My 5: Elias Simpson, Contributing Writer
March 13, 2009 by
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Blog, Events, Front Page, Iowa
Blue Planet Green Living (BPGL) asked contributing writer Elias Simpson the following question:
What are the five most important things we can do to save the planet?
ELIAS SIMPSON: 
1. Eat local (or eat vegan). From a strictly environmental standpoint, eating local is the most sustainable practice. You support people in your community who (probably) know, love, and conserve their land. You can even visit to see the wheat that makes your bread, or the cows (if you choose to pass on the vegan option) that make your steak.
2. Ride a bike. It doesn’t need to be your bike, so long as it fits. You’ll get exercise, eliminate the need for a car (which takes a lot of resources — imagine if there were a park in place of every gas station), and eliminate transportation pollution, the number three source of greenhouse gases (first is supposedly methane from animals, see “1”; second, construction, see “3”).
3. Share a bed. I don’t mean a one night stand, rather, sharing a bed can be a sign that you share everything else — a kitchen, toilet, a broom, rugs, a bike — and that reduces consumptive demands by half.
4. Vote for hemp. I don’t mean marijuana, although that would help balance everyone’s budget (everyone’s except the drug lords’). Hemp was grown during World War Two, but has since been outlawed. It is a versatile, renewable crop that can be used for clothes, paper, and food. Aligning your political views to reverse legislation that bans hemp in favor of destructive agribusiness could make a positive impact on the environment.
5. Garden. This was also popular during World War Two. It’s funny how the current economic depression is bringing back the best in us (the U.S.). Your fruits and vegetables are freshest when picked by the hands that feed on them. It’s the most sustainable way to cultivate, and it can be profoundly rewarding and satisfying.
Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)
Elias, thanks for sharing your top 5 tips for saving the planet. What are your thoughts about physical document creation? DocuSign, Earth Class Mail, and Contxts are some companies that are digitizing information that would have made a negative impact on the Earth – paper use, fuel use, loss of carbon sinks, carbon emissons…
Practically speaking, you have to consider what it means for everyone to be able to access something like Earth Class Mail–it means a computer: which requires more materials and chemicals than a sheet of paper. I don’t deny that the environment could potentially benefit from it, but I don’t think it’s a big issue. This seems like more of a commercial name drop, to me.
My 5: Elias Simpson, Contributing Writer : Blue Planet Green Living…
BPGL: What are the five most important things we can do to save the planet?
ELIAS SIMPSON:
1. Eat local (or eat vegan). From a strictly environmental standpoint, eating local is the most sustainable practice…….