Mount Airy's Eco Celeb: Meenal Raval

My dear friend Meenal would think it soooo lame that living a high quality, intentionally sustainable life is actually NEWS in our United States. Imagine actually mustering the impulse control to not consume whatever you want. However, she graciously consented to being featured in the Inqy's Earth Day coverage, and she is indeed an inspiration. Here's the story. Enjoy!

Taking big steps to shrink her footprint

Community activist Meenal Raval switched cars, gave up a trip to India, and more.

Once Meenal Raval decided she had to reduce her impact on the planet, the hard work began.

The community activist, married without children, assessed her household's carbon footprint in three major categories - transportation, electricity, and heating - that create significant carbon dioxide and therefore impact the worldwide ecosystem.

Raval, who started Mount Airy Greening Net, even devised a simplified calculation, patterned after a federal EZ tax form, that can be used to figure yearly CO2 emissions.

The first year, based on consumption for 12 months starting in summer 2005, the household emitted 11.6 metric tons - a low starting point compared with the U.S. household average of 20 metric tons.

The couple had already downsized to one car, and now the 15 m.p.g. minivan was traded for a 30 m.p.g. Honda Fit. Raval changed lightbulbs to compact fluorescents, installed a programmable thermostat, gave up the clothes dryer, and got a solar water heater in place of the gas one. The household footprint shrank to 8.8 metric tons.

About two years ago, Raval signed on for wind-generated electricity, a renewable source that eliminates any CO2 emissions for electrical power. The footprint got smaller.

That same year, she was considering another trip to India, where she was born and owns property. "That street called to me," she said of her hometown in Gujarat. But the 15,000-mile flight from Philadelphia to Mumbai would generate 6,600 pounds of CO2, wiping out much of the gains she had made that year.

She could have bought rainforest in South America to offset her emissions, but "didn't feel right about paying my way to do whatever the hell I wanted."

These days, the household footprint has dropped to 6.5 metric tons - about 3.3 tons per person, a sustainable level, according to John Byrne, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware.

Raval emphasizes that even though she turns down the thermostat while at work or takes her own reusable plate and glass to neighborhood picnics, she doesn't deprive herself. "It's not about being uncomfortable. It's about not being wasteful."

GreenBagLady Kudos

Since Earth Day is coming up, time for a fun post. One of my most popular was a little piece on making bags out of T Shirts. Since Weavers Way, the Food Coop where I've shopped for 23 years, has never given out bags, I've been using cloth for so long I can't remember. However, to my utter dismay, the supermarket - which dutifully sells reusable bags - seems to give out as many plastic bags as ever. Supermarkets! Get with the program! If you charge people for bags, guess what? They will stop using them. Charge alot!
In the meantime, I give my Earth Day Funk award to The GreenBag Lady - she has sewn thousands of bags and given them away on her website. I think she's tapped out on the giving it away for free thing, but does do exhibitions. Here's a video of her showing you just how to make a simple bag. For me, I prefer heavier materials which stand up by themselves - they're easier to pack groceries into. But this is so fun. Hat tip to my niece Sarit!

Costo Mainstreams Composting with a Special Deal

Regular readers know I am a total Costco tool. I like the company, that its CEO's earns a modest
multiple of the lowest paid worker, they're partially unionized, yada yada yada. I also like Costco as an antidote to the Barry Schwartz named "Paradox of Choice" - they limit the choices for you by screening the products, in effect doing the comparison shopping for you.
It's exciting to see that they're offering a composter, since that means that composting has gone mainstream. It's pricey, and with a fairly minimum investment of time, labor, and materials you can build your own compost, or just dump your compost in the corner of your garden. But if you're the type who likes gadgets, this one looks very well-designed, fun to use - it is a giant ball so you can just roll it around to turn your compost, and when it's ready, you can roll it right to your garden - and is on sale this month for $200.
You can even watch a video at their site. Happy composting!

Activist Shareholders Take on Human Traffickers!

Human trafficking, which translates into forced child labor, pornography, and prostitution, is one of the ugliest areas of international abuse. It generates huge flows of cash, falling between the jurisdictions of governments; looking the other way is the norm. Human rights activists have worked hard to raise awareness and publicize these crimes, as well as fixes.
A number of shareholder activist groups, as well as organizations devoted to eliminating these vile practices, are targeting American hotel chains and airlines, with some success. You can read about it at Social Funds, a website which tracks corporate social responsibility initiatives. Perhaps many are like me. I know about these horrific things, but cannot get myself to read or do much about it, partly because I am so overwhelmed by the cruelty of it.... Hats off to all who labor in this area. You can learn more at ECPAT: End Childhood Prostitution and Trafficking.

Wedding Gift Dilemma Solved: Kiva Gift Certificates it is!

Wedding gift registries really bum me out, even when I want to use them. I find the choices overwhelming. If the couple has picked 100+ items, what difference is our gift going to make? They are not prioritized, so there's no way to know if I'm giving them their 1st Choice or their 100th pick. And when I get to looking at the items, I get all judgmental, first about the prices and then the non-eco-sustainable consumer orgy going on.
Duh, the obvious choice - a check. Somehow, it's never been my style, unless the couple is hardworking and poor. When the couple's net worth likely exceeds mine, a check seems weird.
Sometimes I compromise between a material gift and a donation, if the couple has specified a favorite cause. ( I wrote about this on Get Rich Slowly and while many folks agreed with me, others really made it clear that not giving money or an item straight off the registry made me an egotistical, clueless idiot.)
It IS egotistical to want my present to stand out and be meaningful and cherished by a couple. But I still want our gift to be a reflection of what we think is important in life. Now I have the perfect option: a Kiva gift certificate. You purchase gift certificates in $25 denominations and they are sent electronically to the recipient. They go on line and can choose whom to lend the money to, from the choices on the Kiva website. You can also download a nice copy of the certificate if you want to also give them a hard copy to remind busy brides and grooms that the loan is waiting for them to disburse. But after the loan is paid back, it's cash in the couple's Kiva account, so you're still giving them a gift.
When the loans get repaid (they're fairly short-term, so it's a matter of months or at most a year), the cash reappears in the couple's account as Kiva Credit, with a reminder. At that point they really can withdraw it, or maybe they'll be so inspired they'll reloan it; both are options. A third option is to use it pay it forward, and purchase a gift certificate for someone else. It's a little like giving cash, but a thirdworld microentrepreneur gets to use it first, in honor of the couple's wedding.
We just did this.... Phew. The couple thought it was creative and cool!