This chart is from Chapter 5, p.45. It’s a section about social and individual choices and ability to make change. Of course we need government and business and widespread changes in policy.
However, between 10-30% of committed individuals are required to set new social norms. (That’s in the report). So that’s our job. To be the ones who are committed.
That said, the report is clear about what we can do:
Drive less or not at all. Walk, use a bike, get an EV (electric vehicle). It’s that critical. It’s the single most important thing we can all do and will have the most impact. Above everything else.
Fly less or not at all. Take one less long trip via air. Or please stop traveling by air.
Use public transportation.
Use fewer appliances, or less energy overall. Turn up your air conditioning so it’s not so cold. Switch to electric stoves, or induction cooking (for friends in the Midwest). Turn off appliances when you can.
Stop eating meat. Or at least eat further down the food chain. Beef is the worst culprit and the Amazon rainforest, the lungs of the planet, is being burned to the ground for pasture land for cattle to supply places like McDonald’s, Walmart etc. Put down the beef and use ground turkey or plant-based patties, or give up meat all together. You’d be surprised at alternatives and you will likely be healthier too.
Yes, industries will be affected. Forewarned is forearmed. We don’t have a choice.
These things are doable right now. If I sound desperate, it’s because I am getting there. Reading the IPCC report is a Master Class in humility, responsibility and comprehension.
I am guilty.
But as Maya Angelou used to say, “When we know better, we do better.”
I’m including a link to the full 2913 page report. Feel free to take a look. Over the next few weeks I will be reading the entire report, taking notes and including them here.
The report makes a point of saying that policy and mitigating actions will require trade-offs and the way to make decisions about trade-offs is by prioritizing. For instance, when city centers reduce or ban vehicles, it will provide less congestion and pollution. the trade-off is mobility and choice. But when we prioritize clean air, and a walking-centric city, the choice becomes easier and clearer. The idea is that policies help, but we also need the aspirations to be “rooted in the development aspirations of the economy and society.”
5 Scenarios of Illustrative Mitigation Pathways (IMPs)
–Follow current policies and actions. We will miss 1.5C.
–We do more to limit GHG and make it less challenging to limit to 2C.
–Tie peak warming to net zero emissions, and only worry about the cumulative effects.
–Rapid reduction in methane, across the board can keep us in the 2C range.
–Net zero GHG is reached 10-20 years after net zero CO2.
Bottom line: “Mitigation pathways that limit warming to 1.5-2C involve deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions.” But it can be achieved in different ways.
—Pathways likely limiting warming to 1.5-2 involve substantial reductions in fossil fuel consumption and near elimination of coal use.”
–-We must electrify “buildings, transport and industry, consequently all pathways entail increased electricity generation.
–-We will “require some amount of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to compensate for residual GHG emissions.”
–-We must demand less energy.
–-Shift energy investments “away from fossil fuels to low-carbon technologies.”
–Rapid near-term transitions and up-front costs are required but will bring long-term gains.
–Global GDP will fall up to 4.2% (not counting the benefits of avoiding climate change.)
I don’t like to end a post with just the brutal facts…which they ARE brutal. But we are not past the point of no return. We can still fix this.
Here are a few things you can do, based on today’s info:
Drive less. I know this is hard. You have to go to work, get groceries etc. But we have creative minds. Combine trips, stay home when you can. Use your bike, if you’re young or young at heart. I intend to do small grocery runs on my bike this summer.
Eat less. I was attending a webinar once where the ecologist mentioned this and I was appalled. Never mind that I have been dieting all my life. Never mind that I need to lose a few pounds. How dare anyone insinuate we need to eat less? Except it’s true. Especially in the US. And if you are thin as a rail and already don’t eat much, then just eat less beef. It’s the worst.
Vote for climate candidates. I will add this to any action plan. Every time.
Change your mind. This means always thinking about your priorities. Like the walking-only city mentioned above, setting priorities is the first step to making changes. It’s a journey we’re all on together. No despair, friends! Knowledge is power, not paralyzing.
I thought I would take some time to break down the report. It is not an easy document to read. In fact, it’s impossible if you’re not into scrolling through a 3000 page document.
However, some of the basic points are made up front, while other important info is deeper in weeds. I thought I would take notes as I read it, and share them with you. Much of it is mind-bendingly repetitive, but some of it is worth retaining and understanding.
I’ll try to break it down for those of us who just want to understand what’s coming and what to do next.
North America and Canada are the worst Green House Gas emitters, per person. You could make an argument that China is worse, but only if you look at the country as a whole. There are 1.4 billion people in China, only 300 million in the US. We are each responsible for our own footprint and I think that is worth knowing. Individually, the US and Canada are the worst…in the world.
Here’s another chart to indicate the same thing. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have the farthest to go to get to Sustainable Development. We are the ones who are unsustainable.
“Without a strengthening of policies beyond those that are implemented by the end of 2020, GHG emissions are projected to rise beyond 2025, leading to a median global warming of 3.2 by 2100.”
2025 is the latest we can peak for GHG emissions. Emissions during 2010-2019 were higher than any other time in human history. As we all know, in 2020, they dropped by 5.4% because of the pandemic. However, in 2021 we are back up by 6%.
As you can see from the chart above, if we just do the things that countries have already promised to do, we’re still not in a good place.
“Industry emissions continue to increase, driven by global demand for basic materials. Without reduction in materials demand growth and a very rapid scale-up of low carbon innovations, the long lifetime of industrial capital stock risks locking in emissions for decades to come.”
This is a big deal. Industry emissions include industry, building and transport. The report is talking about DEGROWTH here. Demand must go down, so that production goes down, so that industry emissions can go down. This is one of the biggest dilemmas I see so far in the report. They tell us what needs to be done, but not how to do it. The report does mention many times that more and more people are aware of the need for change. But that does not and has not translated to actual change.
I will leave you with this thought:
“Globally, households with income in the top 10%, contribute about 36-45% of global GHG emissions.”
Every day I wake up and ask myself–what will I give back to the Earth today?
It’s a tough question. Because every day I take. And take. I eat, consume, cook, and use a lot of energy.
But I don’t do a lot in the way of giving back…and that is our problem. We take fossils from the ground, a place where they have been for thousands of years, and we burn them for energy and don’t replace them with anything that keeps the Earth healthy.
And we know that nothing will change until we find a way to limit our use of fossil fuels. That is waaaaayyy bigger than I am. I try. We can all try, and my Resources and Books pages have lots of ideas for that.
But I am going farther back to ancient practices. The practices of indigenous people who understood long before Europeans, how to give back to the Earth and to treat it as the Great Nurturer that it is. If there are two plants, eat only one. Keep the seeds, share the harvest, feed the soil.
I can do these things. I find myself looking at everything in my house as something that no longer belongs in a garbage can but belongs in the dirt where it can work with good bacteria and worms and things that live in the soil to become rich and nutritious for my food.
I‘m starting a compost pile.
Let me just say that I live in the suburbs and don’t know much about compost piles. But the Earth does, and I hope that it will teach me.
What have I done for the Earth today? I went out back and put my pots of dying poinsettias, along with their dirt, onto a pile in the woods behind my garden. Little by little I hope to add other things. Eventually, it will all decompose (I’m not in any great hurry).
It’s a small step. But a journey of a thousand miles starts with a small step. Right? Join me on the journey. Tell me about your efforts.
Together we will make a difference. And even if we cannot save everything, maybe we can do better. It’s worth a try.
“The Ministry For the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is a weave of science and reality and storytelling, all rolled into one package. You will find yourself riveted by our own future, rooting for the heroes to make change. It will terrify you, it will scare you, it will mobilize you, and inspire you.
It will also make you cry. Because so much of it is reality. By the time I reached chapter 85 I was so hungry for the solutions that I broke down in reading it. Do not jump ahead, enjoy it when you get there.
In the book, one of the concepts that stuck with me the most is the idea of “efficiency” or “productivity”. We spend our lives thinking that these concepts are inherently good. Why? Because of our value system. We always want more. More money, more things, faster, cheaper, easier. But what if we prioritized our ecosystem? What if nothing was of value unless it honored the Earth and healed it, and contributed to its well-being? How does that change the way we think about…basically everything?
Convenience and comfort and security–none of these things are meaningful without the knowledge that what we are doing ensures life will go on. Money is a human construct. Nature is not.
Anyway, I hope you find yourself questioning your values.
The other book, “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells is basically life altering. Sometimes you read a book that shows you that everything you hold dear is in jeopardy. Your world needs to turn upside down. And are you ready for it?
I suggest you start with this book and then move to “The Ministry for the Future” which is decidedly more hopeful, a path for us to follow.
Let these books flow over you like water. Take them in, absorb the hard parts.
The problems we face are so magnificent and historical, that they can become overwhelming. But as I’ve said before, it all starts with one step. One person can affect another, and so on, and so on.
You are never alone. We are changing. Get on board and join us.
Yes, you should be concerned and you should be worried (see above).
The U.S. will not lead when it comes to the climate crisis. Do NOT depend on them.
I am a U.S. citizen. I can see that we are no longer functioning properly. Our government is run by politicians who are frozen in place and can no longer address big issues efficiently and calmly (I’m speaking of the Senate). Our democracy is being terrorized. And the issues are multiplying. We currently stand on the brink of land war with Russia. We bounce from one covid frenzy to another. The economy, while delicately stable, stands on shaky political ground. All of the leaders in one party are hellbent on destroying the entire country in order to maintain their money, power and control.
Every aspect of American culture runs counter to the needs of the planet. We are greedy, spoiled and unable to make even the smallest sacrifice to save one another, let alone the entire ecosystem. Understand, there are MANY good people in the U.S. (the majority, actually) who will do the right things. They just are not a part of the power structure.
That said, I am cutting my losses and moving to align with global entities. I would love nothing more than to see the U.S. pull itself together. We have the most brilliant scientists in the world. But we also have some of the most authoritarian and lying (to the point of cartoonishness) politicians. Therefore the citizenry is broken, disinformed, and confused.
We have run out of time for dealing with selfishness.
The heart nebula (photo courtesy of my husband) is 7500 light years away. The nearest star is 4 light years away.
We are floating in the middle of nothing (well, dark matter, but let’s not get into that) in a distance so vast that we cannot really even comprehend it. And to date we have not found life anywhere else.
Not anywhere else in the explored universe.
That means that no one is coming to save us.
All the red in this chart? That is caused by our exploitation. We thought we could take and take and never give back.
We cannot.
In 2022, on this website, I promise to bring you as much actionable information as possible. If we cannot depend on governments or businesses, then we will march on without them. Because we don’t have a choice.
We absolutely need a new way to live on this one tiny Earth, incomprehensibly far from any other means of life.
The most severe risks as identified by the Global Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report for 2022 are the following:
Climate Action Failure
Extreme Weather
Biodiversity Loss
Social Cohesion Erosion
Livelihood Crises
Infectious Diseases
Human Environmental Damage
Natural Resource Crises
Debt Crises
Geoeconomic Confrontation
To me, it is clear that these are all inter-related.
It is actually quite readable at 117 pages. Lots of colors and graphs, and explanations.
I am not a great fan of the World Economic Forum–wealthy people issuing proclamations, while still maintaining outrageously consumptive lifestyles. Always better to stick with the IPCC report, listed in my Resources section.
Still, none of these are issues that can or will be solved by a single country alone. Nor will anything be solved by just a small group of people (regardless of how smart–or wealthy–they may be.) It will take all of us, moving past governmental, societal and geopolitical boundaries.
Power to the people. There are 8 billion of us. Don’t tell me we can’t make change without a few politicians.
I want to introduce you to a book by John Doerr, in collaboration with Ryan Panchadsaram. “Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving our Climate Crisis Now” by John Doerr. I was skeptical at first. Yes, yes, we’ve heard these things.
However, Doerr is a Kleiner Perkins guy…familiar with funding, presentations, evaluations and strategies. He also knows about tactics–the work it takes to make things happen.
Years ago, when I was in the business world, I worked with plenty of people like Doerr. He speaks a language I understand. Charts, bullet points, clarity and simplicity. The task of climate resilience distilled down to 6 major tasks.
I could understand.
I read the entire book. While I was not terribly eager to read through the points of view of all the entrepreneurs, some of them have valuable insights. I can take a pass on John Kerry and Bill Gates…folks I’ve heard from before. But some of the others are worth a listen.
We don’t have the time to shuffle around in the muck.
This book finally, refreshingly, takes all the data and info and organizes it into a plan. A plan that is easy to follow, if not easy to implement.
Many will argue over aspects of it, especially those whose interest lie in maintaining the status quo. We don’t have time for those people. Get out of the way. We will accommodate those who will be affected, but if you cling to your old way of life, you will be left behind.
His main point is that there is so much investment and money to be made in cleantech. While we clearly don’t know who the winners and losers will be, we certainly know that there will be winners and losers.
The longer the U.S. clings to old ways and doesn’t adapt, the better the chance that China and others will run off with the resources we need to lead.
We have no choice but to get out in front.
The book is easy to process. Find your area of expertise or the place where you can contribute, if only in a tiny way.
The definition of greenwashing: Behavior or activities that make people believe that a company or government or organization is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.
And it happens. A lot.
Because who doesn’t want others to believe they’re saving the environment?
Especially those who are destroying it the fastest and making the most profit.
Let’s talk about Big Oil. And by Big Oil, I mean Exxon, Shell, BP. An Exxon executive was caught on tape giving away the whole playbook:
“Say one thing in public, do another in private.”
“Carbon tax is never going to happen in America.” (Which is why they can say they support it.) So here’s actually a fun YouTube video that encapsulates the whole Exxon debacle. And once you see it, you’ll understand the whooooooole Big Oil industry. Caution: some colorful language.
They are literally monitoring every greenwashing ad that is occurring on social media during COP26. As of this writing, they are up to 3,234 ads playing or running *during* COP26.
Be sure to check out their website as they are on their game, and offer explanations for why the ads are misinformation, as well as the number of impressions.
On the positive side, one of the outcomes of COP26 was the creation of an International Sustainability Standards Board. (ISSB) This board, located in Frankfurt, will develop “baseline” global standards that companies could use to tell investors about the impact of climate change on their business. It would prevent companies from telling flattering stories, while still pushing damaging practices.
Now that everyone is talking about climate, we are wading hip-deep into the obfuscation stage: frightening people into believing we won’t have enough power or energy without coal and natural gas, putting blame on consumers (when big companies cause most of our green house gases), and offering silliness like carbon offsets. In case you haven’t heard of these, it means you should be allowed to fly on an airplane and not feel guilty because you also purchase 10 trees to be planted. It’s ridiculous, doesn’t get at any of the major problems, and allows people to continue with their same behavior.
The way to combat greenwashing is to understand it. It will be flung at us from very savvy PR firms and experts at manipulating human behavior.
The truth is that nothing is going to easily come along and save us, if we don’t stop using fossil fuels, if we don’t learn to conserve the Earth, and if we don’t start behaving as if our lives depend on the resources and stability of the natural ecosystem on this planet.
In case you haven’t noticed, we are drowning in plastic.
And the fossil fuels companies want to make more, more more. In fact, they want to make so much plastic that it will outpace coal by 2030. Because coal plants will be down by 65%. And plastic is nothing but terrible for the planet. Before I give you some summary points, here’s a link to the new report from Beyond Plastics:
In 2020, the plastics industry generated the CO2 emission of 116 coal-fired plants…232 million tons of CO2. Big Oil is pouring billions of dollars into the manufacturing and distribution of plastics. It’s their Plan B.
–90% of the plastic industry’s emissions occur in Texas and Louisiana, impacting low-income communities the worst. Take a look at the map on the link above.
–Petrochemicals and fracking are used to create plastics.
–In 2020, the plastics industry’s reported emissions increased by 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the course of 2019. Construction is currently underway on another 12 plastics facilities, and 15 more are planned—altogether these expansions may emit more than 40 million more tons of greenhouse gases annually by 2025.
–The industry reports less than half of what it actually releases, according to the analysis by Material Research.
–Hydrofracking of plastics feedstock releases methane, a powerful climate change pollutant. By 2025, methane releases could reach 45 million tons each year, which is more GHG than was released by 22 average coal-fired power plants in 2020.
–Transporting and Processing Fracked Gases emits an estimated 4.8 million tons of methane each year, and planned expansion would add 4.7 million tons of GHG each year.
–Exports and Imports of plastics feedstocks and resins emit at least 51 million tons of GHG each year – equivalent to more than 25 coal-fired power plants.
–“Chemical Recycling,” a term used by the plastics industry to describe the processing of plastic waste into fuel, has barely begun, but by 2025, new capacity may cause the release of 18 million tons of GHG each year – equivalent to 9 coal-fired power plants.
The above stats and many more can be found in the report as well as in the press release from the report.
In addition, know that the top 5 plastics producers in the US are:
–Coca cola
–PepsiCo
–Unilever
–Nestle
–Proctor and Gamble
Maya Angleou said “When we know better, we do better.” Now that you know, what can you do better? Here are a few suggestions:
–Make sure you aren’t holding any fossil fuel stocks.
–Cut single use plastics out of your life.
–Make small changes. Do your purchase soap? Remember when soap didn’t come in a plastic container? It was a bar. Switch back.
–Think twice about everything…does food need to be stored in plastic? Will reusable natural mesh bags be ok? And the grocery store? How much packaging is there?
–Did you know that only 8.5% of plastic actually gets recycled? When we were taught REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, they weren’t kidding. But along the way we forgot all that. The first is REDUCE and it starts there. No plastic plates, no plastic forks, knives, spoons, cups. In fact, just use less. Just consume less overall. That’s what they mean by REDUCE.
–Finally, here’s a link to BeyondPlastics.org They have a documentary on their first page all about the story of plastics (many of us lived through it). But it’s full of fact sheets and info.
–If you need a quick video, Here’s a nice one that breaks it all down.
When is the last time you thought about where your quilting stash or underwear comes from? Have you ever thought about the process, the transport, the distribution? How many of us have ever even recognized on a conscious level that quilt cotton is a plant?
If these questions seem abstruse or even mildly annoying, you’re not alone. So few people care about this issue. At least that’s the information I was given when I contacted some of the largest distributors of quilting fabric around.
Moda told me there’s no market (that’s us) for organic fabric. Oh yes, they had one line of it a while ago and it didn’t sell terribly well, so…they don’t even carry any organic fabric right now. Fatquartershop.com who sells fabric online said they have nothing to do with the content of their products. In their copy on their website, they describe whatever a manufacturer tells them to say, and distribute on demand. Period.
Fabric designers tell me they do not get involved with the fabric manufacturing process. They license their designs and have no say in whether their designs are used sustainably/responsibly or not. This may not be true for all of them, but it’s common practice.
So who makes the determination about whether fabric should be organic or not?
Surprise! It’s you. And me. We are the ones who define this market, and we will have to be the ones to require change.
The question is: Do you think we need to change?
Let’s talk about it a bit. Because I’m going to make the case that we have no choice but to put pressure on manufacturers to change their cotton growing processes. And we might have to start with our local quilt shops.
Here’s why:
–70% of the world’s topsoil is degraded.
–It takes 1,000 years to replace 3 cm of degraded topsoil.
–With current farming practices, all the world’s topsoil will be gone in 60 years.
This is not my opinion.
This information is provided by lengthy studies done by the Textile Exchange and reported in life cycle analyses done over spans of years.
Without topsoil, the world doesn’t eat, let alone quilt with natural fabrics.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be responsible for my kids and grandkids being unable to have food and clothing because of my simplistic, uneducated (and, frankly, selfish) choices.
I’ve seen some people make the case that organic fabric requires more resources.
That is simply not true. Not when using any scientific methodology of measurement. Not when attempting to understand the life cycle of the product. And certainly not when we entertain the implications of the alternative. On the contrary, we now have clear indications that water use on organic farms is far less than traditional practices.
Organic farming of cotton greatly reduces water and other energy consumption, and continuing on our current trajectory is simply not sustainable.
Here is where we encounter the power of market forces.
You and I can demand that things change. Manufacturers, distributors and farmers, all have little reason to improve their processes. Inertia and monetary fears will keep them all from advancing to more sustainable processes.
But the science tells us that we will pay a price one way or another. As consumers, we either start demanding organic cotton now, or we will not likely have access to any at all in the future. The choice is that simple and that stark.
But I’m just one person.
What can I do?
-Ask your local quilt shop to carry organic cotton. Be assertive. Those designers that you love? Their designs can be made on organic cotton. But folks like Moda (who is a HUGE distributor of fabric) think you don’t care. I’m telling you it’s time to care and care deeply.
—Contact folks like Moda directly: marketing@modafabrics.com and let them know about your concerns.
–Do your own research. Here are a few links to explore:
Folks like Wrangler, H & M and Nike are starting to recognize that their own businesses will not be around if they don’t educate consumers on organic products, and make the industry more sustainable.
The organic cotton industry has increased by 11% in the US from 2016 to 2018. But that’s not enough. Where does our quilt cotton come from? India? China? the US?
I don’t have all the answers. But I will continue to follow up. In the meantime, I will continue to work down my stash of fabric, and I plan on only purchasing organic fabric in the future. This is a statement I can only make because I’ve done a bit of homework on this and believe it is the best path for me.
I’ll be exploring more of the current manufacturers soon. The good news is that there ARE organic quilt fabrics out there. We just aren’t aware of them.
I leave you today with a current picture of my own garden out back. Our Midwestern loam is the finest on the planet. Everything grows here. But we need to be responsible stewards of the land, of our money and of our resources.
