I wish our community offered this. We compost as much as possible. We have worms in our basement eating most of it and we bury some in the back pile, too. I’d love to have the city compost it. Just throw it in the waste and go. They even give you a kitchen compost pail. Other cities around the country already do this, too. San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, soon Boulder.
Did I not mention this yesterday? Well - I happened to be reading through the NeoCon magazine and never thought about how I had access to all of the speakers, etc. This one totally slipped past me. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the son of Bobby Kennedy and the well-known environmentalist was speaking at NeoCon. I looked through the book and initially thought I missed it - nope - 8am, Tuesday June 10th. I’m in.
I got up early to catch the 6:34am train into the office - which happens to be directly across the Chicago river from the Merchandise Mart, home of NeoCon. I got to work in time to pickup my credentials and drop off my laptop. I ran over to the Mart and waited for an elevator. I got in and took the elevator up - the operator informs me that it only went to the 11th floor - I had to get to 14. I exited at 11 and found my way to the 14th floor. I got out and looked around and said “WTF?” The hallway was empty - devoid of life - just shops with Christmas items - weird. It’s now 8am and I look in the program again. Oh shit! It’s at the Holiday Inn Merchandise Mart - connected, but in a different building. I’m not waiting 10min for an elevator again, so I ran down 14 floors of stairs, across the street and made it to the correct venue. Phew - I made it. Guess what - the 8am program didn’t start until 8:25am. A lot of running around for nothing.
If you’ve never heard Robert F Kennedy Jr speak, he has what I can only describe as a type of speech imediment - like he’s gasping for air. He started out a little groggy, but once his words are rolling, he’s fine. I only bring this up because I was a little worried that the speech would lack something. In retrospect, he could have been speaking German and I’d have been fine tuned to every last umlaut. I guess in my case, he was speaking to the choir.
I’m not a big fan of politics - never have been - but it is important to stay in touch with the world. With the latest administration, it’s impossible not to speak about or speak up about, rather, the political landscape. Kennedy made the point that Americans can tell you what color underwear that Lindsey Lohan is wearing, but can’t tell you much, if anything, about what is happening in the world (if you’re keeping score at home, the correct answer is, Lindsey doesn’t wear underwear). I think his quote was, “we’re the most entertained and least informed society anywhere.” People need to get out from under their rock which is general American media which is controlled by about 5 different companies.
Kennedy went over so many facts about the current administration that I had no idea about. He calls out all of these folks who are supporting environmental endeavors in the Bush administration as “former” lobbyists for bad people. I put “former” in quotes because many of these people - when they leave their posts, they go back to where they came from. They go back to the coal and oil companies.
I can’t do any of his speech justice, so I’d suggest taking some time and watching it for yourself. Some of these video clips are pretty much exactly the same speech I heard.
How the media fails us:
Here is a speech that is very similar to the speech he gave today:
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there…and to our Mother Earth. Enjoy the videos…
Jack Johnson and Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands
Discovery Channel Commercial I Love The World
(yes I just posted this recently - think of it as “recycling”)
America’s largest Earth Day celebration (so they say) is taking place in cities throughout the country once again this year. The Green Apple Festival is a small music fest held in 8 cities on April 18-20. The way that most of them works is that there are bands at small venues on Friday and Saturday with a large free concert on Sunday, April 20. You’ll notice that there are a lot of jam bands - so if that’s your scene - check it out.
The Green Apple Festival is produced with a minimal carbon footprint. They have a goal of zero waste and are as paperless as possible. Some other initiatives are: use of bio-diesel generators, organic cotton staff shirts, organic food, and encouraging patrons to take public transportation to the events. They are also working with NativeEnergy to offset their carbon emissions.
My wife and I put the kids to bed at their normal bedtime, just this time we did it by candlelight. We weren’t as prepared for Earth Hour as we should have been. We ran around frantically looking for some candles. Finally we found enough to keep us seeing. Once the kids were in bed, we spent the hour talking and playing cards. I think that we need to have an “Earth Hour” more often. I’m a great example of letting the TV be our conversation piece. It’s not as bad when we’re watching quality programs from Sundance’s The Green or Discovery Health or the Science Channel…but I like horribly bad TV. If we’re watching good programs, we have in-depth conversations (and sometimes bitch sessions) about our passion for…[insert earth, health, food, future, climate, children, technology, etc. here]. Other times, I watch bad TV with no redeeming value, yet shutting out healthy conversation. I fully admit to my failures in this department. Perhaps a self-imposed Earth Hour more often would help…or just watch less horrendous TV?
Bedtime for Kiddies
Triple Wicker
On The Mantle
I guess that DoTheGreenThing should have made March the “Lights Out” month instead of this past November. Tonight is the WWF (wildlife, not wrestling) sponsored Earth Hour. Earth hour is a worldwide initiative to “turn off the lights” in cities around the world for one (1) hour starting at 8pm (through 9pm) to heighten awareness about climate change and to inspire individuals, businesses and corporations to take practical action to reduce their carbon footprint. It is more of a symbolic gesture than an actual impact from one night. The hope is that it raises awareness to the greater cause. One person on the news likened it to the Boston Tea Party - sure that might be a little extreme, but any little bit helps. I’m actually glad to see that it has been on the news every night this week and on the radio here. Chicago happens to be one of the flagship cities around the world.
So what are you going to do in the dark? Are you going to have a candlelight dinner? Perhaps read a book? Lynn over at OrganicMania suggests enjoying some organic beer. Not a bad idea. I have some in the garage. I think I’m going to put on a straw hat, suspenders, make my wife call me Jebodiah, and pretend I’m Amish. They’re a pretty sustainable culture, right? The Do The Green Thing site had a great video in November that is after the jump. I encourage you to enjoy the video. Hrmmm…that video is giving me some ideas…
Do The Green Thing: Do It In The Dark (possibly NSFW)
(more…)
I care about peak oil and I like sexy women. So I want to thank La Marguerite for bringing this video to my attention. All kidding aside, the video is very informative and worth checking out. Enjoy Cassandra!
Water. Clean, potable, drinking water. You know - the stuff we flush our toilets with and sprinkle gallon-after-gallon of on our pristine manicured lawns. That stuff we actually pay for in plastic bottles that most don’t recycle or even heavy glass bottles shipped half-way around the world. The stuff we pay for when we can get clean, potable water out of the tap any time of day or night.
Water is something we all take for granted, yet over an estimated 1 billion people worldwide have no access to safe drinking water. Nearly 6,000 children die each day from water-related illnesses. This is where the UNICEF Tap Project comes in. For the next week, March 16-22, restaurants will invite their customers to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they would normally get for free. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days. March 22 also just happens to be World Water Day.
If you want to support this initiative, visit TapProject.org and find a participating restaurant near you. If there aren’t any in your area, you can always donate online.
People can survive without oil. We can’t without water. Blood will be shed a thousand times over due to water issues in the coming years. That is pretty much a given. Here in America, there are major water shortages underway in the arid west and also recently in the Georgia region. For those of us who don’t even think twice about wasting water, we need to think beyond our borders and help change lives as much as possible. Okay - I’m getting off my soap box now.
Source: UNICEF Tap Project
According to Plenty Magazine (which is a great magazine, btw), Google Earth is teaming up with ILoveMountains.org to fight mountaintop removal mining (MTR). If you’re interested in learning more about MTR, I posted about this atrocity back in November.
Google Earth agreed to partner with I Love Mountains and included the site’s National Memorial for the Mountains, the project’s first phase, as part of the Google Earth map software. The Memorial appears on a map of the eastern states as a field of 450 American flags spanning the Appalachian Mountains, each commemorating a ‘decapitated’ mountain. Zoom in close to a single mountain and there’s a step-by-step explanation of how machinery literally scrapes away peaks, and aerial photos of a site the size of Manhattan. via PlentyMag.com
If you want to see if your power company gets any of its electricity from the coal obtained in MTR, then just go to ILoveMountains.org and put in your zip code. Here’s what I found out: Your electricity provider, ComEd - Commonwealth Edison Co, buys coal from companies engaged in mountaintop removal. I see my power plants on the map and also see the mine where they get some of the coal. When I click on the mine, I find out information about it. When I dig even further, I see that much of the coal comes from Rawl, West Virginia. Then I get a story about the town and how MTR has affected it. If you’d like to see some video stories, checkout their YouTube group.
I just also found out that there is a documentary called Black Diamonds which discusses MTR. It’s an absolutely disgusting practice which until last year I didn’t realize was happening.
Black Diamonds
Source: Plenty Magazine
Oprah had an episode on Wednesday on freegans. As I watched correspondent Lisa Ling - formerly of The View and also Laura Ling of Current TVs sister - take a trash tour in NYC, I kept thinking how I could totally give that a whirl. A freegan is someone who takes useful items that are headed to a landfill and puts them to good use. This includes groceries.
I guess I could say that I’ve dabbled in this world before. I admit it. I’ve always called it “curb shopping.” I live in a regular middle-class suburb of Chicago. If you drive the neighborhoods on garbage night (especially in the spring and warmer months), you’ll find all kinds of useful items. Have a kid? You’ll never need to buy a giant plastic toy again. Many of my finds aren’t even for myself. I’ll put them on Freecycle [insert link] or just donate them to Goodwill. We had a great unscathed coffee table in our basement for years that someone threw out. Maybe they were hoping someone would stop and pick it up. Sometimes I put items out by the curb and try to place them so someone will stop and take them. If they are still there when I leave for work, I drag them back in the house.
I’ve never really thought about obtaining food this way, though. It does seem logical. After watching the video, I can see how much waste is thrown out from a grocery store. Perfectly packaged dry goods and canned items that could go to a food pantry are just being put in a dumpster. People even get dairy. They show how a dozen eggs are thrown out just because one in the pack is broken. Tons of produce is discarded because one little blemish. Sure - exercise caution and common sense if you’re going to try this.
Mary at In Women We Trust and I were discussing Oprah the morning after the show. She was talking about how wasteful of a society we live in and I wholeheartedly agree. Until we stop looking at this planet as a disposable entity nothing is going to change. Over consumption and unnecessary opulence for vanity and comfort is disgusting compared to most cultures in this world. Mary has a challenge out to Oprah: I have a big favor to ask you Oprah, since you are culture and culture is you, could you do us all a favor and have a show dedicated to Sustainable Standards? Maybe if Oprah can continue to push for change - and believe me she has the power to influence this country - things will start to shift. Get the women who watch her show to start voting with their dollars. The one problem is that Oprah’s empire is built on commercialism and she needs to make changes in her life and her empire. The old adage, “Do as I say and not as I do” doesn’t hold much weight with the average adult.
Reference: Freegan.info
