Harkening back to the purpose of this blog...

No Impact Man very nicely captures one of my biggest gripes about The Way the World Works-- we are so darn wasteful!!!! Read his post, The Bottom-Line Problem with Sustainability? and add your two cents.

He references Heather Rogers' book, Gone Tommorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage. She says that 80 percent of products sold in the United States are designed to be used once and then thrown away. It's that planned obsolescence thing that I get so riled up about.

He also references the cradle to cradle paradigm, which I dig... See why I like this guy? Good role model, articulate, reaches lots of people with a message we all need to hear and act upon...

Speaking of which, here's an opportunity for us to help take action in our state to support sustainability (thanks to my role models and the builders of MY sustainable home systems, Technicians for Sustainability for the heads-up).

HB 2766 includes measures to simplify the permitting process for solar electric and solar thermal systems, encourage energy efficient construction, set guidelines for schools to procure a guaranteed energy cost savings contract, encourage alternative fuels in school vehicles and reduce bus idling, encourage the use of renewable energy sources by utility companies, mandate that school districts reduce energy use by 2020, adopting the international energy conservation code as the voluntary state energy code, and implement a study on reducing the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from motor fuels sold in Arizona. You can find details at http://www.azleg.state.az.us/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2766

HB 2614 is proposing to extend the current sunset date [get it?] of a bill that provides for a reduction in the value of the solar system for property tax calculation purposes. You can find details at http://www.azleg.state.az.us/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2614

Lemme do some of the research for you, to make it easier to write or call your representative:

Here is the Arizona State Senate Roster: http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S&SortBy=2

Here is the Arizona Congressional District Map to help you find YOUR representative and district: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=AZ (I like this website-- it's pretty informative and user-friendly. I also like the creator's disclaimer: This website is just a pet project of a regular joe. Read more about GovTrack.us to check it out for yourself.)

Here is a more "official" source for a map of Arizona's Legislative Districts, from the gov'ment: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/maps/state.htm

If you write a letter or make a call about these issues, would you let me know? Maybe post the text or a synopsis in my comments section, or email it to me so I can post it here? (I'll show you mine if you show me yours...) It would be nice to see if the ripple effect is indeed rippling.