A recent e-mail chain started:
"Are we Americans as dumb as we appear --- or --- is it that we just do not think?

While the Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Bush Administration for perceived errors.

Yet 70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.
Well, duh..why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges?

SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA!!......."

It asks why not make real Easter eggs instead of purchasing plastic ones and goes on propose an embargo on buying Chinese from 6/4/08-7/4/08.

The message above is somewhat reactionary and and oversimplifies the eco-political situation, but it has many nuggets of truth and guages the frustration of much of America.

As I see it:
Americans are not dumb but..... many do not think, many are not willing to do without having something cheap immediately despite the the fact that that it was made poorly or by captive slave labor.

We do not need plastic eggs or numerous other plastic tchotkes. Many won't take the time (& receive the ultimate satisfaction) of creating an intricate Easter egg (or needlepoint holiday stocking). We have lots of inexpensive holiday decorations and then complain about how long it takes us to undecorate. We have too much. We are asking the government to legislate what we are unwilling to do for ourselves - say "no".

We do not need the government to suspend trading privileges. That is the beauty of a market economy which China, India and the rest of the world have embraced. The power is all in our hands as consumers. We must find substitutes for incessant purchasing and become the pioneers we once were. Use the time we spend shopping to instead create something, cook something from scratch, learn a new skill, nurture relationships by our presence to others nearby or write a letter or e-mail to those far away.

Don't stop on July 4. As you vacation this summer, don't buy a souvenir unless it is made in the state or country you are visiting. At home seek out farmers markets, roadside food stands & small local shops for not only foods that directly benefit the farmers but also non-food items such as locally made soaps, crafts.

Repair: Fix it yourself, or trade skills with a friend or neighbor, keep local tailors & cobblers in business. We just went shopping for a suitcase and paid a little more for one with a true lifetime repair warranty (disclosure, it was made in Thailand).

Re-think fashion: buy less but of better quality that lasts longer, shop local craft fairs (but look at labels) thrifts stores. Accessorize, trade. Learn to sew, knit, crochet. Let's bring back old-fashioned American ingenuity & creativity. This may not always be easy but the important things in life never are.

Peace,
Claire

Note: Photo is of a handbag made of old curtains and parachutes from an exhibit at the San Francisco Airport.

The holidays bring out the consumer in us even as we try to scale back. In addition to the waste we personally produce, there is a tremendous taxation of our earth in the farming, mining, manufacturing, transportation and sale of most every item we purchase and use.

Despite my rantings about sustainability, I've discovered I have a long, long way to go even though I've made much progress. One of the best websites to find a good overall look at your personal & family sustainability footprint is Consumer Consequences . After you input your information you have the ability to compare yourself with others in different categories: house, energy, transportation, food, etc. It helped me identify which areas I should make more efforts in the coming year.

I've been reading online the NPR special report "Consumed" that was broadcast November 2007 and highly recommend checking it out:

Its goal is to answer the question, "Is the consumer economy sustainable?" in a serious way. They tackle the question in a comprehensive manner, with a lot of breadth but, if you don't want to be overwhelmed, just choose one or two that most interest you.

A partial list of the featured topics: ecological footprint, landfills and the waste disposal sector, consumer debt, air pollution, freegans, marketing, junk mail, energy independence, the effect of consumer culture on mental and emotional well-being, carbon tax, food miles, fashion obsolescence, the green economy, e-waste, clean tech, globalization, Bhutan's happiness index.

Interesting things to ponder as we consider resolutions for 2008.

We installed solar electric in July 2007 in Northern California and up to now have been using the excess energy we produced in the summer. When you install solar in PG&E territory you change from a residential customer to a commercial producer and receive a monthly acccounting. As days become shorter and colder we use more electricity and we're starting to eat into our surplus. Next July will tell if we properly projected our usage and size of our system. Marin Solar did our installation and we are extraordinarily pleased with their service and work. We used Sunpower panels which, at the time, were the most efficient panels avaialable.

Being an accountant, a cost-benefit analysis was a must. Being house rich and cash poor we took out a HELOC loan to pay for the system but our monthly payments are equal to our previous average electric bill. The past 3 years electric bills increased an average of 12% yearly so just keeping the monthly payment the same will save us from energy cost inflation.

I've been considering a solar battery charger to keep those pesky batteries on cell phones, iPods & cameras on ready call. Some research though is making me reconsider. The jury is still out on this decision.

Several months ago I discovered and, sort of, joined the Compact. A group of environmentally concerned friends in San Francisco made a compact not to purchase any new, non-essential items for a year i.e. a compact lifestyle. They did give themselves a little leeway though to buy underwear, socks, and safety items new. They started a Yahoo! group to refine the rules, record their journeys, give each other tips and support each other.

Joining is not rigid -you are more making a compact with yourself - and is more about reconsidering you personal relationship with "stuff".I'm now more likely to repair something or borrow something. I usually buy tops secondhand but have a difficult time finding pants that fit so I go straight to the stores I depend on for fit.

Soon so many others discovered the Compact that the original group was helping the world and had little time to help each other. To make it more personal again, geographical Yahoo!group offshoots have started because many shopping sources and ideas for free entertainment tend to be local.

Some other links:

Some local groups: San Francisco/Bay Area
Seattle
Los Angeles
Chicago
New York City

GOOD

Not All Buy into Black Friday

What Would Jesus Buy? asks us to reconsider what Christmas is all about.

Girl Scouts of Northern California selected the "environment" as the most important issue to them. Because San Francisco Bay (entered through the Golden Gate Bridge) and the Sacramento River Delta are it's best known geographic features, our call is "Girl Scouts Save the Bay".

I recently participated in a class given for us by Brita Dempsey at The Bay Institute we recieved a nifty testing kit but, before playing chemist, we learned how to do a visual assessments of the watershed and counted water bugs rounding them up from 3 different creek environments then viewing, identifying and counting them . The combination of visuals, bugs & water creatures and chemical test results help determine the health of the watershed.

A watershed is a creek or river that feeds into a larger body of water, in our case, the San Francisco Bay.

If you live in one of many communities fortunate to have good tap water, be sure you take your own re-usable bottle with you wherever you go, it's Tappening.

Photo: Merced River in Yosemite Nat'l Park

Clothing contributes to poverty in two ways. First is that the new clothing is sewn predominantly in sweatshops around the world, often by woment that are permanently enslaved to pay off a "debt" for the "privilege" of a "well paying" job - NOT. Secondly, the used clothing business has effectively destroyed native garment industries in much of Africa and other developing countries.

We Americans consider ourselves to be generous people as we assuage our guilt about buying new clothing by giving away our slightly worn or out of date cast offs to charity. We have forgotten, never learned or won't take the time to repair a button or zipper or find a creative way to patch a tear or hole.

"T-Shirt Travels" is a documentary that should make us think twice about the easy fix. If you don't have time to read the entire article or want to explain it easily to students here is a quick visual.

A new book Fuguitive Denim: a Human and Sensible Approach of Global Textile Trade by Rachel Louise Snyder tells part of the complex story of the textile trade, now & historically, acquired by traveling around the world and talking to workers and professionals in the trade.

The federal administration proposed sub-prime bailout is not so much to bail out the victims as to bail out the banks and financial institutions that made the bad loans in the first place. The steps are not mandatory but voluntary to the mortgage companies. NYTimes

Homeowners might be offered a "opportunity" to extend the length of the loan meanwhile building up less equity and paying more interest over the lifetime of the loan. Many were steered into sub-prime variable loans when they would have qualified for a fixed rate loan anyway; the federal plan would give a slap on the wrist to lenders and have them restructure the loan back to the fixed rate that they should have qualified for in the first place. The plan doesn't help those who never should have qualified in the first place and were given loans with a wink from the mortgage broker who stood to make a tidy sum from the loan points.

Voluntary rate freezes suggested by the administration have little support from mortgage investors who are not thinking about the future consequences of being inflexible. Mortgage brokers, handlers, banks & investors are blaming everyone except themselves; each group is as greedy as the next and each built their expectations on a house of cards. (Sigh...two of my bank stocks have not done very well lately, fortunately they are well diversified banks). Only 12% of subprime borrowers & 5% of minorities would be helped by rate freezes says the Greenlining Institute .

The plan floated by the administration covers almost no loans in California because of the size of the mortgages - guess where most of the bad loans are? California Assembly

The California Assembly is proposing steps that would both prohibit certain types of mortgage rate structures and fees in the future as well as require lenders to work with the state to reach out to distressed borrowers

What does it mean to you with perfectly fine credit records? You are being solicited to extend their term length so mortgage companies can feed their habit with dependable suppliers. See Footnoted.

What can you do? Be aware of mortgage solicitations and what they will cost you over the long term. Pay your credit cards on time - consider an automatic online bill-pay if you are just plain forgetful so you don't get hit with late fees and subsequent rate hikes based on late payments.

If you don't pay off your credit cards each month, don't charge ANYTHING you would expect to not have at least 3 years later: food & toiletries, clothes (unless, like me, you'll keep them 5 years, or even longer) , tuition, day-to-day medical, etc.

Best is to save so you may purchase what you truly need with cash. An item is not truly a bargain if you add in the costs of paying 10-20% interest on it over several years.

If you must use credit, use it for truly long term and match the credit term to how long you'll have the item or less. If you buy cars every 5 years don't pay for them with a 30 year home equity loan; don't even get a 7 year auto loan. If you can't afford a 5 year auto loan, look at a less expensive car or reconsider if this is a "need" or just a "want".

Holiday time is around the bend. How many unwanted gifts have you recieved in the past? How many gifts that you have given have you actually seen the recipient use or talk about since you gave it? Give gifts of your time or talents and don't go into debt that you'll still be paying off next year. Give your children the gift of teaching them fiscal responsibility.