What practices of Earth etiquette do you think will prove most helpful in the fight against environmental degradation?

I would say the overall decrease in carbon emissions and pollution (making companies “green” and making more fuel efficient cars) is going to help the most.

The recycling idea is nice but the truth is that there is still TONS of crap going into landfills…lots of people don’t recycle. By making more fuel efficient cars (not just hybrids) people are going to buy them and there will be a big impact. Also, the pollution that comes out of those factories is immense…if they are held to “green” standards, I have no doubt the effect would be great.

On a side note, I think many fuel-efficient cars out these cars are not dorky and are very fashionable. It’s my hope that MORE people will start buying these cars not just because they are “green” but because they are cool and reliable, thus making them appeal to more demographics. I myself just got a Honda Fit a month ago and I get 43 mpg and I think it’s the coolest looking thing ever! if I do say so myself Being green can be cost efficient and stylish.

Back in the day, only kings could eat like kings, and they were supported by villages full of peasants allowing them to eat like kings. Nowadays, more of us eat like kings than the world can really support, and it is by the grace of petroleum and third-world nations that we are able to do this. So the first thing, I think, would be to stop eating like kings and start eating more like peasants. Flying in pineapple to Canada and feeding grain to cattle are not, ultimately, sustainable. The trick is getting people who are used to, and love, eating like kings, to give it up. That’s where etiquette would probably come in.

Ditto transportation. Having the work equivalent of hundreds of peasants (oil) dragging us around from place to place is not that sustainable either. Cities need to be more pedestrian/bicycle friendly, and we need to eat more locally.

Everybody wants to be the King, or at least have a lifestyle that exceeds that of actual medieval kings. Supporting kings is, however, taxing. ;)

Respect