Saving Not Wasting Our Nation's Capital
It is safe to assume Washington D.C. region now creates greater waste then anywhere in the history of our planet. Last Sunday’s Washington Post article in the Metro section, “D.C Area Outpaces Nations in Pollution,” was more than coincidental. The federal budget cycle for 2006 that day just ended and Americans have no idea to all the different ways we stimulate discarding.
The Washington area not only produces more carbon dioxide than Sweden, Denmark and Finland but our government stimulates the most significant global loss of resources. For example, the District of Columbia and other government’s budgets are based on the principle of “use it or loose it.” Government must shift from this behavior of consuming more to understanding performance is measured by output over input.
The fed’s are the largest consumer of goods and services in the world producing a buying power yearly exceeding 25 European Union nations. Just look at one department protecting us. The Congressional Budget office cited that funding in homeland security have more than doubled in the first two years after the attacks from $20-$40 billion dollars. Contrast this with the fact we invest a fraction of one percent money on how we conserve resources. Wise economy and world security is all about the path of discovery around recovery.
There are no exact figures or comprehensive methods of determining of how much our region wastes. Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17 billion tons of waste. This does not include how we create tens of thousands of incentives to waste. Improved feedback in how we can reutilize our discards may stimulate a frontier of economic development. Developing market mechanisms to conserve is just one avenue minimize our carbon footprint.
The good news is that more Washingtonians are recognizing that becoming more environmentally efficient improves our well-being. Now that the insurance industry predicts climate change is caused by people, citizens went to feel better about their impact by using less stuff. Also, as we prevent pollution, we also reward ourselves and profit our country. Saving our land, air and water has many implications besides just peace of mind for our future generations. Better managing and accounting for our nation’s eco-capital must become “tenor” not the “terror” of our time. Let's recover our nation's capital by saving things instead of ending them.
The Washington area not only produces more carbon dioxide than Sweden, Denmark and Finland but our government stimulates the most significant global loss of resources. For example, the District of Columbia and other government’s budgets are based on the principle of “use it or loose it.” Government must shift from this behavior of consuming more to understanding performance is measured by output over input.
The fed’s are the largest consumer of goods and services in the world producing a buying power yearly exceeding 25 European Union nations. Just look at one department protecting us. The Congressional Budget office cited that funding in homeland security have more than doubled in the first two years after the attacks from $20-$40 billion dollars. Contrast this with the fact we invest a fraction of one percent money on how we conserve resources. Wise economy and world security is all about the path of discovery around recovery.
There are no exact figures or comprehensive methods of determining of how much our region wastes. Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17 billion tons of waste. This does not include how we create tens of thousands of incentives to waste. Improved feedback in how we can reutilize our discards may stimulate a frontier of economic development. Developing market mechanisms to conserve is just one avenue minimize our carbon footprint.
The good news is that more Washingtonians are recognizing that becoming more environmentally efficient improves our well-being. Now that the insurance industry predicts climate change is caused by people, citizens went to feel better about their impact by using less stuff. Also, as we prevent pollution, we also reward ourselves and profit our country. Saving our land, air and water has many implications besides just peace of mind for our future generations. Better managing and accounting for our nation’s eco-capital must become “tenor” not the “terror” of our time. Let's recover our nation's capital by saving things instead of ending them.
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