Unctuous Matters

So, you're asking yourself: "what does the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico have to do with The Land Conservancy?"

Well, nothing -- and everything.

People in McHenry County drive cars which run on gasoline which is collected from places like the Gulf of Mexico, by companies like BP...

People in McHenry County buy things at the store - things that are often shipped hundreds, if not thousands of miles to arrive here. And during the shipping of those items, fuel is used by the trains, ships, trucks, etc that are used for transport. The more miles something is shipped, the more fuel must be used.

So, the oil spill in the Gulf is about us too.

While our wildlife, wetlands, natural lands and waters may not be clogged with oil, that is just the luck of geography keeping us clean. It is a fact that the choices we make every day at the store, in the car, even around the home contribute to this national addiction to oil. Every plastic container, toy or nick-nack is made with oil. And that apple from New Zealand is brought to your table because of the oil used to ship it to McHenry County.

But, what can we do? It is pretty overwhelming, isn't it?

1. Reduce the number of miles you drive. Car pool if you can. Combine errands into fewer trips.
2. Buy & Eat locally grown food. I've read that over 10% of all US oil consumption is tied just to transportation of food. So, the fewer miles food travels to get from the farm to your table, the less fuel consumed. period.
3. Open the windows and turn off the Air Conditioning.
4. Replace the gas-powered mower with an electric (or rotary) mower.
5. If buying a new car, choose one that gets better gas mileage than the old car. If you can, opt for a gas-electric hybrid (or, soon, an all electric model!).
6. Convince a friend to make some changes too.

It may seem overwhelming, but in the long run, we can make a difference through the choices we make about how much energy we use each day. And while that won't clean up the Gulf of Mexico, it sure might help prevent a future disaster.