yard as well as back. You would require much less water to do this. You and your family would be eating fresh foods. Your children would learn where their food comes from, and gain an appreciation of . . . yes . . . their Mother Nature. On top of that, you would be outside and socializing with your neighbors.

It is entirely possible that there are laws or regulations where you live that may temporarily stop you from doing this. Their may be county or city ordinances, or their may be deed restrictions, or a homeowners association standing in your way. Well, this is why I told you that it is the individual who will save humanity . . . if its going to be saved at all. Only the individual, and that is you, by talking with your neighbors and friends, by explaining benefits, and by convincing the authorities that laws and regulations must be changed, can the humans of planet earth save themselves. It all depends on you.