Welcome to Green Chutney

I will be connecting with the green blogosphere, voicing my opinion on politics, and documenting my family's efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, energy bills, and waste. The ultimate goal for humanity has to be to live off of the energy that we receive from the sun, plus the use of natural resources as catalysts. Global warming is providing a kick to the green movement, as is the current price of gasoline in the U.S. I've been greener than most for most of my life, but not always by choice.

When I was a kid, we were poor, vegetarian, had a composting toilet or outhouse, and burned wood for heat. Of course, I later learned that wood produces more CO2 than oil by an order of magnitude, so although it is a renewable resource, it may be contributing more to the problem than helping it at this point. We demonstrated against the Seabrook nuclear power plant, and knew many who arrested at one large demonstration. Now I think that nuclear power can be part of a short term fix, while renewable energy systems ramp up. I'll definitely talk more about that in another post. Back then, we had a cool solar shower, with a tank on the roof and a hose coming down through the skylight in the bathroom. Now I have $1000/mo. oil bills -- not so green there, am I?

We will be working on reducing that huge bill, and our huge carbon footprint over the coming months and years, and I will do whatever I can to further the awareness and promote meaningful change toward true sustainability. It has to start here in the U.S., in Europe, in China and in India, in Brazil, Congo, and Borneo. It will take huge societal changes, not just from those that care about sustainability, but from those who don't care, and who actively hate environmentalists, and who say "good" when people say open space is disappearing, or the rainforest is dying, or polar bears will become extinct. Overcoming such attitudes among the U.S. population will be a big challenge. I agree with Al Gore that this generation and the next several can put the world on the right track, and be remembered thousands of years from now as the pivotal. But it will take commitment, hard work, lots of hard science, and political will.