Wishing you all a sustainably peaceful holiday
As I look outside at the foot of snow on the ground today, the day after Thanksgiving, it appears that winter has arrived early. Is it going to be another extra long, hard winter? The seasons seem to be changing in front of our eyes. The week’s weather is forecast to be unseasonably cold and then warm, up and down all week – which seems typical these days.
As I put another log in the wood stove, it reminds me of our feature section in this issue of G.E.T., Sustainable Forestry. I pondered this as I glanced at a holiday card I received, printed by a local Tree-Free Greeting Card company. The card and envelope are made from 100% post- consumer recycled paper that was made with wind power, printed with soy-based inks, is green e-certified and made in the USA. Wonderful!
This led me to think about Green Energy Times and the fact that we choose to print, in addition to offering each issue online. Why? Because we reach so many more people with our printed edition. Many still do not use the Internet, for one reason or another: construction workers, many farmers and elderly see no need to do so. It is just as important to reach them as it is the owners of the construction companies or farming suppliers. G.E.T. is a resource publication with solutions. Paper IS natural and renewable, and with sustainable forestry, is an important part of our solution. Our forests are necessary for carbon sequestration, for the air we breathe, for heating, for soil, for paper, and even maple syrup. It is important for us to reach everyone with our information. This is why you are most likely to find G.E.T. in the supermarkets or local diners — everyone eats. We do this as responsibly as we can and still ‘keep it local.’ G.E.T. is printed on paper with recycled content that is as great as possible, with water-based inks that can be washed down the drain. It is printed locally and distributed with the lowest carbon footprint we are able to achieve.
Happy holidays to you all and may 2015 bring in an even more awareness of why we need to each reduce our own carbon footprint from the little things that we touch upon in our “It’s a Green Life” section in the back section of G.E.T. Even more important are the bigger things that are happening all around us: many, many homes are going solar along with larger community-scale solar that is being developed.
Wind is still our least costly means to generate the power we consume and need as a society, so please support this industry. Wind power is also renewable and every bit as reliable as fracked and natural gas which is not renewable and adds to the problem, increasing our greenhouse gases. Solar now has costs on par with gas, but is renewable and reliable — a much better move for an energy-independent, sustainable future. The means of storage capacity for the clean energy we can affordably produce confirms that we indeed do have the means to become energy independent and responsible inhabitants of the planet we all reside on.
While it is frightening to hear the reports and warnings from the IPCC, this awareness should move us all to become even more responsible for each of our own needs, as we enter into this New Year. Let’s all become energy-independent with clean renewable energy and live our lives so that we can meet those needs. Let’s button up our buildings, drive less and with smarter, thoughtful ways to commute, and let’s live every moment of our lives responsibly – for our children’s sake, and our own. Let’s leave them a place that they will be able to survive on. Let’s have a responsibly Happy New Year!
– Nancy Rae
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