Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Trapped: it's the planet, stupid

Poor sick planet Earth
All is not well with our planet as we are regularly reminded by a string of reports, such as last year's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the almost-daily string of revelations about how the climate is changing faster than we thought.

The fault is ours. Even George Bush has acknowledged that. But though politicians make speeches paying lip service to the environment, business continues as usual. Coal is mined; forests are burned; people still fly off on holidays; the planet warms... Business as usual.

Are we trapped or can we free ourselves from this relentless cycle of energy resource overuse? It looks like were locked in to an economic system, depending as it does on exploitation, even though we know it’s a system that’s bound to come tumbling down (maybe taking most of us with it). Are we trapped into pillaging the planet’s life support systems even though we know it can’t go on? Even now, many countries behave as if they were not all connected to and dependent on the biosphere, a lesson still not understood − particularly by nationalists. The universal excuses for doing nothing are always 'keeping business competitive', jobs and ‘the economy’. But it's the planet, stupid! I always feel like screaming when I hear these deadly mantras. Without a healthy planet, there won't be an economy.

Three Ds: the dilemmas of democracy and denial
So what’s being done? Not much. One stumbling block is, ironically, democracy because it ensures that nothing unpopular can be done. Worse is outright denial that there’s a problem at all. No flyer today can be totally unaware of the damage they subscribe to by their addiction to cheap flights. Their main defence, I suppose, is that since everyone else is doing it, what difference can my self-denial make?

Is there a way forward? My main purpose for creating this blog is to explore what we as individuals can do to make a difference. I hope readers like you will post your own ideas. Let's make a start...

Let's create a voluntary no-flying movement: NFM
One idea whose time has come is for more far-seeing citizens to create a voluntary no-flying movement (NFM). I would be among the first to join. One religious movement, the Christian Methodists, encouraged people to sign a pledge to avoid alcohol for ever in an effort to cut alcoholism rates. Our NFM could involve a pledge too but we should positively encourage sustainable travel and holiday alternatives.

If we can't collectively do something, we’re back to the dilemma we all face: the planet’s cry for help isn’t getting through. It seems we really are trapped.

3 comments:

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nitequill said...

Thank You for your interest in our planet. I wish that I could be more helpful. I try to do what I can...recycle...don't smoke cigs...no money to fly, so that was out anyway...no money to buy a hybrid car, sorry. So if I live in a little apartment in a major city, what can I actually do that won't cost me a fortune??? Boycott barbques and camp fires? I'd like to live with you can I fit in your cottage, Ha,Ha. Free of charge of course:)

Let me know what your thinking about things that I can do.
Nitequill

Unknown said...

I have invented a product for use in residences and businesses that can reduce paper towel use and waste. I hope to have it on the market in there near future. It will save the consumers money and help the environment.

Have you ever been in a grocery or department store and ever notice how many brands of paper towels are out there and how large the sets of paper towel products are within these establishments? I bet you have not because most people are over taxed in their everyday life so their like on auto pilot and would not notice these hidden markets that have a negative effect on our local and global environment.

I have invented a solid paper towel waste reduction product and am not sure how to get some exposure for it. My invention is cloth towel dispenser. I call it the I.C.T.S. individual cloth towel system which dispenses individual cloth towels for drying the hands or for general clean up needs. It's just like a paper towel dispenser in size but it’s a cloth towel dispenser which eliminates paper towel use which will eliminate the solid paper towel waste created by paper towel use that is bad for our environment.

When I speak with industrial linen/laundry companies all of which seem to say they are a "Green Company" they apparently supply paper towel products to their customers and make nice profits from the repeat sales of paper towels to their customers so they really don't want to see a product like my invention which will cut into their profit margins out there in the mass markets reducing paper towel waste. My cloth towel dispenser reduces paper towel solid waste which cannot be recycled and mainly has to be burned or buried.

One medium sized invention of my cloth towel dispenser holds 200 towels and when the towels are laundered 75 times will replace 45,000 single fold paper towels which is equivalent to 8.5 miles of paper towels laid end to end.

I would think most green companies out there would be interested in looking into an invention like mine to see how it would work within their services or inventory.

I am not sure how to get the exposure to get individuals and businesses to check out and consider my invention information.

I have a video presentation which shows my prototype in action on my kickstarter site:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2091539073/icts-is-an-individual-cloth-towel-system-dispenser

Do you have any suggestions of companies or individuals to contact who you may think would be interested in looking over the information about my solid paper towel waste reduction invention or know how I can get my green invention some exposure?

Thank you for your time and courtesies’.