Blog Action Day, 2009: Climate Change

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Today is Blog Action Day.

It is an annual event held every year that unites bloggers to unite in posting about the same issue on the same day. This year’s theme is Climate Change!

Climate Change is a very important topic right now: International Day of Climate Action is on October 24th, 2009.

On the 24th of October people from all over the world plan to rally about global warming, in hopes of sending out a message regarding the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. In December the world’s leaders will meet in Copenhagen to discuss the climate and amend the current climate treaty.  Scientists say that 350 parts per million is the safe limit for humanity. Currently, we are at 390ppm! The message on the 24th will be 350. Let’s get together and take action! It’s time to put pressure on the leaders to create a just climate treaty that meets the latest science.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner and President Barack Obama has said that climate change is an urgent threat, and now is the time for him to lead the United States in confronting the climate crisis.  This is a chance for people around the world and in the United States to join together in telling President Obama that we want him to lead the United States in taking bold and significant action to reduce greenhouse gasses. Time is running out, and our planet can’t afford to wait.

Take action today- be part of those who are asking the President to act on climate change- add your name!

A Local Article: BYOB!!!

No this isn’t a post about beer. It’s Bring Your Own Bag. Say no to plastic bags at grocery stores and businesses. Bring your own cloth bags instead or heck reuse your old plastic ones. Why say no to plastic and bring you own?

Consider the following shocking facts about plastic shopping bags:

Plastic bags are made of polyethylene
Polyethylene is a petroleum product
Production contributes to air pollution and energy consumption
Four to five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year
Americans use over 380 billion polyethylene bags per year
Americans throw away approximately 100 billion polyethylene bags per year
Of those 100 billion plastic bags, 1% are recycled
It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down
As polyethylene breaks down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain
Approximately 1 billion seabirds and mammals die per year by ingesting plastic bags
Plastic bags are often mistaken as food by marine mammals. 100,000 marine mammals die yearly by eating plastic bags.
These animals suffer a painful death, the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke to death
Plastic bags choke landfills
Plastic bags are carried by the wind into forests, ponds, rivers, and lakes
There are alternatives to plastic bags. All of this death and pollution is unnecessary Read more: www.environmentalactivism.sutie101.com

Read more

Please Give Just $1 For The Charities That You Help To Choose

As writers, we know that part of good stewardship is sharing information, but even the most intelligent among us can not make change without DOING something!

So The Good Human & Twilight Earth, along with Grass Stain Guru, Lighter Footstep, My Green Side, The Smart Mama, A Little Greener Every Day, Fake Plastic Fish, Allies Answers, Natural Papa, and Recycle Your Day have teamed up to carry our message with one united strong voice. The message is that there are great organizations out there which are suffering in this economic downturn through decreased donations…and they need our help! So we have decided to give you, our readers, a voice and a choice. We have decided to take on a very simple fundraising mission, and we are asking you to donate just $1.00.

A single dollar; that’s all.

Who cannot afford a buck even in these times? We know you can spare a dollar to help out our fellow humans!

Read more

How Is My Electricity Made? Power To The People

This Guest post is by guest blogger, science teacher and green activist Glenn Fay who is passionate about sustainability, renewable energy and social responsibility.

When you flip that light switch or click on your toaster oven did you ever wonder how our power grid electricity is made and where it comes from? This short slideshow shows all the exciting details, from using moving water, wind, fossil fuels, nuclear power and even the sun! Which source(s) of electricity make the most sense to you?

World Ocean’s Day!

I’d been saving this post since January when I attended the Go Green Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I thought that I lost the video for it when I did a defrag on the computer but I found it this morning. Now, I can’t figure out how to upload because it’s saved as a zip file (I think). I don’t know. Serves me for being so savvy with the lappy.

Anyway, I wanted to highlight the Algalita Marine Research Foundation since it’s World Ocean’s Day. I had the opportunity to speak with Anna Cummins back in January at the Expo. She was very passionate when she spoke about what plastics are doing to our marine life. She stated that plastic is not only destroying our marine environment but also pointed out that it eventually makes it back into our systems. Her booth was displayed with the plastic debris samples and pictures of plastic trash from the North Pacific Gyre.

Anna explored The Garbage Patch in a month long expedition with Captain Charles Moore and crew from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation collecting surface samples for research and education.  In my video she mentions her fiance, Dr. Marcus Eriksen, traveled to the Central North Pacific Gyre, on what’s know as the JUNKraft.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Central North Pacific Gyre known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” it is roughly twice the size of the U.S. and is completely covered in plastic pollution aka “plastic soup”. I learned about the CNPG crisis two years ago and have been trying to reduce my plastic consumption since.

Some quick facts:

- Estimates of plastic in the world’s oceans exceed 100 million tons. 20% of it is derelict fishing gear, 80% comes from land from our watersheds.

A large segment of what ends up as marine debris is single use disposable consumer items!!!!

- Pieces of plastic outweigh surface zooplankton by a factor of 6 to 1.

- 90 % of Laysan Albatross chick carcasses and regurgitated stomach contents contain plastics.  (Fish and seabirds mistake plastic for food)

- Plastic debris releases chemical additives and plasticizers into the ocean.

- Plastic adsorbs hydrophobic pollutants, like PCBs, and pesticides like DDT.

These pollutants bioaccumulate in tissues of marine organisms, biomagnify up the food chain, and find their way into the food we eat.

After learning some quick facts, Anna told us her husband caught a fish while exploring the Gyre and opened it up to exam it and found 16 pieces of plastic in it. She further noted and ended our conversation with “there is no such thing as plastic throw away”.

Anna also gave me a Bring Your Own produce bag that she sewed up herself and was selling at the Expo! I could tell Anna had so much conviction about the issue of plastic and how it’s destroying our oceans. She exuded so much passion about the plastic problem that it reminded me of Beth Terry over at Fake Plastic Fish. Both of these woman are pioneers in helping to spread the word about plastic pollution.

Currently, Anna and Dr. Marcus Eriksen are riding their bikes to raise awareness about the issue of plastic marine debris. They began their “Junkride” journey on April 4th, 2009 in Vancouver, B.C. and plan to ride 2000 miles to Tijuana Mexico.  They’ll be giving away samples of polluted ocean surface to educators, organizations, and legislators to educate others about the problems and call for an end to The Age of Disposable Plastic.

Two things we can do to protect our marine life:

HOUSEHOLD CHALLENGE: (from Algalita Marine Research Foundation’s pamphlet)

* Create a 100% recyclable and compostable grocery list. Imagine all of your household waste going into the compost pile or recycle bin!

* If you must buy consumable products, choose paper, glass or bio-plastic.

This household challenge reminds of the challenge Beth at Fake Plastic Fish is hosting…

We should all take the time ti examine our plastic waste…are you up for the challenge?

Ultimately, can you limit your plastic intake?

What is the issue?

Plastic marine debris is a vector for organic pollutants that impact human health and our environment.

UPDATE: Beth, from Fake Plastic Fish tipped me off about this video- Thanks Beth!!

** I can’t get my video to work- I’m super bummed about this. A few months back I did a defrag on my computer and thought I lost the footage. I found it today and apparently it’s been converted to a zip file that I don’t know how to convert back to video if that’s even possible. I wish you could hear Anna for yourself and listen in on what she told me about plastic and their research. For now, it’s just a picture (featured above).

Who Ya Gonna Follow? @FollowNathan!!

With all your favorite television programs gone for the summer…

Why not get interested in one man’s journey to bike for the planet!

On May 10, 2009, Nathan Winters started his journey in Maine to cycle across the nation this summer in an effort to raise awareness for land and nature conservation. Greenopolis has sponsored his “recycling” journey and they are also keeping track of his progress. Nathan has chosen to raise funds for The Nature Conservancy and so far has raised 3% of his expected goal. Nathan has made stops along the way spotlighting recycling, reuse, conservation and all the ways everyday folks across North America are transforming waste to resources in their own unique ways. You can view some of the videos he’s recorded with local folks at Greenopolis.

What inspired you to start follownathan.org/ this journey?

There was no moment of specific inspiration.  It’s simply been a dream of mine to ride my bike across America and experience all the wonderful things this country has to offer.  I wanted to take the opportunity to give back to my planet.

What is your personal goal and how much do you plan to raise?

My fundraising goal is to raise $50,000 for the Nature Conservancy by the end of 2009.  Essentially, I would like to see 5,000 people donate $10 through my firstgiving.com/follownathan website.  My personal goal is to meet and speak with people who make an impact in their local and global communities and who care about the preservation of our natural habitats.

Why is living sustainably important to you? AND Why should it be important to others?

It’s important that we act together to conserve and to protect the one planet that we all share.  I feel it is essential that each individual plays his/her part in the sustainability movement.  We each have a chance to impact the environment in both positive and negative ways, and living sustainably means choosing to have a positive impact.  We all need to be accountable for how our decisions and our actions play a part in sustaining this one planet on which we all live.

Besides donating money, how can we help?

Spread the word! Tell others about my journey, send them to my website, offer me words of encouragement or advice for my travels via my social networking sites.

You’ve been riding a few weeks now; what have you learned so far?

As you can imagine, thus far on this journey, I have met some incredible people and have been a part of some amazing experiences.  But, without a doubt, the most incredible learning experience up until this point has been the rapid personal growth that I have witnessed within myself as I pedal along.  Each place I visit and each person I meet, I take something from those experiences and translate that into something I would like to see in myself.  I have also learned that with the power of community, anything can be accomplished.  When people work together, there are no limits to what they can do.  In addition to that, I’ve been able to accomplish some wonderful things physically, things I never thought I’d be able to do.  For example, pedaling my bike uphill in the rain, carrying 70 lbs of extra weight, reminded me of my ability to tackle any obstacles in my way and has given me a wonderful sense of accomplishment as well as drive to continue growing and pushing myself on this journey.

Book Review: The Green Teen by Jenn Savedge

The Green Teen is just the book I truly wish I had when I was a teenager. I always dreamt of getting involved and taking action but never had the guts or motivation to do it.

The Green Teen by Jenn Savedge offers great points and tips on how to get involved, how to go green, is filled with plenty of eco resources, ideas for organizing and communicating environmental change, as well as, ways to land job in the environmental field.

The Green Teen is an eco-friendly teen’s guide to saving the planet. In less than 200 pages it covers basics on what teenagers can do to protect the environment.

It will make an eco pioneer out of your teen! Children are the future and this book helps them to realize how important it is to start doing something about saving the Earth now.

I found the book to be very encouraging and delightful. It’s an easy read for teens and even provides interviews from other “green teens” to make it relatable and encouraging. Teens are very interested in ways to help save the planet and want to do their best to make each day a little greener. The Green Teen gives teens the green light for GO! Visit G2GGREEN.ORG

Eco Tip: Cotton Swabs

You might be wondering how cotton swabs and the planet go hand in hand…

I came across this tip and thought it was one of the items you don’t often think about when you’re greening up your act. It’s a very good tip!

USE COTTON SWABS WITH A PAPERBOARD SPINDLE
Some brands of cotton swabs have a paperboard spindle while others are made of plastic. If 10% of U.S. households switched to a paperboard spindle, the petroleum energy saved per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.

I’m totally guilty of using the plastic spindles at one point in my life. They were cheaper and colorful. We no longer use these type of cotton swab we made the switch and so can you!

Be mindful. Be conscience. Make a difference.

Dump the Boxes, Wrappers, Cans and Containers but Not on the Path

Post written by by Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, The Veggie Queen™ The Veggie Queen is a monthly RYD contributor.

Today while I was walking my dog on a path next to a creek, I came across a wrapper for a Snickers bar. Ugh, I thought, more processed food. Did you know that processed food accounts for 77% of the sodium you eat, according to my friend and fellow Registered Dietitian, Jeffrey Novick, MS, RD?

Therefore, getting rid of the boxes, wrappers, cans and containers is a good idea for both the environment and your health. I suggest buying as many whole foods in bulk as you can for the environment and for your health.

I know two young women, Liat and Jenna, who have made a conscious effort to reduce their use of packaged items. They discovered that at the end of the week they greatly reduced the amount of trash they generated. Additionally, they cooked most days and ate much more healthfully.

It amazes me that one can buy brown rice fully cooked in a shelf-stable package or in 2-pound containers in the freezer. Did you know that you could make extra rice when you cook and freeze it? The same is true for beans and even fresh vegetables when you have abundance. (You do have to blanch most vegetables by giving them a quick dunk in boiling water.) This makes purchasing frozen foods unnecessary.

And, all this leads me back to my morning walk. As the walk was almost over I found a plastic wrapper from a pastry, and once again, it made me think about the necessity of dumping the packaged goods if we want to have many more good days here on Earth. Just don’t leave them on my path. Happy Earth Day.