A recent piece of research produced by Eunice Yu and Jianguo Liu from the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, shows that divorce is detrimental to the environment.
This research appears on the backdrop of rising divorce rates, (close to 50% of marriages and 75% of second marriages, end up in divorce in the US) and a majority single population in the US for the first time in history (51%).
The failing of marriages and the fear of marriage happens to be impacting the environment. Isn't that interesting? The increasing numbers of singles fearing the commitment of marriage and divorcees creates more households with lower number of people. Not hard to understand that more singles and fragmented families take up more living space, including parking, use of highways, along with higher usage of energy and water. The number of rooms per person in divorced households is 33% to 95% greater than in married households. A refrigerator, for example, uses roughly the same amount of energy whether it belongs to a family of four or one parent and a child. Yu and Liu estimate that in the United States (U.S.) in 2005, divorced households spent 46% and 56% more on electricity and water per person than married households. I knew it! I always said it was a good idea for couples to take showers together! Divorced households in the U.S. could have saved more than 38 million rooms, 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 627 billion gallons of water in 2005 alone if their resource-use efficiency had been comparable to married households. Not only that American spend an extra $3.6 billion annually on water as a result of the extra households created when people divorce. Wow!
We are now coming to find out that this is not just a problem in the United States. It is happening around the world. The number of houses is increasing in England by something like 15 million over 10 years at current trends, while population is going nowhere. In other words we are seeing a housing boom, but not a population boom. Why? Divorce. You hear of a new one every week. Also, perpetual singleness, i.e. unwillingness to marry. And then even worse are married couples who live apart. For what reason? I am so sick of hearing people saying that their former husband or wife is a wonderful person, great parent and the classic one... "We are still friends." Well, why in the world didn't you keep the friendship going as a marriage? Did you have to subject innocent kids to a "friendly divorce"? Just mind-boggling!
Even in places like China with more strict rules on divorce, personal commitments are not being kept and those policies are being ignored. Divorce rates are rising, leading to a profound assault on the environment because a married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household.
So, here is my thought on this matter. Marriage is not just about personal responsibility and commitment to our children, community and the families of origin; it is also about our environment. Marriage as a life-time commitment makes sense. Maybe, it's high time we recognize that breaking a life commitment while trying to be "good" in another area is inconsistent. Perhaps, saving a marriage and making love to the person you made a promise to for life is a good idea if for no other reason than keeping the cost of heating down, the consumption of energy and the selfish use of resources that belong to the whole planet and our children!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Continuing Education - Keep Your Mind Sharp
Most times when people think of continuing education they picture a college or a trade school, but really those are only a couple of possibilities and not the most common. Are you growing as an individual? Are you interested in growing, or does that thought make you yawn?
You must have some thought to self-growth; otherwise you would not be reading this article. So, how do we define personal growth? Is it the same thing as continuing education? I would say yes. I suppose you can grow without learning, but someone would have to explain that one to me.
If you are not growing, you are dieing. That is really what it comes down to. Whether you are reading a book or watching something on TV, there are lots of ways to get your brain in gear. To clarify, there are many shows on TV that are total crap, and not part of the learning I am discussing, but there are other shows where learning is ancillary to the primary focus of the show, but it is still there.
An example of this would be shows like Monster Garage or Flip That House. They are put together for the entertainment factor, but you can watch them and learn enough to know what questions to ask, or to have an idea of what you want to do with your house or car.
The 'real' educational shows I enjoy are things like "How It's Made" or Ken Burn's "The War" (on PBS.) I am not learning how to make things ('applicable' learning), but more mind expanding learning (abstract learning.) Either type is fine and adds to your wealth of knowledge. The point I am making is that continuing education does not need to be formal. Indeed, the best learning may be informal.
Yesterday I supervised my son in changing a tire on his bicycle. A few months ago I changed a tire and he observed and asked questions. This experiential learning gave him a lesson he will never forget. The learning we do on a regular basis is what keeps us alive, in my opinion. While we are growing in this fashion we are not giving up the will to live. The point is that learning comes in many different forms.
My own particular favorite is reading and then doing. There are a few series targeted for beginners in any subject, and those are a great way to get practical information explained in an easy to understand format. I have a few of those books, but I also have Learn HTML in 24 hours which taught me (years ago) the basis of web page design. Although most people use software to design websites, it really helped me out to know the abc's.
I don't want to disparage formal education by any means. I returned to college in my mid 30's and attained my bachelor's degree at age 41. The majority of that was abstract learning, but some of it I use on a regular basis. I have to say that community colleges are the most phenomenal institutions in this country when it comes to almost any type of learning.
Our local CC has course offerings in almost anything you might want to learn. Courses range from those aimed at helping you get your degree to yoga, fitness, alternative healing, tarot reading, photography, cooking and many more.
Don't let yourself slowly die in your easy chair watching mindless offerings on television. Think about dreams from your early life, or things that you've always wondered about. You don't even have to leave your home for many of the offerings out there. So much information is available on the internet; much of it for free! Learn how to speak Gaelic or fix that dripping faucet; how to build an airplane or play the ukulele. Don't waste the intelligence you have. Studies have shown that using your mind can help to preserve your mental capabilities. Use it or lose it. Continuing your education isn't a one time thing, it's a lifetime commitment.
You must have some thought to self-growth; otherwise you would not be reading this article. So, how do we define personal growth? Is it the same thing as continuing education? I would say yes. I suppose you can grow without learning, but someone would have to explain that one to me.
If you are not growing, you are dieing. That is really what it comes down to. Whether you are reading a book or watching something on TV, there are lots of ways to get your brain in gear. To clarify, there are many shows on TV that are total crap, and not part of the learning I am discussing, but there are other shows where learning is ancillary to the primary focus of the show, but it is still there.
An example of this would be shows like Monster Garage or Flip That House. They are put together for the entertainment factor, but you can watch them and learn enough to know what questions to ask, or to have an idea of what you want to do with your house or car.
The 'real' educational shows I enjoy are things like "How It's Made" or Ken Burn's "The War" (on PBS.) I am not learning how to make things ('applicable' learning), but more mind expanding learning (abstract learning.) Either type is fine and adds to your wealth of knowledge. The point I am making is that continuing education does not need to be formal. Indeed, the best learning may be informal.
Yesterday I supervised my son in changing a tire on his bicycle. A few months ago I changed a tire and he observed and asked questions. This experiential learning gave him a lesson he will never forget. The learning we do on a regular basis is what keeps us alive, in my opinion. While we are growing in this fashion we are not giving up the will to live. The point is that learning comes in many different forms.
My own particular favorite is reading and then doing. There are a few series targeted for beginners in any subject, and those are a great way to get practical information explained in an easy to understand format. I have a few of those books, but I also have Learn HTML in 24 hours which taught me (years ago) the basis of web page design. Although most people use software to design websites, it really helped me out to know the abc's.
I don't want to disparage formal education by any means. I returned to college in my mid 30's and attained my bachelor's degree at age 41. The majority of that was abstract learning, but some of it I use on a regular basis. I have to say that community colleges are the most phenomenal institutions in this country when it comes to almost any type of learning.
Our local CC has course offerings in almost anything you might want to learn. Courses range from those aimed at helping you get your degree to yoga, fitness, alternative healing, tarot reading, photography, cooking and many more.
Don't let yourself slowly die in your easy chair watching mindless offerings on television. Think about dreams from your early life, or things that you've always wondered about. You don't even have to leave your home for many of the offerings out there. So much information is available on the internet; much of it for free! Learn how to speak Gaelic or fix that dripping faucet; how to build an airplane or play the ukulele. Don't waste the intelligence you have. Studies have shown that using your mind can help to preserve your mental capabilities. Use it or lose it. Continuing your education isn't a one time thing, it's a lifetime commitment.
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