Wakey, Wakey. Anything Happen While We Were Asleep?
I wonder what will make the difference. When action will finally become a reality. You can only deny reality for so long. For as long as no one is affected, I suppose. But when the truth becomes so stark, the denial of reality bleeds into insanity. You can call it el nino. You can dismiss with a flick of the wrist and a lofty, seemingly “scientific” evaluation that sounds good. But the truth is upon us. We are experiencing global warming. Now that we have seen a hurricane season like no other, a twistedly bizarre winter, the absolute certainty that the 2 mile thick ice in Greenland is melting at twice the rate that was predicted we can now say – gosh. Our actions do have an effect. Reducing or eliminating all these emission standards and pollution controls was probably, yup, probably not such a great idea. Billy Bob got rich, but gee you can’t breath while driving through factory farming areas because of the pollution. Polar bears are starving. You can’t swim in 70% of the waterways in America. This is not Armageddon this is global warming, and we can do something about it now. We have everything within our grasp to turn this out of control runaway locomotive around.
Yet bush talks with Crighton, author of a book I won’t bother to mention that states unapologetically that global warming is an overblown theory. And he is in full agreement with him. Bush has been, as stated by those in the know, the worst environmental president ever. He has removed all restraint from those wanting to pilfer the planet for their own greed.
A scientist recently resigned from NASA because he had been gagged by this administration. It reminds me of my pediatrician telling me that he cannot practice medicine anymore. The insurance companies tell him what he can prescribe, what tests he can run, etc. A punk in some other state with, maybe, a bachelor’s degree in business is going to tell a guy who spent 8 to 12 years studying this particular field of expertise that he can’t run a test on a kid in his office, because of cost effectiveness? Is this insane?
What can we do now? There’s a lot of talk, and usually by people who use too many words and make it seem like it is someone else’s responsibility. Like I can do anything to stop the ice from melting in the Antarctic!
But you can do something.
Daily.
You can start making an impact.
The thing is – it’s not a huge gesture. We all like noticeable, big statements that scream “this matters to me!’ “I am involved with the change!” “I am making a difference!” But affecting the environment can be mind numbingly boring. Once you start incorporating these mundane actions into your life, you will wonder why you didn’t start doing this a long time ago.
The three R – the environmentalist anthem.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce.
This means using the blue or green bin for recycling material. If you don’t do this, then start. If you don’t have it, contact your local reps. If no one says anything to them, they don’t think you care. Get a recycling program in your area, and use it. We have one bag of trash every two weeks. One bag between four people, four dogs, and two cats. We recycle all aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic. And as my mom says – what else do they use to package stuff? Great question! Almost everything you buy now is recyclable.
We do not bag our lawn clippings. We either leave them on the lawn or compost. Composting is a great, great thing. It doesn’t have to be a pain. We put all our kitchen scraps into the pile along with leaves, branches, some newspaper, and grass. We end up never having to buy mulch or potting soil.
Reduce. This is all about caulking and insulating your home. This is all about turning the water off when you brush your teeth for the mandatory two minutes. This is about getting low water usage toilets and fixtures for your water taps. Soaker hoses are so much better than sprinklers. Look at packaging. Do you need the item that not only has plastic but paper as well – like the boxed cereal? Or would the plastic bag of cereal be just as good? Can you take cloth bags for your groceries instead of using the paper or plastic ones offered? You don’t have to have ten bags, even two is a good start. I can’t say I always do this, but it is something I am trying to remember.
Cycling or walking. As hot as it gets here, I still think that we can cycle a lot more than we do. I have noticed since the gym opened near us, that a lot more people are walking. The amount of fuel saved is staggering. I tell you, it is nauseating how many SUVs and vans are waiting in line at the elementary school at 3 o’clock to pick up one kid. We live, and I kid you not, two tenths of a mile from the school and almost every single neighbor drives their kid into school. Walk! Cycle! Scooter! Anything, for crying out loud, just stop driving! What a waste! My youngest son cycles the five miles back and forth to the middle school. He has a phone so I can contact him. It gives him responsibility, a little freedom, and exercise. My eldest son has to be driven because of the lack of sidewalks for cycling. I think they are coming, it’s just taking some time.
Plant trees. We have planted four trees in our yard. I adore trees. I could live in the woods happily. Each one is different. Each one is grand in its own way. They are a silent, sustaining force for humankind. We need to put in as many as possible.
My next car is a Prius. In fact, we will never buy another “gas only” car. I think that thumbing your nose at the world and tooling around in a hummer or other such vulgar display of apathy should be grounds for charges. The rest of us are not recycling, reusing, reducing, walking, cycling, and composting for you to come along and not only flip the bird at us but spray a thick wall of dirt and oil over us like a blanket as you peel out. Arnold turned all his hummers into enviro friendly autos. If you can’t do that, get an Insight or a Prius. I think there are Corollas, Camrys, and other Honda cars that are hybrids.
When buying appliances always check the energy rating. If nothing else, the better the rating the less money it will cost to operate.
And finally. Gulp. People hate to hear this. You cannot be a true environmentalist and a carnivore. Perhaps in a time gone by you could. But not anymore. With the proliferation of factory farming and the demise of the family run farms and ranches, the impact on the environment is so great that consuming their products makes you part of the problem.
There are areas in this country that are so polluted by these corporations that human beings cannot live there anymore. The sight of a massive greenhouse bursting with plants does not upset me. But the sight of a massive metal building with no windows sends a shudder to my soul. The fact that this is even allowed to exist causes such lamentations for me. How have we come to this? I cannot shake the images of a sow in a two foot by four foot pen for eight years – never allowed to turn, filthy and covered with skin diseases. The chickens packed in so tight that their feathers have fallen off, their wings never allowed to extend, their feet on wire mesh. The cruelty these animals endure by the billions is beyond comprehension. If we were to look at our beloved kittens, cats, puppies, dogs, our companion animals and imagine their faces on these animals confined in darkness, concrete, metal and ungodly abuse by uneducated, frustrated workers we would never allow this to exist. As we sit down to a meal we are shielded from the horrors that the animal on our plates endured during its voyage. We want to believe that it is all humane.
It is no longer humane.
It is agribusiness.
They are not animals anymore.
They are units.
The alarms are being raised everywhere – from vegetarian and animal rights activists (not too surprisingly) but also from ranchers and farmers and industry watch-groups who are gravely concerned not only about the conditions within these massive enclosures but also the impact of these factories on the people living near them and that are consuming the products. This is a bad, bad problem.
I drive my son to school and I see the individuality, the vulnerability of the little calves kicking up their heels in the pasture. Josh says that animals are God’s perfect creation. They are what we should aspire to be. I agree with him. Yet we have seen an influx globally on the assault on animals – from the horrific seal hunt in Canada to the great whale massacres going on in the name of “science” in Japan to the concentration camp conditions of this country’s meat industry. The way we treat our animls is also deeply affecting our environment.
And finally, contacting those pesky rascals in Washington. Getting hooked up with the different efforts addressing the issue of global warming – say with Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund – there are many with many different degrees of intensity and involvement. Sign on. Hop onto their website and make several clicks showing that you care about this issue. It’s so easy and it is effective. The more people that make an effort to voice concern become part of the data. That percentage figure you hear on the news or radio will reflect your input. Be a part of the conversation. There is no need to point fingers right now. What we need to do is focus on changing what our children, our grandchildren will inherit.
No more sitting around waiting for someone else to do it.
It is up to us now.
I wonder what will make the difference. When action will finally become a reality. You can only deny reality for so long. For as long as no one is affected, I suppose. But when the truth becomes so stark, the denial of reality bleeds into insanity. You can call it el nino. You can dismiss with a flick of the wrist and a lofty, seemingly “scientific” evaluation that sounds good. But the truth is upon us. We are experiencing global warming. Now that we have seen a hurricane season like no other, a twistedly bizarre winter, the absolute certainty that the 2 mile thick ice in Greenland is melting at twice the rate that was predicted we can now say – gosh. Our actions do have an effect. Reducing or eliminating all these emission standards and pollution controls was probably, yup, probably not such a great idea. Billy Bob got rich, but gee you can’t breath while driving through factory farming areas because of the pollution. Polar bears are starving. You can’t swim in 70% of the waterways in America. This is not Armageddon this is global warming, and we can do something about it now. We have everything within our grasp to turn this out of control runaway locomotive around.
Yet bush talks with Crighton, author of a book I won’t bother to mention that states unapologetically that global warming is an overblown theory. And he is in full agreement with him. Bush has been, as stated by those in the know, the worst environmental president ever. He has removed all restraint from those wanting to pilfer the planet for their own greed.
A scientist recently resigned from NASA because he had been gagged by this administration. It reminds me of my pediatrician telling me that he cannot practice medicine anymore. The insurance companies tell him what he can prescribe, what tests he can run, etc. A punk in some other state with, maybe, a bachelor’s degree in business is going to tell a guy who spent 8 to 12 years studying this particular field of expertise that he can’t run a test on a kid in his office, because of cost effectiveness? Is this insane?
What can we do now? There’s a lot of talk, and usually by people who use too many words and make it seem like it is someone else’s responsibility. Like I can do anything to stop the ice from melting in the Antarctic!
But you can do something.
Daily.
You can start making an impact.
The thing is – it’s not a huge gesture. We all like noticeable, big statements that scream “this matters to me!’ “I am involved with the change!” “I am making a difference!” But affecting the environment can be mind numbingly boring. Once you start incorporating these mundane actions into your life, you will wonder why you didn’t start doing this a long time ago.
The three R – the environmentalist anthem.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce.
This means using the blue or green bin for recycling material. If you don’t do this, then start. If you don’t have it, contact your local reps. If no one says anything to them, they don’t think you care. Get a recycling program in your area, and use it. We have one bag of trash every two weeks. One bag between four people, four dogs, and two cats. We recycle all aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic. And as my mom says – what else do they use to package stuff? Great question! Almost everything you buy now is recyclable.
We do not bag our lawn clippings. We either leave them on the lawn or compost. Composting is a great, great thing. It doesn’t have to be a pain. We put all our kitchen scraps into the pile along with leaves, branches, some newspaper, and grass. We end up never having to buy mulch or potting soil.
Reduce. This is all about caulking and insulating your home. This is all about turning the water off when you brush your teeth for the mandatory two minutes. This is about getting low water usage toilets and fixtures for your water taps. Soaker hoses are so much better than sprinklers. Look at packaging. Do you need the item that not only has plastic but paper as well – like the boxed cereal? Or would the plastic bag of cereal be just as good? Can you take cloth bags for your groceries instead of using the paper or plastic ones offered? You don’t have to have ten bags, even two is a good start. I can’t say I always do this, but it is something I am trying to remember.
Cycling or walking. As hot as it gets here, I still think that we can cycle a lot more than we do. I have noticed since the gym opened near us, that a lot more people are walking. The amount of fuel saved is staggering. I tell you, it is nauseating how many SUVs and vans are waiting in line at the elementary school at 3 o’clock to pick up one kid. We live, and I kid you not, two tenths of a mile from the school and almost every single neighbor drives their kid into school. Walk! Cycle! Scooter! Anything, for crying out loud, just stop driving! What a waste! My youngest son cycles the five miles back and forth to the middle school. He has a phone so I can contact him. It gives him responsibility, a little freedom, and exercise. My eldest son has to be driven because of the lack of sidewalks for cycling. I think they are coming, it’s just taking some time.
Plant trees. We have planted four trees in our yard. I adore trees. I could live in the woods happily. Each one is different. Each one is grand in its own way. They are a silent, sustaining force for humankind. We need to put in as many as possible.
My next car is a Prius. In fact, we will never buy another “gas only” car. I think that thumbing your nose at the world and tooling around in a hummer or other such vulgar display of apathy should be grounds for charges. The rest of us are not recycling, reusing, reducing, walking, cycling, and composting for you to come along and not only flip the bird at us but spray a thick wall of dirt and oil over us like a blanket as you peel out. Arnold turned all his hummers into enviro friendly autos. If you can’t do that, get an Insight or a Prius. I think there are Corollas, Camrys, and other Honda cars that are hybrids.
When buying appliances always check the energy rating. If nothing else, the better the rating the less money it will cost to operate.
And finally. Gulp. People hate to hear this. You cannot be a true environmentalist and a carnivore. Perhaps in a time gone by you could. But not anymore. With the proliferation of factory farming and the demise of the family run farms and ranches, the impact on the environment is so great that consuming their products makes you part of the problem.
There are areas in this country that are so polluted by these corporations that human beings cannot live there anymore. The sight of a massive greenhouse bursting with plants does not upset me. But the sight of a massive metal building with no windows sends a shudder to my soul. The fact that this is even allowed to exist causes such lamentations for me. How have we come to this? I cannot shake the images of a sow in a two foot by four foot pen for eight years – never allowed to turn, filthy and covered with skin diseases. The chickens packed in so tight that their feathers have fallen off, their wings never allowed to extend, their feet on wire mesh. The cruelty these animals endure by the billions is beyond comprehension. If we were to look at our beloved kittens, cats, puppies, dogs, our companion animals and imagine their faces on these animals confined in darkness, concrete, metal and ungodly abuse by uneducated, frustrated workers we would never allow this to exist. As we sit down to a meal we are shielded from the horrors that the animal on our plates endured during its voyage. We want to believe that it is all humane.
It is no longer humane.
It is agribusiness.
They are not animals anymore.
They are units.
The alarms are being raised everywhere – from vegetarian and animal rights activists (not too surprisingly) but also from ranchers and farmers and industry watch-groups who are gravely concerned not only about the conditions within these massive enclosures but also the impact of these factories on the people living near them and that are consuming the products. This is a bad, bad problem.
I drive my son to school and I see the individuality, the vulnerability of the little calves kicking up their heels in the pasture. Josh says that animals are God’s perfect creation. They are what we should aspire to be. I agree with him. Yet we have seen an influx globally on the assault on animals – from the horrific seal hunt in Canada to the great whale massacres going on in the name of “science” in Japan to the concentration camp conditions of this country’s meat industry. The way we treat our animls is also deeply affecting our environment.
And finally, contacting those pesky rascals in Washington. Getting hooked up with the different efforts addressing the issue of global warming – say with Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund – there are many with many different degrees of intensity and involvement. Sign on. Hop onto their website and make several clicks showing that you care about this issue. It’s so easy and it is effective. The more people that make an effort to voice concern become part of the data. That percentage figure you hear on the news or radio will reflect your input. Be a part of the conversation. There is no need to point fingers right now. What we need to do is focus on changing what our children, our grandchildren will inherit.
No more sitting around waiting for someone else to do it.
It is up to us now.
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