I use Green Mountain 100% Wind Energy to power my home. I take the bus to and from work (even in this heat). I reduce. I reuse. I recycle.

I wish instead of selling it you could repurpose it. Like a planter or something.

Glad you’re back!

Your selfless lifestyle changes are as superb as your vlogs. Thanks for sharing your voice and matching your convictions with action.

Calculate your ecological footprint here:

http://www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm

Well aren’t you just a big ol’ environmental weenie?! And it’s not like you have a kid to worry about the kind of world you’re leaving him/her!

Way to go, Justin. Although I’m sure the new Jetta will reduce your visits to the local gas station, I’ve often thought a diesel Beetle that ran on used deep-fryer oil would be the way to go. I want one so bad.

I’m thinking step 2 in your eco-concious endeavors should be to build yourself a “still” in your back yard, and start distilling your own alcohol to burn in that new Volkswagen.

Thanks for the comments, guys! I really appreciate you taking the time to come here and share this info. And I encourage everyone to check out the calculator that The Gay Expat linked to, because it’s really informative. It tells how many planets would be needed to support everyone on Earth if they had the same footprint as you do.

Adam: I wish we could specify wind energy here, but our monopoly electric company doesn’t allow it (they purchase some wind power and mix it in for everyone). I also just found out that the bus route that used to come by my office no longer does, so bus transport is definitely out. I’m proud of you for being a bus rider in a non-pedestrian city like Dallas!

Gay Expat: Thanks for the link! That’s very good information and more detailed than most of the other calculators that I found. And thanks for commenting…I’m humbled that the famous Gay Expat watched the vlog.

JustinN: Not so much an environmental weenie, I just have a guilty conscience. And I am leaving behind some really cute nieces and nephews and kids of friends. I’m hoping they’ll take care of me when I’m old for being a good environmental steward (and a fabulous uncle).

Tim: Michael wanted to do Biodiesel, so this sounds like something that’s right up his alley. I told him he could poop in a bucket to power his own car, that mine wasn’t going to smell like Asian food and French Fries. The only problem with distilling my own alcohol is that my friends may consume more than the car.

Justin and I have been exchanging some pretty impationed emails about this subject over the last few days. And of course I am going to take a more un-popular position on this issue. So let me first say I do believe and understand global warming exists. But I also believe and there is scientific evidence that shows global warming isn’t a new trend that just started. It’s been going on on this planet for the last 6000 years. Are people contributing to the acceleration of Global Warming sure they are and can we do things to slow it down sure we can. And all the things mentioned in this vlog post are a very admirable and logical. But I do have to take issue with the preachy 1/2 factual Al Gore presentation of the situation, that was designed to scare the crap out of people and portray Al Gore (who flies around the country in his private jet that does much more harm to the environment than my hummer and your jetta 10 times over for about 10 years promoting this movie)as the great enviromental visionary.

I really have a problem when someone uses something I do care something about as a way to further their political career and I am not going to just stand still and ignore it cause the message that he’s pushing sounds genuine.. espeically if it’s not really his message, but a message he’s adopted to fit his needs.

Heheh, JustinD, I was just trying to get a dig in at JustinB.

If I meet one more Justin in the next month i’ll get a name change

Yeys! Kudos. One of the perks of Chicago is that I can walk most places and have two different rail systems to pick from. It feels natural - but is also nice to know that it helps the planet a wee bit. Alas this option isn’t available to more Americans…

I do my best to reduce my wastage, but I know I could probably do better. I can’t drive, though, which does make reducing my petrol use a might easier!

If you want wasteful, though, you should have met one of the people I lived with last year. Very nice person, but always bought the food with the most packaging, bought far more food than she could use with the the exp. date, and *drove* to go down to the corner shop to pick up a loaf of bread or carton of milk. And, she never seemed to realise that we wouldn’t have to put out as much rubbish if whe recycled her tons of packaging, and if she squished/collapsed the unrecyclables. Seriously, we went through about 4 bags of rubbish a week… we barely go through 1 when I’m back with my folks!

Oh, the URL is to my LiveJournal… which is kinda sucky and pathetic, but every now and then my life gets interesting enough for me to put down something more substantial than quizzes and memes.