For many people climate change s still something esoteric, but more and more of us now believethat something is different. I once heard someone say, “If we ignore climate change, the weather will always remind us.” I have been thinking about what people can do to experience this first hand, but keep it positive. Something that could make it real, almost tactile. No, I don’t eschew turning off the air conditioning (though I strongly recommend controllable thermostats and really good insulation in buildings)–that would be dangerous for many people. I think we should get on our bikes.

 And not just for fun (though biking is a lot of fun!)

We are a country with 4 wheels underneath. Those wheels, especially when sitting in traffic and idling, contribute to climate change.

“What If” is my favorite phrase when I helping others rethink possibilities. What if we all decided to get on that bike once a week to go somewhere? Can you get to your destination by bike versus by car? Can you make the time? Initially it does take a bit more prep than finding the car keys. Where is my pump? Where is my bike lock? What shoes do I need to wear with my pedals? Where is my backpack? It takes more time, but its worth it.

By biking we feel the warm wind (through our hair under our helmet–please ride safely.) We might even be a bit thirstier and sweatier than if we took the car. What would our lives be like without air conditioning now? On a bike, you observe the brown fields, dormant lawns, parched landscape and even the dust. On a bike you experience, intimately, the warmth and heat of this summer of 2012. Biking gives us the blessing of time to think and to understand the changes to the world around us.

By replacing a car trip with a bike ride we make a small difference. To our own bodies, our own consciousness and the planet. In this summer of extremes, occasionally replace the 4 wheels with 2 wheels. My bet is that once you do it, it will be something that happens more than once per week.

After checking my emails this morning, I hopped on my bike and did not think, I actually intentionally peddled slower than normal and took in the cool humid air, the views of the Flatiron mountains emerging from the morning fog with the kiss of salmon colored light. I rode past alfalfa fields and foals with their mares. And I did not really think, I just paused.

We have a lot to do (see my previous post). Really too much most of the time. We are ever so tethered to our work through our electronics that pausing has become a luxury. The busier I get, the more the Pause is critical. Critical to well-being, but also to thinking. Innovation can’t be scheduled. Big ideas don’t come when we make appointments for them, they just show up. Our world needs big thoughts and big innovations. Embrace the Power of the Pause.

• Widening gap between rich and poor
• Population growth
• Speed of communication and social media
• Hunger and malnutrition
• E-waste
• Child & forced labor (slavery)
• Urbanization
• Resource depletion
• Overfishing
• Fossil fuel depletion
• Climate change
• Deforestation
• Loss of biodiversity
• Plastics in the ocean
• Air pollution
• Light pollution
• Declining soil quality
• Green brands/green marketing
• Labeling
• Certifications
• Transparency
• Obesity
• Food availability
• War
• Socially responsible investing
• Corporate governance
• NGO/ENGO
• Persistent chemicals
• Extended Producer Responsibility (Take-Back)
• Recycling
• Overconsumption
• Water quality and availability
• Catastrophic weather trends
• GMO
• Corporate Personhood
• Re-shoring (on-shoring)
• Renewable Energy
• Biomimicry

Should I round it up to 40? I prefer prime numbers so if I have missed something, please by all means, let me know so we can get to 43.

I am trying to figure out why I am not depressed writing this list. There were no surprises. Maybe I am not depressed because I think because we are now becoming more and more aware of the current state of our world, and that is when we can truly imagine and work towards a future state of sustainability versus minimizing the unsustainability.

Not everything on my SOS list is negative; there are some positive trends and movement towards change. Realistically, we need to create a hell of a lot more movement– make hard decisions, create new markets, new business models, new products, new systems and understand that we do have some work to do–really we have a chance to reinvent everything. It won’t be easy, but it sure will be exciting.

I planted spinach yesterday. Just a few plants. Its not even St. Patrick’s Day yet. The ski season was too short, and I feel like we really did not have much of a winter. The soil is warm enough to get my early starts in–a good month earlier than last year.

As I was digging in the dirt, I started thinking about

climate change. How could I not? I have tan lines and have not gone to the beach. We are making too much CO2. Its really too much of a good thing. Plants need the CO2 for photosynthesis. We need the O2 that they give off. Will we make too much CO2 where the plants will finally drown in too much? I sure hope not. What if each of us committed to plant? And plant A LOT this year. I suspect that we would not make a dent in the CO2 to to offset the amount emitted from coal-fired power plants and cement factories and all the other big emitters. But, if we planted our plants with consciousness that we are doing something, then maybe we have a shift… our own little off-set project. We took responsibility.

And maybe that consciousness and responsibility would spread. To our driving behaviors and our consumption patterns. Then the impact gets bigger. And then with our consciousness we start to pressure our politicians to speak about climate change and even ACT!

Our little plants are the start of a change, a shift. We can grow. We can make change happen.

I have always heard it called Earth’s Carrying Capacity…that is how long and how much can this planet of ours provide the life sustaining resources for 7billion + of us. The Global Footprint Network is a non-profit organization that is helping to educate all of us on sustainability and the fact that Earth can’t support us all. I guess that is the definition of un-sustainability right there.

They call it Ecological Overshoot. The language is not as nice as carrying capacity. In any time of sport we never want to overshoot – we don’t want to overshoot targets or when we drive, overshoot our destination. But, since the 1970’s this concept of Ecological Overshoot is a reality.

They calculate Earth Overshoot Day. Every year, the Global Footprint Network determines on what day we “run out”. Like our national debts (plural since we are talking about the global issues) we technically run out of the what it took to support all of us that year and start borrowing against our children’s and our grandchildren’s future. It’s not in December, or even November—that would be less scary. Its actually somewhere in the middle of August and it keeps creeping towards January.

That’s where we can make a difference. We need to take action in each of our lives to move the date backwards, towards December. Our consequences have impacts. We can make decisions that can reverse this trend, or optimistically restore our overshoot trajectories. What will your correction be?

But across the street there is a Target. There is even one of those cool crosswalks with the blinking sign to cross from the Whole Foods to the Target. The reusable bag is a rare sight across the street. Being greener is important to me, so I bring my own bags to Target. At the checkout counter, there was a moment of confusion as the process was interrupted with my reusable….And, to my delight, there is a 10 cent bag credit for bringing my own bag. It’s like a coupon, but you don’t have to clip it.They don’t advertise it, the baggers don’t ask. But there it was.

So, I started doing the math. Apparently, the average person uses around 326 plastic grocery bags per year. At 10 cents per bag, 326 bags per year…my husband and  I  both shop. If we always get bag credits, that’s $65.20 back. That’s enough for a nice dinner for two in Boulder if we don’t go crazy on the cocktails.

I haven’t waxed poetically about all the natural gas we would be saving. I haven’t referenced how there are over 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of the ocean. But when you save a bag, you are part of the solution.  I just talked about how green(er) is thrify (my client came up with that one).

We have a use and toss culture. That culture depends on the behavior of each and everyone of us. Walgreens, starting in August 2010, implemented a policy where the cashier asked customers if they needed a bag when they had 3 or less items. In 6 months they saved 45 million bags.

Not everyone is born to have greener values, but most of us care about saving money. Our behavior changes stem from our values. Next time you go shopping, save money, bring your own bag.

GreenerThoughts has been a project that I have been mulling around for over a decade. I am the co-founder of a firm, Cleargreen Advisors, that helps companies of all sizes be greener tomorrow  than they are today. In my work, I think about what a sustainable future would look like, how unsustainable we really are today—on so many levels. What I am hoping is that GreenerThoughts will be a place where I can write about my thinking and observations, and also a place where others will be able to share their thinking, ideas, inspirations and calls to action.

Welcome to GreenerThoughts. I look forward to what is to come.