Just imagine...

While sitting in my local hair salon earlier today, and seeing all the energy used by the hand-held hair dryers, all the water consumed in the washing and rinsing, and all the vibrant talking that was going on, I began to wonder (the wondering seems to be a constant, insistent companion of mine) how the world could do its work differently, more efficiently, more naturally.

So I began a list of imaginings. This is only the very barest and quite likely the least imaginative of imagining lists. No doubt you have ideas that are wonderfully imaginative. I would love to hear them.

We must fill a stadium full of these ideas, pile them high upon Congress and our Chambers of Commerce. Spin their visions before enrapt children so that they become woven into their dreams. And we must share them with each other, for that is the only way they will come true.

Here are some of mine.


Imagine one day that...


... stores will be powered by the footfalls of pedestrians on the sidewalks of our city streets

... classrooms will run on the collected energy of school children at play

... computers will be powered by the sun during the day and the warmth of our breath at night

... the heat of our refrigerators will warm the water of our homes

... downspout runoff will flush our toilets

... we will pick seasonal fruit from the urban orchard down the block

... we will build steps to our roofs so we can tend and harvest our gardens by day, and see the stars above the city lights at night

... our homes' exteriors will collect sunlight for heat and energy

... street surfaces will be solar collectors

... kinetic energy from our tires will light up neighboring homes

... health clubs will generate rather than consume energy with their treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes


... everyone will cease to work one day a week and turn the buzzing world off

shabbat shalom, and pleasant dreams