sustainable – Page 35

Stories to give you Positive Energy

To make the world a better and safer place we must generate positive energy. This is another round of amazing news stories that tell us in what direction the future is moving. I congratulate these countries and communities for their sustainable goals and effort. This is my occasional series on great news stories. Renewable energy, managing trash and gender equality are some of the positive energy stories of the past week!

1. In September Kenya is going to ban plastic bags. Read about Kenya here.

2. Georgetown, Texas, a conservative town in oil country is fueled by wind. Wind power saves them money over oil energy. Read about it at Georgetown

3 Iceland will be the first country in the world to make employers prove they offer equal pay regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality, the Nordic nation’s government said on International Women’s Day. Read about it at Iceland

4. The United States installed a record-smashing 14,762 Megawatts (MW) of solar power in 2016 — a 97 percent jump over 2015, according to data just released. For the first time ever, solar was the number one source of new generating capacity, beating out wind and gas. Read about it at solar power.

5. A water wheel is cleaning up Baltimore’s harbor picking up plastic and other trash. Read at Baltimore

6. Sweden is on target to be powered entirely by renewable energy by 2040. An amazing goal for this dark northern country. Read about at Sweden.

What sustainable exciting things are happening in your community?

Corporate Greed and Our Health

“It is horrifying we have to fight our own government to save the

environment” Ansel Adams

We now have a government that is dismantling all protections the American people have from corporate America. Corporate profits now take priority over the health of people, wildlife and the entire planet earth. The United Nations released a report this week stating how harmful pesticides are to people and the planet.

“The chronic overuse of pesticides across the world has caused “catastrophic” harms to human health, human rights and global biodiversity, according to a report presented to the United Nations human rights council Wednesday.

The UN-solicited study on toxic chemical impacts to global food sources criticizes pesticide manufacturers’ “systematic denial” of the broad harms caused by their products and calls for a transition to healthier farming methods that move away from the current dependence on pesticides.” Read about it here. And more about it from Ecowatch.

And read about the state of our bees from pesticide use and habitat loss.

In his book, Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA, published in 2014, E. G. Vallianatos, who worked for the EPA for 25 years, wrote:

“It is simply not possible to understand why the EPA behaves the way it does without appreciating the enormous power of American’s industrial farmers and their allies in the chemical pesticide industries, which currently do about $40 billion per in year business. For decades, industry lobbyists have preached the gospel of unregulated capitalism and Americans have bought it. Today, it seems the entire government is at the service of the private interests of America’s corporate class.”

We can only control our corner of the world. I hope you will think twice before putting pesticides on your yard, and speak out against the use of chemicals in agriculture and in our parks!

Jane Goodall: How Can We Believe It Is a Good Idea to Grow Our Food With Poisons?

In Celebration of Women

international-womens-day-celebration-ideas-19 “ May all women live safe, happy and free and may all my thoughts, words and action contribute to freedom and justice for all. May one day there be no need on an International Woman’s Day.”
Shanti Ananda

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.

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

We can't take clean water for granted! — We can’t take clean water for granted!

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)

Earth Justice

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

Some co-ops and grocery stores have fabulous selections of soaps and oils to refill your bottles