Transition

In my yoga classes I teach that the transitions between the postures are full of possiblity. We are not rooted in the old nor anchored in the new. They can parallel and give us clues about how we transition off the mat.

This idea, of excitement and possibility is at the heart of the Transition Movement started in 2005 by Rob Hopkins. Unlike the general environmental movement, which cues visions of Al Gore, I think this system may have a framework to propel people into action. There is a 12-step process (which a community may follow in any order) that though general, at least provides enough direction for group leaders to organize and actual begin to "relocalize" their community with tangible, visible changes to be self-sustainable in a post-carbon world. Places such as Portland, Maine, Boulder, Colorado and Newburyport, Massachusetts are buying in.

I am completely on board with the goals of local self reliance, appropriate technology, decentralization, localization, relocalization, and life in a certain post carbon, post petroleum world. You can deny global warming all you want but its a fact that there is a limited supply of fossil fuels and that one day, very soon, we will face a future without them. It is also true that we are completely unprepared for this not so distant future.

My main complaint about local environmental groups that I've been involved with is that there is a lot of talk and little action. Time will tell if this movement brings something different. Given the local, community building aspect, I have hope that it will. It seems the best area to begin is in food. Food is something any community can tackle with very little money. Local community gardens and CSAs are a great start to becoming a community which can sustain itself without the use of fossil fuels. Living in New England though, we must solve the problem of year-round food growth by implementing fossil fuel free greenhouses.

I've always been a "homebody". Traveling is great, don't get me wrong. I've learned so much through international travels but I don't think a return to local is a bad thing. Playing out a paradigm shift in which we once again live in villages, creating our own goods and traveling only as far as we can on human powered transport systems is radical in our postindustrial society. But radical times call for radical measures. Is there a middle ground here? I'm not so sure. I don't think we can carry on as we have been and think that bringing our own cloth bags to the grocery store is going to solve the problem.

I'm looking forward to delving into the local food systems as a member of a "Food Visionary" group extending from Transition Newburyport. Book review of The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience by Rob Hopkins soon to follow!

Offsetting the jet setting.

It all began with the snow blower discussion.

"I don't mind shoveling. I like it." This was me pre two New England storms.

My husband on the other hand does not like shoveling....he likes skiing. This requires leaving one's house to pile up with snow and to return when it is sufficiently buried.

“My back hurts and my shoulder blade feels like its been stabbed” This was me post two New England storms.

I revisit what hubs said, “Let’s offset”. Hmmmmm….

Carbon offsetting is something that I’m begrudgingly accepted as necessary in some cases. I know I am difficult to live with in that I want to do everything unplugged and fossil fuel-less, but there are instances where I have to compromise.

Take my car for instance. It’s a Subaru Impreza that gets decent mileage but I’d much rather a hydrogen vehicle ($$), a hybrid or run a Mercedes on bio-diesel. The problem of course: $$. I don’t doubt that I will attain one of these options in the not to distant future but for now, how do I mitigate my current emissions?

First step, calculate my personal footprint. There are a number of online resources to help with this:

• http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp#
• http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
• http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm
• www.safeclimate.org/calculator/
• www.gmpvt.com/energy101/myhome.shtml
• http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
• http://www.nationalgridus.com/masselectric/home/energyeff/3_calculator.asp

Second step, reduce what I can. There is the usual, change to CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs), insulate doors and windows, unplug unused appliances to prevent phantom loads and the list continues on the following sites:

• Clean Air - Cool Planet: 10 Cool Climate-Saving Actions
• Earth Day Network: Top 10

For the items left over which are in green transition or for which there is no compromise, I turn to offsetting.

I need to re-calculate my emissions after the above reductions, determine the cost of how much carbon I am emitting per year and spend that amount to fund emission reducing projects. Here is where the research comes in. As with anything else, I have to be an educated consumer. I'm paying for an intangible good so I need to find a reputable organization or investment.

I'll start with this comprehensive comparison and guide of non-profit and profit carbon offset providers:

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/carbon_offset_wind_credits_carbon_reduction.htm

http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf

Ahhh yes, isn’t it about that time for New Year resolutions? I think this will be mine.

Perhaps you are in need of one? :)