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22 Apr 2006 ... Happy Earth Day
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You know all those tips for going green? Do them! Now! And tell others to do them, too! Change the world by changing your life! Planet Under Pressure, BBC News Yep, global warming is real. In the last 100 years, the global temperature has risen 0.6°C. Doesn't seem like much, does it. However, the temperature has risen 4°F in most of the US, and in the Arctic, the temp is up by 7°F. And the oceans are rising as that ice is melting... during the 20th century, the sea rose by 10 to 20 centimeters. And the current rate of rise is 2 millimeters a year. It starts adding up, people. This is the place where you can do the Ecological Footprint Quiz. I'm using 12 acres (2.6 Earths), which is half of the US average of 24 acres. How many acres is your life style using? "Human activities are now adding about 7 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year." The number one polluter is power plants, number two is autos. And trailing behind, but still a significant contributor of greenhouse gases, is meat production. Just going vegetarian will decrease your CO2 emissions by 1.5 tons every year. And going vegan will help even more! To compare, the average American drives about 8,322 miles every year which emits 1.9 to 4.7 tons of CO2, depending on your gas mileage! Problem is, meat production makes more than just CO2. All those billions of animals that get killed every year, make 130 times the waste that humans do... and factory farms do not use sewage plants! All those billions of animals are also producing methane and nitrous oxide, also greenhouse gases. Except methane and nitrous oxide are more potent than CO2: one pound of methane has the same effect as 50 pounds of CO2! We can all do things to reduce our footprint and our CO2 emissions! These things are not difficult, just a small change, just stop and think, and the ball will be rolling in the right direction!
If you think you can't live without a certain animal product, like cheese or ice cream or milk chocolate... you can still make your diet "strict vegetarian, except ice cream". It puts you on the path of good. And, that's how I did it, too! I went vegetarian, but it took me ten years to figure out that dairy cows suffer MORE than beef cattle. When I went vegan, I continued to eat milk chocolate. Like I said, it's a path. You can start with baby steps with one vegan meal, one less stop at McDonalds, soy cream instead of ice cream!
It is actually more important to buy local, than to buy organic. Why? Big non-ethical companies are buying up all the small, organic/natural companies. And the organic standards are being degraded. The label may say "organic" but it probably doesn't mean what you think it means! When you buy local, at a farmers market, you can actually talk to the farmer or one of the workers. You can find out exactly how your food is grown.
How about the electricity in your home? Turn off your computer at night (even letting it sit in Stand-by mode uses up power). Many electronic devices in our homes use electricity even when not being used... Think about getting a power strip to cut the power to certain devices that don't need clocks. Your VCR needs the time, but how many clocks do you need in the kitchen? You could put the microwave and the coffee maker on a power strip to flip off when not in use! Air dry your clothes instead of using the clothes dryer... your clothes will last longer and you won't be paying for all that heat. Change your light bulbs to the fluorescent kind. Use less heating or air conditioning. Your refrigerator takes up 10 to 15% of your electric bill! So take care of it by vacuuming the coils in the back every once in a while, and replace the rubber seals around the doors if they are not doing their job. Avoid plastics where you can! If you have the choice, get aluminum or glass packaging instead. The recycling of plastic uses up tons of energy, and many plastics don't or can't get recycled at all! Not Good! Not to mention the toxins that are coming out of that plastic.
And how about the other things you buy? Some toys we get last about five minutes before they get tossed. Remember, just because an item is cheap in terms of dollars and cents, does not mean it's cheap in terms of the environment... Plastic causes pollution at every step of it's production, and your toys are transported from elsewhere so add in the environmental costs of the trip from China, too. Just say NO! Don't be a "consumer"... be a "citizen"!
Here's where I got some of my information...
Factory Farming, Environmental Impact
Planet Under Pressure, BBC News
Earth Day Network
Satya Magazine |
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Go Vegan!
This is always at the top of my list because not only will you be
saving the earth, you will also be saving the animals. It's also
really easy to do. How about starting with a few plant-based meals.
You can adapt meals with vegetarian meat substitutes, or go all out
with vegan recipes.
