Ten New Years Resolutions That Will Help More Than They Hurt

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?' "- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

1. I will not drive my car for one day out of each month.
2. I will not drive my car within a half mile radius of my house unless I am going to or from another area.
3. I will not use another "disposable" coffee cup.
4. I will not take another plastic bag from anyone.
5. I will replace all my lightbulbs with compact floursecents.
6. I will find and fix all water leaks in my house.
7. I will call my power company and ask them about buying "green power".
8. I will find local farmers markets in my area and buy direct rather than buying pre-packaged produce from the store.
9. I will speak to my children and my friends children about the need to recycle, re-use, and repurpose.
10. I will evaluate my impact, pledge to do better, and always remember that life is not all or nothing and that any change that I make for the better can make a difference.

And 11.

I will be happy and make others happy because sustainably speaking, it's the only choice that makes sense.

Happy New Year

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...

365 Days of Trash

"I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein

What does it mean when you say "throw something away'? Well, just that, it hasn't been dealt with, it's just not near you anymore, it's out of sight and therefore out of mind. So what would happen if there was no "away". Come January 1st, I may be able to start to answer that question as I attempt to further alienate myself from friends and family by not throwing anything "away" for a year.

Now I know what most of you are saying but I haven't completely lost my mind, not yet anyway, and yes, my wife is still with me. I was reading a few weeks ago about the Puente Hills Land Fill closing down and it pretty much secured the idea that this is something I want to attempt. Puente Hills is right here in Sunny Socal and is the largest landfill in the country. In 2012, it will be full and therefore close for good, and all my garbage will be trucked all the way to Arizona to a brand spanking new landfill. Insanity right? Landfills across the country are closing down, but since new ones are larger, the capacity has remained constant. That said, eventually, it stands to reason that the way we are headed, we're going to get into some serious trouble, not to mention poisoning air, groundwater, and who knows what else along the way.

It'll be interesting to see what problems arise, and the choices I need to make, packaging, etc, along the way. As a result of the NPR interview I did last month, they will be doing a series (potentially) on the whole process starting Jan 2 on Day to Day. I'll post the links as they come up and will be blogging about the whole thing at 365daysoftrash.blogspot.com.

And for those of you who are local, not to worry, I'm keeping the stuff in the basement, we are worm composting food, and I haven't given up on the toilet (yet).

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...

What Green Shouldn't Be

http://www.barneys.com/b/browse/category.s?categoryId=744740

Nuff said. Thanks for sending that along Wendy.

Live Sustainably

Dave



Type rest of the post here

Read More...

Summary only...

Bring Back The Electric Car

A great Op-Ed piece from the LA Times I just finally got around to checking out.

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...

Pacific Plastic Soup - Coming to a shore near you

"Each person must live their lives as a model for others" - Rosa Parks

There's a ton of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean.



You may have heard of this before as it's been a story that's been floating around (heh heh) for a while now. Well, fairly soon, thanks to my super groovy friend Anna and her super groovy boyfriend Marcus, we're all going to get a firsthand account.

Anna and I go back a few years and she is actually the reason that I started teaching in the first place. She's a super committed enviro-activist, doesn't own a car, just an awesome Xtracycle and has a great site and great blog about lessening your impact on the planet. I had coffee with Marcus and her a week ago and they shared with me details of their upcoming voyage.

On Jan 15th, they are heading to Hawaii to spend a month sailing through the Pacific plastic "soup" with the the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in order to study it. You can check out info on their voyage here and I'll be sharing their blogs with everyone as they come in from the sea. Anyone else who wants to spread the word should definitely link to their posts as this is the kind of stuff people need to see.

For anyone who thinks that they aren't part of the problem, and we all are by the way, here's a few sobering pics for you.

This pic is a shot of Marcus holding up a line tied with little plastic tidbits. I took a look at it and thought "yikes that stuff shouldn't be floating in the ocean" and then he told me that all these little things were taken out of the rotting carcasses of seagulls they found on the shores of the Aleutian Islands (I believe that's where they were from, I was in a bit of shock). Incredible. On the right you can see a closer version. Bic lighters, toothbrushes, doll legs, and a whole host of other stuff that has no business being out there.

After they get back, Marcus and Anna are planning on riding their amphibious bikes that they built cross country to show school kids what they have seen. If you'd like them to come to your kids school, feel free to drop me a line and I'll pass it along to them.


Throwing out a hale and hearty huzzah to Marcus and Anna, wishing them both a safe and educational trip, and a thanks in advance for takiing us along for the ride.

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...

Oil, it's not just for transpo anymore

"We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on." -Kurt Vonnegut

Most people think of their cars when they think of the world running out of oil. Well, it's time to think again. While transportation is the main use for imported oil in this country imagine what life would be like without all the things in this picture.


Taken from a National Geographic article entitled The End of Cheap Oil it shows a family of 7 from Stowe, Ohio sitting on their front lawn in front of all the things in their house that were made using petroleum based plastics. Now you may be able to adapt to riding your bike as opposed to driving your car, but seriously, no large yellow rubber balls? I'm sellin' my car.

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...

Happy Holidays

The Whale

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on December 14, 2005,
you would have read about a female humpback whale
who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps
and lines
She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused
her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of
line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line
tugging in her mouth.
A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands
(outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.
Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was
so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her...

One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.
She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them,
pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was
following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.



May you, and all those you love,
be so blessed and fortunate
to be surrounded by people
who will help you get untangled
from the things that are binding you.

And, may you always know the joy
of giving and receiving gratitude.

Happy Holidays

Read More...

Summary only...

One more on the coffee shops

For those of you out there who are into gardening, you can stop into pretty much any Starbucks and ask them for some used coffee grounds and they'll give you about a pound or two's worth. As I understand it, this stuff is great in flower gardens, especially roses, and it's free. I don't know about the other chains, but I suspect that if you go in nicely and ask, and then tell them that Starbucks does, they'd probably help you out. After all, they have no use for the stuff anyway, so you're kind of helping them out on top of everything.

Live Sustainably

Dave

Read More...

Summary only...