A ramble on the environment.

For the past four days, I have been listening to the loggers next door. I am growing accustomed to the sound of the chainsaw, but every time I hear the creak and topple of a tree, I cry a little.

My heart breaks for humanity as we destroy ourselves. I know that the small time logging next door is barely a drop of water in the sea of degradation, and I know that if it were not for all the other things, this would not mater at all.

 I know that logging is important, and that without it I would not have the house I currently sit in, the tent I live in, the heat that warms me in the winter, or so many many other things. But here, today, it is a symbol of the wrongs of the world. It is a piece of the problem with no relation to a solution.

It makes me think about the way I live. I currently do no have a car. I get rides from friends, I walk, I borrow a car occasionally. I stay home far more then I want to. But do I really make that much of a difference? No. One person not driving is about as much a drop in he bucket of betterment as the loggers next door are to the sea of degradation.

I live without electricity in my own home, but I use the electricity in Allison's house* every day. That electricity currently comes primarily from a nuclear power plant (not coal, so could be worse). I drink well water, and use the same for all my water needs (our water cycle is fairly small so everything gets back into the ground fairly quickly). The only natural gas I use is for cooking (propane is not a great energy source, but it is sooo much better for cooking). and we all heat with wood.

So far, more pluses than minuses.

But all that means is that I am keeping myself fairly neutral. I am no actively doing harm. But I'm not helping.

I'm not sure how to help anymore. When I was in school, it all seemed so clear. I would graduate, I would find a job in consulting, I would soon start my own firm, and I would help people to live more environmentally friendly lives. It's still what I want to do, but I have no idea how to do it.

I want to try to start budgeting my environmental impact, like I budget my finances. If your interested, here is a link to a great calculator: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

good luck to us all

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*Allison is my land lady. She owns 11 acres in south-eastern Vermont. We currently have 6 people living on her land with 5 wood piles, 4 dwellings, 3 cats, 2 bathrooms, 2 dogs, and a pond. Her house is the primary building on the property, most of us eat most of our meals in it and use it as a living space for much of the year.