Last year I read a book called "Skinny Bitches" thinking it was a short fun read about obesity and diet. Well, after reading it I became vegan and more interested in reading about the nitty gritty details and the true costs of our American lifestyle.
lara
· 3 years ago
Mine happened when I quit smoking. It never made sense to care about green living, habits, etc. until I quit damaging myself and those around me. My habits are now much healthier - both to myself and the environment.
Adam
· 3 years ago
I've always been supportive of environmental causes, but realized maybe I should take a look at my own life and do something myself thanks to reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, and his other books.
Amy
· 3 years ago
I got big into green (nontoxic, earth friendly) living when I was pregnant with my daughter (now 13 years old). Though I often frequented natural food stores and was pretty saavy about natural foods and holistic health, I was shocked to find out that there are toxic chemicals in every day products (initially from reading the book, The Nontoxic Baby-no longer in print).
I haven't turned back. Living green has become my passion, and my life's work.
ZC
· 3 years ago
My family has been environmentally-conscious for as long as I can remember, but more in the way that we do basic things in our household (recycling, etc) than looking for cutting edge "green" trends.
My epiphany came recently when I realized just how much of an impact it had made on me that my father has biked to work every day for as long as I can remember. He would express extreme displeasure if we were late to school or missed the bus and he had to fire up the car. Living in a city, I can now walk to work and do not own a car, but his commitment to alternative transportation in a suburb where driving is usually seen as the only option remains inspirational.
GreenEngineer
· 3 years ago
I was "converted" from being concerned-but-inactive to actively working for sustainability after I heard Bill McDonough speak at Bioneers in 2000.
Until that point, I had had a view of environmentalism as a regressive movement: use less, think smaller, compromise and conserve.
McDonough made it clear that being environmentally conscious doesn't have to mean freezing in the dark, and he showed a path to a future that was both prosperous and sustainable.
I happen to have a copy of this presentation online for anyone who wants to watch it. There's a small version (80 MB) and a large version (600 MB). Both are Quicktime .MOV files; the large version may require Quicktime 7 to view (the smaller one should work with any version).
These links, as well as other resources, are available on my home page.
Luke Tyszkiewicz
· 3 years ago
An epiphany is usually marked to a time in one's life where a sudden bolt of insight sparks one's awareness that usually zap's his old outlook of things. Some are brought on by meeting certain people by chance and some by reading certain pieces of literature. Mine was of both. Things happen to you for reasons, don't be fooled to think otherwise. Go read "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. GO NOW!
GreenEngineer
· 3 years ago
Grrr. Treehugger doesn't handle "a href=" link tags properly.
editor note: Actually, html links work fine. they don't work in your previous post because you forgot the quotemarks in the URLs. I'll fix it.
Jeremy Kirouac
· 3 years ago
The road to my green epiphany was a long and twisted one. I first dropped out of high school when I was about 16 after reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Through reading that book I learned to be highly engaged with the world about me. I learned that the universe (and everything in it) was dynamic and that there are many falsehoods many people have internalized which keeps them seperate from this dynamism and from the rest of creation. I wrote and thought a lot during the next couple years and two particulary important lessons came to me.
First, the current economic model is insane and the depletion and degradation of the world's resources bears witness to this. And Second, the current educational system is not intended to educate all students equally or with their human nature in mind, but rather, is intended to meet the objectives of industry which is the era in which mass education was largely designed.
I also learned during this time that as I kept coming to more and more internal truths, I should research what others have to say about the subject so that I could refine my thinking. In my search for books on the subject of economics and nature I came upon Natural Capitalism. This book reinforced my commitment to environmentalism and better organizational thinking. The rest, as they say, is history.
kelly
· 3 years ago
I grew up loving Captain Planet, and as a kid, I got my family to plant trees in the back yard and be more serious about recycling. I didn't take the time to go farther than that until I read "Fast Food Nation" and then became a vegetarian and started thinking about local and organic foods. Now, with "An Inconvenient Truth," I am working on weaning myself off of my car and encouraging people I know to use renewable energy in their homes. I've discovered this blog only recently, and am really excited to learn about all the small ways that sustainability is possible. I've always cared about the environment, but the scale and immediacy of the problem is just starting to coalesce into an understanding that more than recycling, planting a few trees and eating mostly organically is necessary.
consumer_q
· 3 years ago
I lived off-and-on around the poverty level during early childhood. We recycled for money, we kept waste to a minimum, we were energy efficient to keep utilities low, we bought food in bulk and purchased second-hand items.
I was a "conservationist" out of necessity, but I am unsure when I became "green".
Matt
· 3 years ago
I grew up in a pretty environmentally progressive household and have been a supporter of environemental causes since I was teenager, but my wake up call was probably reading Ervin Laszlo's Macroshift: 2001-2010 which talks about how significant this current decade is changing our behavior, if we're to avoid irreperable damage to the planet. Kalle Lassn's Culture Jam and, as mentioned above, Daniel Quinn's Ishmael are also great.
bill l
· 3 years ago
I grew up near Cleveland in the 70's and a geodesic dome house was built nearby. My epiphany came when in 6th grade art class, I felt that the dome could be bigger. I proposed a dome to cover the entire city and clean its air polluted air before it was released. I thank Bucky Fuller and Black Mountain College, NC for inspriation.
Harris Davis
· 3 years ago
I've always lived pretty green, but more recently since i've bought a home and had a child. My green "epiphany" actually emerged through my career, in which i've founded an ad agency, Groundswell, that only works with socially responsible and eco-friendly clients. The underlying belief of the company is that it's our responsibility to be more critical of the companies we choose to do business with and to first and foremost consider their contribution to the greater good — not just to our own bottom line. Feel free to read more about us here: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/groudsw...>
MGR
· 3 years ago
Thank you for posting the McDonough video, GreenEngineer. It's amazing!
Carl
· 3 years ago
I grew up with old farmer parents. Conservation, DIY and recycling of material was integral with life. We were also poor, so we bought used goods rather than new as much as possible. We raised produce and meat ourselves. I got to play in the woods every day if I wanted.
The anti-litter commercials from the '70's with the crying Indian chief may have sparked my earliest awareness of pollution as an issue, but I never dwelt upon it much until '92, when I read the back of a notepad, which explained the difference between 'post-industrial recycled' and 'post-consumer recycled' paper. It explained that paper companies who claim paper without post-consumer content is 'recycled', are basically pulling wool over our eyes, seeing as post-industrial paper waste has always been reused.
I clearly remember that moment as the point when I felt that I needed to be involved.
omellet
· 3 years ago
For me, it was an article about global warming and the ozone layer, in Sports Illustrated, of all places. It was probably about 20 years ago, and I was so completely enthralled with it that I actually copied every word of it into a notepad. I couldn't believe that human beings would be so reckless, it seemed like a piece of science fiction. I was only about 10 at the time, so yes, I was naive. I still have clear memories of that article to this day. I wish I could find it somewhere.
Alex
· 3 years ago
I would say that my "greenieness" has developed over a long time as i grew up. I come from a conservative style household in a very conservative area of canada(thats conservative politically). Starting from the time i was able to watch tv, 8ish, i loved to watch nature shows about animals and such, I would see many wonderous animals all the time. At the end of the show though I would hear how the animal is endagered and it was usually always linked to humans.
As I continued to grow up and enjoy learning about animals, nature, and the earth, I grew more and more resentful to humans for causing so much damage with no thought of the reprecussions, just as long as a few dollars could be made. The problems i would see seemed to get worse and worse, I was noticing in my area where i lived that certain things were dieing off and that the water continually got more and more polluted.
It wasn't until i moved out on my own that i truely felt empowered, me and my wife live by the moto of necessity vs want. I am always finding myself going back to doing things the way things were done in the past before all this technology came to "make things easier". I tend to get on rants sometimes but usually my point of view in the end will change some minds. I have become increasingly extreme with my views and choose to do things in a way that most people would not. If i continue in my absolute goal with achieving harmony you may see me on the news some day "man has given up on modern human life to live like a caveman"
Lance Cayko
· 3 years ago
I have always been environmentally conscious but did not have my green epiphany until this last year when doing research on my architectural thesis. I love to read and one of the books that gave me the epiphany was "cradle to cradle." However, My fiance is not so green minded and I would like to get her to be more green minded. Any suggestions?
Dan
· 3 years ago
Hi. Hurray for treehugger(s)!
Happily my green-ness came early. Growing up (and still living) in Colorado I've had the opportunity to interact with a rugged, beautiful and challenging landscape for most of my life. It was with my parents camping in the mountains at about five that I first felt the singular feeling of insignificance and humility in the face of nature; under the stars, the wind blowing through innumerable trees, the endless complexity and interconnection of the forest, breathing around us.
Watching the transformation of beloved spots and open land into disconnected, cheap, inefficient "communities" has been an ongoing punch in the gut for the last ten years.
As I've traveled and lived in various parts of the country and the planet I've felt that there is significant divide between people who have recognized themselves as animals living in a natural environment, regardless of how buried and manipulated that environment might be, and those who haven't, and recognize themselves only in relation to the human physical and social structures around them. I'm not a Luddite or mountain man. I just think geting that understanding of our intimate connection to nature, regardless of how far away "nature" might be, is important and builds a non-intellectual, unfiltered, close sensitivity and respect for the earth.
Get out and get down with your natural self!!!! It will bring home how delicate and precious what we've got left is and how important our choices really are.
D
Nick
· 3 years ago
My green epiphany came when I moved to Washington, DC. I stopped driving and started walking, biking, or using mass transit. After a while, I realized that I could live a more sustainable lifestyle.
George Krpan
· 3 years ago
My epiphany came with the reading of the books of James Howard Kunstler. The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere deal with the stultifying effects of the automobile and the living arrangement it has fostered, suburbia. Growing up in the "outer asteroid belts" of suburban Orange County, California I could so relate to what he says. I always felt there was something wrong and he put it to words. His recent book, The Long Emergency, is about the end of cheap oil. He protracts just exactly how it will affect us, starting in the not too distant future. Globalization? Forgetaboutit.
No more 3000 mile caesar salads. Farming will become intensely local and more and more people will be involved. We'll have to learn how to become farmers again, knowledge that's largely been lost to corporate farming. There'll be no more corporate farming because of it's reliance on massive irrigation projects and fertilizer and insecticides made from cheap fossil fuels. Cheap shit made by slave labor overseas and sold in big box stores? Forgetaboutit. They'll have neither the raw material or the means of transporting it here. Manufacturing, like farming, will become, as it once was, intensely local. Suburbia? Will become the slums of tomorrow. There will be multiple families living in those McMansions with crops growing in the front yard. Places like Los Angeles will not be sustainable. Las Vegas will be the first casualty. Thank God. We've squandered or mineral inheritance and to make matters worse we also have to face global warming.
Heidi
· 3 years ago
Like some others, my tendency toward conservation came from growing up pretty poor. But even though we didn't have much, I was always allowed to have a cat as long as I was willing to take responsibility for her. In truth, I think that being connected to other animals as a child has had a huge impact on how I view everything from my diet to the environment in general.
On a side note, I read "Cradle to Cradle" and Ishmael long after committing to a green lifestyle, but I found both of them to be very inspiring. I'd add "Omnivore's Dilemma" to that list.
Kenya
· 3 years ago
My husband and I were both "huggers" in thought but only in limited action. In an effort to put our money where our values are, we recently decide to live without a car ... in Los Angeles. It ain't been easy; our goal is to make it at least 6 months. We started a blog at www.wheelingtoshare.com.</p>
(and we dig the treehugger video podcasts!)
Adam Torkildson
· 3 years ago
I recently started subsribing to the tree hugger, and I have since been intensely interested in alternative energy, and how to generate it using bicycles or treadmills. I am working with the habitat for humanity project in my area to generate the electricity for that house for the whole year.
MarksEcoShop
· 3 years ago
Seeing all the curbside trash growing on collection day. I just knew there had to a better way than burying ourselves in our own waste.
Brunswickian
· 3 years ago
I remember reading an article about prairie dogs (?) in National Geographic. Although these certain prairie dogs were endangered, most farmers hated them because their cows would injure themselves when they stumbled into prairie dog holes.
As angry as I was at the farmers' attitude, I realized that they had to make a living. What a shame that consumers' desire for beef would make cows more valuable than an endangered species. I tried vegetarianism for awhile, but although I no longer practice it, that article showed me how our actions and decisions affect the larger world.
Scott Allison
· 3 years ago
Well I guess my eco avenger reality started when I was 10, I was a huge fan of Ranger Rick and national and international Wildlife and I was following the massive terriosts acts of then Sec. Of Interior James Watt ( what a name huh? )I was so pissed about what was happening under his watch that I wrote him a personal letter and received a " go take a hike!" response. Well since then I have been aspired to become an Eco Evenger!! I was born in Conn and then was moved to Texas (40 miles from where our wonderfully environmental prez has his ranch), to say the least the change was more than surprising!!! I was thrust into a place with little of which I thought was everywhere...tress streams animals that were not lethal at every turn!
I later moved to Delaware At the age of 19 where I tried to publish an environmental mag called The World's planet without much success sadly. I then decided that I should go to where all of my contacts and leads came from ....Seattle to see if I could live amongst my peers of green lifestyle in 1991. Boy was I sadly mistaken!!! I found that just about all of America was full of americant's. I was doing landscaping as a self owned business and wanted more than anything to go electric with my truck but found out that a $9000 price tag would keep me in the norm.
I loved the place and stuck it out here in Seattle still working hard to try and change the world for the better.i tried to educate and sell electric bikes at any and every venue possible with still little success. I decided on Sept 11th 2001 to go to the Institute of Solar Living and do an internship for 6 months. ( I think that I still hold the record for the most tours of any intern!). After that I came back home to Seattle and joined the group locally of ASES Solar Washington were I became a board member and worked with a legendary man to pass legislation for solar energy. Well since then I have been working with a few people installing solar but may I say only on a few places still!!! For some reason peoples in the nw just do not think think that Seattle( 70% of LA's sunshine!!!!!) can be a solar success, but alas I am here in a local pub on my laptop (solar Powered ) via my electric bike ( solar charged) typing this little bit about myself in hopes that at least my son might some day understand why I do what I do.
PS I am working this week hooking up a solar coffee shop in Fremont to a 60 loop system with radiant heat and domestic hot h2o so things are moving ahead. I hope that we can someday move to a renewable based economy!
D Beth
· 3 years ago
My parents grew up in Europe during WWII so we were taught never to be wasteful (whether it be with food, water, gas, or electicity) so I was raised with a strong sense of conservation. I have, however, had a few other epiphanies that have changed my life. In 2000 I started eating only organic food after watching a documentary about all the illnesses immigrant farm workers have from pesticide exposure. And just last year I switched to chemical-free skin care after reading a study on the Breast Cancer Action website that found parabens (a chemical preservative in almost all skincare) in breast cancer tumors - super scary being that the parabens were absorbed through the skin and most likely from lotions and creams. I also think the chemicals were causing my eczema, because it's completely cleared up since I switched. Who knows what epiphanie is next?!
Chatmal
· 3 years ago
I've always loved animals -- I collected thousands of animal cards as a kid. In 1989 when I was starting college, my dad called my attention to "50 Simple Things You Can Do to Help Save the Planet."
I learned so much from that little book. I cut back on and finally eliminated red meat from my diet to eat lower on the food chain. I became a diehard recycler and kept reading up on environmental issues. I was getting so disillusioned by the lack of support but I am inspired by seeing fellow treehuggers stories and awareness in the news.
I'm hoping to buy a hybrid soon and want to increase my home's efficiency. I'd love solar panels, but they're still out of my price range at the moment. I'm still in the process of changing all the light bulbs to compact fluoroescent, which helps reduce the heat from lighting in the summer!
I recommend IdealBite.com for a great newsletter that gives plenty of tips and resources from fume-free nail polish and organic baby clothes to investing and saving energy. They're inspiring 5 days a week!
ihavacavalier
· 3 years ago
I had always loved nature, but had absolutely no clue about what "sustainability" meant, i'd probably never heard the word. Junior year of Architecture schooling at Texas A&M we participated in a Cradle to Cradle design competition to which we were poorly prepared. Our design ended up being a typical house with natural lighting, solar panels, and natural ventilation. The project sucked, but it completely opened my eyes to sustainable architecture, and I intend to take my interests to a new level at graduate school studying Sustainable Architecture.
Michele
· 3 years ago
Just five pages into "Mad Cowboy," by Howard Lyman, I got so grossed out by what my meat was eating that I instantly became a vegetarian and vowed to become more informed about not only where my food comes from but also how we interact with nature. I've made lots of changes! (I also recommend "The Long Emergency" about the end of oil).
Patrice
· 3 years ago
We were in Ireland for our daughter's thrid birthday, and it was snowing outside. I washed some of our dirty clothes and then I asked the people who we were staying with where was the dryer was they looked confused. These folks would never think to dry clothes in a dryer! You hand them out on the line if it isn't raining. And I live in California! Well, I exclusivly dry my clothes on the line now. My PG&E bill was $29 last month. America spends close to 10% of it's electricity on just drying clothes (read that in Nell Newman's book) when most of us can do it for free. I've found that it doesn't even take much more work than using a dryer. If you hang stuff flat, or upside-down, or put in on a hanger first, folding becomes much easier that if you took it out of the dryer.
Mary
· 3 years ago
I was about 8 and wanted to go with some friends to splash about in our local river (The James in Virginia) just a few block away. The small beach and shallow waters were our regular summertime hangout. Much to my dismay, my mom told me I could no longer go because of the chemical Kepone. This pesticide had been discharged in the river for years and just now (1975) did a perplexed physicial realize that the chemical was posioning the workers in the plant and in turn the river. The river was closed to fishing, swimming and oystering for years.
It pissed me off as a kid and made me aware of the need to be aware and turn pissed offness into action.
Chris Burt
· 3 years ago
In 2002 I was still excited when McDonald's had two for one specials on their chicken sandwiches. "Double Mayo please!" Mmmm, those were the days. First swig of Mountain Dew in the morning got you feeling a little queasy? Don't worry, that will pass once you let the first 12 ounces settle. But even before Super Size Me, McDonald's was getting a bad rap, so I decided I should start getting healthy, so I started getting grocery store salad bar salads. I loaded them up like a Dagwood, piled on the cheese, ranch dressing, and even a little cottage cheese on the side... oh, and of course some canned peaches and pineapple.
Then I met Janet. She had come across Dr Weil some time back (her story will be on here at some point) but anything she had to say went in one burger and out the other. Uhm, I meant 'ear'. What really changed things for me was moving next door to a Whole Foods. I even kept shopping at Safeway even though it was a little further away. But here and there the combination of Whole Foods shopping and Janet's badgering of the beginner's three (High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Oils, and Refined Sugar) all started to culminate into a big flashing neon GREEN sign, and I was goner. I started shopping ONLY at Whole Foods.
Together, Janet and I added BGH, GMOs, VOCs, PVCs, PBDEs and a slew of others to our repertoire... which was a damn good thing too because later I found out I had Celiac Disease. Fortunately we had become quite the label readers and health gurus and found it much easier than the average person to transition to a gluten free diet. Now it's on to some online activism and email alerts from my favorite green and eco-conscience websites as we, the Hippie 2.0 generation, prepare to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (in a good way of course, not in a Bush way... unless the bushes are organic, locally marketed, fairly traded, non GMO... ok, I'm done now.)
Clint Slaughter
· 3 years ago
It hit me really hard last spring when I was getting more and more angry about Iraq and the things that our country has been doing both here and abroad. Someone started talking about biodiesel and it suddenly clicked - every individuals consumption of resources contributes to these wars and this destruction. We need to take an individual stand against supporting these practices and show others what we're doing. I started making biodiesel, reading treehugger.com, and voraciously learning about the current state of our environment and what we can do about it. Nice work everyone!
I hope more and more people are having "Green Epiphanies" these days. When those that have had these realizations take action and more people in current power see how important these issues are to the immediate future, we'll see more and more pressure to make useful and effective changes to our environmental policies.
Roger Bunyan
· 3 years ago
My big change came in 1989, I quit my job as Plant Manager of a plastics company that made 110 million pet coke bottles pa.
I walked upto the boss and said "I quit" and he said "you can't you will never get a job in manufacturing again.
Feeling smug I asked if I could have that in writing.
He asked as to my plans fearing that I had a job with an opposition company. I told him I was planning to move to the south coast, sell and install a solar power systems and build a mud brick house.
Seventeen years later I can say I have done that :)
Jack Sparrow
· 3 years ago
onse. Well since then I have been aspired to become an Eco Evenger!! I was born in Conn and then was moved to Texas (40 miles from where our wonderfully environmental prez has his ranch), to say the least the change was more than surprising!!! I was thrust into a place with little of which I thought was everywhere.
Kate Huppell
· 3 years ago
I saw the green 'flash' when I read "Your money or your life" by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin. It was about getting control of your money, but they also touched deeply on the harm being done to our earth by 'consumerism'. Since then, it's been one ecological insight after another.
I just can't believe how we are trashing our earth. My neighbors think I am NUTS because I refuse to water my lawn (could there be a bigger waste? or heaven forbid, put herbacides on it.) I grew up on a farm. My Dad would no more have watered the lawn than flown to the moon. We've totally lost that common sense approach to life, and I blame advertising.
Non-returnable bottles make me grind my teeth (wth happened there? remember in the 60s when you took your bottles back to the store?)
Treehugger gives me hope that there really are others out there like me!! I love the guy who fantasizes about returning to caveman life, because I dream of life in a simple cabin with very little modern crud.
Menya Emmanuel
· 2 years ago
''What can Agricultural engineers are do?'' important.'' Agricultural engineers have a diverse educational background that makes them knowledgeable about many subjects; additionally, they usually focus their expertise on one of the following areas:
•Soil and Water Resources.
•Power and Machinery.
•Food and Food Processing.
•Aquaculture.
•Energy.
•Environmental Quality.
•Safety.
•Structures and Environment.
People who have employed agricultural engineers have realised the difference between the proffession and other engineering proffessions.Agricultural engineers have a diverse educational background!!!!!
Menya Emmanuel
Agricultural engineering student
Mel
· 2 years ago
I realized we where in big trouble when I worked as a Solid Waste Supervisor and found many states had no more space in their landfills. I also found that local governements find it a hassle to recycle and often have no idea what and how to recycle. There are local goverments that acctually have piles of recycling pipled up next to their land fill and have no idea what to do with the items. What will we do when all of our landfill space is gone?
laptop battery
· 1 year ago
I also found that local governements find it a hassle to recycle and often have no idea what and how to recycle.
All Comments
Last year I read a book called "Skinny Bitches" thinking it was a short fun read about obesity and diet. Well, after reading it I became vegan and more interested in reading about the nitty gritty details and the true costs of our American lifestyle.
Mine happened when I quit smoking. It never made sense to care about green living, habits, etc. until I quit damaging myself and those around me. My habits are now much healthier - both to myself and the environment.
I've always been supportive of environmental causes, but realized maybe I should take a look at my own life and do something myself thanks to reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, and his other books.
I got big into green (nontoxic, earth friendly) living when I was pregnant with my daughter (now 13 years old). Though I often frequented natural food stores and was pretty saavy about natural foods and holistic health, I was shocked to find out that there are toxic chemicals in every day products (initially from reading the book, The Nontoxic Baby-no longer in print).
I haven't turned back. Living green has become my passion, and my life's work.
My family has been environmentally-conscious for as long as I can remember, but more in the way that we do basic things in our household (recycling, etc) than looking for cutting edge "green" trends.
My epiphany came recently when I realized just how much of an impact it had made on me that my father has biked to work every day for as long as I can remember. He would express extreme displeasure if we were late to school or missed the bus and he had to fire up the car. Living in a city, I can now walk to work and do not own a car, but his commitment to alternative transportation in a suburb where driving is usually seen as the only option remains inspirational.
I was "converted" from being concerned-but-inactive to actively working for sustainability after I heard Bill McDonough speak at Bioneers in 2000.
Until that point, I had had a view of environmentalism as a regressive movement: use less, think smaller, compromise and conserve.
McDonough made it clear that being environmentally conscious doesn't have to mean freezing in the dark, and he showed a path to a future that was both prosperous and sustainable.
I happen to have a copy of this presentation online for anyone who wants to watch it. There's a small version (80 MB) and a large version (600 MB). Both are Quicktime .MOV files; the large version may require Quicktime 7 to view (the smaller one should work with any version).
These links, as well as other resources, are available on my home page.
An epiphany is usually marked to a time in one's life where a sudden bolt of insight sparks one's awareness that usually zap's his old outlook of things. Some are brought on by meeting certain people by chance and some by reading certain pieces of literature. Mine was of both. Things happen to you for reasons, don't be fooled to think otherwise. Go read "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. GO NOW!
Grrr. Treehugger doesn't handle "a href=" link tags properly.
So, referencing my previous post:
McDonough video, 80MB version:
http://www.lorax.org/~brent/LiveJournal/McDonou...>
McDonough video, 600MB version:
http://www.lorax.org/~brent/LiveJournal/McDonou...>
My home page, with these and other green info links:
http://a-steep-hill.livejournal.com/profile</p>
--
editor note: Actually, html links work fine. they don't work in your previous post because you forgot the quotemarks in the URLs. I'll fix it.
The road to my green epiphany was a long and twisted one. I first dropped out of high school when I was about 16 after reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Through reading that book I learned to be highly engaged with the world about me. I learned that the universe (and everything in it) was dynamic and that there are many falsehoods many people have internalized which keeps them seperate from this dynamism and from the rest of creation. I wrote and thought a lot during the next couple years and two particulary important lessons came to me.
First, the current economic model is insane and the depletion and degradation of the world's resources bears witness to this. And Second, the current educational system is not intended to educate all students equally or with their human nature in mind, but rather, is intended to meet the objectives of industry which is the era in which mass education was largely designed.
I also learned during this time that as I kept coming to more and more internal truths, I should research what others have to say about the subject so that I could refine my thinking. In my search for books on the subject of economics and nature I came upon Natural Capitalism. This book reinforced my commitment to environmentalism and better organizational thinking. The rest, as they say, is history.
I grew up loving Captain Planet, and as a kid, I got my family to plant trees in the back yard and be more serious about recycling. I didn't take the time to go farther than that until I read "Fast Food Nation" and then became a vegetarian and started thinking about local and organic foods. Now, with "An Inconvenient Truth," I am working on weaning myself off of my car and encouraging people I know to use renewable energy in their homes. I've discovered this blog only recently, and am really excited to learn about all the small ways that sustainability is possible. I've always cared about the environment, but the scale and immediacy of the problem is just starting to coalesce into an understanding that more than recycling, planting a few trees and eating mostly organically is necessary.
I lived off-and-on around the poverty level during early childhood. We recycled for money, we kept waste to a minimum, we were energy efficient to keep utilities low, we bought food in bulk and purchased second-hand items.
I was a "conservationist" out of necessity, but I am unsure when I became "green".
I grew up in a pretty environmentally progressive household and have been a supporter of environemental causes since I was teenager, but my wake up call was probably reading Ervin Laszlo's Macroshift: 2001-2010 which talks about how significant this current decade is changing our behavior, if we're to avoid irreperable damage to the planet. Kalle Lassn's Culture Jam and, as mentioned above, Daniel Quinn's Ishmael are also great.
I grew up near Cleveland in the 70's and a geodesic dome house was built nearby. My epiphany came when in 6th grade art class, I felt that the dome could be bigger. I proposed a dome to cover the entire city and clean its air polluted air before it was released. I thank Bucky Fuller and Black Mountain College, NC for inspriation.
I've always lived pretty green, but more recently since i've bought a home and had a child. My green "epiphany" actually emerged through my career, in which i've founded an ad agency, Groundswell, that only works with socially responsible and eco-friendly clients. The underlying belief of the company is that it's our responsibility to be more critical of the companies we choose to do business with and to first and foremost consider their contribution to the greater good — not just to our own bottom line. Feel free to read more about us here: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/groudsw...>
Thank you for posting the McDonough video, GreenEngineer. It's amazing!
I grew up with old farmer parents. Conservation, DIY and recycling of material was integral with life. We were also poor, so we bought used goods rather than new as much as possible. We raised produce and meat ourselves. I got to play in the woods every day if I wanted.
The anti-litter commercials from the '70's with the crying Indian chief may have sparked my earliest awareness of pollution as an issue, but I never dwelt upon it much until '92, when I read the back of a notepad, which explained the difference between 'post-industrial recycled' and 'post-consumer recycled' paper. It explained that paper companies who claim paper without post-consumer content is 'recycled', are basically pulling wool over our eyes, seeing as post-industrial paper waste has always been reused.
I clearly remember that moment as the point when I felt that I needed to be involved.
For me, it was an article about global warming and the ozone layer, in Sports Illustrated, of all places. It was probably about 20 years ago, and I was so completely enthralled with it that I actually copied every word of it into a notepad. I couldn't believe that human beings would be so reckless, it seemed like a piece of science fiction. I was only about 10 at the time, so yes, I was naive. I still have clear memories of that article to this day. I wish I could find it somewhere.
I would say that my "greenieness" has developed over a long time as i grew up. I come from a conservative style household in a very conservative area of canada(thats conservative politically). Starting from the time i was able to watch tv, 8ish, i loved to watch nature shows about animals and such, I would see many wonderous animals all the time. At the end of the show though I would hear how the animal is endagered and it was usually always linked to humans.
As I continued to grow up and enjoy learning about animals, nature, and the earth, I grew more and more resentful to humans for causing so much damage with no thought of the reprecussions, just as long as a few dollars could be made. The problems i would see seemed to get worse and worse, I was noticing in my area where i lived that certain things were dieing off and that the water continually got more and more polluted.
It wasn't until i moved out on my own that i truely felt empowered, me and my wife live by the moto of necessity vs want. I am always finding myself going back to doing things the way things were done in the past before all this technology came to "make things easier". I tend to get on rants sometimes but usually my point of view in the end will change some minds. I have become increasingly extreme with my views and choose to do things in a way that most people would not. If i continue in my absolute goal with achieving harmony you may see me on the news some day "man has given up on modern human life to live like a caveman"
I have always been environmentally conscious but did not have my green epiphany until this last year when doing research on my architectural thesis. I love to read and one of the books that gave me the epiphany was "cradle to cradle." However, My fiance is not so green minded and I would like to get her to be more green minded. Any suggestions?
Hi. Hurray for treehugger(s)!
Happily my green-ness came early. Growing up (and still living) in Colorado I've had the opportunity to interact with a rugged, beautiful and challenging landscape for most of my life. It was with my parents camping in the mountains at about five that I first felt the singular feeling of insignificance and humility in the face of nature; under the stars, the wind blowing through innumerable trees, the endless complexity and interconnection of the forest, breathing around us.
Watching the transformation of beloved spots and open land into disconnected, cheap, inefficient "communities" has been an ongoing punch in the gut for the last ten years.
As I've traveled and lived in various parts of the country and the planet I've felt that there is significant divide between people who have recognized themselves as animals living in a natural environment, regardless of how buried and manipulated that environment might be, and those who haven't, and recognize themselves only in relation to the human physical and social structures around them. I'm not a Luddite or mountain man. I just think geting that understanding of our intimate connection to nature, regardless of how far away "nature" might be, is important and builds a non-intellectual, unfiltered, close sensitivity and respect for the earth.
Get out and get down with your natural self!!!! It will bring home how delicate and precious what we've got left is and how important our choices really are.
D
My green epiphany came when I moved to Washington, DC. I stopped driving and started walking, biking, or using mass transit. After a while, I realized that I could live a more sustainable lifestyle.
My epiphany came with the reading of the books of James Howard Kunstler. The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere deal with the stultifying effects of the automobile and the living arrangement it has fostered, suburbia. Growing up in the "outer asteroid belts" of suburban Orange County, California I could so relate to what he says. I always felt there was something wrong and he put it to words. His recent book, The Long Emergency, is about the end of cheap oil. He protracts just exactly how it will affect us, starting in the not too distant future. Globalization? Forgetaboutit.
No more 3000 mile caesar salads. Farming will become intensely local and more and more people will be involved. We'll have to learn how to become farmers again, knowledge that's largely been lost to corporate farming. There'll be no more corporate farming because of it's reliance on massive irrigation projects and fertilizer and insecticides made from cheap fossil fuels. Cheap shit made by slave labor overseas and sold in big box stores? Forgetaboutit. They'll have neither the raw material or the means of transporting it here. Manufacturing, like farming, will become, as it once was, intensely local. Suburbia? Will become the slums of tomorrow. There will be multiple families living in those McMansions with crops growing in the front yard. Places like Los Angeles will not be sustainable. Las Vegas will be the first casualty. Thank God. We've squandered or mineral inheritance and to make matters worse we also have to face global warming.
Like some others, my tendency toward conservation came from growing up pretty poor. But even though we didn't have much, I was always allowed to have a cat as long as I was willing to take responsibility for her. In truth, I think that being connected to other animals as a child has had a huge impact on how I view everything from my diet to the environment in general.
On a side note, I read "Cradle to Cradle" and Ishmael long after committing to a green lifestyle, but I found both of them to be very inspiring. I'd add "Omnivore's Dilemma" to that list.
My husband and I were both "huggers" in thought but only in limited action. In an effort to put our money where our values are, we recently decide to live without a car ... in Los Angeles. It ain't been easy; our goal is to make it at least 6 months. We started a blog at www.wheelingtoshare.com.</p>
(and we dig the treehugger video podcasts!)
I recently started subsribing to the tree hugger, and I have since been intensely interested in alternative energy, and how to generate it using bicycles or treadmills. I am working with the habitat for humanity project in my area to generate the electricity for that house for the whole year.
Seeing all the curbside trash growing on collection day. I just knew there had to a better way than burying ourselves in our own waste.
I remember reading an article about prairie dogs (?) in National Geographic. Although these certain prairie dogs were endangered, most farmers hated them because their cows would injure themselves when they stumbled into prairie dog holes.
As angry as I was at the farmers' attitude, I realized that they had to make a living. What a shame that consumers' desire for beef would make cows more valuable than an endangered species. I tried vegetarianism for awhile, but although I no longer practice it, that article showed me how our actions and decisions affect the larger world.
Well I guess my eco avenger reality started when I was 10, I was a huge fan of Ranger Rick and national and international Wildlife and I was following the massive terriosts acts of then Sec. Of Interior James Watt ( what a name huh? )I was so pissed about what was happening under his watch that I wrote him a personal letter and received a " go take a hike!" response. Well since then I have been aspired to become an Eco Evenger!! I was born in Conn and then was moved to Texas (40 miles from where our wonderfully environmental prez has his ranch), to say the least the change was more than surprising!!! I was thrust into a place with little of which I thought was everywhere...tress streams animals that were not lethal at every turn!
I later moved to Delaware At the age of 19 where I tried to publish an environmental mag called The World's planet without much success sadly. I then decided that I should go to where all of my contacts and leads came from ....Seattle to see if I could live amongst my peers of green lifestyle in 1991. Boy was I sadly mistaken!!! I found that just about all of America was full of americant's. I was doing landscaping as a self owned business and wanted more than anything to go electric with my truck but found out that a $9000 price tag would keep me in the norm.
I loved the place and stuck it out here in Seattle still working hard to try and change the world for the better.i tried to educate and sell electric bikes at any and every venue possible with still little success. I decided on Sept 11th 2001 to go to the Institute of Solar Living and do an internship for 6 months. ( I think that I still hold the record for the most tours of any intern!). After that I came back home to Seattle and joined the group locally of ASES Solar Washington were I became a board member and worked with a legendary man to pass legislation for solar energy. Well since then I have been working with a few people installing solar but may I say only on a few places still!!! For some reason peoples in the nw just do not think think that Seattle( 70% of LA's sunshine!!!!!) can be a solar success, but alas I am here in a local pub on my laptop (solar Powered ) via my electric bike ( solar charged) typing this little bit about myself in hopes that at least my son might some day understand why I do what I do.
PS I am working this week hooking up a solar coffee shop in Fremont to a 60 loop system with radiant heat and domestic hot h2o so things are moving ahead. I hope that we can someday move to a renewable based economy!
My parents grew up in Europe during WWII so we were taught never to be wasteful (whether it be with food, water, gas, or electicity) so I was raised with a strong sense of conservation. I have, however, had a few other epiphanies that have changed my life. In 2000 I started eating only organic food after watching a documentary about all the illnesses immigrant farm workers have from pesticide exposure. And just last year I switched to chemical-free skin care after reading a study on the Breast Cancer Action website that found parabens (a chemical preservative in almost all skincare) in breast cancer tumors - super scary being that the parabens were absorbed through the skin and most likely from lotions and creams. I also think the chemicals were causing my eczema, because it's completely cleared up since I switched. Who knows what epiphanie is next?!
I've always loved animals -- I collected thousands of animal cards as a kid. In 1989 when I was starting college, my dad called my attention to "50 Simple Things You Can Do to Help Save the Planet."
I learned so much from that little book. I cut back on and finally eliminated red meat from my diet to eat lower on the food chain. I became a diehard recycler and kept reading up on environmental issues. I was getting so disillusioned by the lack of support but I am inspired by seeing fellow treehuggers stories and awareness in the news.
I'm hoping to buy a hybrid soon and want to increase my home's efficiency. I'd love solar panels, but they're still out of my price range at the moment. I'm still in the process of changing all the light bulbs to compact fluoroescent, which helps reduce the heat from lighting in the summer!
I recommend IdealBite.com for a great newsletter that gives plenty of tips and resources from fume-free nail polish and organic baby clothes to investing and saving energy. They're inspiring 5 days a week!
I had always loved nature, but had absolutely no clue about what "sustainability" meant, i'd probably never heard the word. Junior year of Architecture schooling at Texas A&M we participated in a Cradle to Cradle design competition to which we were poorly prepared. Our design ended up being a typical house with natural lighting, solar panels, and natural ventilation. The project sucked, but it completely opened my eyes to sustainable architecture, and I intend to take my interests to a new level at graduate school studying Sustainable Architecture.
Just five pages into "Mad Cowboy," by Howard Lyman, I got so grossed out by what my meat was eating that I instantly became a vegetarian and vowed to become more informed about not only where my food comes from but also how we interact with nature. I've made lots of changes! (I also recommend "The Long Emergency" about the end of oil).
We were in Ireland for our daughter's thrid birthday, and it was snowing outside. I washed some of our dirty clothes and then I asked the people who we were staying with where was the dryer was they looked confused. These folks would never think to dry clothes in a dryer! You hand them out on the line if it isn't raining. And I live in California! Well, I exclusivly dry my clothes on the line now. My PG&E bill was $29 last month. America spends close to 10% of it's electricity on just drying clothes (read that in Nell Newman's book) when most of us can do it for free. I've found that it doesn't even take much more work than using a dryer. If you hang stuff flat, or upside-down, or put in on a hanger first, folding becomes much easier that if you took it out of the dryer.
I was about 8 and wanted to go with some friends to splash about in our local river (The James in Virginia) just a few block away. The small beach and shallow waters were our regular summertime hangout. Much to my dismay, my mom told me I could no longer go because of the chemical Kepone. This pesticide had been discharged in the river for years and just now (1975) did a perplexed physicial realize that the chemical was posioning the workers in the plant and in turn the river. The river was closed to fishing, swimming and oystering for years.
It pissed me off as a kid and made me aware of the need to be aware and turn pissed offness into action.
In 2002 I was still excited when McDonald's had two for one specials on their chicken sandwiches. "Double Mayo please!" Mmmm, those were the days. First swig of Mountain Dew in the morning got you feeling a little queasy? Don't worry, that will pass once you let the first 12 ounces settle. But even before Super Size Me, McDonald's was getting a bad rap, so I decided I should start getting healthy, so I started getting grocery store salad bar salads. I loaded them up like a Dagwood, piled on the cheese, ranch dressing, and even a little cottage cheese on the side... oh, and of course some canned peaches and pineapple.
Then I met Janet. She had come across Dr Weil some time back (her story will be on here at some point) but anything she had to say went in one burger and out the other. Uhm, I meant 'ear'. What really changed things for me was moving next door to a Whole Foods. I even kept shopping at Safeway even though it was a little further away. But here and there the combination of Whole Foods shopping and Janet's badgering of the beginner's three (High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Oils, and Refined Sugar) all started to culminate into a big flashing neon GREEN sign, and I was goner. I started shopping ONLY at Whole Foods.
Together, Janet and I added BGH, GMOs, VOCs, PVCs, PBDEs and a slew of others to our repertoire... which was a damn good thing too because later I found out I had Celiac Disease. Fortunately we had become quite the label readers and health gurus and found it much easier than the average person to transition to a gluten free diet. Now it's on to some online activism and email alerts from my favorite green and eco-conscience websites as we, the Hippie 2.0 generation, prepare to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! (in a good way of course, not in a Bush way... unless the bushes are organic, locally marketed, fairly traded, non GMO... ok, I'm done now.)
It hit me really hard last spring when I was getting more and more angry about Iraq and the things that our country has been doing both here and abroad. Someone started talking about biodiesel and it suddenly clicked - every individuals consumption of resources contributes to these wars and this destruction. We need to take an individual stand against supporting these practices and show others what we're doing. I started making biodiesel, reading treehugger.com, and voraciously learning about the current state of our environment and what we can do about it. Nice work everyone!
I hope more and more people are having "Green Epiphanies" these days. When those that have had these realizations take action and more people in current power see how important these issues are to the immediate future, we'll see more and more pressure to make useful and effective changes to our environmental policies.
My big change came in 1989, I quit my job as Plant Manager of a plastics company that made 110 million pet coke bottles pa.
I walked upto the boss and said "I quit" and he said "you can't you will never get a job in manufacturing again.
Feeling smug I asked if I could have that in writing.
He asked as to my plans fearing that I had a job with an opposition company. I told him I was planning to move to the south coast, sell and install a solar power systems and build a mud brick house.
Seventeen years later I can say I have done that :)
onse. Well since then I have been aspired to become an Eco Evenger!! I was born in Conn and then was moved to Texas (40 miles from where our wonderfully environmental prez has his ranch), to say the least the change was more than surprising!!! I was thrust into a place with little of which I thought was everywhere.
I saw the green 'flash' when I read "Your money or your life" by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin. It was about getting control of your money, but they also touched deeply on the harm being done to our earth by 'consumerism'. Since then, it's been one ecological insight after another.
I just can't believe how we are trashing our earth. My neighbors think I am NUTS because I refuse to water my lawn (could there be a bigger waste? or heaven forbid, put herbacides on it.) I grew up on a farm. My Dad would no more have watered the lawn than flown to the moon. We've totally lost that common sense approach to life, and I blame advertising.
Non-returnable bottles make me grind my teeth (wth happened there? remember in the 60s when you took your bottles back to the store?)
Treehugger gives me hope that there really are others out there like me!! I love the guy who fantasizes about returning to caveman life, because I dream of life in a simple cabin with very little modern crud.
''What can Agricultural engineers are do?'' important.'' Agricultural engineers have a diverse educational background that makes them knowledgeable about many subjects; additionally, they usually focus their expertise on one of the following areas:
•Soil and Water Resources.
•Power and Machinery.
•Food and Food Processing.
•Aquaculture.
•Energy.
•Environmental Quality.
•Safety.
•Structures and Environment.
People who have employed agricultural engineers have realised the difference between the proffession and other engineering proffessions.Agricultural engineers have a diverse educational background!!!!!
Menya Emmanuel
Agricultural engineering student
I realized we where in big trouble when I worked as a Solid Waste Supervisor and found many states had no more space in their landfills. I also found that local governements find it a hassle to recycle and often have no idea what and how to recycle. There are local goverments that acctually have piles of recycling pipled up next to their land fill and have no idea what to do with the items. What will we do when all of our landfill space is gone?
I also found that local governements find it a hassle to recycle and often have no idea what and how to recycle.