Katherine Head

Global warmingit’s one of those issues that inspires either great intention or great apathy. As one who likes to live in the know rather than the comfortable bliss of ignorance, I decided to participate in the Northwest Earth Institute global warming discussion group. Our first meeting as a group was last Thursday. Because of the topic’s far-reaching impact, I expected greater interestespecially from those of my generation who are inheriting the problems of this world. But alas, our small, yet concerned, group of citizens only had one 30-something (me) and no 20-somethings. It made me upset, almost more upset than the topic at hand. Almost.

We currently exist on a slippery slope of major climate change. The wheels we as a human race have set into motion in our environment are having very real consequences. When I was a child, the hole in the Ozone was the catastrophe d’jour. Now, the globe’s vast ice shelves and glaciers are disappearing. We watch on the news as vast pillars of ice tumble into the ocean, but we remain unsure of what that means. It means that the earth is changing at a rapid pacea change that is not natural or cyclical, but man-made.

What to do? The first step is to get educated. I will be the first to admit that I am not adequately informed when it comes to global warming. I know of the broad issue, but I am unaware of what it has taken to reach our current state, or what it is going to take to alleviate the symptoms of our carelessness. I have been part of the faction that cares, but feels so overwhelmed by the severity of the problem that a solution seems unattainable. So I have planted my feet firmly on the path of learning, and although the way is steep I hope to surmount my own sense of insignificance when it comes to global warming.

I will also admit that I am not the greenest personthat is to say I fail when it comes to conservation. As the sole member of my one-woman household, I have been nothing but lazy when it comes to recycling and preservation of our earth’s natural resources. I am a serial consumer. But, I hope to change that. I hope to tread lightly on this world of ours, and thereby leave a positive legacy. I have no children of my own, but I try to be a mentor to the generations that follow me. I don’t want to doom the children of today with a dying world.

We all have a responsibility, a moral obligation, to take care of this planet. Our existence as a species depends on it. “What we take for granted may not be here for our children.” Al Gore spoke that warning in his film “An Inconvenient Truth.” We have been spoiled. We have taken without thought and ravaged without carebut not without consequence. Winston Churchill once said, “The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” That time is now.

It is time to make different choices. Change is never easy, but sometimes it is necessary. The way that we all consumeenergy, goods, resourcesmust be altered. There are small things we can do collectively in each community to initiate positive change. The following are just a few suggestions that I hope to integrate into my own existence:

Cut back on driving

Reduce consumption of electricity and natural gas

Reduce consumption of water

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Spread the word, become an agent of change and contact government representatives at all levels to voice your concerns

There are so many ways to be better tenants of this planet. For more suggestions, visit the following Web siteswww.climatesolutions.org/pages/15%20things.htm, www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1590, www.climmatecrisis.net/pdf/10things.pdf.