“In celebration of International Women’s Day, Air India completed an around the world flight with an all-women crew! Congratulations!! Read about it here.
Category: sustainable
I am Hopeful
This is a collection of hopeful stories I have read the past week.
I love the hopeful stories of this past week. These are stories that give an exciting projection of what the world is going to be like in the future. This is my occasional series on hopeful good news stories happening throughout the world.
1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa is planting 1,000 acres of native prairie to create bee/butterfly/bird/wildlife habitat by planting native prairie plants. 99.99% of Iowa’s native habitat is gone. Information at Iowa Let’s hope other communities will do the same!
2. IKEA has created growrooms which are large, multi-tiered spherical gardens that are designed to sustainably grow enough food to feed a neighborhood.
3. India: This one is beyond my understanding: Scientists in India have captured carbon and are turning it into baking soda. Read about it at India
4. Indonesia: Indonesia, a nation of many islands, has strong goals to cut plastic use. Read about it here. 
5. Texas: “I never thought that wind would pay more than oil,” said a Texas landowner. Wind power is paying ranchers more money for wind than oil. Read about it at Texas.
6. Hope for the Paris Climate Agreement. Ivanka Trump and her husband seem to support the historic climate deal.
7. Copenhagen now has more bikes than cars which is no surprise if you visit this biking city. Their bikes lanes are as wide as car lanes. See video bikes in Copenhagen
Water Is Life
No one should be allowed to pollute our water ways, no one! The water we have on earth is the only water we will ever have and we must take care of it. Mr. Trump has proposed to roll back regulation for our waterways, but says he is for clean water??? The water on earth belongs to all of us, not to just big business or farmers, but to everyone. We depend on clean water for drinking and recreation, and wildlife needs clean water for survival. We cannot choose profits over the health of people. It will take time and much litigation to eliminate these rules, but we all need to speak out for clean water. Read about rolling back clean water protection here. Pay attention to actions not to worthless talk!
Donate to the following organizations that litigate for clean water:
NRDC, (Natural Resources Defense Council)
It’s Reality
We don’t appear to have a government that will protect us from carbon pollution and our warming climate. Because of this, we all need to take more personal responsibility for our earth. It is amazing what we can do working together. How can we all reduce our carbon footprint? This week, try a car-free day, my car is put away for the week. Also, eliminate beef, and celebrate Meatless Mondays. Pasta and spinach salad for dinner at my house tonight. From One Green Planet on meat consumption.
DAPL
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
Health4earth 