4.175 million years. The 'average' person's plastic bag legacy
And from the "Plastic Ai'nt My Bag" campaign...
"Ten years ago, scientist Richard Dawkins observed that one could 'have travelled thousands of miles through the United States and never see a baseball cap turned back to front.' Today the reverse baseball cap is ubiquitous. Punchline; behaviour is viral. And we humans learn quick. In Bangledesh and Zanzibar and Taiwan they haven’t had plastic bags for years and are bearing up just fine."
There is an interesting column entry on Grist's "Ask Umbra" today.
I hate to say it, but I never thought about what what type of material I was filtering my water with until I read this article. In an effort to steer clear of plastic, a reader wrote to Ask Umbra to see if there were any other solutions.
Here is a blip of what was said, but click here to read the full posting.
Dearest Kristopher,
The ceramic filter may be for you. I'm sure many of our lovely readers have one, and will write in with comments about the efficacy, longevity, and conversation-pieciness of the ceramic filter and its housing. Additionally, it appears that enterprising persons can learn to make these filters themselves, as have many persons in areas with poor drinking water."
This then led me to the website of Potters for Peace. "Potters for Peace has been developing a low-tech, low-cost, colloidal silver-enhanced ceramic water filter."
So, apparently global warming is allowing the development of new ecosystems. It makes you wonder if we really know what is meant to be in this vast universe...or not.
Thanks to rising temperatures there are now new ecosystems of plankton, seabirds and krill. These new ecosystems could be directly involved in the absorbing the excess carbon dioxide emissions. Funny how things work out isn't it?
To each there is always an opposite and equal reaction...
Maybe it is because I've had some wine on this lovely Saturday night, but it kind of makes you question why people keep fighting what is happening in this world when we can't even 100% explain how this world even came into being.
How can we really make negative accusations in regards to global warming when there may be positive things at work here that we know nothing about because we didn't want to delve into those possibilities? I'm not in anyway trying to say I want global warming to happen. I'm not a scientist and I don't understand all of the scientifics involved.
There are selected groups of people who will be researching these new developments. I trust they have been placed in these fields for a reason and they will fulfil their purposes.
And so the debate on global warming will continue.
Again courtesy of Hippyshopper, there is a story about "Lights Out London." On June 2nd from 9 p.m. until 10 p.m. many people participated in switching out their lights and other non-essential appliances for an hour, in a "symbolic stance against climate change."
The Lights Out London website claims, "An estimated 2 million light bulbs went out around the capital, saving roughly 750 MWh of electricity in just one hour – enough to run 3,000 televisions for a year."
I think it is just so cool that something that big went down. That so many people saw a need to ban together and show their support for making a change in the environment. This is proof that people can make a difference, even if only one light bulb at a time. =o)
Yesterday, Planet Gore posted a Dilbert comic on their website with the headline being "Dilbert Tells an Inconvenient Truth?"Dogbert rarely tells the truth as it is, everything he talks about is so cynical and negative and all that other bad stuff. Environmentalists are not elitists looking to bring down people or cause any sort of struggle. So I'd say the Dilbert comic has Dogbert telling an opinion that indeed would be inconvenient if it were the truth.
Vent free heaters are so clean in their operation that they only emit 5 to 7 particles of carbon monoxide per hour where as a typical gas stove will emit 50 particles per hour (vent free DESA heaters are seven to ten times cleaner than gas stoves). Vent-free heater allows the customer to have plenty of heat in the room where they spend most of their time and turn down the central heating system. Our customers also value the ability of most vent free heaters to operate during electrical power outages.
Who wouldn't want to heat cleanly and quietly for pennies an hour? Especially if it will put out less carbon monoxide, which is a chemical that has been known to cause brain damage?
Being more energy efficient is something everyone needs to pay more attention to these days. 75-85% of your heat is lost through the venting of your heater, so purchasing a vent free heater will help the environment while also helping you to save money. It's a win-win situation!
Big coal is asking for massive subsidies to start a liquid coal industry in the U.S., which would not only greatly increase global warming pollution, but would also waste federal funds that could be used to invest in renewable energy and clean alternative fuels.
Liquid coal is a global warming nightmare: it produces double the carbon dioxide emissions of conventional gasoline and would be a huge step backward for efforts to combat global warming.
You'll hear the other arguments siding with this process. People for liquid coal will tell you it is highly efficient and cheap. But let no one full you; other technologies such as coal gasification and gas-to-liquids (GTL) are currently cheaper than coal liquefaction.
One other fact about liquid coal; it liberates radioactive elements higher than properly operated nuclear power plants.
I've posted before about poachers having killed three rare lions inside their sanctuary at a national park. The killers left the pelts of the lions, taking their claws, bones and skulls.
Last month three wildlife rangers were killed by poachers in Tsavo (Kenya), Zakouma (Chad) and Virunga (Congo) national parks. Seven rangers patrolling the Tana River District were attacked by an unknown number of armed men. Gunfire erupted and the shoot out killed three of the rangers, seriously injuring another. Four of the poachers were killed as well.
It sends chills down my spine. Reading about the lions earlier this year was quite upsetting. Now we can added three dead rangers to the three dead lions; all because there are still people trespassing into national parks to illegally poach animals.
In February of 2007, the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) launched in Kenya. Their mission: "Working Together to End the Illegal Trade in Wildlife." The United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and India are already members in the CAWT. The more countries who join, the better.
To read the press release please click here. (PDF)
Hippyshopper is a site I frequent and one of their most recent posts talks about Eco-awareness. I found it interesting and thought I'd send you their way.
Sky: The Bigger Picture is a website that is constantly updating with new information on what we can do to actively make a positive difference in our environment. It's a pretty useful site and fun to browse through so check it out.
