DAPL
Author: health4earth
Five Stories to Brighten Your Day
I am craving good news, and am constantly looking for good news stories. Please send me good news stories you have. Solar power dominates the good news, but wind energy and Ashley Biden are heroes also.
1 Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn have donated land to solar-power Plains, Georgia Show sharing options
2. China doubled their solar power in 2016. They now have more solar power than any other nation. Read about it here.
3. Ashley Biden, daughter of Vice President Joe Biden, Has her own made in the USA clothing line and donates the profits!
4. Another fun story at Texas A&M. Texas A&M’s bike lane glows due to a solar luminescent paint. It soaks up the sun’s rays during the day and emits light when it gets dark. The lane is also the nation’s first to receive the Federal Highway Administration’s approval for the green coating it used.
5. Wind energy breaks a record. On February 12, a wind power record was broken for the Southwest Power Pool, states from Montana to Louisiana. Over 52% of the electricity for fourteen states was generated by wind power. The entire story: wind power
Please send me other stories of things that are making the world a better place. Thank you.
This is my occasional series on good news.
The Horrifying Impact of Plastic Pollution
This is the third blog this week I have done on plastic. If this doesn’t cause you to reduce plastic use, nothing will. Plastic is harmful to wildlife, but it is also ending up in our food. Make reduction of plastic-use a daily habit.
Photo: Shutterstock
“The horrifying impact of plastic pollution on marine life is well documented. Greenpeace found that plastic pollution in the ocean has negatively affected at least 267 species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle species, 44 percent of all seabird species and 43 percent of all marine mammal species. Large pieces of plastic floating in the ocean are easily mistaken for food by seabirds, whales, dolphins and turtles. When plastic is ingested by these animals, it blocks their digestive tracts and gets lodged in their windpipes, cutting off or filling their stomach, which results in malnutrition, starvation and death. It also causes fatalities due to infection, drowning and entanglement.” Earth911. Read the entire article here
Simple ways to reduce your plastic pollution:
- Start simple and add one idea at a time
- Bring your own shopping bags
- Buy bulk and refill your own containers
- Don’t purchase bottled water
- Say “No” to straws, plastic spoons, forks, and knives
- Always choose glass containers over plastic!
- Never purchase Styrofoam (Be aware of meat and produce trays)
Good Ideas to Reduce Plastic
This is an excellent blog on reducing plastic from http://www.ecomena.org. It is so simple!
Ecomena’s top ways to reduce plastic are:
1. Bring your own shopping bags
2. Buy bulk and refill your own containers
3. Don’t purchase bottled water
4. Say “No” to straws
Read the entire blog here
And, Health4earth on Refuse Plastic
Surprising Microfibers in Fish and Food.
Living in a cold winter climate, I love my fleece shirts, and have been struggling with this information for a few months trying to ignore the facts.
Studies have shown the Mississippi River is full of these microfibers. These are even smaller than microbeads. Microbeads in soaps, make-up, and toothpaste created much worry and Congress has banned them. However, new studies are showing that microfibers are worse for us and wildlife than microbeads. Yikes, very confusing. Read the entire article on the Mississippi River study
Information from NPR:
“The innovation of synthetic fleece has allowed many outdoor enthusiasts to hike with warmth and comfort. But what many of these fleece-wearing nature lovers don’t know is that each wash of their jackets and pullovers releases thousands of microscopic plastic fibers, or microfibers, into the environment — from their favorite national park to agricultural lands to waters with fish that make it back onto our plates.
This has scientists wondering: Are we eating our sweaters’ synthetic microfibers?
Probably, says Chelsea Rochman, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Toronto, St. George. “Microfibers seem to be one of the most common plastic debris items in animals and environmental samples,” Rochman says.
In fact, peer-reviewed studies have shown that these synthetic microfibers — a type of plastic smaller than a millimeter in length and made up of various synthetic polymers — have popped up in table salt in China, in arctic waters and in fish caught off the coast of California. These tiny fibers make up 85 percent of human debris on shorelines across the globe, according to a 2011 study. They’re basically inescapable. So it’s not unlikely they’re finding their way into the human diet, especially in seafood.” NPR
I hope that municipalities will come up with filters that will take these fibers out of our water during sewage treatment, or filters will become available to put on our washing machines, but until then we can wash our fleece less and try to consider some alternative natural clothing like wool and cotton.
- Wash fleece less often.
- Stay informed on microfibers
- Wear cotton and wool
https://health4earth.com/2014/07/16/what-products-contain-microbeads/
Happy Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite days, and this year we need to clear our heads and celebrate harder than ever. We all can find something to love. Because I have a passion for our earth. My suggestions are about loving the earth. What do you love??
My suggestions for loving the earth today, tomorrow and forever.
Reduce your plastic use and always bring reusable shopping bags
Recycle, Recycle, and Recycle some more
Turn off lights and electronics
Buy Less and reuse what you have
Pick Up trash and litter. Any litter can end up in streams, lakes and oceans
Walk and use public transit. How many days can you go without a car?
Appreciate the beauty of the earth
Plant seeds of milkweed, cone flowers, bee balm, asters, and Liatris to bring butterflies birds and bees to your yard. And never use chemicals
Happy Valentine’s Day 
And from Climate Reality, 25 ways to show the love
Ways to Complain
NO one has called, but the White House comment line is closed!
No one has made calls to Donald Trump complaining about his renewal of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines??? The White House comment line has been closed for a few weeks! This is what he said this week, “As you know I approved two pipelines that were stuck in limbo forever. I don’t even think it was controversial. I approved them. I haven’t even had one call from anybody saying that was a terrible thing you did. I haven’t had one call … Then as you know I did the Dakota Pipeline and no one called up to complain.” Donald Trump
The telephone comment line to might be closed , but you can send a tweet @realDonaldTrump or send a post card. I hope you will do both. You can also call one of his businesses: https://whitehouseinc.org/ or contact him through this link: http://p2a.co/xdL9jbf
Some background:
- This is an excellent analysis from NRDC.
- More information from Ecowatch
- An idea for a postcard from NRDC “I am outraged that you have issued executive memoranda clearing the way for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines with no input from the American public. I urge you to reverse course on these dangerous and dirty fossil fuel projects.
These pipelines are not in our national interest and I, along with millions of others, will fight you every step of the way if your administration moves forward with them.” Idea from NRDC for postcard
Three Happy Stories
Today I’m starting an occasional series on good-news events. Three stories have made me happy this past week, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
*First, this is amazing. New Delhi, India, banned plastic bags and single use plastic. It will make a difference for our oceans, and Delhi’s air quality. A plastic ban will not be easy to implement, and I wish them luck. Read about it from Independent News, and from Ecowatch.
** Second, Solar energy added 73,615 new jobs to the U.S. economy over the past year while wind added a further 24,650. According to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy, solar power employed 43 percent of the Electric Power Generation sector’s workforce in 2016, while fossil fuels combined accounted for just 22 percent. Read about it from Forbes
*** Third, PBS did a marvelous story of an American woman making great efforts to educate girls in Liberia. Watch on PBS
A New Frozen Look
February 1st, Lake Superior waves were crashing and pounding the shore, and it was reported that only 5% of the big lake was covered with ice. I was surprised that early morning February 2, our bay became covered with ice. The waves look frozen in time, and the frozen landscape brings a new quiet peaceful reality. How long will it last? Probably not long. Lake ice today is fragile and depends on the winds and sudden whims of this living warming lake. The first big wind will probably break and send the ice onto the shore, or to another bay to continue the fascinating winter entertainment.
Happy Ground Hog Day
Great tweet today: Steve Redmond @sjredmond Groundhog came out, saw Trump was elected and said he wasn’t coming back out again for another 4 years. Nuclear winter? #GroundhogDay
