It is nearly Veterans Day, formerly called Armistice Day (which literally means “a stopping of arms”) in honor of the end of World War I in 1918. At the time, people thought it was the war to end all wars. Today the U.S. is at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They both carry echoes of the conflicts created by Britain and France’s takeover of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. They reflect the alliances of World War II and the deadly geopolitics of the Cold War.

There is much to say about the historical failure of war to resolve conflicts, but we also need another type of armistice, one for our environment. Obviously war wreaks devastation on the environment (another reason to prevent it), but we do things every day in peaceful areas that cause unnecessary damage as well. The prime example of our impact is the mounting evidence of global climate change.

Last weekend, people in cities around the world participated in an International Day of Climate Action organized by Bill McKibben and 350.org. Their goal is to bring our atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide down to 350 parts per million, which is possibly a safe upper limit. The current level is 390 parts per million and rising 2 parts annually. What are some things we can we do personally to help achieve 350?

Recently a family in New York City finished a yearlong quest to see how few resources they could consume. Admittedly, the father, Colin Beavan, had an ulterior motive — he wrote a book, maintained a blog and made a documentary film about their odyssey. He dubbed himself No Impact Man.

“No impact” might be a bit too self-congratulatory, but the family was very environmentally friendly compared to the average American household. They turned off their electricity, shopped for food locally and didn’t buy other goods, and they didn’t drive an automobile.

As New York City residents, they already had the best-developed public transportation system in the U.S. on which to get around. In fact, 77 percent of Manhattan households do not own a car, compared to only 8 percent of American households overall.

It sounds like a plan for misery and deprivation, right? But Beavan reports they were happier and healthier as a result of living in a more environmentally friendly way. Sure, they turned the lights back on after the year was over, but they found that their emotional lives had been enriched by spending more time with each other, and Beavan’s scale confirmed he lost 20 pounds.

Hmm, maybe consumption isn’t the root of all happiness.

I’m kidding, that is not a revelation. However, we live in a capitalist milieu where government agencies sometimes count us as consumers instead of as citizens. The U.S. consumes 25 percent of the total energy produced in a year, with only 5 percent of the world’s population. Consumption drives our economy, and we’re constantly compelled to consume more stuff than we will ever possibly need.

(The L.L. Bean blazer that I had to have last year? It’s hanging in my closet unworn. Guess I didn’t need it so badly after all.)

We’ll hear dozens of anxious reports on retail sales after Thanksgiving Day up through Christmas Day, with the unstated assumption that more spending is better. But over-consumption is having a negative impact on our planet, and we are not getting happier as our superfluous stuff piles up around us.

What would happen if we tried to stop the capitalist cycle of spending more and more money to buy more and more stuff? Would capitalism collapse? That is a scary thought. Capitalism has helped make us wealthier and live longer than any other people in human history. But is it better to continue over-consuming resources until the planet’s ecosystem nears collapse? That is scary too, and we should look for more “middle ways” to take sensible action.

What can we in the rural Midwest do practically with the Beavan family’s example? Obviously we do not have much of a public transportation system yet, but if we live in town, most of us have our feet and probably a bicycle to use as alternatives to get to some places. We have a farmers’ market, so we can easily buy some of our food locally for six months out of the year. And in November the market will be continuing at the Northbridge Mall on Wednesdays.

People can plant a vegetable garden and grow part of their food directly. We can buy new things we need locally, and we have lots of great secondhand stores, antique stores, estate sales and garage sales in Albert Lea where you can save money and protect the environment in one thrifty swoop.

If you buy a cotton sweater at the Salvation Army, that comes pretty close to no impact — no additional dyes or pesticides, very little petroleum went into “recycling” it, and you can turn your thermostat down when you wear it. (If you want to see my inspiration for this example, my husband Jeshua is probably wearing it.)

I don’t know anyone who is ready to turn off their electricity, but we can buy more energy-efficient light bulbs, turn off lights we are not using, and buy sustainable wind credits from our power companies. We can take low environmental-impact family outings such as biking to the state park or playing disc golf. Those are just a few ideas, and I’m curious what other people in town are already doing toward this goal.

As the Vitality Project showed us with our health and diet, we don’t have to make monumental changes in our lives to see improvement, and each improvement helps us make another step in the right direction. We can do the same thing with environmental consciousness. It’s incremental change, not outright armistice, but it can still be powerful.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is an Albert Lea teacher and a member of Paths to Peace of Freeborn County.