Eco-Warriors or Eco-Terrorists, you decide

Maybe it's just a phase… Even if that were true, it can only help. After visiting the Academy of Sciences exhibit on Climate change and attempting to calculate my own carbon footprint on planet Earth, (did you know that the energy used and pollution caused by industrial farming is responsible for more global warming emissions than the entire transportation industry?) and getting small, but outrageous tidbits from Michael Pollan's, "The Omnivore's Dilemma", I decided to rally my family around the "Summer of Sustainability."

Well, all right, we have done a bunch of things already to go Greener, like changing our bulbs to CFL's, turning down our thermostat, using canvass bags while shopping and washing our clothes only in cold water. But there's a deeper level of commitment and a more profound area of knowledge in which I wanted to delve.

With the checklist "Sustainability Made Simple", from the Academy of Sciences, I urged my family to sign up for an experiential challenge of reducing our impact and making choices to protect our Planet's future. Everybody needs a hero. We could be the Lesbian household version of "The Incredibles."

Now the challenge begins. How do I navigate through a maze of buses, trains, but no planes or automobiles? How do I let my two eleven years old boys gain some independence by taking the bus while not turning completely gray from worrying whether they knew where to get off, how to be safe in the world? Should I buy local or organic, shipped from New Zealand or driven from Mexico?

Apparently according to Pollan, USers are basically "Tortillas with arms and legs", because we ingest so much corn in various forms. But can I afford not only grass fed meat, but grass-finished as well? Do you want to know what that is? Stick around, I'll tell you about our adventures in this strange, new world of living like the old world: eating seasonally, bartering for goods, heading to a market that doesn't package everything in plastic.

So it begins. Today, I got on my bike to do a shopping comparison between four stores that carry all the stuff my family eats. I have felt in the past that my hunting and gathering in these stores has been very primal. Now, I am taking it to another level, by actually walking or riding my bike to get to my kill. I am trying to assess whether I need to go to several stores to buy food. I can't do my shopping all in one place in one day. That's over for now. But I don't have to create time to exercise (and often I never did get to that task), so as of today, I ride or walk and integrate that into my normal daily routine. So, I wonder what changes my body will go through this summer? No need for gym memberships, though I do need to equip my bike with a rack or trailer. cha-ching. Oh yes, and there's that small matter that we all have in abundance in a hectic, urban environment, time. I guess I should be grateful that I am only semi-employed, but lest this challenge deter you. I will report on how the pros and cons of all these factors and then you decide.

Oh, yes. My back yard looks a little like a homeless encampment because we've decided that our non-energy efficient dryer is for the birds. Our laundry is now swaying in the California breeze, though I did notice that our towels, once dried, are course. I'll live. I am curious to see what our energy bills will be compared to what they were last summer.

You may laugh. You might think you don't have the time, money. You like the convenience. I do too. However, I can't live like an ostrich, with my ass up in the air, for all future generations to kiss. There may not be much of future generations, if I don't start with the only place I can, my own home. I’m off to fold the hanged laundry and to get the kill for my cat's supper. If you see a blur riding by, wave. It's me minus my cape.

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