Today is Blog Action Day, when bloggers around the blogoverse are supposed to blog about one issue. Blog. Bloggers. Blog. Blog.
This year the issue is the environment, and I've got a couple pieces of advice for everyone to be more environmentally friendly!
(1) Move to a city. The most environmentally friendly thing you can do is move to a city, live in a high-rise, and take public transportation instead of driving. Why? More land is available for trees and other vegetation if you're not taking up space, and not driving prevents waste of energy and carbon emissions.
(2) Start the movement to higher ground. If you believe that global warming will turn out to be the Worst Thing Ever, then you probably think one of the reasons will be rising sea levels. Assuming that climate change will happen even if we stop carbon emissions today (and it will), the best solution is to support the moving of everything (cities, populations, etc.) to higher ground. That, or build effective levees around them (not like in New Orleans). Anyway, we have a lot of time, so we should get on that.
(3) Become a vegan. Did you know that the meat industry accounts for more global warming effect than our entire global transportation system? It's true, so if you drive a hybrid, and act like you really care, you should also be attempting to put an end to the raising of domesticated animals. But don't use force -- boycott instead, even though it's not as effective. [DISCLOSURE: I am not a vegan or vegetarian, but I don't like to eat things that remind me that they were once animals, like meat on bones, or lobster. So I'm kind of a non-practicing vegan.]
(4) Be nice to animals. They're people, too. Even pigeons and rats.
(5) Don't be so smug. Environmentalists talk about "awareness," but I don't think they're really interested in it. The only way to increase awareness is to get your issue to people who haven't heard about it already (or who have ignored it purposefully). One of the best ways to get people to be sympathetic to your cause is to stop being so goddamned self-congratulatory all the time. We want to help the environment -- really, we all do. But your "awesomeness" is a real turn off.
So that's my little contribution. Happy Blog Action Day!