Now that the new year is here, may I suggest that you really
need to go on a diet. It’s time to make a resolution in 2009 to cut
your carb consumption and lose some pounds
– perhaps 5,000 or more pounds.
OK, when I refer to
”
carb consumption,
”
I’m not talking about carbohydrates, the stuff in cookies, chips
and chocolate.
Now that the new year is here, may I suggest that you really need to go on a diet. It’s time to make a resolution in 2009 to cut your carb consumption and lose some pounds – perhaps 5,000 or more pounds.
OK, when I refer to “carb consumption,” I’m not talking about carbohydrates, the stuff in cookies, chips and chocolate. I’m talking about hydrocarbons, the stuff in petroleum, coal and natural gas. Civilization’s vast consumption of these “carbs” is endangering our planet by increasing the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and oceans, thus contributing to global warm climate.
Like practically everyone else, I realize how fossil fuels impact the world we call home. And recently, I found a fun way to lower my consumption of these hydrocarbons. I participated in a “carbon diet club” organized by Rebecca Fotu, the city of Morgan Hill’s environmental programs coordinator.
Morgan Hill is a very progressive place in promoting energy conservation and the protection of the environment. The South Valley community is one of a few cities in the United States that symbolically “ratified” the Kyoto Protocol, the 1999 international agreement created to reduce the production of human-made carbon dioxide.
“Morgan Hill needs to reduce carbon emissions by 175,000 tons (a year) by 2020 to meet the goals of the Kyoto Protocol and the State of California’s AB 32 goals,” Fotu said. “Just one carbon diet club of five to eight households can make a significant impact. If each household reduces 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, there is a 25,000 to 40,000 pound reduction.”
The way that the carbon diet club works is that members meet once a week during a 30-day period and learn how to reduce the amount of hydrocarbons they generate. Each household receives the “Low-Carbon Diet: A 30-Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds” workbook written by David Gershon. It’s full of ways to save money, save energy and save the planet by being part of the solution in fixing our climate crisis challenge. Carbon diet club members also receive free goodies such as reusable shopping bags and low-flow shower heads.
Fotu encourages all South Valley communities to start carbon diet clubs for their own citizens. And in these days of wide-spread budget cuts, people don’t necessarily have to do it through the city government. Any Hollister, Gilroy or San Juan Bautista resident interested in promoting the care of the environment can start a club where local folks get together regularly and develop carbon reduction programs of their own.
“They will meet new people, learn about their environmental impact and find ways to reduce their energy use,” Fotu said. “They will also find out how to stretch the dollar by being more environmentally friendly.”
Participating in the Morgan Hill club, I was amazed at how much I reduced my hydrocarbon consumption. I aimed for 5,000 pounds. After calculating the impact of my efforts for 30 days, I found I actually cut more than 8,000 pounds. It didn’t put a strain on my lifestyle either.
Small but significant things I did include cutting my shower time to less than five minutes – and reusing the five gallons of warm-up water (that would have gone down the drain before I even stepped into the shower) by catching it in a bucket and pouring it into my washing machine. I also turned down my water heater one temperature setting and developed more fuel-efficient driving habits.
For the past two centuries, humans have been damaging the planet with industrial civilization’s dramatic rise in the consumption of fossil fuels. Consider the South Valley 100 years ago. Back then, people produced at most maybe one or two percent of the carbon dioxide that we as an industrial society now do. That was a time before cars became common. It was also a time before we had the mass production of luxury items – which require vast quantities of hydrocarbon energy to produce, distribute, operate and dispose of in municipal dumps.
Today, more and more individuals are becoming aware that they are personally accountable for their carbon consumption. Of course, a single American’s carbon footprint does not have much effect on the entire planet. But when you multiply that individual’s impact with more than 300 million of his or her fellow citizens, all those footprints add up to something colossal.
We are all part of the problem, and that’s why we must all contribute to the solution. The new year is a time for self-improvement resolutions. That’s why, as 2009 begins, I’m encouraging you to resolve to improve our home planet by beginning your own carbon diet and losing 5,000 or more pounds. We have an ethical responsibility to protect that Earth so that people for centuries to come can celebrate future happy new years.
