BP Opinions #1..More to come

The other day I was griping for a lack of a better term about the BP Deep Horizon Oil spill. This is a subject that deeply bothers me and as with anything that upsets me I am vocal, and can sometime rubs others around me the wrong way like it did my husband Dave. He had enough of me bitching about it and basically said there nothing you can do about it so shut it. I bit back a few things but erred on the side of caution and chose not to dive into an argument till I was fully prepared to back up my statements. Well I have thought it though and figured I would share with everyone my thoughts on the subject and what someone can do on a local level. And of course in the best way I know how, I wrote it out to share.

No keep in mind that not just one person can save the Gulf Coast. This disaster is so big that it is going to take the effort of hundreds of thousands of people to contain, clean up and stop the leak. One person is but a drop in a bucket of water, but all those drops do fill it up. So everyone working together can do something about this spill and get a message out there to reduce the need for crude oil so less oil rigs are needed.

Now as I thought about it there is nothing, I can do about the spill because I do not have the means. However, if I was in a position and had the means there would be a few things that I can do to make an impact. One, I can take a class on marine clean up, on how to properly wash birds. This is a class that is offered locally and I can use that training should the oil come this way to the Tampa area. Two, if chose I could travel and volunteer at the coast to assist in clean up. And three I can donate time and money locally to a non profit that is represented over at the site of the spill. And last there is an organization who is offering T-shirts with a BP logo that appears to be soiled with oil for $25, all proceeds go to assist with the clean up.

One thing that I see if popular right now that many people are doing on a local level, is boycotting BP gas stations and even to the point of picketing BP gas stations. Now one thing that I feel I must point out. BP drills for oil, they refine their own oil yes for their gas stations, but they also sell their oil to other companies to refine. So it is possible the gas stations you frequent is using BP oil that was refined by another company. ALSO, by boycotting BP stations you are also hurting a local economy. Yes are not being a consumer of BP gas, but you are also not buying that Slurpee or the Coke either. You see, the gas stations (a lot are local owned) don’t make money off the gas, they make money off the purchases you make inside the store. So basically, by boycotting BP stations, you are knowingly not buying a BP labeled product, but you could be still supporting BP by buying gas at a different station that purchased BP oil and refined it. And you could also be causing a local business to close down, and that means loss of jobs which in this economy NOT GOOD. So the best way to battle this nemesis is to reduce the need for crude oil by using less gas your self or to alter your habits that support the use of gas.

If a large portion of our population become more aware of what their actions do to impact the environment, then together we will be able to make an improvement that all would benefit. And I am talking about more than just littering and recycling; its knowing that the extra trips in the car to pick up something you forgot at the store or buying all your veggies at the supper market all support the need to crude oil to be refined for gas.

Now you ask “What does buy all my veggies at the supper market have to do what gasoline consumption?” You see the majority of the veggies at your local supermarket are not local. In fact most of them spent 5 days on a truck getting your store. It took quite a bit of gas for that Semi truck to put up a trailer full of veggies in California to be dropped off to some local distribution center. Where the veggies are sorted and the orders are filled and more gas is used in the small trucks to be taken to the stores.

If you bought what veggies you can from a local grower, you are not only reducing the use of gas but you are getting fresher veggies that last longer in the fridge. This means less waste, saving you money and supporting your local grower’s which puts your money in your local economy. Bonus is if you find a local grower that grows organically or does not use genetically modified seeds. Then you are benefiting the environment in more ways than just reducing the use of petrol. Also you can start a neighborhood garden. Talk to you neighbors see if everyone will be willing to work together on tending the garden, everyone who participates gets first pick of the harvest. The rest can be sold at a local market for a profit that can be put back into purchasing things for the garden.

You can also reduce the need for gas buy reducing the number of trips to the store. Make a list of everything you’re going to need for that week. And if you are close enough to the store for those mid week change of plans for dinner, ride your bike to the store to pick up the few items you need. Going to the store to pick up just three things you forgot is like a pick up truck picking up one chair at a time for a move.

This is something that I personally need to work on, I am guilty of using my car for small trips and extra trips for a lack of planning. Since I have recognized that this is something that I can improve on, I am on my way to correcting that behavior.

Lastly, (and by no means is this a complete list of things you can do, I am only scratching the tip of the ice burg here, or of what’s left of them that is) support sustainable energy. If you have the means install solar power. Did you know that if actually generate more energy it will go to the grid, and you meter will start moving backwards, and the electric company will start paying you? If you reduced your energy consumption and use only what you need, this is very possible. Also by reducing what you are using from the grid, and more people did that same this will reduce the number of trucks needing to be dispatched to fix and issue due to the grid being overloaded.

And, when your local city, county, state and Federal governments propose a sustainable energy project, support it, write letters to your representative, go to local meetings tell your friends do what ever you can to get the word out. Don’t expect your government no mater how local or big to pass something with out knowing if it will be supported by the people they represent. If they don’t know that a majority of people are in support they will not even think of supporting. Remember, our government is based on supporting majority opinion, in other words what is good for the many not the few.