For me, the answer to that question is that I care deeply about our environment. My first memory of my appreciation and deep love for the earth is me at age five walking on the St. Augustine, Florida shoreline with my father. We walked barefoot, admiring the sound of the waves, and watching the tide go in and out. My dad would place shiny seashells on the sand in front of me to find, and I would squeal with delight as I picked up each precious treasure. The experience of these walks, combined with the wisdom my dad would impart about the ocean and its creatures, had a big impact on me. Right now, I believe we are at a very pivotal time in our earth’s history that requires mindful attention to our habits, especially around what we consume—and science backs me up.
Is it possible to create a future in which we can be 100% renewable?
The answer… is yes. Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift towards renewable energy. He is a distinguished author with over 12 books and lecturer on climate issues. He shares: “If our transition to renewable energy is successful, we will achieve savings in the ongoing energy expenditures needed, we will be rewarded with a quality of life that is acceptable and perhaps preferable to our current one. However, material consumption will need to be reduced, our climate will be more stable, and our expectations and behavior will need to change. The renewable economy will likely be slower and more local, it will probably be a conserver economy rather than a consumer economy. It will also likely feature far less economic inequality.” So, in his view, a greener world has us all living more locally, mindfully, and being more connected to our food and to each other.
How do we get there?
One of the speakers at the 2016 Connect the Dots symposium on climate change at Stanford University was Richard Nevles, Deputy Director of the Earth Systems Program at Stanford. Richard and I spoke after the symposium and we identified several action steps to turn the tides toward 100% renewable energy.
The Mindful Action Plan For a Renewable Future
Encourage Local Efforts
Consider how you might work with leaders in your workplace, community centers, universities, and places of worship to reduce their carbon footprints and become more sustainable. Here are five simple suggestions:
Flex Your Schedules. Encourage employees to commute less to work by working from home a few days a week. This reduces the carbon emissions and a recent study found that employees who work from home are happier and more productive too.Brown Bag It. Make yourself a healthy lunch and bring it to work. Processed foods and packages are generally not healthy for you or the environment.Partner with A Farm. Offer fresh-farm produce as a healthy perk for worksite offices. Google and Stanford University are organizations who have a relationship with Pie Ranch a model education and training center for sustainable farming. Find local farms that your organization partner with.Encourage carpooling. Carpooling creates more community among employees and lowers carbon. Try a service like Carma or CarpoolWorldHave Fewer Meetings. Encourage more virtual meetings and online classes instead of in-person meetings and trainings. This increases quality of life among employees due to less travel, saves the company money, and reduces carbon. Seems like a win-win-win!Ditch Plastic. Have you seen the video about what it takes to make a plastic spoon? Seriously, washing a spoon or a water bottle doesn’t take that much effort.Make a Commitment. This isn’t a simple box you can check off, like bringing re-usable bags for groceries, or for those who can afford it, buying an energy efficient vehicle. Like anything wonderful in life, it requires a strong commitment, patience, and perseverance. Moving towards a more mindful and sustainable world will require a lot of consistent effort, patience, and compassion with ourselves and others as we change our habits. We will likely slip a few times while making these changes, but then we can get back up and re-align ourselves with the “wise thought, action, and effort.”
I believe we can create a greener, more contented, and mindful world. This is a world where we are living with less materialism, less busyness, and hopefully much more connection and peace. We can be the change we wish to see in this world and it starts now. My nephew, who is five years old, has developed a similar mindful fascination with the ocean and its creatures. Recently he said to me, “Auntie Carley, can we save the oceans together?” I felt wholeheartedly touched and hopeful at hearing this request and I replied, “Yes, sweetheart we can.”
