Education revisited

I posted a while ago about the difficulty of finding a good, simple explanation of global warming, and how depressing it was reading all the statistics of doom... but I do still think understanding the causes of global warming is important, as long as it is linked with empowering information, so that something positive comes out of understanding, instead of just fear and paralysis. The aim of education has to be to enable more effective action!

So I was excited to see this post on one of my eco-heroes' No Impact Man's blog, a layman's explanation of global warming, that is very readable. And while this post in particular isn't the most inspiring of action, it is very informative, and the blog in general really is action-enabling! It was one of my main inspirations for this blog, and I highly recommend you check it out! This is one of the things I do to maintain enthusiasm and satisfaction when I am feeling tired and a little hopeless- read the lovely posts about success and inspiration (and frustration, sometimes), and feel re-energised by the amazing things people out there are doing. Same goes for reading Treehugger, and most of the pages in my side bar.

I think one reason that it is difficult to wrap our heads around global warming is that the behaviours that we do that are relevant to climate change- using electricity, consuming goods, eating (especially most meat), driving and traveling, are very disconnected from the actual emission of greenhouse gases. Apart from the burning of fuel to transport goods to us, and our own vehicle use, most of our impact is indirect- back at when clothes and goods are made, animals (and their foods) are raised, and off in power stations. This is why a proper theoretical understanding is important- to be able to make the link between turning on that air conditioning, or buying that new computer/toaster/dress, and the extra CO2 emissions that result. I think making that link in the general consciousness, forming an environmentally aware community, and giving options for individual and collective change is an important step towards meaningful improvements in our quality of life now and in the future.

My house mate (Hi B!) thinks that it's the community bit that's most important, and I agree. If you have any ideas on this part- what an environmentally aware community would look like and how we can get there, I'd love to hear them! Anyone interested in forming a club with me?

In other exciting news, though it has resulted in my blogging slowing down considerably, I am now one of the Green Office Representatives at work! Woo! so I am trying to entertain (without harassing) all my workmates (who are pretty much all senior to me, since I have been here 3 months... oh the pressure to not make people annoyed at me with too many emails!) with information about how we can reduce our waste, energy and water use, and improve recycling within the department. Yay!