Our first decade of the new millennium has come and gone, and there has been a huge change going on about environmental awareness. Many technologies that create pollution are on their way out, and bio-friendly technologies are filling the gap.
Take, for instance, the automobile carburetor. From the inception of an automobile, the expected way to mix gasoline and air together was through a mechanical carburetor. As we entered this decade, this method became virtually extinct, replaced first with mechanical throttle bodies, and then with computerized fuel injection throughout this decade. Why? Precise measuring of gas and air by computers makes an engine more efficient, which equates to higher gas mileage and lower emissions. Virtually every car made right now sports electronic fuel injection for those reasons.
Did anyone hear of compact florescent light bulbs back in the year 2000? If you did, they were too expensive to retro-fit all the light sockets in your household, and at that time, they were geared more towards institutional use. But not anymore! By 2010, it was getting difficult to even find a regular incandescent bulb anymore, and the new lighting on the horizon is the LED bulb, which will last three times as long and be twice as efficient as a CFL bulb.
Recycling is replacing garbage in increasing amounts. In fact, recycling businesses have tripled over the past 10 years. 2.4 billion pounds of plastic alone were recycled in the US in 2008, and that figure has been growing every year. That statistic alone tells you something right there, because the EPA releases recycling data every five years. From the last recorded released data covering 2000 to 2005, there was a marked increase in recycling with 50 percent of all paper products being recycled, 62 percent of yard waste being composted, and landfills accepted nine million fewer tons of garbage during that time period. Those figures have been growing over the past five years too.
In these past 10 years, we are all beginning to eat healthier as a population. Why? Because the fastest growing agricultural business is organic farming. Fruits and vegetables that are naturally grown and pesticide-free are exactly the way they should be and had been before the invention of chemicals. There is only one sector of the agricultural market growing faster than organic farming, and that’s organic livestock. From milk to meat, organic grazing says chemicals need not apply.
Ten years ago there was no such thing as bio-diesel, and now people are boiling down used frying oils to power their diesel trucks. Cars are going flex-fuel and it’s getting to the point that they can burn anything from gasoline to peanut oil.
Was anyone actively thinking about electric cars as viable vehicles in the year 2000? That technology was virtually dead in the water until the invention and mass production capability of the lithium-ion battery pack came about. These batteries give the power and range of gasoline-powered cars, and they are zero emissions vehicles. Plug them in at night, drive around during the day.
Pure battery cars are expensive, but as production ramps up, the prices of this new technology will drop. And next year, Chevrolet plans to introduce the revolutionary Volt electric car, which marks the first time a major auto manufacturer is getting in the electric car business. This is a huge change, and it all happened in the past 10 years.
Green and growing. These businesses at the beginning of the decade were either non-existent or just about belly-up, and now they are touted as some of the fastest growing businesses out there. Things like electric bikes, eco-tourism, wind energy, natural cosmetics and green building supplies made huge gains over the last 10 years, and it looks like there is no stopping them either.
None of this happens without you, period. Everyone could have stayed content to eat pesticide-laced produce; we all could have kept throwing recyclables away in the regular trash, and we could all hold onto our fossil fuel burning vehicles no matter how dependent we were on foreign oil or how polluted our air became. But we didn’t We changed the way we want to live, and we are changing the industry to accommodate this better way.
Keep up the good work! It’s all about you and your kids and your loved ones that you want the best for, and you are beginning to get it, Because YOUR Actions speak louder than words ever could!
