Treehugger - Latest Comments in Share Your Green Epiphany

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

laptop battery — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:05:15 -0000

I also found that local governements find it a hassle to recycle and often have no idea what and how to recycle.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Mel — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:05:42 -0000

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?

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Menya Emmanuel — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:32:12 -0000

''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

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Kate Huppell — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:44:54 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Jack Sparrow — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:53:11 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Roger Bunyan — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 03:17:59 -0000

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 :)

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Clint Slaughter — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 01:56:00 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Chris Burt — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:33:36 -0000

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.)

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Mary — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:45:12 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Patrice — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:27:02 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Michele — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:17:07 -0000

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).

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

ihavacavalier — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 21:51:49 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Chatmal — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 15:48:44 -0000

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!

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

D Beth — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:58:31 -0000

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?!

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Scott Allison — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:26:08 -0000

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!

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Brunswickian — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:58:18 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

MarksEcoShop — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 22:18:13 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Adam Torkildson — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:28:13 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Kenya — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:21:26 -0000

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.

(and we dig the treehugger video podcasts!)

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Heidi — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:43:34 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

George Krpan — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:06:40 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Nick — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 16:28:01 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Dan — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 16:10:58 -0000

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.

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Lance Cayko — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:48:55 -0000

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?

Re: Share Your Green Epiphany

Alex — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 14:34:11 -0000

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"