It is almost 3pm EST in the USA, so that mean it is already 2007 somewhere.
Athiests, Jews, Communists, Christians, Anarchists, Liberals, Wiccans, Agnostics, jokers, smoker and midnight tokers…even more are represented here on the SDMB.
I think a common thread we share is that we all think our world is ashambles. We have different opinions about how to make it better.
So what will you commit to do in 2007 to make the world a better place? I am not talking about continuing something you are already doing, like raising a child or contributing to your favorite charity. How will you get your hands dirty in the mud of this world, and change it for the better? Just a little bit?
I will post mine a little while later.
Share beauty. Share love. Share food. Share company. Be kind when you have the right to be rude. Be generous when you have little. Invite in a stranger. Lift someone when you feel low. Repay evil with good for the sheer rebelliousness of it. Get out of the mainsteam. Skip your next luxury in order that a hungry family can eat. If you don’t have a brother, get one. If you don’t have a sister, adopt one.
So here, in this thread, make your commitment to the world for 2007. It doesn’t have to be big. As Mother Teresa said, “Do small things with great love”. But put it out here in the ether for us all to read. Then keep us posted as to how you are doing, and let us know when you are done.
The wave has to start somewhere. Let’s see if the Dope can make a ripple.
I am going to be promoting the heck out of energy-efficient building (housing and small commercial structures), including ‘zero-net’ buildings that generate as much energy as they use. People are stressed and up against the edge and anything that will give them some breathing room by lowering their overhead will help. Yes, it’s good for the planet; the fact that you can justify it on purely-financial grounds is just icing on the cake.
I hope that this will lead to a new career for me as well.
A small contribution, but next week a local recycling center will begin accepting styrofoam. Styrofoam and similar plastics are a big landfill problem, and the thing I most hate putting in the trash (or holding in the house for re-use).
I have chosen a new charity, Heifer International (heifer.org). I bought my parents a flock of chickens for their anniversary in January and my next donation will probably be a hive of bees.
I’m going to drag my lazy self in and donate blood. I’ve been meaning to do that for ages. The process freaks me out a little, but I shall overcome it with the power of the mind.
You said it doesn’t have to be big. I’m a wuss though, so there you go.
I think it may be just a little unfair to eliminate those things that we are already doing … especially if our intent is to do better. So, for reasons I hope will be apparent, I’m going to ignore that part, and continue doing something good for the environment.
I work for a company that recycles Used Oil and Used Antifreeze, as well as helping our customers to manage other related types of waste.
My territory covers a rather large area: Everything south of the Idaho/Oregon/Nevada border to about 30 miles south of US HWY 50 (which runs East and West through the center of the state), From the Utah/Nevada border to a line running North/South through a point 36 miles West of Winnemucca, NV (On this map, the longitudinal line that passes between the ‘e’ and ‘m’ in the printed city name, ‘Winnemucca’).
Most of the Used Oil (+/- 94%) that I collect is generated on mining sites, the balance is from smaller commercial generators like automotive shops, NDOT, drilling companies, etc.
One man, One Truck. And somedays, one helluva nightmare. If I may be allowed to beat my own drum at jus’ a wee bit obnoxiously high volume:
In Calendar Year (CY) 2003* I personally collected 925,223 Gallons of Used Oil and 102,004 Gallons of Used Antifreeze for recycling.
In CY 2004: 972,889 Gallons Used Oil - 103,146 gallons Used Antifreeze.
CY 2005: 997,921 Gallons Used Oil - 103,988 Gallons Used Antifreeze.
CY 2006: 1,011,576 Gallons Used Oil - 146,029 Gallons Used Antifreeze.
In CY 2007, it is my intention to collect even more.
To put this in perspective, each gallon of Used Oil that I collect displaces one gallon of virgin diesel/burner fuel (or 1.9 gallons of natural gas or 2.17 gallons of LPG or propane**) that would normally be burned in commercial burner applications such as asphalt plants.
97% of the glycol in Used Antifreeze is reclaimed and recycled back into the retail market place.
That is also 3.9 million gallons of Used Oil and about half a million gallons of Used Antifreeze that did not get dumped into some waste facility or the environment. And that is jus’ my one lil’ ol’ twuck from one little(?) area. Take a moment and look around on TFI’s website - I’m awful proud of what our team does.
That’s how I get my “hands dirty in the mud of this world, and change it for the better …”
Just a little bit.
Lucy
BTW, are you recycling your Used Oil and Antifreeze responsibly?
*NOTE: The numbers from calendar year 2002 have disappeared into the the black hole that was my former windows based computer. For that matter, so has the machine. Black holes are like that. Yeah, they are!
**These numbers may be lower, but are the latest efficiency numbers for natural gas/propane/LPG that I have heard. YMMV. In Other Words, I’m working from memory and I don’t really feel like looking for a cite right now.
I do a lot of hands-on work with a small charity, Operation Quiet Comfort (operationquietcomfort.com), that does a lot to support wounded soldiers and try to make their recovery more comfortable. We’re expanding this year into more work on the homefront in the adaptive clothing arena, so it looks to be a very busy sewing year, trying to get the new project up and running.
I’ll continue to donate platelets. I’ll try to donate more often to charity. And I’ll try really hard not to strangle someone who annoys me–although if I did, it MIGHT be an improvement in the world…
Lucy: my cooking oil is olive, so it gets reused to death.
My last car checkup included an “all-fluids change” and there was a “recycling charge”, so them folks at the garage better be sending it for recycling.
Last year, this gastronomic club I recently joined had a meeting in my hometown. We started by visiting the local landfill/separation plant (the manager is a member) and then went to have a Serious Dinner. Mom came too. The manager mentioned that the supermarket bags used by many housewives are harder to break than the regular garbage bags. Mom asked whether that means you should use regular bags, because if so she’d tell the library club and the sunday school teachers and so forth. The manager said no, no, “reduce, reuse, recycle” works good and often the official trash bags are actually too big for some of the little old ladies so it’s just fine. He then mentioned that one of the things that surprised them when they started the recycling programs was that the housewives and the grandmothers were the ones who took to them immediately. Every year they get requests from the local Elder’s Clubs to give a talk on how to separate the different kinds of trash. Mom said “well of course, we’re the ones who teach the children!”
She’s been preparing visits to the “trash factory” with the library club and the parish…
I’m just going to go on doing the stuff I usually do.
Badger people about being blood/organs donors when the subject comes up. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Refrain from throttling any relatives. Do my best to improve any business processes I have a chance to improve (less raw materials, less energy spent, simpler, safer).
And one of these centuries I’ll learn diplomacy. Or not.
In February I begin orientation for Stand Up for Kids, an organization that works with homeless teens. I’m pretty excited about it.
Mr. AdoptaMom says that we “give our fair share” because I work for peanuts at a non-profit
What I’d really like to find is a church family … one that doesn’t have a terribly strict doctrine but focuses more on what we can do in the community to help others.
