A study conducted by the League of Conservation voters looked at all of the major debates and interviews in 2007 that involved the presidential candidates. They logged the number of times “global warming” was mentioned by some of the top political reporters. Their findings are truly scary. Only a couple out of thousands of questions even mention global warming. Check out this “Get the Facts” page to view the data.
Want to take action? You can sign one of these petitions to urge the media outlets to start asking the right questions about global warming and make it a priority for interviews in the 2008 election season.
You might also want to check out this video filmed in March 2008 for TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.
About this talk from TED.com:
“In Al Gore’s brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of “generational mission” — the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement — to set it right. Gore’s stirring presentation is followed by a brief Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates’ climate policies and on what role he himself might play in future.”
Green things come in so many shapes and sizes, especially when you aren’t expecting them.
I was asked to travel a distance of 20 minutes to assist a friend in picking up a part for his car. This is not a normal task, but he is a nice friend, so I rode along for good music and conversation. Little did I know he was on a mission that turned out to be one of eco-friendliness.
What he purchased at his local auto parts store was The World’s Best Air Filter. Literally. This air filter by K&N will not only improve gas mileage on his already efficient Subaru, but it comes with a million mile warranty, can be washed and reused, and will never have to be replaced for the lifetime of the car.
Here is what you can contribrute to the Earth and save for a small price in changing your air filter:
Improved gas mileage - saves dollars & emissions. Cars work better when there is more air flow to the engine, a clogged air filter will restrict this flow.
Waste - both in dollars & land fills. According to the very informative box this air filter comes in, over 100 million disposable air filters are thrown out every year.
Paper - unlike traditional air filters made of layers of paper, the World’s Best Air Filter is made of cotton gauze which is easy to wash.
Time - this air filter is very easy to install (we did it right in the parking lot with no tools!), and it only has to be cleaned every 50,000 miles, so no need to rush your laundry.
Check out the carnival at the following link. There are a ton of interesting blog posts that cover a range of green thinking topics such as urban tree planting, eco-cities and eco-villages, homemade rain barrels, recycled tote bags, and a green DVD club.
With Earth Day this past week, I wanted to do a little something to get back in touch with nature. So, this weekend I decided to plant a few summer flowers on the porch of my apartment. I thought I’d share what I bought and how easy it was. It was a fun little project for a Saturday morning. For those of us who don’t own a house, planting a few flowers or plants on a back porch is the closest we can get to tending a real garden.
I bought:
One large 14 in. clay pot and tray
Two bags all purpose potting soil (10 dry qt. size)
Gardening gloves
Four small “sun annual” flowers: white geraniums, zinnias, celosias, and marigolds
First I brought everything outside on my back porch. I opened up one bag of soil and dumped it all into the pot. Then I took the first flower pot and ran a dull knife around the edge to loosen the roots. I turned it upside down and slid the flowers out. Then I took the knife and cut the roots to help loosen the soil and placed the flowers in the pot before packing the dirt around it. I repeated this step with the other three flowers. To finish, I poured a few cups of water down in the pot to help the flowers settle into their new suroundings. The entire process only took me ten minutes!
Note: I’m in a hot, Florida climate here and my porch gets full sun all day. So, I chose “sun annual” flowers that can withstand full sun and heat. Choose whichever flowers will work best on your porch.
Also, I got a new Flip Video camera and was trying it out for the first time. I just took a couple shots of the flowers, soil, and pot so you could see what it looked like. I plan to bring more video blogs to you soon!
Do you have t-shirts that are holey, smelly, and with dark yellow pit stains? Get a clue, your local thrift store doesn’t want them. The dog won’t go near them. But they still have potential.
Cut ‘em up. Old sleeves make a great head scarf and the remaining shreds make excellent cleaning rags! Spray some eco-friendly all-purpose cleaner and you’re off! This way you can avoid more garbage, and the multiple handiwipes it takes to clean the surface of your table.
I was browsing an issue of Slap Magazine at my boyfriend’s house the other day. What do you normally look at in magazines? Pictures. So there it was, a full page advertisement featuring green shoes. Not green in color mind you, but eco-friendly kicks.
So I took my search to the world wide web. You can find shoes made of all kinds of earth-conscious materials: bamboo, hemp, recycled car tires and bike tires (which probably make you walk faster), and vegan- and vegetarian-conscious shoes that remove all animal products, by-products, and animal testing for the devout. One of the most interesting and beneficial sites I came across was SimpleShoes.com. Simple is educating their consumer and allowing you to shop right there—two of my faves combined!
This company is not only concerned with the why of their earthly cause, but the how. Dedication to using earth-friendly materials (organic cotton, water based glue, hemp, recycled rubbers, and so many more!) in production makes their shoes 100% sustainable. By using the entire recycled tire, they are saving it from going to a landfill. That same recycled tire is then saved from sending poisonous gases into our air because, if it were in a landfill, it would be burned to make more room in that landfill. Hello?! Save a step and make some shoes!
Planet Shoes features Simple shoes along with other companies that are in touch with the greeness of the feet (Earth, Acorn, and Patagonia to name a few).
Check out each link, and when you shop, think of lil’ ol’ me. You could be green from head-to-toe so easily!
MSNBC is featuring an eco-savvy quiz created by Green is Universal and IdealBite.com. There are 10 true/false questions. Take the quiz and tell us how you did! When you submit your answers, they are nice enough to give you a little explanation for why each answer is true or false.
I read in Women’s Health that the EPA says setting your computer to automatically switch to sleep mode can reduce your household electric bill up to $75 a year. Scott Herring of support.com recommends fully closing programs that always search for updates (for example, iTunes and spyware) and turn off screen savers. Support.com even offers a free Green Computer service.
Watch their YouTube video on “How to Green Your Computer.”
H. Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says that “medications that are flushed down the toilet or thrown straight into the garbage can and do find their way into our nation’s waterways every day. Those drugs are present in water that supports many species of fish and other wildlife.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) teamed up to raise public awareness about this very real problem.
So what can we do with unused medications? APhA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say to follow these three easy steps:
1. Do NOT flush your unused medications. The FDA has determined that some medications should be flushed because they have high potential for abuse, but for the most part, avoid flushing them. Read the label on your medications and ask your pharmacist for advice.
2. When you need to toss unused medications, protect your family and pets from potential harm. Follow these guidelines:
Dissolve medications in water (crush first if they are solid) and add cat litter, sawdust, or coffee grounds (any material that will absorb the medication and be unattractive to children or pets). Place the mixture in a sealed, biodegradable plastic bag before you throw it away.
Remove and destroy all personal information from the medication container before throwing away. Look into approved state/local collection programs or hazardous waste facilities. Some states allow you to return unused medications to your local pharmacy.
3. Talk to your pharmacist. Pharmacists are medication experts and they can advise you on the best way to dispose of unused medications.
Taking these three steps helps protect your family, prevents illegal distribution of unused medications, and reduces the risk of negative impact on the environment and wildlife.
