A new take on "green" living

More and more of late, I have been overcome by the waste in our society. I don't mean just that we buy dwellings and cars that are much larger than what we really need. I don't mean just that we suck up power that we don't need to use. I don't mean just that we wrest minerals from within the earth and then leave an enormous, toxic mess behind. I don't mean just the investment into transporting cheaply manufactured goods across oceans in huge ships that contribute far more particulate and toxic emissions into the air than do all of the cars in this country.

It's all of it.

Recently, a woman from Baltimore was on Oprah talking about how she had reduced her electric bill by 77% through unplugging things that pull an electrical load even when they're not being used. Whether you believe her actual performance or not, these two articles describe how it works and allow one to calculate how much could be saved.

So, what would motivate you to unplug a bunch of stuff? I've started unplugging nearly everything but for the alarm clock, the microwave (because it's impossible to get to) and the TV when I leave the apartment.

If you believe that global warming is bunkum, you won't be motivated to do this. If you hold a negative view toward trying to save money, or use less - you won't be motivated to do this.

What if Jesus said it was a good idea?

In Mark Chapter 12, Jesus was asked which was the most important of the Commandments. Most who are Christian or who have read the bible (note that I don't consider the two groups to be identical) are familiar with the story.

Here was the exchange:

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Let's break this down for a moment -

The most important commandment is that there is one God, and you should focus on God. In my faith, we say "God is all there is", but in any faith - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist .. we can all agree that the most important thing is that God is the most important thing.

What follows, though - "love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these".

Virtually every spiritual faith that has wide adherence contains this admonishment. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. What goes around comes around. As you do, so shall you receive.

We humans find this to be an aspiration, but we do not live as if it were the second most important spiritual rule. We instead ignore God's admonition that judgment belongs only to God, and try to use the other commandments as weapons to justify our wrath.

What of the commandment "thou shalt not kill" from the perspective of the second most important commandment? One could reflect that being killed would be pretty bad, so since I don't want that done unto me, I should refrain from doing it to others.

Let's take "thou shalt not steal". Hasn't everyone come to realize that someone, maybe someone we thought of as a trusted person, has stolen from us? How does that feel? It feels rotten! So, when we see something tantalizing - how do YOU want to feel? You want to feel the way that the owner of that trinket will feel when they discover that you've taken it?

Well, then either mate it back with its owner or leave it alone.

Taken into a broader environment - no pun intended - what are you saying to your neighbor when you throw something out your car window instead of disposing of it in a waste container? How would you feel if someone tossed some trash in your yard? Or let their animal relieve itself on your sidewalk?

What's the difference?

What are we saying to our neighbors when we create an earthen pond containing three million gallons of toxic coal slurry to avoid dealing with the refuse from coal mining, and then it soils and nearly permanently destroys hundreds of acres, and displacing dozens of families and businesses?

What are we saying to our neighbors when we run our supertanker into a shoal, spilling several million gallons of crude oil onto public beaches, destroying wild life habitats and the living for local fishermen and then fight cleaning up after ourselves by spending more money than the clean up would have cost?

What are we saying to our neighbors not yet born when we overfish or pollute the waters such that there is no more food source? Or when we create a drug, or a beverage, or a processed food that is neglectfully or intentionally harmful and then do our best to avoid responsibility?

What if we conducted ourselves thinking about how WE would feel if we personally had to deal with the aftermath, the mess, the cleanup, the financial burden and then acted to minimize or eliminate any effect that our neighbor will be left with?

If we conducted ourselves that way, would we be honoring God and his creations more fully? Would we actually be living our lives following the teachings of Jesus?

Why, yes we would.

Could one then extrapolate a sound conclusion that littering, using more than you actually need, acting in a manner ignorant of how others are left responsible or diminished, or actively trying to avoid responsibility are against Jesus's primary teachings?

You tell me. I have my opinion on the matter already.

Rainy Monday reflections

So, here I sit, my office again in total disarray after emptying out of storage fully. I await Ra-wub's arrival to move some things home and some things here. Then, everything has to be re-hung and .. Lord, have mercy.

So, yesterday I re-connected with two law school friends. One - my best friend from law school days, with whom I ran the streets until we both graduated and he moved back north. The other, a stalwart friend with whom I lost contact more than ten years ago.

It was good to catch up, and it was affirming to find that with all that has transpired since we last spoke - the uniform comment was that there just wasn't that much to talk about. No one was feeling enthusiastic about where we were in life - just looking for what's next.

Today, I was perusing employment opportunities - and finding that the job market has swept the value out from under the advanced degree I have. 25+ years of experience is worth about $22/hour, unless they're just lowballing.

Interesting article that I caught a day ago that suggested low cost airlines (specifically Ryanair) were charging the unsuspecting so much in fees that they were paying more than a full service airliner - and then today, another article complaining about the fees being assessed by the US network carriers which "may exceed the cost of the ticket!"

I had a hard time with the credibility of that last - not the least reason of which being that he couldn't spell worth a flip. But, today, I was researching some airfare for a friend (not that I don't do THAT several times a week) and discovered that American Airlines offered what looked like a lower fare than did Continental between the same two cities. However, in looking at the FINAL price (with fees), the American itinerary was between $6.00 and $8.00 HIGHER than the Continental price and required a stop and change of equipment in each direction.

So, when you're wondering how I work my airfare magic - I'll tell you. First, I tap into my vast, stored knowledge about which airlines travel between which cities (for instance, I would rarely suggest US Airways for travel to anywhere leaving Houston and going to the Midwest) and then check the following:

Kayak.com
Southwest.com
JetBlue.com (limited opportunities from this market, but great if you live near NYC)

If the travel includes a city into which Continental (or whatever your favorite airline travels) flies, I also check that airline's website directly.

With Kayak.com, you can search their site along with travelocity, expedia, priceline and hotwire simultaneously. Be sure to check those boxes to search all of the sites.

NEVER EVER EVER buy tickets from some website called "cheapassedairlinetickets.com" or something. EVER. When you buy through any website that is not operated directly by the air carrier onto which you are booked, any disruption in your travel will likely be handled by the booking website, and not the airline.

That means when you're stuck in New York City, booked on the last Delta (Comair) flight from JFK to Houston on a Sunday night and Comair cancels the flight because of a crew misconnect (which happens a LOT - seasoned travelers will avoid this flight like the measles) you will find that Delta will NOT help you. They invite you to call cheapassedairlinetickets.com and good luck with THAT.

Why check all of these different sites?

#1 - in any city pair market in which two of the airlines directly compete, you'll find that the airfares are nearly identical - UNTIL someone runs out of seats for that travel time.
#2 - if you find that is offering a lower fare, but you'd rather fly your preferred carrier, you can call them on the phone and ask them to match the lower price. They probably will.
#3 - each of these sites have different deals with rental cars and hotel operators - and sometimes you can find a lower airfare between your two cities by ADDING a hotel. The total cost is actually lower than the bare airfare.

And, never, ever try to back haul on a connection to save twenty bucks.