CHRISTINE PATTON

"Thank God for this job, otherwise I'd be in jail or dead, at the rate I was going."-Chris, age 17

Each piece of trash was once a resource - a tree that was clear-cut into a junk-mail envelope, a barrel of oil turned to a plastic package, a mountain turned to an aluminum can. With lives lasting only a few days to a few months, each piece of trash is a sad waste of the resources needed to grow, process, and transport it. When you decrease your waste, you can cut the energy and resource use needed to turn the environment into trash, while also cutting the methane emitted by waste rotting in a landfill.

The Riot 4 Austerity 90% Emissions Reduction Project challenges participants to cut their negative environmental impact in seven different categories: transportation energy, electricity, other fuels (i.e. natural gas for heating), water, garbage, food, and consumer goods. As individuals, we may not have "much" impact, but the point is to model these positive changes for others, share results and tips, and work together to make the changes needed for society to follow. Hopefully, the changes each family makes will not only result in less environmental harm but monetary savings, greater life satisfaction, and improved health through more exercise and better food. Cutting consumption is not only good for the environment, but also helps prepare us for a world of declining energy and resource availability.

Vampires were quick to point out that climate legislation would be good for humans. "Of course we care about the environment," said eight-hundred year old vampire Neills Carson. "But mainly, we care about humans - they're our primary food source. And if you guys are all crowded up around Siberia and Canada, fighting for space and getting drowned in tsunamis and dying of malaria and famines in fifty years or so, well, let's just say that things are going to get ugly. I sure as hell don't want to live through another century of the Black Death - do you?"

Growing up in America, my generation was taught that any and every need could be met by a particular product or service, all of which were just waiting to be purchased. To afford these purchases as part of a "lifestyle," the proper career path for middle class people was to attend college, learn an intricately detailed specialization in order to make a salary, and buy whatever we might need or desire, from childcare to lawn services to fast food to psychiatric services. While specialization can certainly make economic sense, the pendulum swung too far. We grew up to be thoroughly knowledgeable in a very narrow field, yet helpless and unempowered in every other walk of life, at the mercy of a cheap-energy growth economy supported by underpaid or slave labor and ongoing environmental destruction.

In a Gallup poll released today, Americans chose dilithium crystals as the top choice of fuel to run both cars and power plants, with 84% of Americans choosing the crystals over other options including nuclear, hydrogen, corn ethanol, shale gas, and photovoltaic solar panels. Respondents indicate that dilithium crystals are popular for providing quiet, clean energy, with a proven track record including over seven-hundred twenty-six episodes in four different Star Trek television series.

Jan. 1, 2013 -- Somewhere, Texas --

Retired Marine Master Sergeant Jasper Sweet today announced the opening of his ninth Peak Oil Boot Camp - this one in Somewhere, Texas. During the opening ceremony, Master Sergeant Sweet spoke about his calling to open the Camps. "After thirty-two years serving my country, I realized America needed people every bit as tough as soldiers - she needed farmers. And by God, I'm going to give them to her, even if I have to wipe the snot off the nose of every last pansy-a$$ juvenile delinquent in Texas."

Ivette Soler's new book The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-less, Grow-more Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden is lush with pictures and full of design advice, color combinations, attractive edibles, and hardscaping ideas. Ivette (a.k.a. The Germinatrix), a garden designer and writer, insists on beauty and style in her front-yard edible landscapes and gardens. She advises "Beauty matters...your front yard is a greeting to the world."

Although food gardening is making a comeback due to concerns about the economy, the health of our families and viability of our food systems, many gardeners won't consider gardening in their front yard - even when the back yard suffers from excess shade or other problems that make growing food difficult.

Instead of waiting for a crisis to force these changes upon us, kicking and screaming, could we use social force multipliers - new attitudes, expectations, and behaviors - to transform these "unthinkable drastic measures" of conservation and efficiency into positive social ideals?