376 pounds of CO2 per year

– Or according to footprint calculator 3.8 planet earths.

My reaction: I found myself close to tears.

Why? I felt bullied by their shock and awe campaign. Angry because I couldn’t live up to their expectations. Trapped because by telling the truth they assumed things that weren’t true.They assumed. They failed to treat me as an individual. They hurt my pride at being ecologically sound.

3.8 planet earths to support my life? – My shields go on high. Why do I, bus riding, recycling savvy, energy saving, evergreen student that I am, use so much? – They give suggestions on what I can do – install solar panels on my roof, eat less meat, hang all my clothes out to dry. I want acknowledgment on how good I’m doing not improvements on what I could do better. Praise me!

Pride may come before the fall, but pride is also the greatest motivator not shame. Shame makes us give up. Make people proud of their actions. Then perhaps, but only then.

*************************************************************************
One last little rant on a suggestion from the EPA calculator –

“Turn up your household’s air conditioner thermostat by  degrees Fahrenheit in summer.

ENERGY STAR recommends turning up your thermostat by 7 degrees Fahrenheit on summer days and 4 degrees on summer nights. Visit the ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostats page to learn how to do this automatically.”

– Turning up? Is this a typo? What the hell?

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About Pan

College, Writing, Magic, Role playing, Blade dancing, love. That's just about my life. It's a little more complicated inside but that's all you need to know. I'm 20. In ways I am older, in many I am younger. Sometimes I feel ageless. I'm studying mythology - I love patterns, and how practices have purposes. Feast days and fast days and how they aid digestion. Menstrual taboos, and patterns of labor. Stories and how they cater to different ways of learning - this for the little ones, this for the minds just beginning to awake. I love to listen, especially if you have something to teach. I do not like having my time wasted - but while often cold, I warm quickly. Come talk. We'll see if we can make something of it.

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