Forgive the play on words here.  On this page we talk both about things that are ‘habit-forming’ in the sense that they are addictive, and the process of ‘habit forming’ as a solution to global warming. 

Habit forming is both the problem and the solution to global warming.  As the problem, it is the inherently wasteful habits that our society has incorporated, and which we as members necessarily learn and practice, that has gotten into our current ‘pickle’.  Habits, by nature, are difficult to see.  They are our blind spots.  They are the way things always have been, and so continue to be… unless we expend the energy to observe them (step 1) and change them (step 2).

Learning to see habits is, indeed, one of the most powerful and overlooked skills that one can learn (or teach).  We pay professionals hundreds of dollars for weekly visits to help us see our habits.  But is there anyone from whom we can learn the skill of discerning our habits on our own?  Seeing habits is like riding a bicycle or learning to whistle.  Once you find those ‘muscles’ and ‘positions’ you must employ, you simply cannot forget them.  Learning the skill is the catch as there is scarcely anyone teaching it.

As the solution to global warming, one must take the notion of ‘habit forming’ in its active sense… one must learn to form new habits.  Having learned to find old habits, learning to form new ones is the logical consequence.  Perhaps a simple example, no better, a simple exercise will make the point.  Take an introspective look at the habit most of us have concerning something as simple as an elevator…