Earth in the balance

Tonight I finally went to see An Inconvenient Truth and felt I really had to get some thoughts out there. I wouldn't say it was enjoyable - it wasn't Little Miss Sunshine - more like Little Miss Radiation, really - I cried in the car all the way home. But I am trying to take on board something that Al Gore said in the movie that seemed to be summing up all that I was feeling. And to paraphrase, he said something like: in the face of all this data, a lot of people will jump straight from denial into despair, without stopping to ask what they can do to change things.

So, even though I did sob all the way home, I was also trying to think of ways to make changes. So I'm putting them out there as a matter of public record. If anyone happens to stumble across this blog, feel free to nag me about whether I've done what I am about to say I will do.

Things I feel I can do to not only assuage a guilty conscience, but hopefully make a difference:

• Replace the lightbulbs in the house with energy-efficient bulbs. I will not swap out the bathroom bulbs - it's one of those 4 in one deals with heat lamps but I will not use the heat lamps except in winter and only for the kids' baths.
• Track down a push-button or rotary dial phone and disconnect my electric phone and answering machine. They are both plugged in all day every day and surely that adds up to a lot of energy consumption over the year. Also, I find the damned things break down after about a year and need to be replaced (nothing like in-built obsolescence) whereas I'm sure I had the same rotary dial phone in my house for my entire childhood. Also, in blackouts, it's dangerous not to have a functioning phone - every house should have a non-electric phone as a matter of public safety. I am going to wire the house with extra plugs so we can move the phone around according to where we want to talk - there are already outlets in the hall and kitchen and I'll get one put in the bedroom. In the meantime, I'll just get an extra-long cable. Regarding the inconvenience of not having an answering machine: I don't have that many friends and the ones I do have my mobile number.
• Take the train to work one day a week. I drive because I need to get to school for pick-up but I can arrange for someone else to collect one day a week and when they grow up they may even thank me for my pathetic effort.
• Use a basin to wash the dishes in. I live in an old house with a single sink in the kitchen and am absolutely guilt-stricken every time I do the dishes because I let the water run instead of fill up the sink. I will STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY. I will not stop rinsing the dishes though because not rinsing dishes is just disgusting.
• Investigate installing a solar hot water system. This is a big expense but we were told recently that our gas hot water system is actually illegally installed and need to either get it moved or replaced. As good a time as any then to investigate changing systems altogether. Bank loan, here we come!
• Even BIGGER - look into the cost of getting a hybrid car. Our cars (yes - we have two) are reasonably efficient Toyotas. You have to get on a waitlist here for a Prius - so let's get on the waitlist and hopefully by the time we get it, we can afford it!
• Urge everyone I know to see An Inconvenient Truth. GO AND SEE IT! Seriously, this issue is bigger than politics, bigger than ideology - if you're a naysayer, entertain the thought that you might be wrong. I sure wish Al Gore was wrong, but sadly, I don't think he is. Let's listen to this Cassandra before it's too late.
• Jump from denial into action, not despair. This needs to be my personal mantra as my nature tends to get stuck in the negative groove. If I can get upset at bad spelling...you get the idea.

This is not The Picky Bitch's usual rant. We will resume normal programming as soon as possible...

• Okay, I couldn't resist - Checking the Spell Check:
  lightbulbs - apart from light bulbs, which is probably more correct or should at least be hypenated, it prompted LETTER BOMBS - dear Jesus - what kind of people are on blogger.com!!!
• waitlist - same deal - probably should be hyphenated but it prompted our SICK FUCK SPELL CHECK to suggest titlist - TITLIST ohhhhh... I just realised...it's ME who is the sick fuck... I was reading it as TIT-LIST but I think it means someone who has a title, as in Heavy-weight Titlist. Now I know what kind of people are on blogger.com and I'm one of them. I'm embarrassed.