Where is your line for enviromentalism?

Congratulations on becoming vegetarian. You are walking the talk. The car is secondary, electricity is secondary. You've nipped it in the bud. The most efficient, effective & least cost way that any individual can contribute the most to helping our environment is to go organic vegan. As has already been pointed out, your dietary change also saves you a lot of money in the short & long term. It is also much better for your health with obvious flow-on effects. It's more than OK to ignore cutting back in other areas like cars & electricity, just concentrate on improving your diet. The studies have been done. A vegan driving an SUV everyday contributes much more to a better, cooler environment than a meat-eater who rides a bicycle everyday instead of a car! Here are some old links (the figures are even better these days), to show you just how significant this is: http://nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/01/27/weekinreview/20080127_BITTMAN2_GRAPHIC.html http://nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/01/27/weekinreview/20080127_BITTMAN1_GRAPHIC.html If all carbon-emitting industries & cars were removed right now, it would take more than 50 years for the carbon dioxides, etc to be converted into other forms (disappear), but methane gas (over 70 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide) only has a ten year lifespan in our atmosphere, as do nitrous oxides (over 300 times the heat-trapping capability of carbon dioxides). Both of these are byproducts of the livestock industries who produce about 80% of the world's total production of these gases. There you have it. The UN, ICCP, NASA scientists, climatologists & other leading scientific bodies have been on about this for the past decade, but who listens? Who actually does anything about it? There is so very little time left to make the change.

When I was a child we carried every drop of water by hand in buckets from a spring and recycled everything, not by giving it to special trash collection but by using it ourselves in some way or another. Even today I still compost a lot of my trash. I think I am doing my part. Nobody had better try to separate me from my car. It is good to be conscious of the environment, but I have met some environmental zealots who litter. Go figure.

I think more in saving money and in not throwing away perfectly good items. I do think that there is a difference between being thrifty and being an environmentalist. The first helps one saving money. For instance, turning off the light bulbs when you are not in the room, or using just a plan mop or one of those sweeper clothes rather then getting a Swifter ;mop will save money. But as one of my friends said, when they took recycled material for building. It took more time and money to scrape off the paint and then the board was not much good for anything. Since you live on the West Coast, giving up meat, and eating mainly vegetables would be easy, but for us in Winnipeg, it would not be easy. In winter we have to import our food and not everyone can live on cabbages, turnips, and carrots. We have to heat our houses and apartments. It is easy to be an environmentalist. By the way is life cheaper and are you saving more money. That is the real test. Oh giving up a car = I guess the bus fares have gone up since then. My friend and I are going on the bus for piano and singing lessons. She says that it cheaper to take the car. I lived in Vancouver and I could not afford a car and a place to live at the same time. So it depends on where you are. Here driving a car seems to be cheaper, and I cannot ride a bike in winter, and since I have no sense of balance, I would either have to walk or take a bus. As for washing clothes, well if you want to go all the way - back in the 60s we have the Hippies and guess what they became.

I think it's great to be a vegetarian~I want to be but I still not ready...I'm trying to change step by step...... as I don't have car, I get up early every morning to take bus to work. I don't think it's necessary to give up car absolutely to show you a enviromentalism. just do your best~

I do not live up for environmentalism to the extent of yours, but I use my electricity wisely, save my water consumption, and more...I believe it is the best to preserve the environment rather than completely stop using some things in the name of environment ...No offense, but it is human needs and we must be as well consider our needs as we consider the needs of Mother Nature...