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Cynthetiq · 03-29-2008, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoore

Ah yes, "I live in a big city so I don't have as large of a footprint." I can't buy this argument. Your food must travel a greater distance than mine. You can't grow any of your own food. All of the products you use must be brought into this large city. No one ever talks about those numbers and I can't measure the effect.

BTW, I drive because I'm a construction worker. We build the offices people can walk to. It's just how it goes. I'm not negating your savings in any way shape or form. With the Stapleton and Lowry redevelopments (somewhat dense mixed use) I dare say people like me have enabled others to have a smaller footprint. Now they don't have to drive 5 miles for one store, 8 in the other direction for another. They can walk or take decent public transportation, something sorely lacking in the West, to work.

I think it's great you are so thoughtful about energy. Like you, I'm more concerned with my monthly nut than some vague cause. I do like the overall cause but my money matters most to me. You did the "cool all day/cool off at end of day" for yourself instead of taking someone else's word for it. To help educate myself and my family we did a similar thing, we were lazy for one month and I tried to be militant about turning everything off the next month. Spent some $20 on power strips everyone could plug their phantom loads into and saved over $60 in usage. We still use those power strips regularly, the kids realize that less money spent on electricity means more money on desserts and other luxury foodstuffs.

re: the OP: Why disapprove of this awareness? Obviously you are doing this every day but most of us aren't. If people can be shown the effect maybe it will carry over into their daily lives. This isn't just about home energy use, businesses are encouraged to participate also. I believe all of the exterior showcase lights in Denver will be extinguished as well. It's not a feel good "look, I did this" in my mind, it's advocacy that can carry over into our collective daily routine.

You're right about the trucking of goods into the city. There is little that can be done about that, but in a densely packed place where 8 million people live and work and area of 22.96 square miles. Providing those goods into a more centralized location is still a more centralized location. It amazed me that some of the freshest seafood I have had was in Madrid right smack dab in the middle of Spain quite far from the coasts. Last time I was in the Denver area, it was quite sprawling similar to when I lived in Los Angeles and New Jersey.

There are people here to do grow some of their own food, there are CSAs and Cooperatives. There are greenmarkets where those top chefs shop every day getting the freshest vegetables from the NY state farmers. But if they didn't truck it in, would the items be consumed? The farmers wouldn't have any customers and they'd cease to be farmers. I contend that most basic food products are grown and produced as close to the customer as possible. It makes sense that I get my lettuce from NJ versus California. I have options of blueberries from NJ or Maine.

Now if we were to move to processed products like Tropicana orange juice (Gawd damn it's $3.99 a 1/2 gallon now! used to only be $2.00 5 years ago, $3.00 last year) you're further away from their processing plant than I am.

What does bother me about the produce being brought in is having foreign produce from Brazil, Argentina, China, etc. just so that we can have strawberries and oranges during the off seasons. People need to learn when the seasons are and eat them when they are in season. The whole bottled water thing as well gets lumped into that discussion which is a whole thing all by itself.

I'm not disapproving of this awareness. It's the repetition that I think is more important, ala "The More You Know..." spots and I'm going to take a wild guess you are older than 21 so you may remember the "Knowing is half the battle..."

I find that these single item moments tend to be flash in the pan feel goodness for the moment. I fear that as a society aren't able to strike much change because it's hard. It's not easy changing habits and behaviors. It took me moving from one coast to another country, and even then I was still trying to live like a Los Angleno because not having a car was giving me fits. Learning how to take the bus, railroad, cabs, walking was foreign to me. It's the repetition that makes it happen.

The CAFE standards should have kept on rising because the gas crisis of the early 70s was something that shouldn't happen ever again. Yet, we feel we've done enough, we loosen the belt and stop doing those good things we were doing. I'm happy when they do gain more traction and become something more, but again, people seem to fail me all the time.

Last night at Whole Foods market, I was given a large brown paper bag that I didn't need. I told the cashier that I didn't need it but she had already opened it up and placed 1 item of the 3 in there. On my way out I took out my items and walked back to the line of people waiting for a cashier. I asked if anyone wanted this bag. (Just as an aside WF gives $.10 if you bring your own bag.) I would assume that people who are shopping there are more mindful and environmental but like your arguments earlier in the thread, one has little to do with another. Not a single person wanted my bag. I offered it directly to invididuals on the line so as to not have "Genovese syndrome" against me. It took me offering it to over 7 individuals before an elderly lady in the back stated she would take it. All the young hipsters gave me odd looks like "WTF why are you talking to me?"

BTW that Stapleton development looks like the Truman Show set or any other 80's Speilberg movietown.