Last night on Eco Radio I heard something really scared the do-do out of me. Toilet paper has become the enemy and is threatening to wipe out old growth Canadian forests. Why you might ask is why does something that is going to be flushed away need to be manufactured out of virgin pulp instead of recycled paper? That’s a great question and the answer is, it doesn’t. The greater question is why isn’t everything that can be made from recycled sources be made from recycled sources. The answer is they should be. The waste and slash and burn philosophy that is endemic to all of us needs to be looked at and looked at hard. Paper production is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. Not only do they swallow trees at an astronomical rate but the resulting processing fouls everything it touches. Poisoning water sauces, habitat, the air we breath while creating waste problems in every step of production. Recycled paper solves more than the initial problem. It allows us to eliminate waste. It cleans up after itself by reusing itself over and over again. And it eliminated the logging of millions of acres of trees, the fuel it takes to cut the wood, the roads that must be built through virgin forests and so much more up and down the supply chain. For those of you who may be squeamish recycled toilet paper is not dirty paper that’s been reprocessed but brand new toilet paper that’s been manufactured from reclaimed and recycled paper. So next time you’re in the market for tissue paper that’s going to end up down the drain anyway reach for one that’s has a conscious. It’ll make you feel a whole lot better.

This weekend we drove down from Boulder and decided to take the scenic route through small towns and country roads instead of I25. A missed turn took us 65 miles and a hundred years away from the here and now. The landscape rolled out in front of us, something John Ford would have directed. Rolling prairie golden with autumn grasses. Up ahead the sun broke through some low clouds and haloed the lightly falling snow. Our iPod found some native American tunes and it was “dances with wolves” time right then and there. All we needed was a heard of Buffalo thundering across the landscape. And then because it was that kind of day there they were. To the left of us moving toward a ribbon of a stream aflame in the setting sun they lined up one by one to drink. The snow capped mountains on the horizon, the swaying pines tipped with white, the very air itself, this was the west. Eternal, timeless, still here and now.

Think of it. less than 200 years ago this was the ordinary. Today it was extraordinary. Extraordinary because we had to go out of our way and get lost to find what we found. A place with no starbucks, no borders, no wal-mart and no golden arches. Just golden grasses. Last year in honor of Lewis and Clark parts of their diary were read on the air. You could hear the wonder in their words. Streams teaming with fish. Seas of prairie grass dancing with the wind. Great forests of ancient trees sheltering wildlife as far as the eye could see. Eagles swooping and rising as they glided on the thermals without even a flutter of their wings.

What would they see now instead. Parking lots teams with cars and great malls sheltering us from real life as far as the eye can see. That is the constant struggle of progress against paradise. I’ve seen it happen in my own lifetime. Driving across the country just 3 years ago I was struck by the sameness that has replaced so much that was unique. My eyes yearning for a simple town with simple stores run by mom and pop not Wendy’s and burger king. Instead you move from mall to mall skipping from one brand name to another without identifying with place and people as unique to you as you are to them.. Maybe its not too late. Maybe the melting glaciers will remind us of what else we have lost. The simple unsameness of time and place.

What once was is still there, but you’d better hurry because we passed a sign right there in the middle of paradise that read “paradise acres 5 acre homesites for sale”. And that’s a sign for all of us.

 

 ATG #2 Localize your Energy [47:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (249)

Today’s guest is Mark Sardella from Local Energy.
The show starts with “YOUR WAKE UP CALL” and an introduction of Mark and his background.

We also mention . . .
Arron Russo and his film “Freedom to Fascism.”
The Santa Fe Business Alliance
Locals Care
BALLE - Business Alliance for Local Living Economies

Irv tells his story about what kids answered when asked “Where do peanuts come from?” The answer Irv got was “The grocery store.”

Irv starts a conversation with Mark about people having no interaction with the natural world. Mark comments: “. . . return to nature gracefully.”

We talk about the imbalance of man to nature and that man controls about 40% out of millions of species on earth today.

How do you market this and what can we do?
Mark: “A mind shift. Local energy suppliers. Use of biomass to create energy sources. Shop at locally owned businesses.”

Carolyn asks Mark: “Give us one message for people listening today.” Mark replies “Give up fear!”

Links: Local Energy

Listener Comment Line: 206-202-0284
PLEASE leave us a comment or an ida about how and what you do to be “green” or sustainable.

We gratefully thank Kevin Hays for portions of his cut “What Survives” off the “Kevin Hays Trio” CD. Please, if you like the music or are curious, support this musician and click on the link above to find out more or purchase his CD.
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