Donald Blanchard

I have not seen much bamboo alternatives in my local stores. I grew "clumping bamboo" (not spreading bamboo) in Florida as a tall sun shield for my house and cut the bamboo for my garden stakes and other uses. I don't get much sun here where we live since I basically live in a pine forest and face north. The alternatives to bamboo seem to be plastic for fencing & railing type projects. 

I have just finished reading about Black Carbon, ie "soot emissions". It does contribute about 2/3 of the amount of carbon dioxide towards global warming-climate change as a man made agent.
Some reports I just read:1-burning of forest and grasslands  worldwide accounts for the largest source of black carbon. 2- Diesel engines account for 70% of black carbon in Europe, N. America & Latine America. 3- 60%-80% comes from domestic fires in Asia, Aferica, China, & Old Soviet Block countries. 
SO!, I am having a hard time telling myself or the boy-girl scouts not to ever build a campfire or cookfire. I don't think occasional camp fires,  cooking fires or rudimentary cookstoves are a social justice issue for me.

The over-use of both water & energy motivated me the most to change my behavior about food wast. With very little effort I now don't wast food or use energy to keep it then throw it away. It makes me feel good that I have started composting again.

My biggest concern is that many people across the world with the most power to address climate change do not seem to be concerned themselves. My hope is that the United States will be a leader in the effort to learn more about climate change before our Rock is destroyed.

I would use part of this saved money to increase my donations to feed the hungry, like Meals on Wheels and Porch. I would also look into buying something that could improve my overall envirmental impact.