Save BioGems: Thank You: Put an End to Commercial Whaling

Save BioGems: Thank You: Put an End to Commercial Whaling

Protecting the Earth: An example of leadership

Protecting the Earth, healing the Earth should be our number one priority at all time since the earth shelters and sustains us, sadly many of us fail to consider the needs of the earth in our pursuit of survival and comfort.  Yet this very pursuit is killing the earth.   Global warming needs to be addressed, acknowledged and acted upon immediately, on every level.  There is much you can do to help in your own home, yet there is an urgent need to speak up and let world leaders know that immediate and greater action is required on their part.




http://blogs.panda.org/climate/2010/04/15/we-the-people-will-now-speak-on-climate-change-and-rights-of-our-mother-earth/

Episode 2: Footprints in the Sand - Episode Guide - The Series - One Ocean Online

Episode 2: Footprints in the Sand - Episode Guide - The Series - One Ocean Online

The ocean is vital to our survival, to understand this concept more completely we need scientists like David Suzuki to explain it  to us and then act on that understanding to help us manage our actions and preserve the  ocean.

Susan

The effects of mining on the environment

When I was a teenager we moved to live in a small mining community in north western Ontario where my dad  had hired on at one of the mines. The beauty of  the landscape, as we traveled along the highway leading toward our new home inspired me to go exploring, something I hadn't done since I was a very small child in Germany. We arrived at our new home well after dark and so I didn't see the area of land immediately surrounding the town as you came off the highway.  At the time I had no knowledge of the impact of human activity on nature and wildlife, much less the impact of mining on the immediate environment.  So the sight of  the dead areas of land immediately surrounding the town had a profound effect on me, once I finally saw them.  We were out with new friends, my sister and I exploring.

These dead areas surrounding the town consisted of  tracts of exposed unhealthy looking soil of undefined color, drenched by an ugly rusty red liquid spread over it in small puddles and rivulets,  and sparsely populated by dead, downed, and rotting trees.  We also found the remains of  innocent victims, a bunny, and several dead birds.  It was a repelling experience; the land a horrific sight.  It looked to me just  like a very bad disease. I asked one of my new friends what was wrong with the land and he explained what he knew to be the cause. Mining, specifically, the waste left over from the means by which gold was processed. It had simply been dumped everywhere with great carelessness.  His explanation had a great deal of impact, and created in me a deep anger and long lasting sadness.  I also knew instinctively that this couldn't be good for people's health, if the land was already affected this badly and the wildlife dying, but at the time no one seemed to care.

GMO food update

 GMO food producers challenged in court

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march012010/monsanto_as.php

GMO's : What gives you the right to "play" with our food

After doing some more research on eating healthy and avoiding all unnatural "additions" to food, I came across some very distressing facts about our food that really pushes all my buttons.  My distress is such that my concern for the health and well being of future generations, as well as the protection of basic humans rights have increased along with my knowledge base on this topic.  It isn't that I am unfamiliar with Genetically  Modified foods (GMO), having discovered them this past year, it is the fact that after years of the consumptions of these foods by much of the population, we are only just now stumbling upon some very negative and dangerous health risks associated with them.

About GMOs - Non-GMO Shopping Guide

About GMOs - Non-GMO Shopping Guide

Another pet peeve: the hunt for healthy food

The simple act of eating should be an enjoyable, relaxing experience for everyone.  We all work hard for the food we eat and in many instances food is the only reward we might get for our hard work.  It should not be necessary to have to worry about our hard earned reward being enhanced with modifications and chemical toxins.   But nothing is sacred it seems these days, and so, we do truly have to worry. If you wish to stay healthy, not only is it necessary to read labels before you buy food to take home to your family table, but there is a phenomenal chance that you cannot trust the food source itself.  So now we are forced to go out of our way to find sources of "safe" food, because eating many types of  food can have serious, long lasting, and even deadly consequences for many people.

Environmental death by the truckload

At the warehouse where I work we are preparing for spring.   The seasonal department is  frantically setting up displays of gardening supplies.  Every day truck loads of supplies arrive, bearing seeds of all descriptions and tools.   It is quite a sight, and when you think about spring all manner of pleasant images pop into the mind.  Bright flowers, a clean and tidy home, home grown foods, a perfect yard, relaxation in sunshine etc., etc.  All very pleasant thoughts.  Unfortunately there is a black lining in this cloud of pleasing anticipation, because along with these types of supplies also arrives something very unhealthy and deadly for the environment, wildlife and humans alike.

Environment, deception and advertisisng

It always blows my mind how deceptive companies and businesses can be in their quest  to make money.  Especially through the medium of advertising.  It isn't bad enough words like biodegradable are added to product labels, which  at first sounds really good, but is only a word that makes the product sound earth friendly, when in fact in many instances the exact opposite is true.  Many things are biodegradable after all, that doesn't change the fact that they are bad for the environment.  Let's face it, advertising is specifically designed to persuade the consumer to buy a product, and it seems there are no rules that apply to advertising, with the sole exception that a company can't lie about  the performance of it's product, or it's ingredients.

Working where I do, it has come to my attention that recently many companies have taken to adding images of cute and cuddly baby animals to their product label.  Then I began to notice these images in their TV adds and on billboards, and even  their company logos.  While it is true that some companies have had images of, for example teddy bears gracing  their product labels for years, it seems recently many more companies have jumped on the bandwagon by adding images of baby ducks, polar bears, frogs, pandas and penguins etc to their company logos and product labels.

Environmental pet peeve

Twice now in the past eight years I  have found myself working for an employer that produces massive amounts of waste which ends up in the landfill and or anywhere else in the immediate environment. The first is a fast food chain based mostly in coffee, and the coffee cups they produce, though made from recycled paper, can be found just about anywhere once used.  Sometimes just walking along one block on a city street will allow you to find more than a dozen cups with their plastic lids carelessly discarded on the sidewalk, someone's lawn or on the street.  The particular franchise that I worked for did very little recycling.

Paper cups, plastic and glass bottles and packaging went right in with the rest of the garbage and quite often, even though machines were not in use, they were still left turned on to waste energy.  If this were an environmentally friendly company it would recycle all of the above, and could, being a fast food outlet also separate certain food waste for composting.  Coffee grinds are good for the garden for example and apparently acts as a deterrent to rabbits feasting on growing veggies, and could be donated to anyone with a garden and even to farmers.  Last but not least, it seems to me that it is a simple matter to turn off machines that are not in use.

International Year of Biodiversity is not just a celebration, but a call to action

International Year of Biodiversity is not just a celebration, but a call to action

Environmental Messengers

What the environmental messengers around the globe are trying to get through to us is that this planet  we call earth is our pond.  It is our only pond.  As such taking  care of it must be a priority over everything else.   In taking care of this pond, we not only take care of ourselves but also our younger cousins: the birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and insects who share it with us.

We have forgotten one fundamental truth; that all things are connected in nature, therefore what affects one will eventually affect another.  We have unwittingly endangered both ourselves and our younger cousins through our actions; through our enthusiasm to beat nature at the survival game, and our subsequent, growing encroachment on all  the different habitats around the globe. This danger, you will see, if you take the time to look around, is very real and we need to take a step back and re-connect with what is truly important.