Small Actions to Change the World #4 (Blog Carnival)

Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of "Small Actions to Change the World", this being the 4th edition of the series and I'm positively surprised that it has been gaining popularity. So much so, that I will post an edition every 2 weeks now! Now you don't have to wait a whole month for another edition anymore! And once an edition arrives, it will now be shorter and the chances are bigger that in total you will read more of these inspiring posts from all over the world!
Once there are enough editions I will start making "Best of" theme issues. But more on that next time :-). Enjoy the post and have a nice read!

FitBuff presents Free Water, What a Novel Idea! | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, "This article explains how I'm saving over $50 a month AND decreasing the amount of plastic water bottles that I was throwing away on a daily basis."

Millionaire Mommy Next Door has a post on consumption called How to Treat Affluenza: Spend Less and Live a Happier Life posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, "David Wann (co-author of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic) encourages us to become historical superheroes. We can change our world; save our world. Let's curb our consumption so that our grandkids can read about our generation in their history books with reverence."

Dean presents 21 Tips on How to Stay Cool This Summer For Less posted at Mr. Cheap Stuff, saying, "How to stay cool with out turning off your Air Conditioner."

marguerite manteau-rao presents The Big Monster posted at La Marguerite, saying, "Thoughts on how to handle the big monster - global warming."

Tiffany Washko presents Down To Earth Guide to Global Warming posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

Melissa presents Coupon Karma posted at A Penny Closer, saying, "Thanks for considering my submission!"

Tupelo Kenyon presents Make Assumptions Obsolete by Communicating posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "We assume because we don’t know. We don’t know because we don’t ask. We don’t ask because we act as if we already know. Or, we don’t want to appear stupid. [...] The solution is clear communication. When we know the truth, assumptions are forever unnecessary."

Edith Yeung presents A Voice to Remember posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Vihar Sheth presents The Debate Heats Up: Vegetarianism & Climate Change posted at Vihar Sheth.

Todd Goldfarb presents A Simple Way to Make Your Home Green posted at We The Change, which is about switching to green power and how small changes can make a bigger difference than you think.

Activist Mommy presents It's Easy Being Green posted at Activist Mommy, saying, "Win a copy of It's Easy Being Green by sharing green living tips". Having been a regular submitter of articles, I'll gladly promote Activist Mommy's promotional activity :-)

Marilyn Terrell presents Orbitz Adds Eco Options posted at Intelligent Travel, introduces Orbitz' new eco options.

That's it for this edition. I hope you had fun reading it as much as I had fun posting it :-)! If you want to submit a post, use the carnival submission form.

Past editions of the carnival can be found here.

And as always, I will end this post with an inspirational story. It's a nice story about changing yourself and leaving the past behind. It had made me smile at the end :-).

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip."

I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol' Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday's. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make an appearance. And It's Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don't Blame Me and I Couldn't Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent "pity party" could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed. One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you're planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don't have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town. If you can find it -- it's in your own heart -- please look me up. I live on I Can Do It street.

The Big Green Apple

New York has been making headlines lately by announcing its steps to make the city greener.

Just a few weeks ago it announced that by 2012 it wants to make its cab driving greener by using hybrid taxis. Though taxis still create emissions (as opposed to electric cars like the Tesla) hybrid cabs are an ideal choice for New Yorkers. The traffic in New York is very dense which means they have to "stop and go" all the time, re-charging the batteries every time they break and using it when they drive.

The Master Plan - PlanNYC 2030
This is all part of a Master Plan for greening New York by the year 2030 (I'm amazed a city will plan for that long!). They even have a nicely designed website and a 158-page report to go with it. Here are some of the interesting measures that are part of "The Plan":

• Energy: Create the New York City Efficiency Authority (NYCEEA) responsible for reaching the city's demand reduction targets
• Transportation: Increase Capacity on key congested routes - Seek to fund five projects that eliminate capacity constraints
• Water: Encourage the installation of green roofs through a new incentive program (I don't know why this was put under "water")
• Air: Waive New York City's sales tax on the cleanest, most efficient vehicles
• Air: Partner with stakeholders to help plant one million trees by 2017
• Land/Open Space: Fulfill the potential of at least one major undeveloped park site in every borough
• Transportation: Complete the City's 1,800-mile bike master plan
• Transportation: Seek to use pricing to manage traffic in the Central Business District (CBD)

These are very ambitious goals for greening New York. The question is, whether they will achieve these. But with a good plan in place and a motivated mayor it's possible. But with 23 years to go in the plan, we have to wait and see.

But they're off to a good start. According to the SustainLane rankings (which ranks US cities' urban sustainability) New York is already in 6th place, just behind Oakland and before Boston with Portland leading the race. (article continues)

Mayor Bloomberg interviewed on green cabs



London Calling
London is another big city that is working on its green image. London's mayor Ken Livingstone has introduced a congestion charge of 25 pounds (about 50 dollars) for every day you drive in Central London. It's that high because it has to "hurt". And this actually only effects about 5% of the drivers.
People who live in Central London and who own a "gas-guzzler" will have to pay an additional annual fee with which you can buy a small car - 6000 pounds. (article continues)

Listen to London's Mayor Ken Livingstone being interviewed


Even Abu Dhabi is working on creating an almost zero-carbon, zero-waste city extension by 2009. It would be nice in the future to see a big city in one of the emerging countries like China or India to push towards greenery. Though China have set many new regulations, implementation by the local and regional government is still lacking.

It's very encouraging to see London's and New York's plans in place. The cities' high visibility and popularity will make them a role model for other cities who wish to become greener.