Part II - You MIGHT be an Environmentalist.....

Part II - - You MIGHT Be an Environmentalist…

..if you drive through the Cherokee National Forest and feel the spirit of ancient native people.

..if you attend a baby shower, see the mountains of plastic stuff and know that it never used to take this much fossil fuel to have a baby.

..if you’ve ever sneaked onto your neighbor’s construction site and pulled the perfectly good lengths of 2X4 out of the dumpster to use on a backyard project.

..if you wish that “bio-accumulation” were a collection of critters.

..if you get an ulcer whenever you catch a glimpse of clear cut beyond the “beauty strip”.

..if you’ve ever had a small part on an appliance repaired for $125 when you could have bought a new one for $135.

..if you have ever attended a public hearing in defense of national forests.

..if you ever hugged a tree and felt like it was hugging you back.

..if you ever skipped doing laundry for 3 weeks cause you were waiting to wash a full load.

..if you ever left a beautiful rock right where it is, because God put it there.

..if you’ve ever bragged about your compost heap.

..if you regularly visit earthmama.org to check on the latest news.

..if you’ve ever had to explain to someone why Earth Literacy is vital.

..if any of your heros are George W Carver, Rachel Carson, Chico Mendes, David Suzuki, Johnny Appleseed, Donella Meadows.

..if you’d rather be outdoors.

..if you know the names of 4 endangered species.

..if you know what IPM is.

..if you’ve ever dreamed of living in a tree.

..if you can name your 3 favorite creeks without stopping to think.

..if you give your cat lessons in mouse hunting.

Part I - You MIGHT be an Environmentalist...

Holiday Wreath made from discarded sheet music.

Part I --You MIGHT be an Environmentalist….

..if you insist on your coffee being organic, shade grown (to protect the songbird habitat) and labeled “fair trade”.

..if you tote your rotten apple core 74 miles home to put it in your compost pile rather than pitch it in a trash can.

..if you limp when you walk because you recently darned the holes in your socks, and it is a new skill, so they are lumpy!

..if the only cleaning supplies in your house are salt, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and borax.

..if you haven’t used a chemical on your lawn since you read the ingredients and knew the dandelions and butterflies wouldn’t like it.

..if every time you see a child having an asthma attack and silently cuss out makers, sellers and drivers of SUV’s.

..if you only want to go to the food store when you have four items left in your refrigerator and none of them are tofu or fresh fruit.

..if you count down the days to Household Hazardous Waste Day to dispose of your used batteries, paints, solvents, household chemicals and computers and parts.

..if you think that Julia “Butterfly” Hill should have been Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for the two years she tree-sat in Luna.

..if you always cheer for the Indians in the old westerns—and you still regularly want to defend native peoples.

..if you watched 3 people on your block die of the same rare disease and begin to study eco justice issues.

..if you use leftover water in glasses from meals to water your houseplants instead of dumping in down the drain.

..if you can describe the difference in mission of Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund and Audubon Society.

..if you struggle with the issue of living sustainably in a consumer world.

..if you’ve held a child in your arms as you read about degraded air and water quality and whispered, “How can we do this to you?”

..if your favorite “good clothes” came off the Final Clearance rack at Goodwill.

..if you’ve ever asked a loved one to save their bath water so you can use it next, knowing aquatic life downstream need the next tub full more than you do.

..if you’ve read about sustainability successes Kerala, Curitiba, and Gaviotos and thought: "Why can't we do this in more communities?"

..if your jewelry collection is made mostly from rocks, string and dried mushrooms.   

..if you shopped your entire Christmas list while only buying things from groups that are committed to Earth restoration.

..if your friends can recite by heart your speech about the dangers of pesticides to children.

..if you’ve ever saved all your dryer lint to stuff a pillow.

..if you hang wet clothes all over the house, rather than use the dryer, because besides saving power it humidifies your dry winter house.

..if you’ve ever called the hotel desk and asked them to leave the same sheets on the bed  for the 4 days you’ll be in the room.

..if you’ve ever stood in your backyard in the rain in your skivvies laughing at how good it felt.

..if you wretch every time you hear the word disposable.

..if you compost because you know that  “a rind is a terrible thing to waste.”

First, Let's Stop the Stupid Stuff (or Blowin'in the Wind)

The Virginia House of Delegates once again struck a blow to clotheslines, (were they all strung out on something?) refusing to stop community associations from banning them in neighborhoods. The State Senate passed it, but the House bill died from the dreaded disease, “party lines,” in committee. I’ll let you guess which party is opposed to air drying your clothes in your own backyard. Oddly enough, it might just be the same one that is always howling about too much regulation.

I have now been clothes-dryer-free for 7 years. I have extra space in my laundry room. The hanging damp clothes add humidity to dry winter air. I use less whitening agent because I let the summer sun do the bleaching. The clothes smell great and the towels are crunchy, so they really dry your skin instead of just pushing the wet around. (I once lived in a neighborhood in Tennessee where clotheslines were banned, but I moved before I could be arrested or test it in the courts.) I am free, free, free of another energy hog appliance.

What in blazes are they thinking in Richmond...(and Brentwood)? Can they not connect two dots?

We live in a season of great change on Earth. Climate disruption is triggering water shortages and flooding, glacial melting and deforestation, ocean changes and unusual species migration. That is Massive Climate Disruption (MCD) caused by CO2 production from burning of fossil fuels. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to see that the MORE conservation of gas and electricity by NOT running those dryers, means LESS CO2, and a MORE stable climate.

Or can it be that SOMEONE thinks that what you hang in your own backyard is his business? Or could it be that Party Line holds more sway than Clothes Line?
Please send alarm clocks to Richmond (or YOUR state capital) and tell the boys to wake up!

OY-VAY.

Climate Change action: First, let’s stop the stupid stuff, like banning solar clothes dryers.

resource songs:
“Less is More” from Around the World with Earth Mama CD
“Habitat” from Under the Rainbow CD by Earth Mama
“Energy” tango from Around the World with Earth Mama CD
“They Were Right” from Love Large CD by Earth Mama

songs at www.earthmama.org or www.itunes.com/earthmama