Think Globally...

Recently I've been thinking about the benefits of "buying locally". Last Saturday I went to our local grocery store about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. I picked up some pork meat, and then gradually getting closer to home at each stop, went to the vegetable stand (which sells local vegetables at much lower prices than any of the super markets) to get veggies, and then a bread shop (run out of a local home which sells fresh baked breads using mostly organic ingredients). I brought my own cloth bags to do the shopping so didn't return home with any unneeded paper or plastic, and the whole trip was done on foot in 20 minutes. I know not everyone is as lucky to have these things within walking distance, but we all make choices that can affect that situation, and there are plenty of other things that individuals can do.
The thing is, a lot of web sites these days suggest "Ten things you can do for the environment!" and whatnot, but I find that most of the things just don't apply to me. For example, an environmental NPO I keep an eye on is now running a campaign to wash 3 out of 5 laundry loads with only cold water, and they give a percentage of energy (and money) you will save as a result, stating that water heating accounts for approximately 19% of total home energy use. Well, in Japan, many residences - particularly, mine - use cold water to wash clothes for 5 out of 5 loads. For a warm water cycle, we reuse the (basically clean) bath water using a pump that runs the water from the tub to the laundry machine. As for clothes driers, Japan has no laws against line drying and many, many people do this. In New Hampshire, a man is fighting local laws that prohibit use of a clothesline (listen to story here) but I don't even own an electric clothes dryer. And I don't feel like I'm particularly missing out on anything.
Of course there is still plenty that I can do to help do my part for the environment, and there are times when the weather report makes me wish I did have a clothes dryer, but all this still makes me realize how wasteful we have all become. Most of the suggestions are for how to cut down on what is primarily wasteful behavior; it's not enough, it's nothing that actually improves the environment. The hope is that if we can specify options that help cut people's bills and makes them feel better about themselves, thus connecting environment and economy, we are headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, the direction we are facing is not quite where we want to be headed.
The IPCC, the UN panel which recently won the Nobel Prize, recently released their 4th assessment report saying that irreversible damage to the environment has been done and we can expect temperature rises and a rise in sea level over the coming centuries no matter what - even if all CO2 emissions were to stop dead in their tracks - so it's time to start considering "adaptation", (listen to the 4 minute broadcast online here). Of course there is so much more we could be doing as members of the human race, but maybe the IPCC realizes that it's just not going to happen. One can only hope that the world makes some real headway in the talks that will start in December in Bali, Indonesia on what to do as a follow up to the Kyoto Protocol.