An Inconvenient Month.

So, apparently it's not getting any colder out there. It struck me recently as I watched yet another documentary profiling a homeless polar bear, that those clever environmental scientists were not trying to scare me into recycling with their predictions of rising oceans and dissapearing ice caps. They were actually just...telling the truth. Damn.

The question I forced myself to consider was more embarrassing than it was inconvenient. For how long will my reusable shopping bags, my misshapen locally grown carrots, and my organic cotton yoga pants be enough? How long will encouraging change in others through Rerip.com take the place of making serious lifestyle altering steps towards promoting sustainability? Considering the fact that there are over 6.5 BILLION people sharing our mother earth...I had to ask myself, what do I do every day to contribute to our global problem that I have not changed because it would be... inconvenient?

The answer is easy. I drive.

I live 12 miles from my workplace, 1/2 mile from a bus stop, and I own two perfectly good bikes. I love to surf and I never need to get into a car to get to the beautiful beach that sits a stones throw from my rented condo. The only reason I don't ride my bike or take the bus to work (or to the store, or anywhere else for that matter) comes down to not wanting to change my lifestyle in any way that might force an alteration of my routine, an increase in the energy I spend, or ohmygosh the possibility of sitting on the bus next to people that I don't know.

April, the great Earth Day month, I have decided is a fantastic month for raising the discomfort level and committing to make changes that may break the bubble of my comfortable life. I am committing to parking my car and leaving it put for 30 full days...to take the bus, to ride my bike, to find out what it means to make a lifestyle change for the cause.

I'll be blogging as I go, and would love the company of others who commit to changes of any type towards sustainability for the month, week, or even a day of inconvenience!