The discouraging ocean pollution I saw this year in the Caribbean
Fifteen years ago when I was in the Dominican Republic and I was shocked by the piles of plastic waste standing on the streets. Since then I have been sorry to observe plastic waste in many other countries. It really bothers me when I see it in streams washing into the sea. In January 2015 my adventures took me to St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica and St Luci in the Caribbean. The plastic bag waste seemed better, but the ubiquitous Styrofoam container use has become ridiculous . Instead of searching for good food it became, “Where can we eat on a real plate?” Most local food was served in Styrofoam boxes, even to sit down and eat inside a local restaurant. Styrofoam containers and plastic bottles fill the gutters and beaches. The Caribbean is without doubt one of the most beautiful places on our earth, but the waste and pollution they are sending into our oceans is unacceptable. An effort is made to pick up trash on tourist beaches and around cruise boat areas. I assume the tourist boards do know this behavior of trashing is not acceptable. Styrofoam breaks into tiny little pieces, it could survive for hundreds of years, and I can’t imagine the harm it does to sea life? How can the world community help them recycle, replace Styrofoam, and help protect our oceans? The World Bank? Rotary International? Coca-Cola? Plastic Bank? Ocean Conservancy?
Hope For the Future?
The Plastic Collected by The Plastic Bank, is Recycled into Social Plastic®. Please Ask Brands to Help Keep Plastic Out of the Oceans While Helping People in Need By Using Recycled Social Plastic®. http://plasticbank.org/
Minnesota is warmer than it used to be. Rain falls in bigger downpours. Hay fever sufferers have a longer sneezing season, and the ticks that deliver Lyme disease are expanding their range. Red maple trees are moving north. So are purple finches. Moose numbers have shrunk.
Without question, the state’s climate has changed in recent decades. And that’s had an impact on the lives of its wildlife, its plants, its people.
Our oceans are struggling. Ninety-three percent of the heat from global warming is entering and heating our oceans. This is making the oceans more acidic. I was sad to read that some cruise companies are still dumping poorly treated and raw sewage into our oceans.
On my recent Caribbean trip (not on a cruise) I was surprised by how the Caribbean economy survives on cruise boats visiting their shores, and how these mega 10 story boats fill the small harbors of these islands. Many of us that live in the northern latitudes need a break from the dark cold days of winter. With some research you can choose a cruise more friendly to the environment. Read below how you can have a more environmentally favorable cruise:
Martin Luther King Day “Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers” Martin Luther King
We live in a violent world, but we don’t have to make it worse. Don’t reinforce violence in your life. Choose friends that are peaceful and don’t bully others. Avoid violent movies, video games and violent sports events. Turn off the TV, go outside for a walk and look for something new in nature. Enjoy our beautiful earth and the many positive people, pets and wildlife that live here.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“Yesterday NOAA and NASA reported that 2014 temperatures (land and ocean) were the warmest globally since records began in 1880. Fifteen of the last 17 years have been the warmest ever recorded. There will still be cold fronts, but temperatures will continue to rise. Who cares? Anyone living near rising sea levels– and the rest of us who like to eat. A warmer wetter atmosphere is resulting in climate volatility, more wild weather swings between drought and flood, putting more pressure on agriculture and fresh water supplies.” Paul Douglas in the Startribune.com on January 17, 2015.
We can all make a difference in stopping this rapid increase:
1. Carpool, walk and take public transportation to reduce automobile usage.
2. Turn of lights and electronics when they are not in use.
I like these resolutions from the Sierra Club Sierraclub.org to start the new year and thought they had a unique twist. We can all do better and there are some good ideas here to get you started.
1. Keep the TV off.
2. Make dinner tonight. Why waste the gas and money to go out for dinner, when you can make a nice, hot meal right at home? Go with local, organic ingredients to step it up a notch. Not only will you be saving money, and help out the local economy, you’ll have leftovers for later.
3. Take a shorter shower.
4. Clean out your closet. It’s time to clean out all those clothes you never wear and put them to good use. Donate them to your local Salvation Army or upcycle them into something new. You’ll feel better for having cleared out some of the clutter, believe us.
5. Drop that paper towel. Sure it’s easy to just grab that roll of paper towels when there’s a spill or you need a napkin, but a regular kitchen towel does the same trick and reduces waste. It’s a hard habit to break. Just reducing use makes a difference and always use recycled paper towels.
6. Cut back on driving.
7. Sponsor a wild animal. Check out World Wildlife Fund WWF.org I just wish they would reduce all their mailings.
8. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Everyone can do better on this one!
9. Turn down your thermostats. This will help lower your energy usage, and your bills. And yes, that was plural. We’re not just talking about your heater and AC units, think about your refrigerator settings as well.
10. Protect clean air. A fresh, new year requires fresh air. You can help ensure by educating yourself and pledging to take a stand against toxins caused by coal mining. Visit the Beyond Coal website and sign the petition, donate funds, or volunteer time to fight for clean air throughout the year.
11. Make a compost bin. In general, it’s best to cut down on food waste when you can. If you have a yard, look into setting up your own composting. If you’re living in a smaller space, there are a couple different options to keeping your waste to a minimum. Try out some of these simple compost ideas.
12. Invest in rechargeable batteries. It may sound like an odd resolution, but think about the number of times you replaced batteries last year. We go through them quicker than we’d like to think, and much of the time they don’t get disposed of properly.
13. Switch to reusable bags. New year, new mottos! And we say that plastic is out and reusable is in. One of the easiest ways to help reduce plastic waste is to ditch plastic bags when shopping. You can purchase reusable bags or make your own. Either way, make a mental note to always keep one handy, either in your purse, briefcase, or glove compartment.
14. Donate blood.
15. Clean up your neighborhood. For today, start by taking a walk around the neighborhood and seeing how much trash you wind up with after a couple blocks. You’ll be surprised by what you find. It might inspire you to do more, whether you form your own clean up crew or join an outing near you.
From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25%. Added food waste, shopping bags, packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons all adds up to an additional 1 million tons a week to our landfills. (Source: EPA)
We can all do something about this tremendous influx of trash and I will be posting ideas for 31 days on how to reduce trash and waste:
Day 31, Set new goals to help the environment for the new year. Suggestions: Be more vigilant about recycling, start a compost bin, recycle all shampoo and cosmetic plastic, use less chemicals, and make a commitment to get outside and appreciate our beautiful earth.
Day 30, Recycle, recycle, recycle Instead of throwing everything in the landfill trash recycle all plastic including plastic wrap and bags. Many communities recycle wrapping paper without glitter. Compost your food waste, and re-gift(give to someone who would enjoy) any gift you will not use. Take your electronics to Best Buy for recycling.
Day 29, Never purchase or use Styrofoam. Styrofoam breaks down in tiny pieces and much of it ends up in our waterways lasting for hundreds of years. Complain to businesses that still use Styrofoam food take-out container or cups, and bring your own container.
Never use Styrofoam
Day 28, More on reusable wrappings. This is a great list from earth911.com http://www.earth911.com/living-well-being/reusable-gift-wrap-ideas/?mc_cid=41d9271137&mc_eid=9f2a2b2b71
Gifts in reusable shopping bags
Day 27,Use gift wrapping that can be reused or recycled.
My husband’s gift wrapping
Day 26, Reduce the amount of paper towels you use. Use real towels and always
Made from recycled materials
purchase paper towels from recycled materials.
Day 25, last minute, easy gift ideas from the Minnesota Pollution Control:
Lessons. A lot of people would like to try new things, but won’t spend the money on themselves. A gift certificate might be just the item for someone who would like to begin a new hobby or polish the skills they have already learned. Perhaps you have can even teach them one of your special talents, like how to cook a family recipe.
Time and energy. Friends or relatives may value help with snow shoveling, vacuuming, or organizing as a gift. Try our downloadable gift certificates as a way to present your gift.
Reused items. Many gifts can be purchased second-hand. Look at Hennepin County’s Choose to Reuse directory and ReUse Minnesota for a list of shops. To help you find the perfect present, choose a shop that specializes in one type of reuse, like kids stuff or sports gear.
Hand made or up-cycled items. This is a spin on the reused idea, but includes artsy, unique and personal touches. You can tackle your own projects or look to local shops.
Find shops that sell collectibles, vintage wear, or antiques
Gift hand-knit or home-sewn items
Create a book of family recipes
Day 24, More on bulk shopping and no plastic bags. Purchasing exactly the
Bulk purchasing exactly the amount needed for zerowaste
amount of the ingredients for a holiday dish. These paper sacks can be recycled or composted! #zerowaste shopping
Day 23, Creative and clever ways to wrap yourgifts: http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/green-home/10-stylish-sustainable-ways-wrap-gifts/#slide-top
Day 22, How can you reduce plastic produce bags? Plastic produce bags are just as polluting as plastic shopping bags. To keep your produce fresh store it in a crisper in your refrigerator.
Day 20, How can you reduce the amount of plastic bags you use? Instead of using baggies, why don’t you try to use waxed paper bags? These can be composted.
Day 18, Reduce stress by not using your car one or more days this week. Choose to walk, car pool or use public transport to get to work, school or meetings.
Day 17, Strive for quality. Purchase items you know will last and you will reuse, reuse and reuse. Don’t purchase cheap items that will soon end up in the landfill. Sorry, NO to #uglysweaters
Day 16, Get in the habit of using reusable table napkins. Make your own from remnant pieces if cloth, or purchase some from reuse stores. Use your imagination, wash cloths or bandanas also make good napkins. They don’t need to match.
Day 15, Commit to a no waste holiday season. Join one million women
Join the No Waste Holiday SeasonSome co-ops have fabulous selections of soaps and lotions for bottle refills.
Day 14, Refill your glass bottles. My local grocery store has an option to refill bottles
Refilling a bottle of olive oil.
Day 13, Precycle, precycle precycle. Many of my ideas to reduce waste are about precycling. Today’s “less waste” idea is to avoid packaged items that will generate lots of landfill waste. Before you purchase items become aware of the amount of waste it will generate. Purchase items that have the smallest amount of packaging, and packaging that can be recycled.
Day 12, Give your things new life.Donate clothing, coats or housewares you haven’t used in the last few years to a local non-profit that is capable of getting it to people in need such as a local crisis center, to Goodwill or another reuse store. http://www.volunteerguide.org/minutes/service-projects/clothesshoes
Day 11, Say “NO” to straws. Billions of plastic straws are in landfills and will never decompose.
How can we stop getting straws? Simply inform your waiter or waitress that you don’t need one, and make sure to specify this when ordering at a drive-thru. Can’t fathom giving up the convenience of straws? Purchase a reusable stainless steel or glass drinking straw. Restaurants are less likely to bring you a plastic one if they see that you’ve brought your own straw. From: http://www.mnn.com
Avoid plastic, fill your glass or metal bottles with liquid
Day 10, Bring a reusable water bottle to work, school, and for all your adventures.
Day 9, Always bring your reusable shopping bags, and avoid plastic bags. Choose
Shop with your reusable bags
paper if you forget your own bags.
Day 8, Cyber Monday. Purchase green products and items made in the U.S.A. Also, support businesses that provide healthy working conditions and pay a living-wage.
Day 7, Use your leftovers. Make your turkey leftovers into wraps enchiladas or make turkey soup: Brown an onion, add chopped carrots, celery or whatever vegetables you have fresh, frozen or canned. Add salt and lots of chopped turkey. Cook in vegetable broth, season with rosemary, add some rice or noodles and enjoy… Better than a Thanksgiving dinner! Freeze any remaining left overs to pull out on a busy night you need a quick dinner!
Day 6, Keep your community vibrant and walkable. Support your local businesses and walk to them. #smallbusinesssaturday
Day 5, Count your blessings, and avoid retailers.
If you’re looking to avoid impulse buying this year, take time not only to celebrate with your friends and family, but also to count your blessings. You may find that the easiest way to thwart retailers’ enticements as you peruse the shopping aisle isn’t to try to resist what you want; it’s to be thankful for what you have.
Day 4, Be thankful, freeze leftovers and disperse food to your guests.
“The amount of turkey wasted over Thanksgiving—about 204 million pounds—is enough to provide 46 four-ounce servings of turkey for every American household that is food insecure. Forty-six per household! Instead, it lands in our garbage can, as do all the resources it took to grow and nurture those birds: enough water to supply New York City for 100 days and the greenhouse gasequivalent to 800,000 car trips from San Francisco to New York.
This Thanksgiving, I invite you to truly be thankful for the feast before you and to take control of your plate and portions. Stop for a moment and reflect on everything it takes to bring that brilliant feast to your table—the grains that were grown to feed your turkey,the bog that nurtured your cranberries, the land that allowed your pumpkin to spread its big leaves all over, and the hands that worked tirelessly to grow our food. Then fill your plate with just what you can actually eat, and dig in! Dana Gunder, Natural Resources Defense Council
Pecan loaf, vegetarian alternative to turkey. #noGMOs, #glutenfree
Day 3, Purchase food items in the bulk aisle. Buying bulk can save on packaging, and eliminates food waste because you can get only the amount you need. Co-ops will let you bring your own containers to refill, and bulk buying saves you money. Purchasing bulk items is my favorite way to shop!
Day 2, Serve municipal water in real glasses. A new wasteful trend has developed. Often the only water served at parties is water in small plastic bottles. A great way to cut waste and save money is to drink water from public water systems. Run it through a Brita or other water filter and you have water as good or better than bottled water. Water filters can be recycled at Terracycle.com
Day 1, Always use real plates, cups, glasses and silverware. If you lack enough
Use real dishes
for your party or dinner, borrow from a friend or relative. The quality of your party improves 100% even if everything doesn’t match. It will still make your event special.
Big cooking and baking weeks are ahead of us, and I loved this post about GMOs. When I shop for groceries, I see more and more things labeled non-GMO, and we need to keep up the public education on GMOs. Hope this below list will give you some good ideas!
Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating around the dinner table with family and friends. This time of year it is easy to continue on with the same old holiday routines. It is time to make a change. You may not realize the most common Thanksgiving foods contain genetically engineered ingredients!
The good news is that it is easy to get the GMOs out of Thanksgiving by purchasing foods that are certified non-GMO or organic. You can find many non-GMO and organic options at your local co-op or farmers market, at Whole Foods, and increasingly, at mainstream grocery stores. Using ingredients that are organic and non-GMO will also create tastier foods to share with your loved ones. So, whether you are hosting a Thanksgiving meal, or bringing a dish to share, make sure to leave the GMOs out!
The following chart will help you identify the GMOs in popular holiday foods, and non-GMO alternatives. This is only a partial list. Remember, if you buy foods that have corn, soy, or sugar in the ingredient list, and they are not certified non-GMO or organic, then you could be eating genetically engineered ingredients. In particular, keep a look out for foods from companies that oppose Oregon Ballet Measure 95 and Colorado Ballet Initiative 105, such as Coca Cola, General Mills, Kraft, Nestle, Pepsi, Bumble Bee, and Land O’ Lakes.
To celebrate the upcoming holiday and provide some meal inspiration with a few ways to mix up some favorite dishes check back each week for a new GMO-free recipe.
Here are some common Thanksgiving foods that may contain GMOs, and non-GMO and Organic alternatives.
Caution: Likely contains GMOs! Unless it is certified non-GMO or Organic, products often contain GMOs
Look for non-GMO and organic certified products.
Soups (e.g., Campbell’s Tomato Soup)
Organic soups (Amy’s, Pacific, and many other brands available)
Cooking Oils –including corn and canola in particular (e.g., Wesson Canola Oil)
Organic Cooking Oil (Nutiva, Dr. Bronner, Whole Foods Organic, and many other brands available)
Canned Yams (e.g., Bruce’s Yams)
Use fresh organic yams
Chocolate (e.g., Hershey Milk Chocolate)
Organic chocolate (Equal Exchange, Theo, and many other brands available, many are Fair Trade as well)
Crackers (e.g., Pepperidge Farm Crackers)
Organic crackers (Crunchmaster, Nature’s Path, and many other brands available), or toast organic bread and cut into squares.
Dressing (e.g., Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing)
Organic dressings, or make your own dressing using organic oils, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.
Rice mixes (e.g., Rice a Roni chicken flavored rice)
Organic rice (Lundberg, and many other brands available). If you are in a rush, use organic couscous.
Buy organic cranberries and use organic and fair trade sugar (e.g., Wholesome Sweeteners) to sweeten. Or purchase organic jellied cranberry (Tree of Life, Grown Right and several other brands available) if you are in a hurry.
Stuffing (e.g., Kraft’s Stove Top Stuffing , Cornbread)
Make your own stuffing with organic bread. Or purchase organic stuffing mix (Pamela’s Bread and several other brands available)
Once you are getting the GMOs out of Thanksgiving, you can spread the word:
If you are hosting a Thanksgiving meal, print out a menu of the foods you are serving and make sure to note that they are non-GMO and organic. Share the recipes with friends and family as well.
Post a picture of your non-GMO feast on your Pinterest and Facebook pages. You can also share your feast on the Facebook.com/gmoinside page.
If you donate foods to a shelter this holiday (which is a great thing to do), donate organic and non-GMO foods.
If you already purchased holiday foods with GMOs inside, you can print out our handy labels, put them on the foods, and take a picture to post to social media, so you can warn family and friends. Share with the GMOinside community on our Facebook page as well.
You can also check to see if foods with GMOs inside have a money back guarantee. If they do, go ahead and send them back to the manufacturer, and ask for your money back.
Health4earth 