Ryan Mickle Blogs Here

Since my grandmother told me years ago that researchers had observed that when people wrote down their goals, a greater number of their aspirations for their future came true, I’ve written down my own. By writing down my dreams of a health, happiness, and success (as I define each) and even sharing them with those close to me, I’ve been able to hold myself accountable and remain focused as I changed and improved major aspects of my life and routine.

This year, I writing down a different kind of new year’s resolutions. Rather than focus on personal growth and fulfillment, I’m resolving to make serious commitments to influencing climate change positively in 2008. Notice that I am not just talking about personal environmental impact, but rather my influence on impacts over which I may not have direct control. This is because my control, or lack thereof, doesn’t limit the impact that climate change will have on me, my kids (someday), and the following generations.

Why I care:

• There exists a tremendous opportunity to thrive as a society that minimizes the long term impacts of everything it does.
• Guilt-free living.
• Climate change… there are so many beautiful places I want to travel with friends and, someday, my own family. Imagine an age in which a waterfall pool you swam in during your 20s with a best friend no longer exists when you return with your family to relive and share those experiences.
• Imagine how the next category 4 or 5 hurricane will affect the lives of families, changing every aspects of their lives, and the impacts of people being forced to migrate away from storm-prone areas.
• Imagine a time when polar bears only exist in Coke ads and captivity.

Climate Change Resolutions:

1. I will work only for a company that does has aggressive plans to reduce its carbon emissions (how about to zero?) in place. If the company doesn’t, I’ll lobby and volunteer to manage putting these programs in place. Only after 6 months of working toward this goal, all the way to the CEO, will I give up and leave the company.
2. I will do everything in my power to purchase only from companies with the most aggressive strategies to impact society and the environment positively (how about plans to reduce carbon emissions to zero?). Worst case scenario, I buy less this year and save more money. Big deal.
3. Train, bus, 50 mpg or better, carpool, or bust. Whenever even remotely possible, I’ll take public transportation over driving. If the additional time I invest ever starts to put this decision in question, I’ll make a conscious effort to strike up conversation with people around me, to learn from them in ways that I never would have otherwise.
4. I will cut my electricity usage by 25%, beginning with replacing light bulbs with CFLs, and turning energy use minimization into a challenge between me and those with whom I share living and working space.
5. I will personally lobby for renewable energy and efficient transportation. It seems as though people are ready for alternatives to driving cars, and many are willing to invest additional money in renewable energy for their homes, so why can’t we get a move on all these ideas? As I always say, talk is cheap. I’ll be lobbying in every way I can, until something gets done.

What are your Climate Change Resolutions?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.