I have seen a glimpse of perfection and it is awesome. Boulder is fortunate enough to be the home of many forward thinking companies and individuals. Last year on the Solar Home tour I was able to walk through one of the only Platinum LEED <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LEED_certification> homes that generated more power than it used, recycled gray water and best of all looked like every other house on the block. My daughter was born in the only Platinum LEED hospital in the country. The second you walk into the hospital you can tell something is different. The hospital doesn't feel sterile instead it feels more like a high-end hotel. I have been in cars that get over 100 MPG. Perfect is really, really cool.
The only problem is that the dream of perfect can get in the way of progress. During BLAST! training the conversation frequently drifts towards the "sexy" stuff such as solar panels and other complex technology. Don't get me wrong - solar panels are great. I plan on installing some on my house next year but conserving power is three times more cost effective than producing it.
There are so many simple actions that can be taken right now that don't require permits or a large amount of money. Recycling and composting are examples of actions that can be taken right now with nothing more than a single phone call. So don't let perfect get in the way of being really good today! Start acting now and soon enough perfection will be in your reach - almost.