Friday, August 31, 2007

Little Ways

Have you ever heard of St. Therese of the Child Jesus? She is a Roman Catholic saint who died tragically young and was known for advocating a "little way" to salvation. That is, instead of aiming for huge works of faith, she tried to make her life holy in the everyday and mundane details.

I hope St. Therese doesn't mind my stealing her idea. There are only few large ways to reduce your carbon footprint that are feasible for the average family. Most of us can't afford major purchases like solar panels and hybrid cars. We don't have the property necessary for self-sustenance. Many of us don't even have access to sufficient public transportation. We can and should make the big changes where we can (and advocate for our leaders to facilitate them), but we shouldn't ignore the thousands of little ways we can make a difference. So one of my new projects is to come up with three small ideas every day. I'll post them on my website and keep some sort of archive.

How would you feel if your kid borrowed your car and returned it dented and barely limping along on four flat tires? Well, we're borrowing this planet. It's a rental home. We need to get serious about changing.

0 comments: