Jamie Brame

About half of western NC's energy comes from coal. Other resources include gas and hydro-electric. At this time, there is no nuclear plants in the area. 

Coal, of course, is a horrible pollutant: not only does it tear up the planet when it is mined, smoke and leftover sludge are both detrimental to the environment. Coal is nasty, as we used to say when I was a kid and visited family members who burned coal in fireplaces and stoves. Anywhere that it is mined, the surrounding areas look ripped apart, people living in the areas seem to be economically challenged, and there is no telling what happens to animals and plant life that are uprooted as land is appropriated for mining. It's not good.

Natural gas extractionand transportation in pipelines results in leaking methane, which can cause global warming. I don't understand the science: I just know that methane, a primary ingredient in natural gas, is a major pollutant. I've not read much about ways of extracting natural gas, but fracking is one of the easiest and most dangerous ways. And we are beginning to see the large impact fracking makes on people, animals, and land. It's not good.

Being outside is seasonal for me, usually. My work has me outdoors most of the day from early June until mid-August, then less and less as weather gets cooler. The problem for a culture that is indoors is that the connection between human life and the life of the natural world becomes less obvious, and so we tend to believe that it doesn't really matter what happens outdoors. Practices like the EcoChallenge help us to be outside, to experience wind and rain and sun and leaves falling and flowers and animals around us and realize how much we are part of their lives (and their deaths, sad to say); being with them could possibly help us want to work harder to save them. Once can only hope - and go outdoors!

Probably, those of us who were reared by parents who grew up poor in the Depression of the 1930's were fed meat because that generation's wealth grew to a point where they could actually afford meat on tables regularly; the result is that Baby Boomers grew up expecting meat at almost every meal. With the counter-cultural movements that began in the mid-1960's, the beginnings of change were born by those same Baby Boomers. Unlike technological change, changing diets (like changing minds!) is a huge ship to turn around. Starting the change with children is the best way to make the shift. 

We use plasticWe bags. We keep them to use with our cat's litter box when we clean it. We use them as trash bags in our cars, and sometimes use them to carry food when we travel. We are looking for options for other car trash and carrying food, but I have found them to work better than anything else (when they do not have holes) for dirty litter.

I will keep my showers short and save more water by putting out rain barrels for watering the outside plants and garden.