If Everyone Does A Little - Solar Panels and Paper Cups
People who are concerned about the well being of our planet's natural resources and the effects we are having on the planet can easily be overwhelmed into thinking we are all seriously screwed. It is easy for any of us to focus on all the past, existing, and potential damage we are doing to the planet and feel like there is no way to make a difference - there is no way to undo all the harm.
I would contend that it is possible to focus on the full part of the glass without ignoring the empty.
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| Part of the solar array installed at Sue's house this fall. |
I see people all around me doing what they can to turn the tide both in a practical manner and even in an informational manner. On the practical side - I have two friends who have added solar arrays to their homes in the last 30 days. In early November Sue and her family put panels on their house and have even started sharing the difference they are seeing in their electricity situation as their system incorporates storage and monitoring and feeding electricity back into the grid.
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| George & Trish have their solar array separate from their house. |
Exactly one month later, my friend George posted the picture above to my timeline as he and Trish began installing their solar array with the goal of taking advantage of a better tax credit in 2019 compared to waiting until next year.
Are these two homes adding solar power to their property going to turn the tide on planet Earth? Will what they did undo decades of destruction? Heck no - but if everyone would do what they can, I believe the tide can be turned.
One of the most encouraging things to cross my path in the last year has been the focus of Positive News by David Byrne, one of my favorite musicians on my favorite planet. Byrne is a brilliant guy and like many brilliant people he saw what we were doing to the planet and to each other and it disturbed him. Rather than get caught up in the cycle of sharing with us all the crappy stuff going on, David focused his creative energy on expanding his "Reasons To Be Cheerful" from a once in a while thing to a much larger effort to find and share ENCOURAGING stories of what people, businesses, municipalities, and governments are doing to turn things around.
If you think we are doomed, I would encourage you to spend some time on his ever growing website. He is no longer working alone, but has a team of passionate people checking everywhere to find stories of hope. You can sign up for a weekly email with the latest stories. Here are the Categories:
Click here to find all kind of REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL.
I want to close with a story of my own. Last year Julie and I took our grandson Hunter to the luminary hike through the woods at the Wittenbach Center - another of the treasures you can find around my favorite town of Lowell, Michigan. The Wittenbach Center teaches promotes Agriscience and Environmental Education to people of all ages with an emphasis on kids. They have trails open all year round for families to refresh themselves in Nature.
One of the programs is two days of the Luminary Hike in the winter where the trails are lighted by luminaries - it is wonderful to walk through the dark woods with a candlelight trail. It is very popular, with a couple thousand people hiking in the woods over a two day period. At the end of the hike local boy scout troops have hot cocoa available on a donation basis. Last year was my first time attending the hike and we loved it. I was dismayed to see the cocoa being served in styrofoam - because styrofoam will NEVER decompose.
The terrible irony of a nature based event ending with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate served in styrofoam really upset me. But rather than bemoan the fact and just complain, I offered to do what I could do to effect a change. I emailed back and forth with Courtney about the situation. She explained the styrofoam had been donated to the boy scout troops. She explained that the hot chocolate was very popular and they serve up to 2,000 cups of it.
I figured if someone could donate cups of styrofoam, then I could do my part and donate a couple thousand cups for hot chocolate that WILL decompose when they end up in a land fill. With a helpful reminder from Courtney, I did some shopping and found these cups that not only with decompose, but they have a nice reminder on them to do right by Planet Earth. My total investment for the 2,000 cups the Scouts will be serving up hot chocolate in was $133.00.
(I found the cups here: EcoChoice at Webstaurant)
My point is sharing the cup story is not because I am looking for a pat on the back or because I think I am any great guy for doing this - my point in sharing this along with the news of my friends adding the solar panels is to encourage YOU to take some action however big or small. It does make a difference - it will make a difference - things are turning around for the better.
You and I can take the steps we can take - we can encourage others to do what they can do.
Together we can kick some positive ass!
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