The Planet, Going Green and My Top 10 Predictions for the Next 20 Years.

I love green...it's my favorite color. Anyone who knows me, knows I love green. I have loved green since I was a child and the reason is because of nature. It seemed like green meant life or health because in nature, green things were alive! Now green is no longer just a color, it's a noun AND an adjective. You can "be green", "go green" or "think green". Too bad this whole "green movement" has come too late.

I think we have done irreparable damage to the earth. If we had only taken a tip from the indigenous people of this continent and only used what we needed, we wouldn't be in this predicament. The damage is done. Now it's time to pay the piper and suffer the consequences. I know that sounds morbid, but it's the truth. Everywhere I look, organizations are forecasting things to occur in the next 20 years.
The Great Barrier Reef could be gone in the next 20 years, if global warming isn't slowed.
Oil supplies will start to run out in the next 20 years.
80% of Arctic Sea ice will be gone in 20 years.
Are experts thinking that we can slow down global warming in 20 years? Says who? I think in the next 20 years we'll be so preoccupied with the results of the damage of the late 19th and 20th centuries, we may see more adverse results than positive. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad there is a global effort to "Save the Planet" but has it come too late? Yeah...I too think better late than never, but is my non-use of plastic bags and bottles, use of energy efficient doors, windows and large appliances and paperless billing statements going to do any quantifiable good? I'd like to think so but I can't help thinking, we might just be too late. Have we already gotten to the point of no return with the Earth?

I think at my age (oh yeah...I turned 40 on Nov. 11th), I'm finally able to "see" change differently. When you're young it tends to creep up on you. Like, I don't know when microwaves came out, I just remember suddenly having one. As you get older, you see what necessary changes are to come and can anticipate the resistance that will come with it. Well...these are my 10 predictions and some of the challenges that I think will follow:
1. A law will be passed that solar or wind power use be mandatory in some city and states (e.g. CA, AZ, NM, NV, HI). The pain will be the cost to transition from current power to solar power. I'm sure the government will have some nice incentives.
2. Video phones via the Internet will replace land line phones. Remember that phone Sly Stallone used in "Demolition Man"? when he answers a ringing phone in his new apartment and a video of a girl almost naked appears and she says something like, "Oops! Wrong number?"
3. Hot-house gardening will replace normal gardening because weather conditions will be hotter than it has ever been.
4. Home manufacturers will have a "standard" solar heating/cooling option for newly built homes. Traditional heating/cooling will cost more.
5. Model houses will look more like Florida homes with the enclosed pool and fiber cement, stone or brick siding.
6. Most people will work from home and utilize web conferencing/meetings. To ensure accountability, your boss will be able to view you either on camera or from your keyboard strokes to ensure you are working.
7. Physical education will become mandatory for children K-12. It would utilized the Nintendo Wii system. Not the dodgeball days of old. When a child has their gym class, they will have a variety of activities they could do for an hour, like tennis, bootcamp, hip-hop dancing or rhythm boxing. For special needs children, a physical therapist will be available.
8. Hair and body products will go back to the basics (e.g. olive oil, eggs, mayo, coconut oil, oatmeal baths) and manufacturers of organic products will blow chemical based products out the water. This may give rise to more lice breakouts.
9. Plastic bags will be banned in the U.S.
10. Bed bug and termite infestations will be on the rise due to the use of natural bedding and furniture products.

Will some of those predictions come to pass? I hope so!