Archive for July, 2008
July 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
The world’s wetlands contain approximately 771 billion tons of greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide and methane which is equal to one fifth of the entire earth’s store of carbon.
If the world’s wetlands are destroyed they could release this powerful carbon bomb and unleash a climatic catastrophe upon the planet. As if we weren’t in bad enough shape as it is. Climate change and development are destroying large areas of wetland, and as they are drained, or built upon, their huge stores of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.
If all of the wetlands on earth released all of their store of greenhouse gases, there could be a rapid and catastrophic rise in global temperatures. The likelihood of all these gases being released is, of course, very slim. But even a fraction would have a significant impact.
Wetlands include swamps, marshes, river deltas, river flood plains, lagoons, mangroves and even peat bogs and tundra. These wetlands account for approximately 6% of the planet’s land surface, but store 20% of it’s carbon. In the past these wetlands have been destroyed, being viewed as an impediment rather than an aid to civilization. In the past century almost 59% of these wetlands have been wiped out worldwide. This has occurred through drainage for agriculture mostly, although other types of urban development have also contributed, such as peat cutting and groundwater pumping.
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July 28th, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
Laziness is probably at the root of this problem, Trash. Everywhere you look there is trash on the roads in the medians, on your lawn, broken beer and alcohol bottles in the middle of the street. What the heck is your problem. People, you know who you are, get off your butt, walk fifty feet and throw it in the trash can.
Have you ever been to someones house and thought “how disgusting,how gross” That you could never live like that. Dirty laundry laying all over the bedroom, dirty dishes in the sink that were there four days previously, trash and wrappers all over the floors, empty bottles or full ones all over the coffee tables. I could go on but you get the point. All the while this person who you are gracing with your presence is lounging around in their underwear complaining that there is nothing on television.
Is it that we are allergic to cleaning or are we just so nasty that we see past or disgusting ways? the most typical trash deposits are grocery stores, shopping malls, shopping centers and highways. i recently read an article that quoted “a tourist complained that there were no trash cans nearby so they dumped their trash out of their car, here is a solution. TAKE IT WITH YOU! Find a place to throw it away.” It is that simple.
I have known people that had so much trash in their cars you couldn’t even get in the seat. Explain to me the problem here. It may take only five minutes to clean out your trash. Heck take an hour clean your house, wash your clothes wash the dishes. You obviously took the time to make the food, take the time to clean the dishes you ate off of. You don’t have an endless supply of clothes so take the time to clean the ones you have.
How many of us have been driving down the road only to see someone flick their cigarette butt out the window of their cars with no regard to other drivers. there is a reason car manufacturers build a car with an ashtray.
Delving a bit deeper, Public restrooms are extremely nasty. Sometimes you wonder if anyone cleans them at all. Walking into a public restroom to find the floors soaking wet with toilet paper thrown everywhere, Urine on the seats and clogged toilets and dirty sinks. Is it too hard for businesses to have someone walk into a public restroom every hour or so to check on the cleanliness? It is nauseating, And then you think, “there are actually people out there that are that nasty and have no regards for public health or their fellow man”
Laziness, that’s all it is. The mentality of the public is that someone else will clean it up, and it is not your problem, but soon it becomes everyone’s problem, because we all have to walk through it and step over it.
Pick up your trash, throw that cup in a trash can and not out your car window, walk twenty feet to a trash can, Flush your toilet, and wipe off the seats, you know who you are.
You ride down the road everyday and see tons of trash littering the sides of the roads and in parking lots, and it is sad to think that all the trash scattered across your own city could probably fill a few thousand dumpsters.
Laziness and total disregard is at the root of the problem, however, the same people that litter are probably the same people that have a spotless house, go figure that one. Perhaps it is those who litter are the same ones who have a nasty house, I suppose you just can’t tell,…. Just pick up your trash.
July 24th, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
Global warming. For the last few years it has become a very much talked about and hotly debated topic. Is it real or is it just so much hogwash generated by uninformed scare tacticians trying to suppress free enterprise? Changing weather patterns around the globe seem to indicate that the earth may in fact be in the midst of a global warming cycle. Scientific data shows that the earth’s temperature is gradually rising and climate changes are being seen in areas all around the world as a result. We are already seeing moderate rising of sea levels. Storms are becoming more severe. Areas which don’t normally receive much precipitation are documenting higher than normal rainfall. Areas which would normally experience good rainfall levels are receiving less and less.
The ozone layer over the south pole is being depleted allowing more radiation from the sun to enter earth’s atmosphere helping to raise global temperatures, causing the arctic and antarctic ice caps to melt to levels not known of in thousands and thousands of years. Glaciers in various locations around the world once thought to be semi permanent are melting off and receding at alarming rates. The implications to mankind are enormous and potentially devastating. One half to two thirds of the worlds population live in coastal or low lying areas which could be totally eliminated by rising sea levels brought about by the melting of earth’s polar ice caps. Society as we know it could be totally devastated. Major coastal cities totally wiped out or at the very least made partly or completely uninhabitable. Agriculture severely crippled. World commerce severely disrupted. And the more the earth’s temperature rises the faster the effect is amplified. Some scientists are predicting that global temperatures could rise by ten to twenty degrees and sea levels rise as much as twenty feet or more by the middle of this century due to accelerated global warming.
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July 22nd, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
Everyone has some plastic bags in their home. You know the ones. They give them out “free” at the supermarket. Sometimes they hold one or two things and we wonder why we even got a bag. And other times they are so overloaded the ice cream is at risk of falling out of the bottom. Yes, they seem to be a part of everyday life but what else do we use them for? Here is a humorous and eye opening look at 4 ideas for other uses for plastic bags… (and a better alternative)!
1. Mummification – Has the beloved family pet last day come and gone. Why not preserve Fluffy as a mummy and keep him around for awhile? Just wrap him up in those plastic bags you’ve been holding on to, and find a good spot for him in the back yard! Those bags take hundreds of years to decompose, and so will Fluffy! Our country’s landfills have been holding on to these bags for years and they are only just beginning to leech chemicals into the soil.
2. Lawn Chair Flight – Ever heard of those guys who fly away on their lawn chair by tying a bunch of helium filled balloons to it? Take 582 of those bags you have at home (I know you keep that many around) and tie the handles together. Fill each with helium and attach them to your favorite outdoor lounger and away you go! Don’t forget that the bags are very flimsy and tend to break at the worst times… remember that ice cream that fell out of the bottom of the bag last week and splattered all over the concrete? Don’t let that happen to you!
3. Reverse Engineering – So you have a PhD in chemistry? You think Einstein’s theories are child’s play? Then you should look into reverse engineering those plastic bags and returning them into their original ingredients. Most plastic is petroleum based so that should be the first thing you should get out of this little science project. At $4.00 per gallon, every little bit helps, right? Just think, you are putting that fresh fruit and green vegetables inside of a little part of the reason that in just America alone, we are using 29.6 million barrels of oil a year to have the convenience of plastic bags. Lucky us!
4. Video Tape a Bag and Call it “Art” – Some people think that a plastic bag floating effortlessly in the breeze, without a care or worry in the world is beautiful result of nature’s elegance. Break out the camcorder and sell the footage to the highest bidder! Although, since there are so many bags floating around our cities, through our rivers and up and down our coast lines, you may have some competition. Of the 200,000 plastic bags consumed in the world each minute, many end up just blowing in the breeze. Buy hey, one man’s trash is another man’s art… isn’t that how it goes?
All jokes aside, plastic bags wreak havoc to our environment and never seem to go away. Why not purchase reusable bags and bring them with you to the store? You roll them up and put them in your pocket or purse, and when you get to the store and they ask “Paper or plastic?” you can decline and whip out a bag of your own! They come in organic materials such as cotton and hemp or even polyester, and in tons of different styles to fit any personality.
July 16th, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
Everywhere you go people are talking green this and green that. We used to drink bottled water, but recently purchased an ionizing water machine which eliminates the need for us to purchase bottled water from the store.
Many people buy water from the store regularly, and consequently, end up with the same problem we had; that of many empty plastic bottles lying around. The question was what to do with them? Of course you could fill them up with tap water, with the idea of having water in case of a shortage, or in the event of an earthquake, and being unable to depend on the water.
As often happened around our house, most of those empty bottles went to the dump where they were possibly separated out and sent for recycling. However, if they were not recycled because of lack of funds, then they were nothing more than a little balloon of air, in a non decomposing shell.
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July 10th, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
With the massive growth of the greetings card industry over the last few years, the card buying public have a moral obligation to recycle as many of these greeting cards as possible. By doing so they will help the environment and at the same time hopefully alter their mind set towards recycling.
Greetings cards are traditionally displayed for several days up to and after the event that they are celebrating. In the past when the event is over, the greeting cards were simply gathered up and thrown into the trash. Now however there is a trend to try and recycle these cards where ever possible.
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July 6th, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
So here you have it! The top 10 easiest ways to live a more sustainable life. And, although switching your incandescent light bulbs to CFL bulbs does help, you won’t find it on this list because we’re going to cover some more creative and effective ways to stop global warming and save our precious planet!
- Recycle! Now, I know we all have heard of this concept before, but I’ve come across quite a few people who actually feel that recycling isn’t worth their time. Well, I’ve got some news for you… it is. Over 86% of the U.S. population has access to recycling programs, stop putting renewable resources into landfills!
Compost! Most of the leftover food that we have can be composted and used as fertilizer for your garden. Even if you don’t garden, composting keeps good fertilizer from rotting away in landfills. But, if you don’t have a garden, why not?
Start a vegetable/herb garden! Save money at the store, and give life to something beautiful. Planting a garden can be so rewarding in a huge variety of ways. Homegrown food lacks the chemicals that commercial farms use to grown their products at a rapid rate, so not only does it save you money at the store, its super-healthy food too! Sounds good to me.
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July 2nd, 2008 -- Posted in Environment |
Back in the late 1980s, we were told to switch from paper bags to plastic bags because it was “better for the environment.” In retrospect, that was one of the stupidest societal decisions ever, at least in my view.
Tell me, what is plastic made of? Does it come from the plastic fairy? Does it come from some renewable source? If you answered yes, you are wrong. Plastics are made from petroleum. You know, that terrible stuff that comes from the ground that is routinely blamed for all of our environmental problems. Plastic is petroleum.
This is what we were told we should switch to. Even more, this is what we were forced to switch to. “Paper or plastic?” was a question that only lasted at supermarkets for about five to ten years. Now, EVERYTHING is plastic-you don’t get a choice.
It’s all about “saving the environment,” right?
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