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I know it’s gimmicky, but it raises awareness and is a reminder of how easy it is to take small steps towards slowing down our rate of creating an unhealthy and unsafe environment. I think it will also raise money, and during this time, that’s a good thing. Restaurants are engaging in a program called “Dine by Candlelight,” and the pylons at LAX will be shut down during the hour.
March 28th, 8:30 - 9:30 PM, local time. Consider it.
ARAMARK Continues to Promote Environmentally Friendly Practices at Its Ballparks
“Through the company’s environmental stewardship platform — “Green Thread” — ARAMARK continues to work with teams and its partners to implement environmentally friendly practices that promote the use of local ingredients, source from local farmers and suppliers, reduce waste, utilize biodegradable service ware, and encourage composting and recycling of bottles, cans, cardboard as well as frying oil. Within retail, many team stores will feature apparel made from organic and recycled cotton.”
This could have a huge impact on the environment if all ballparks adopted these practices.
If you’re wondering which parks these are that are in your region: Petco Park (Padres), Oakland Coliseum (A’s), Angel Stadium, Citi Field (Mets), Fenway Park (Red Sox), and Minute Maid Park (Astros). There are other parks as well, but I don’t think I know people in those cities.
I liked this article because Jason had been telling me about the produce version that people have been practicing and he is considering trying.
I had never heard of this until I saw Google’s blacked-out home page.
http://www9.earthhourus.org/
Turn out the lights and don’t use any electricity from 8 to 9 PM tonight to participate!
Jason took me on a hike in Anza Borrego, which is in San Diego County, about 70 miles east of San Diego. The trail was not very clearly marked (a big plus - it’s nice to not pave all over nature) and we kept going off the trail and scaling rocks to get back. It was a full-body workout, and quite possibly the most fun I have ever had on a hike. Here is a small sampling of the pictures that I took.
Yes, the tiny person at the bottom center of the photo is me. Please bear in mind that these palm trees are ginormous.
And yes, the only time you will see me wearing a Padres hat is when I’m in danger of suffering from heat stroke.
Although he has disappeared on me and I really, really hope that he doesn’t create any more webs for me to walk into… face first.
I don’t understand how “educated” people can think that when they overtax the environment, there will be no consequences.
At some point, the pollution will catch up to you. The choked-up river will not be able to power generators, and the shutdown of the factory will cost the business millions of dollars. Have these people ever heard of “long-term effects”?
Anyway, Doug was telling me that clothing factories create a huge environmental toll and that it would be eco-friendly to buy used clothing instead of new. This is a bit tough to follow, because it is difficult to find used clothing that fits - most clothes I see at thrift shops are sized XXL, but every little bit helps, I think. Also, culturally, I think about how certain places, like your workplace or a restaurant, will require clothing of a certain cut and nature, which cannot be found at used clothing stores. There is also the issue of hygiene.
Right now, I am reading about more and more clothing companies that use earth-friendly methods of manufacturing, but they are expensive. At some point, I am thinking that more companies will follow suit, however, out of necessity.
http://www.csrwire.com/News/10886.html
Maybe you should let your boss know that telecommuting would make the company “greener,” and your desire to work from home stems from your wish to protect the environment.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-01/09/content_6379872.htm
I should do the same. I keep telling myself that I’m going to, and then I forget. I want to use my own cloth bags for bagging my groceries from now on.
I posted about the environmental dangers of overfishing our seas. Looks like FreshDirect is trying to help.
FreshDirect Announces New Service to Help Consumers Protect the Ocean
…and we are forced to re-cork that champagne.
Click on the picture of fish below to read about ongoing troubles. This time they don’t name America as a culprit, for a change.
I really don’t know what the solution is. Farming fish tends to pollute the waters by creating a lot of waste that natural filters can’t keep up with and that causes more death in the sea. Also, people are increasingly turning to seafood instead of red meats because of the environmental toll that raising cattle takes on the earth. I won’t even get started on the beneficial effects of seafood on our health. I did read somewhere that eating tilapia is environmentally conscious. I’ll try to find an article to post regarding that.
It’s very rare when we can say, “That’s one for the environment!” So it’s major cause for celebration when we can. Let’s pop some bubbly!
A Long-Dry California River Gets, and Gives, New Life
We always manage to find ways to be thoughtless and cruel. It’s a tricky issue, but I think farmers/ranchers/horse owners should just accept that once a horse can no longer be used as a work animal, it’s earned its right to live as a pet. Come on, it devoted its life to you as a slave - the least you can do is feed it now and not stab it to death. It makes me think of that scene in Animal Farm when the donkey yells to the animals, “You fools! Can’t you read? They’re sending Boxer to the knacker’s!” That scene sends a pang through you - you think of the devoted, unquestioning, loyal worker, and how they’re repaid.
As an animal-lover (yes, yes, I know I just posted an entry about steak and ribs), it’s rare and wonderful to hear news that an endangered species has made its way off the endangered species list.
A Divide as Wolves Rebound in a Changing West
… stands for the Green Restaurant Association. Their goal is to make the restaurant industry more environmentally sustainable.
“Certified Green Restaurants™ meet the following standards:
So it’s not really that difficult or making a huge difference. I think every little bit helps. Visit dinegreen.com to find restaurants that are participating members.
Everyone in SoCal or who has loved ones in SoCal knows this is going on. It appears that all of southern California is on fire. Over in Cerritos, it just looks like the sky is really smoggy. Everyone knows someone who’s affected by the fires. Jason helped his parents evacuate from Escondido, and soon after, his neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo got evacuated as well. Luckily, his family has another house in Solana Beach, so they’ve got a place of their own to stay. It’s tough for everyone - I think we feel kind of useless, just counting on others to put the fires out and save everyone and everything.
Update: We found out one of our friends’ homes got burned down. 
Still watching the news and trying to get text updates from people in SD.
Update, 8:55 PM: Solana Beach has also been evacuated.
I finally cleaned out that rotting cardboard box in my bedroom closet. It’s been sitting, untouched, since 2005, when I first moved back to Cerritos from White Plains, NY. I found several interesting items, including my PASSPORT ($200 wasted on expediting my replacement one)! I found a set of folders that I had completely forgotten existed. One of them was a folder I had filled with magazine clippings of places that I would like to visit someday. Another folder appeared to be a collection of male celebrities I found attractive. It was pretty embarrassing. I honestly do not recollect any time in my life that I found Joaquin Phoenix attractive, but as I had several magazine cutouts of his face, I cannot think of any other reason for those being there.
Among all the things that I found, most of which went into a donation bag to be collected by the AmVets Foundation tomorrow, I was very lucky to NOT find any spiders. This is very shocking because I have found spiders living in my bed, my bra cups, my freshly-laundered sweaters, my shoes, and my books. The one time I actually expected to find spiders, I didn’t.
Speaking of spiders, do you know what happened to me around this time last year? I was walking around my backyard, talking to my mom, when I walked into a thick web strand. I backed up quickly, trying to shake it loose, and realized with a chill that out of the corner of my eye, I could see something extremely large moving across my path. I did a quick backpedal, focused, and began to scream. A large spider was scampering along the underside of that strand, like an upside-down tightrope walker. I turned round and ran for my camera.
Here is what I captured:
You know how as a kid, you’re told all of these folk tales and fairy tales, and the moral to a lot of them is: Don’t be fooled by appearances? Well, I was thinking about that, as I debated what to do with the spider. I’d like to think that I was being merciful, by prodding it into escaping into the neighbor’s yard, rather than killing it, but the truth is that I was just too fucking scared of what that monster would feel like under a shoe or something. It was so big and fat, I’m sure I would have felt it through the sole.
I later found a website that identifies spiders for curious people, and discovered that it is a red orb spider. They’re harmless to people ( no documentation of one having ever bit anyone) and extremely useful, actually, in capturing flying pests. As you can see in the picture, the spider was scrunched up, trying to make itself invisible, because the poor thing was terrified of me. I’d rather have that spider alive and terrified of me than a bunch of mosquitoes and horse flies buzzing around my head.
Jason and I were just at the beach last Saturday (to celebrate Laurel’s birthday, yay!), and I was rummaging around the sand when something pretty caught my eye. I thought it was a grain of sand: it was clear, but white, like salt, and round; about the size of a rhinestone in a stud earring. After watching this video, “Synthetic Sea,” my friend Andy posted, I think it was actually a nurdle.
“Industrial discharge of pre-production plastic pellets and resin materials, commonly called “nurdles,†originates from inland urban areas when released during the transport, packaging, and processing of plastics.” [http://www.healthebay.org/currentissues/ppi/bills_AB258.asp]
So disgusted. I can’t believe I was rolling around that ball of concentrated toxins in my palm and thinking it was some miracle of nature.
Anyway, “Heal the Bay” seems like a promising start. I obviously don’t know what the chances are of the Pacific Protection Initiative working, but it’s a promising start. When I watch videos like this, I am amazed by science and the people that contribute to it. I was always useless in that subject, as fascinating as I found it.
I found another interesting tidbit in my newsletter:
SOIL IS ONE SECRET SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING
Can organic farming fight climate change? Yes. And we’re not just talking about food miles. Research from the Rodale Institute shows that sustainably-farmed soil absorbs 30% more carbon than conventional agriculture, and switching our farmland to organic would cut greenhouse emissions by 10% in the US (20% in Canada and most of the rest of the world). For a concise explanation of how organic farming could be a major tool in the fight against climate change check out the 10 minute online video “SOIL: The Secret Solution to Global Warming,” featuring Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser. The website includes an online petition calling on world leaders to switch subsidies from conventional to sustainable farming practices.
I haven’t actually watched the video, and it could be a load of crap, but the part about soil absorbing carbon emissions was quite fascinating.
For those of you who buy organic, I have no idea how you’ll be able to tell from now on. The USDA will lend its Organic Stamp seal to foods containing non-organic items. Here is what was in my Organic Consumers Assoc. newsletter (I normally think it’s too liberal, yadayada, but this stuff is disturbing):
“…the USDA has approved a proposal allowing 38 new non-organic ingredients to be allowed in products bearing the “USDA Organic” seal. But the agency says this may just be interim approval, and has offered to extend the public comment period another 60 days (the original public comment period was only 7 days). The USDA’s controversial proposal will result in the following:
How are you supposed to know what’s truly organic from now on? I think Horizon Organic milk (which my family loves) was punished recently when it was discovered that one of their dairy farms was not actually organic. They had cattle in the exact same setup as regular non-organic dairy farms (pens with no room to move, etc) and the only reason why they claimed it was “organic” was bc they were being fed organic food. Who can you trust?
… according to Gore:
“The eight most powerful nations gathered and were unable to do anything except to say ‘We had good conversations and we agreed that we will have more conversations, and we will even have conversations about the possibility of doing something in the future on a voluntary basis perhaps.”‘
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070614/ts_nm/gore_g8_dc
Thanks to Jason for providing the link. Thanks to Gore, who, unlike certain other figures, does not waste our time.
