On October 5, 2006, the New York Times published an article by Andrew Postman that was both entertaining and inspiring. For those of us on the Tikkun Olam Committee looking for a way to help address global warming, the timing was perfect. The article was entitled “The Energy Diet.” Apparently Postman, like some of us, had thought about and even acted on some pro-environmental activities, but felt he was too busy, too overwhelmed by hype, and too inflexible to significantly change his lifestyle. Then he saw Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and he was inspired to make a difference. First he tried to change all his light bulbs to compact florescents and then decided to set a goal that he could stick to. He envisioned an “Energy Diet” wherein he could calculate his family’s energy impact and target a realistic or easy goal to begin to change his energy consumption and reduce his greenhouse gas emissions. His article is very entertaining (it’s currently available in the New York Times archives; this link was working as of October 2007) and it includes links to the following helpful and informative websites:

• www.climatecrisis.net: About the movie, An Inconvenient Truth.
• www.thegreenguide.com: The “green living source” for today’s conscious consumer.
• www.stopglobalwarming.org: A non-partisan effort to bring citizens together to declare that global warming is here now and that it is time to demand solutions.
• An additional website that we’d like to add to the list is:
  www.grist.org: A free (nothing is really free; they accept contributions) online magazine with environmental news, analysis, humor. yes humor, and practical suggestions.

The Tikkun Olam Committee has also been inspired by the Times article, by An Inconvenient Truth, and/or perhaps by a more spiritual source, to offer a version of “the Energy Diet” for members of KI to consider. Take the challenge and see how much you can help save our planet. Chanukah seems like as good a time as any to begin: The Energy Diet