Hanging Out Shirts in the Dirty Breezeby Molly Regan
Scott County Soil and Water Commissioner Molly Regan reports on the grand success of the QC's Progressive Summit. And there's more work to do!
“Hanging out shirts in the dirty breeze. And after it rains there’s a rainbow, and all of the colors are black. It’s not that the colors aren’t there, it’s just imagination they lack”.
My favorite singer PAUL SIMON gives music and lyrics to conditions common in “MY LITTLE TOWN”. To the west of me is the constant daily movement of railroad cars often filled with coal, usually 120 or more cars long. Next to the tracks, is a busy two-lane highway that sees thousands of diesel vehicles and other internal combustion engines going by every month. To the east, the barges have started their voyages up and down the grand Mississippi River.
Every day, the products that we CITIZENS feel the need to CONSUME seem to increase. This is the main contributor to our ENERGY guzzling. Putting more STUFF on our walls. Adding to our already stocked pantries with STUFF. Then buying more STUFF to hold our STUFF. We want to feel good when we get our paycheck. That is normal, so we go out and contribute to the economy by buying STUFF. These “THINGS” all have to be CREATED, TRANSPORTED, MAINTAINED, and DELIVERED to our door.
I, too, am a consumer, but have been attempting for a long time to become a savvy one. This past Saturday at Augustana College in Rock Island we held the first Progressive Summit for the Common Good. It was fantastic! There were probably close to 400 people there collectively looking to better things in OUR WORLD. They all are aware we need to look at situations 1st LOCALLY to affect a change.
Our purchasing habits were discussed. In the ENVIRONMENTAL/ENERGY INDEPENDENCE workshop that I was part of, we found many impressive viewpoints. The ENERGY we use just to keep ourselves warm/cool and having safe food is basic to our existence, though there are ways we can cut down there, too. The additional energy consumption is the area that we immediately have to curtail. Unless it is of vital human need, such as in hospitals, then NIP IT IN THE BUD.
Much clothing, many vehicle parts, shoes, umbrellas, and electronic entertainment devices that we purchase are made outside of IOWA and the United States. Our high demand for STUFF prompts other countries to increase their factories. For example, in CHANGOING, CHINA, there are 10,000 factories, many of which cause high air pollution. In the book “ENERGY RESOURCES: OUR IMPACT ON THE PLANET” by EWAN MC LEISH, there is a photo from this city which shows how unbelievable it is for humans to exist there. This book is also a great resource for school kids, young and not so young, as it gives at a glance the true expense of our destructive ways.
Within our workshop group, we stressed the need to buy items locally, plus to EDUCATE OUR YOUNGSTERS AS TO THE MEANING OF SUCCESS AND TO STRESS THAT IT HAS NO CORRELATION TO WHAT YOU OWN. Other great points were: 1. The immediate need for sustainable agriculture with less pesticide/herbicide use…2. Urban sprawl is causing loss of community…3. Bicycle use needs to increase…4. Where we work needs to be closer to where we live.
So our follow-up step is for each workshop group to hold another meeting within the next several weeks. This will give those who could only attend one workshop a chance to go be part of another discussion group. Within the next week to 10 days hopefully, the website www.qcprogressiveaction.org will list all the information you will need to become part of the solutions. Please join in this new community. We need your voice. We value your opinions. You can make a difference.
This week is the normal celebration of EARTH WEEK which officially is APRIL 22ND. But please, MAKE EVERY WEEK EARTH WEEK. And of course, CPR or as most of you know by now, CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE ….AND GO THAT EXTRA STEP THIS MONTH…PLANT A TREE. THANKS.
Progressive Action in the Quad Cities
