What’s in the Wind for 2011? Is it Sustainable & Manageable?

If it appears that resolutions for each New Year flow plentifully (but don’t stick around for long), Glenn Meyers has released a very simple and painless way for each member of the world population to participate in contributing toward an increase in sustainability practices. Meanwhile, Australia needs to resolve how to fix the low price of the Renewable Energy Certificates.

Glenn Meyers, storyteller, new media producer in Green Building Elements

(31 December 31, 2010)

If it appears that resolutions for each New Year flow plentifully, launching a resolution for sustainable practices comes as easy as pulling a wisdom tooth.

With this in mind, the “New Year x(1)” practice of sustainability has been released as a very simple and painless way for each member of the world population to participate in contributing toward an increase in sustainability practices.

During the upcoming year, people can start their “New Year x(1)” practice as follows:

1. Use one less light each day, wherever it’s convenient. (reduces demand for electricity)

2. Buy one additional local product. (encourages local production to serve local communities)

3. Buy one less foreign product. (reduces supply chain CO2 emissions and demand for fossil fuels)

4. Turn the thermostat down one degree at bedtime. (reduces generation of greenhouse gases used to produce energy)

Buy one more product made from recycled materials. (promotes the economic engine that makes recycling a feasible business model)

6. Mow the lawn one time with a mulching mower (provides natural fertilizer for the lawn & reduces the need for so much chemical fertilizer)

7. Use one less plastic trash bag to collect the grass clippings. (reduces the requirement for more fossil fuels used in plastics manufacturing)

Eat one less hamburger. (reduces CO2 emissions from cow burps, the petroleum used for shipping, and the electricity used for freezing and cooking)

Rescue and put to use one item that’s headed for the landfill. (as Ben Franklin once said: Waste not, want not.”)

Devise one unique sustainable practice for yourself.  (choose from hundreds of options to spread new sustainable practices; the imagination has no limits — see Steven Sisters photo below for pest control:  ”a mixture of coffee and rum is placed in the bottom and then hung on the coffee tree. The bugs are attracted to the coffee smell, drink the mixture, get drunk, fall into the liquid and drown. Voila! Instant, natural pest control!”

Such a list can grow exponentially for those who choose, but let’s look at the results from simple “New Year x(1)” math to measure effectiveness: 10 practices for each member of the population of this country – now counting at 308 million people – multiplies out to 3.8 billion sustainable practices in one year. Or if the world population of 6.9 billion people takes up this practice, multiplying by a factor of 10 will generate 69 billion more sustainable acts than were generated in 2010.

This is doable, quite easy to practice, and saves more than money. Cheers to the Future!

Happy New Year

Source: www.greenbuildingelements.com