http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0521/Gulf-spill-What-oil-habits-will-you-change
Mary Richert, a Louisiana native from Sulphur, La. educates us on the feasibility of a petroleum free lifestyle. Growing up dependent on oil and the chemical industry, it has not been easy for Richert to examine her family and state’s dependence on oil. But the Deepwater Horizon accident was an epiphany. Sulphur, La was named for the chemical and mining industry that helped establish Calcasieu Parish in the late 19th century. Located just west of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, its residents’ mixed emotions as the spill moves eastward toward Florida are not surprising: relief, apprehension, sympathy, lucky etc.
As dependent on oil as her society was was – perhaps more than states whose industries are less reliant on fossil fuels, Richert concedes that reducing dependence on oil will not be easy. Yet she argues that consumers have the buying power to demand non-petroleum based alternatives and breaking the habit becomes more doable through small steps. The presence of petroleum based products in our lives is so ubiquitous everyone can cut a corner through small and large steps and ways they may not have recognized.
Richert has committed to reducing petroleum use by one product and one day at a time and to make her decisions in public view through a blog of everyday solutions.
Although I’ve long been an environmental activist and use a solar powered clothesline and a push-me lawn mower, I have found her list of everyday suggestions to go petrol free edifying as well as consoling.
http://notanactivist.com/