Our brave new world

We've enjoyed another beautiful week of autumn and a very busy, but great, weekend that included dining out with friends both old and new.  In our travels, we managed to visit the Chautauqua Energy Conference and Expo and collect a boat load of information. Rather, a couple of Wegmans reusable grocery bags full of information.  Lots of freebies, including a bag of compact fluorescents and weatherization goodies (window film, outlet draft stoppers, weatherstripping) from National Fuel, a coloring and activity book about water conservation, more reusable shopping bags, and the the usual reams of brochures and articles (I hope some of them were printed on recycled paper). It's going to take me a little while to read through and digest everything.

There seems to be a lot of emphasis on conserving energy, with government rebates as incentives-- Energy Star appliances, more efficient heating and cooling systems, better windows and doors, more insulation, tankless hot water heaters, etc.  There's also a tantalizing array of wind,solar, and geothermal options now available, and a "green" building (including straw bale construction) industry gaining ground, although the current costs of these technologies are prohibitive for most people.


In the gadget department, on the other hand, there are many fun, cool, and affordable little solar gizmos available, and there was a vendor who had a variety of them on display--various kinds of chargers and lighting, including this awesome little blinkie for bicycles.

Speaking of which, I would like to see more on transportation alternatives (not just hybrid automobiles) at future energy shows, as well as a presence of the local food/grow your own and compost/recycle elements. Surely these must be recognized as important components of saving energy and saving our planet.

Side note: there was a solar cooker on display, and coincidentally we had a conversation with someone at our church over the weekend whose daughter is involved with the Haiti Solar Oven Project.  We talked about the simplicity of making your own with aluminum foil as the reflective material (this seems like something I should have learned at Girl Scout camp), which led to my googling and finding an amazing variety of plans online.

I may now have to conduct some experiments of my own.

Glorious autumn

This past week has been a picture perfect illustration of why I love this season so much. And, except for the one day that it rained, we've spent most of it outdoors.

The fall colors have reached their peak. There are few things more beautiful than the tapestry of brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows (intermingled with the deep green pines) against a clear blue sky. When backlit by the setting sun, they glow like fire.

We walked on the beach (where our dog charges the incoming waves and tries to bite them, then looks baffled because there's nothing but water in his mouth), on trails in the woods and across a field, had a picnic lunch at an overlook park, did some cleanup in the garden, just any excuse to breathe in that crisp autumn air and partake of all the natural beauty.

I'm compelled to pick up individual leaves and wonder at them. The maple ones look painted.

Yesterday, on a drive through the rolling hills of this amazing countryside, we came upon an award-worthy photo op sight (too bad we left our cameras at home)--two young Amish farmers standing in their horse-drawn wagon in a field, against the back drop of dozens of wind turbines on the ridge that lay beyond.

Wind farms have been springing up in western NY in recent times. Wind is something we have in abundance, and is only likely to become stronger as our planet warms. This particular installation, in Wyoming county, produces enough energy to power more than 33,000 homes. Clean energy.

One cattle rancher who receives lease payments from the power company to host one of their turbines on his land (about 1,500 feet from his house) says the noise is minor. And, "the cattle actually seem to like it."

10/10/10 and Eaarth

I've been away with limited internet access this week while our new windows were being installed.

I feel remiss in not having written about the 10/10/10 Global Work Party events, but I'm a neophyte as far as organized events go. I'm still learning and getting plugged in to the pulse of what's happening out there.

Today's events are the culmination of a call to action by 350.org, founded by environmental activist Bill McKibben to raise awareness about the need for us to restore our atmosphere, rapidly, to less than 350 parts per million of CO_2.    

This is regarded by scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments as the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Already we are at 392 ppm and moving toward tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from melting permafrost.

This little video animation makes the point succinctly:

Since our policymakers lack the political will to take the necessary actions in a timely fashion, today's events constitute a grassroots demonstration (thousands of local events worldwide) that says to governments, Look! This is what we're doing. It's time for you to get to work too!

The closest thing to local that we have going on today are a variety of events sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Campus Climate Challenge. Buffalo is hosting a bicycle workshop, for volunteers to rebuild bicycles and get them back out into the community.

And by the way, if you don't read anything else all year, you MUST read McKibben's new book, Eaarth.  It is an absolutely essential guide to the new era we find ourselves in. Old habits die hard, but they do not work anymore and we must have the courage to change. Not the kind of rah rah campaign sloganeering change that swept up so many people in the last election, but the real kind that means each of us has to start behaving differently.