A Few Good Words

"Perhaps we must confront and embrace the depths of our despair before we can see clearly. Once we do, however, the remarkable fact is that we can likely do something about climate catastrophe, despite the necessity, for the moment, of bypassing our globally failed political process. Very briefly, local self-sufficiency and sustainability, steady-state no-impact economics, eco-restoration, and rational birth reduction."

Adam Sacks wrote that here at grist.org.

It may be true that personal behavioral changes like bringing reuseable bags to the grocery store and buying squiggly light bulbs only distracts us from fighting for legislative action. But does anyone believe Senate will pass an effective climate bill?

Change on an individual level won't make a big impact. Nationwide commitments are next to impossible at this stage. But community-wide awareness is possible. It's possible for me to see communities transform into the vision outlined by Sacks. Community has become almost irrelevant -- for my part, my awareness is limited to my circle of friends and family or to Washington D.C. and beyond. Grand Rapids and Minnesota are blurry concepts somewhere in the middle area of my perception.

What I like about the ReStore is the logic: why throw away decent material? Why not resell it to fund a non profit? The prices are cheaper than retail and all the profit stays right in the community (save for a 10% tithe to Habitat International).

Solutions like this should be our focus.