"If one thing seems clear about our sustainability woes, however its that just about everything we do could use a lifecycle analysis and upgrade. Everything. In a recent piece in the in the New York Times, Harold McGee notes that if Americans would just use less water to boil pasta (all one billion pounds of it per year) we could save something like 500,000 barrels of oil anually. And thats just pasta water! What about rethinking beef, toilet paper, pesticides, lumber, and cars (or a thousand other things)? Its all a bit mind-boggling and leaves me feeling hopelessly unsustainable. Or just plain hopeless...I'd like to suggest a two-pronged approach. First, individuals need to make micro-decisions-like using less water to boil pasta or riding a bike or bus to work instead of driving-which can affect macro-change. Second, governments, corporations, and other institutions need to lay a framework that makes adopting those decisions easy...The lesson here is that sustainability should always be a part of the process-it is a highly valuable, silent partner-but it is truly successful when its not the only goal or end result. You can build the most 'sustainable' eco-village in the world, but if no one wants to live there, what's the point?...The path to eco-enlightenment is being lit by thousands of people-from scientific researchers, to pasta chefs, to architects, to (gasp) politicians-and the more we understand and share, the more we can entertain the possibility of changing our approach to absolutely everything."
I hope to see you here again tomorrow.
besos!
diana
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