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Fossil fuel free.
I want to be free.
-Cara
I have been super obsessed with trash lately. I think about it with every piece of garbage I throw out. Most of the thoughts I have revolve around, could I have I recycled that, if not, why? I feel that everything we make should be able to be recycled and if you can’t recycle it, don’t make it. Let me also emphasize that means if you can recycle it without releasing deadly toxins into the air, water or land.
I am no saint, I don’t want to have to clean my yogurt container, aluminum foil, plastic everything ever really. I do it, but I do not enjoy the process. I think it has to do with America and its not very user friendly local recycling processes. There is no national recycling marketing machine out there educating us on what we can and can not recycle throughout our lives. We are not given the tools, for example, recycling bins clearly labeled on what should be contained within them. It is not second nature and could be quite easily. I learned many things about fire prevention from Smokey the Bear. The Ad Council is a powerful tool to get some recycling PSAs out there.
Another thing is there are no real negative consequences for people who are not recycling, nor are there positive ones for people who do. We all enjoy a little positive reinforcement now and again. There are laws in America against littering in public places, but not for littering in define places. That seems ignorant. We should not be able to litter anywhere. Landfills are a disaster.
I did a little research on garbage decomposition to get myself more motivated. Here is what I came up with.
Glass…most forms of glass will never decompose or biodegrade ever. There is this glass, Obsidian, that dates back to the Cretaceous (Latin for “chalky”) geologic period and system from circa 145.5 ± 4 to 65.5 ± 0.3 million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the Cenozoic era. For those who don’t want to do the math, that means about 36 million to 65 million year old glass. That’s crazy, some poor dinosaur foot cutting glass. I said it. :]
The good thing about glass is how simple it is to recycle. Virgin glass is primarily made of sand, lime and soda. A glass manufacturer’s boiler must run at about 2192 degrees Fahrenheit (1200 degrees Celsius) to melt the sand, soda, and lime into glass. Making glass from recycled glass uses 32% less energy than making virgin glass because it melts at a much lower temperature. This process is to shatter the glass into small fragments called “cullet”. You then melt that down to make new glass. Products made from recycled glass save on the extraction of raw materials and produce approximately 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than virgin glass. Point, recycle your glass don’t just throw it out.
I think I’ll stop with glass for today, maybe we’ll catch up with plastic bottles and bags at a later date.
Recycle, Reuse.
-Cara
Green Americans and allies have been calling on the federal government for years to stop destructive mountaintop removal mining practices. Thanks to the thousands of people who have spoken up, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now taking a stronger stance on permits for this destructive form of mining. The EPA recently reviewed 79 permits for mountain top removal operations submitted by the Army Corps of Engineers and found that all of them would likely violate the Clean Water Act.
The permits are now being revised by the Army Corps of Engineers for re-submission. Coal companies are going to be using all their influence to get these permits approved. We need you to join us today and ask the EPA to stand firm on mountaintop removal mining. Together, we can make sure that the EPA has the support it needs to stand strong against the coal industry.
And, together we can encourage the EPA to go even further, and move to end all mountaintop removal mining, preserving communities from this threat for years to come.
-Cara
Guess what I am doing tomorrow…
Human Countdown: Climate Wake Up Call
On Sunday, September 20th, 2009, people of all walks of life will come together in New York’s Central Park for a bold creative action to tell world leaders that the TIME TO ACT is RUNNING OUT. More than 2,000 people will form a moving human sculpture of our world in a race against time—a massive, living Earth and Hourglass to be picked up by the media worldwide.
On the cusp of the UN climate summit, our Human Countdown will urgently call for a fair, ambitious, and binding new climate treaty, and launch global actions for Climate Week NYC and the Tck Tck Tck Global Climate Wake Up Call.
We will assemble in two groups. The first group forms the living Earth and convenes at 9am in the morning to rehearse the movements. All others come at 1pm to form the hourglass. We will perform the Human Countdown together at mid-afternoon, hear from notable national and international speakers, and conclude by 4pm.
We need a global climate treaty. This is the time, this is the place to make history – we need YOU to join the HUMAN Countdown! All are welcome!
The goal is to show our leaders that time is running out to act on global warming. Video of the image we create will be broadcast the next night at The Age of Stupid global film premiere and delivered to world leaders.
Come to the Wollman Ice Rink in Central Park (Southern end of central park by 6th Ave) this Sunday at 12.30pm.
Click here to RSVP [I found all this stuff thanks to AVAAZ:
http://www.avaaz.org/new_york_climate_action
While action on climate is always urgent, this is an especially important moment for public action. This December in Copenhagen, world leaders will meet to negotiate a new global treaty to avert a climate catastrophe.
This is going to be awesome.
-Cara
Here’s a simple trick for all users of hand soap, dish soap, and all other liquid soaps. When you get to the bottom of the soap vessel and think you are all out of your precious cleaning elixir, this is when you add a little hot water to the remaining soap and voila, you’ll get at least a few more days of washing. Good times.
Waste not, want not.
-Cara
Zeitgeist (n) – the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation
Addendum (n) -something to be added
I never watched Zeitgeist: The Movie. I came across Zeitgeist: Addendum the other day and since my thinking hasn’t been the same. It has given me a better sense of focus, new ideas to think about and hope. Look, I am not saying I am drinking the Kool-Aide, there are things I don’t agree with; for one, their take on religion. I get where they are coming from, but I am enlightened to something else.
I will not go on and on about the movie. If you want to watch it for free you can here (although I am not sure why they would choose Google Video to host the movie. It is part of the problem, not the solution. Maybe they feel it will reach a bigger audience, but I am not too sure that is the way to go. UPDATE 1-22-2011 I JUST CLICKED ON THE LINK AND IT GOES TO VIMEO NOW. THAT’S COOL.). I myself downloaded it from someone else. I am going to watch Zeitgeist: The Movie at some point, but for now I still have a lot to think about with Zeitgeist: Addendum, so I’ll wait. Addendum can definitely stand alone.
I would love to hear people’s opinion after watching the film. I have already had a few cool conversations about it. I have burned it for a couple of people. I would like to keep passing it around and then people can pass their copies around and see how fast it spreads. I want a better world and I know it is possible.
Do not fear the robots.
-Cara
New Reality ad directed by the Academy-award winning Coen Brothers.
In reality, there’s no such thing as clean coal.
Learn more. Join the campaign.
-Cara
That’s right a year ago, on January 10th, 2008, “The Day After An Inconvenient Truth” was formed. When I first started this blog it was to have a voice in the world that differs from mainstream television, radio, satellite, newspapers, etc. I was inspired by the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth“, drawn into the meaning of an “inconvenient truth”, the fact that you might not want to hear what the problem is and what can be done to solve said problem, but here is the truth and now that you know, what are you going to do about it?
In the beginning, what I primarily wrote about was eco, environmental “inconvenient truths”, following in the footsteps of the film, but as time went by I began to find “inconvenient truths” in other areas as well, be it the issue of gay rights, human rights, animal rights, freedom of speech, freedom of art, whatever is going on in the world that mass media does not cover or covers up, these were the pieces I exceptionally enjoy writing about. Then there are the “recycle stuff” ones, just there for some information of what extra steps you can take to make a better world, the D.I.Y. projects using recycled materials, or just how to make something green and cool for your everyday life. Throw in a few organic recipes, cool green events, green product reviews, games, petitions, stories of amazing people who inspire me, beautiful photos, and sometimes just a funny video to relax and you have, “The Day After An Inconvenient Truth“. :]
What I am getting at with all this is to say, “The Day After An Inconvenient Truth” has evolved from when I began to where it is at now. I went from doing blog entries everyday from January, 10th, 2008 to October 13th, 2008, right around when I got an official 9-5 job, to now where I may not blog everyday, but no more than a few days go by without me throwing one out there. I needed to find a balance in my life and for now this works for me. I’d rather have good ones than just have ones. :]
I really like writing this blog, even when I can’t think of what to write about, or when I’d rather be playing PlayStation with Ms. Marine or web 2.0 out on the million social networks. This blog makes me more accountable. It is something I started and am still doing a year later (see Tony). Listen, for someone with absolutely no attention span to anything (besides computers and all things tech), I am pretty amazed that “TDAAIT” is still going. What is crazier is when I started this blog I was surprised if I got 10 hits a day, to now where I get on average over 300 unique hits a day from all over the world. Though businesses like MSNBC and other corporations that I do not have any respect for, ask me to place their advertisements on my site, I refuse. I was not working a real job when I started this blog and could have used easy money like that. Instead, I was insulted that they would even ask me, so much so I responded that they obviously had not looked at my blog, because if so they would never have asked me! In retrospect, I am sure they would have asked me anyway. In their minds people are just a herd of non-thinking cows who when they see a blinking ad, inevitably they must click on it. That goes against what I am trying to achieve here. I really hate ads everywhere. I am blessed in many other ways through this blog, so it doesn’t need to monetarily support me as well.
What else have I gotten from writing, “The Day After An Inconvenient Truth”? I have learned about a lot of bad stuff that goes on, and I have learned about good people, things and ideas, living and growing here on this Earth (I liked it when Alice Walker called humans “Earthlings” in this interview.). I maintain hope and an awesome faith that things will only get better if you do good.
Something I keep in the forefront of my mind is, what each of us does affects the other. It is not just the huge things necessarily, even our smallest thoughts affect the world. Also, we can as one person change things; who you touch in turns will touch others. You may not get the gratification of seeing the change you bring to the world directly, but if you do it, you may see the world itself change. I search for happiness and peace, by going inconveniently through its sorrows, untruths, truths, and ugliness. I also keep the faith. Faith is the most important thing, without it you are lost. I guess that is what, “The Day After An Inconvenient Truth” is to me, a way to not lose hope and to maintain my faith during the era that is the beginning of the end.
This year I have learned that humanity is not as bad and hopeless as it seems, so that’s cool.
-Cara
January 1st, 2009, NYC, NY
It’s the New Year (shout-out to 2009) and Marine and I were searching for what’s next. On the 1st of this New Year we ended up at La Palapa Cocina Mexicana in the East Village, eating really fresh Mexican food with some fantastical margaritas (good times). It is in this magical place that we came up with a plan. Our plan is to become real life educated consumers (time frame one year), in our own way. What that means is whatever we buy we need to know before we buy:
1. Location of business in regards to our Spanish Harlem apartment (we just learned yesterday that our neighborhood’s nickname is SpaHa. I really don’t like the way SpaHa rolls off my tongue).
2. Who owns the company
3. Company’s philosophy
4. Are they green? How so?
5. How the employees are treated
6. Where does the company get their inventory
7. Price
8. Product review (by the people and the industry)
9. Company review (by the people and the industry)
Exceptions
1. Medical Prescriptions
2. Cigarettes
3. We Know, you don’t need to know everything
4. Eating out, Delivery, and Pick-Up
5. Rent
6. Bills like ConEd, Phone, Mobile, Web Hosting, etc.
Exceptions does not mean we do whatever we want. It is just places where we indulge somewhat, it is a freedom of sorts. Who knows where this year will lead us, but I know for myself if I try to control all my elements I fail. I need to have some leeway to breath.
Today is the 3rd of January and here is the list of things we have purchased under this new regime.
1. New York Cake and Baking Distributor, 56 West 22nd Street, NYC, NY – $8.99, tax – $0.75, total – $9.74 -Fox Run Kitchens – French Bread Pan – Made in China, Fox Run Craftsmen Ivyland, PA 18974, Concord, ON L4K 3V4, tinplate – Cara
2. Poland Spring Natural Spring Water, 700mL, Poland Spring Water Company, Division of Nestle Waters, North America Inc. , Greenwich, CT 06830, Mood Building Vendor, 225 W. 37th Street, NYC, NY 10018, $2.00, #1 PETE plastic bottle, blue flip top – Marine
3. Mood Fabrics, 225 W. 37th Street, NYC, NY 10018, $100 gift card – Cara
4. Supercuts [Regis Corporation], 460 3rd Ave, NYC, NY 10016, $19 hair cut, $5 tip – Marine (It was Marine’s first time going to a Supercuts. She had said she was going to go there before the 1st of January to experience the true American less than $20 haircut. It is something everyone should experience once.)
As you can see we haven’t done so well…so far… Keep in mind this is a learning experiment. :] We bought bottled water on the 2nd of January and I didn’t even realized we had failed until today. Marine and her SuperCuts haircut… What you have to keep in mind is we have stopped ourselves from buying multitudes of things from the 1st to today, to take the time to research. For real… I will be tracking our progress here to make myself (and maybe Marine) more accountable. I know at least one person in my family reads this on occasion… :]
Keep it real.
-Cara
——————————————
UPDATE [February 24th, 2009] – OK, I need to reassess this project as it was way more difficult than I thought. I am definitely more conscientious about what I buy, but that leave me little time to log it all. I will cover cool finds here and if it becomes easier, or I become more motivated I will track my consuming for more than one day. :]
Better than a dream.
-Cara
This design is printed with white eco-friendly ink on a galaxy organic American Apparel t-shirt. It was designed by Marine.
Modern Transportation is a futuristic water-powered car. The design is inspired from a rain drop.
You can buy it now at ubenice.com.
Do it.
-Cara
I watched a movie tonight called, “Who Killed the Electric Car“. and it was a great documentary on the electric car and the auto industry’s, mainly General Motors’ relationship with the government and their consumers. There is definitely a lot of information in that movie that people need to be made aware of. At least so they can make the right decisions about their effect on the environment through their car consumerism. I mean it’s conspiracies theories coming true right in front of your eyes. General Motors is an anti-green company run by middle east controlled monkeys in love with money, which still hasn’t been able to fill that void within them.
After the movie I felt a bit overwhelmed and not sure what was that I could do about the issue of the auto industry’s insistence on keeping Americans addicted to oil, especially foreign oil or George Bush’s desire to take nature preserves in Alaska and destroy them by drilling for a minimal amount of oil. During “Who Killed the Electric Car”, they mention a web site called, Plug In America. It was there I found a petition you can sign to automakers stating, “Plug-in vehicles are in America’s national interest. They decrease fuel costs, greenhouse gases and our dependence on foreign oil. I want to buy a vehicle that runs on cleaner, cheaper domestic electricity. I want to be able to plug in my car! Please manufacture plug-in vehicles immediately.” You can even start your own petition drive by printing this form and getting people to sign. At Co-Op America they have a petition speaking out to Ford about the importance of produce plug-in hybrids. These and other things I found here can make a difference, you just need to take the few minutes it takes to do it. In the long run it is definitely worth it.
Be good.
-Cara
This design is printed with green eco-friendly ink on a natural organic American Apparel t-shirt. It was designed by Marine.
“I’m Local, talking to me will not increase your carbon footprint”. I think it is a little funny. This shirt is specifically recommended for single beings.
You can get it online at ubenice.com.
This design is printed by hand with green eco-friendly ink on a natural organic American Apparel t-shirt. It was designed by me, Cara.
“Certifiably Organic” is a shirt made for people like me who are certifiable when it comes to eating, wearing, producing all things organic. If you are crazy like me about organic, then this is the perfect shirt for you! :]
You can find “Certifiably Organic” online at ubenice.com.
Be nice.
-Cara
This design is printed with green eco-friendly ink on a natural organic American Apparel t-shirt. It was designed by me, Cara.
“benice” is the name of our be nice mascot. We aren’t really sure what benice is, but we do know that benice is fresh and just wants people to be nice and do good.
You can find benice at ubenice.com.
-Cara
Marine and I started be nice, a handmade, original design eco-friendly ink screen print on fresh organic cotton t-shirt business like a week ago.
I decided to post about some of the designs over the next few days here, as I really love the designs we’ve created and the love we put into not only the shirts, but the whole project. Here is “My Robot”.
This design is printed with yellow eco-friendly ink on a black organic American Apparel t-shirt. It was designed by me, Cara.
“My Robot” is cool. She wants to hang out and discuss super nerdy stuff and the future.
You can find her online at ubenice.com.
-Cara
The Environmental Intelligence Unit BBC game represents fun times with flash saving the world…
It has been awhile since we’ve had an eco game…Brittish based no less.
Good times.
-Cara
You might find a couple cool actions here, or discover some uncool FBI informants, or even get schooled on a few things, like who Eric McDavid is for instance.
Earth First!
-Cara
It’s been awhile since I covered the junk mail issue, so here we go…
Do you get those Valpak coupons in the mail and just throw them out? If so here is a link to opt out. They are an huge waste of paper and mostly carpet cleaners and window blinds coupons from companies stealing the BBB logo. :]
If you are also sick of getting credit card offers all the time, there is www.optoutprescreen.com. Less paper and less risk of identity theft.
Through this website, you may request to:
- Opt-Out from receiving Firm Offers for Five Years – (electronically through this website).
- Opt-Out from receiving Firm Offers permanently – (mail Permanent Opt-Out Election form available through this website).
- Opt-In and be eligible to receive Firm Offers. This option is for consumers who have previously completed an Opt-Out request – (electronically through this website).
Less paper is always good.
-Cara
Non-Electric Water Distiller
Above is a non-electric water distiller that uses almost any heat source to distill pure water anywhere, anytime. Look, I am not saying you need one, just letting people know what one of their water distilling, non-electric options are.
The tap water is heated to boiling point so the impurities are separated from the water, and the water then becomes steam. This is then condensed back into pure liquid form. The impurities remain as residue and are removed leaving 100% pure, pH balanced water. That my friends is how distilling water is done.
For $369 you can buy the one pictured above at Real Goods Dot Com. According to their site the water distiller is, “…a high output stove top water distiller that operates on a variety of heat sources for daily and emergency use. Distillate capacity, based on a 2,600W electric burner: 3.2 qt. in 1.2 hours; up to 16 gal. per day. Stainless steel with no moving parts or fan; digital timer with alarm, 12″H x 12″ Diameter. 9 lbs. Three-year limited warranty. China/USA”.
Distilled water is literally water that has been boiled, evaporated and condensed – leaving all chemicals, toxins and waste behind and creating pure, clean water. Distillation will remove bacteria, viruses, cysts, heavy metals, radionuclides, organics, inorganics, and particulates. However, it does not remove substances that have boiling points at a lower temperature than water. Some of these substances are oils, petroleum, alcohol and similar substances, which in most cases don’t mix with water. Also, remember that substances removed from water remain in the boiler, so you’ll need to clean it up every once in awhile.
Zack Scott, makes a great video demonstrating how to make a mini solar water distiller.
I wonder if we’ll have any hot days left this year to try.
Hmmm…I might think of a way to build a real distiller. I may need to move to a tropical island to turn up the heat. You never know when you may need to distill mucky water in the middle of nowhere. Now at least you have an idea what to do.
Survivor!
-Cara
I haven’t had that much inspiration lately, so I was really glad when I came up with today’s entry. It is a challenge I issue to myself and anyone else reading this. The challenge is to use cloth napkins instead of paper. According to Seventh Generation’s website “If every household in the U.S. replaced just one 250 count package of virgin fiber napkins with 100% recycled ones, we could save:
- 1 million trees
- 2.7 million cubic feet of landfill space equal to over 4,000 full garbage trucks
- 380 million gallons of water, a year’s supply for 2,900 families of four
- and avoid 64,000 pounds of pollution!”
What do you really need? Enough napkins for a week for two people (14) and additional ones for company and in case you may need two in one day (9), a total of twenty-three (23).
Here is a super simple way to make some napkins. You’ll need:
- fabric (people recommend quilting cottons) cut into squares around 12–18 inches wide
- a sewing machine
- scissors
- thread
Here are the steps to make these napkins:
- First, press in double 1/4-inch hems (fabric folded over 1/4-inch is a hem) on two opposite sides, and sew them with a straight stitch.
- Press in the remaining two sides 1/4-inch and sew.
That is it! Seems super easy. I will update this entry with pictures once I find some cute fabric.
Cool.
-Cara
E.ON Energy Champions is a eco, flash game where you collect the recycling dropped from above by the selfish, lazy, littering workers and place them in the correct recycling bins before your carbon footprint becomes enormous.
It’s a fun one.
-Cara
With that said…
The Day After An Inconvenient Truth via e-mail, a gift from me to you.
You’re Welcome. :]
-Cara
The Place
On our way to Connecticut’s Stonehenge, Marine and I passed an amazing solar powered house in the middle of a wildflower field, while in Sachem Head, CT. One of the best parts of road trips I think is finding these types of hidden places. Marine threw the car into reverse, and I snapped some quick pics. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.
The Studio
Right Section
Solar Panels Close-Up Shot
There were these cool bird houses that seemed to grow out of the flowers, one of the houses I saw had the word “VIEW” etched on it. It makes me wonder, with all this crazy art and such, maybe I have stumble upon an alien colony right here in Connecticut. Someone call Art Bell!
Bird Houses with the Sun Behind Them
Bird Houses in the Sun
View
It turns out that it is not a house, but an art studio and garage, built by Eileen Eder, a local artist, and her husband, Andrew, located in the back of their house (which I never noticed). The two completed this barn like studio in November of 2007. It looks like a crazy sort of dark, futuristic barn in the middle of a wild field.
Part of the Field
According to Solar Connecticut’s web site, the solar panels were installed on the studio’s 60-foot long roof by Aegis Electrical System of Branford. If you’d like to read more about the studio’s solar set-up click here.
It really is beautiful.
-Cara
Senator McCain announced his vice-president choice and I took action with ONE.org to make this national political moment a meaningful poverty-fighting moment by sending a digital postcard
Here’s what the postcard says,
Dear Governor Sarah Palin,
Congratulations on being picked to be #2 on the ticket.
We hope you’ll be 
in the fight to end global poverty.
Sincerely,
Cara Reynolds
and 37,587 other ONE Members
Click on this link to send Governor Sarah Palin a digital postcard letting her know that you want leadership as committed to ending extreme poverty and global disease as you are.
It’s important you contact her now, whether or not she becomes the Vice President, just to make her more aware.
Do what you can where you can.
-Cara
I am going through bookmarks from an old hard drive I brought back to life a few weeks ago. This is not the first entry influenced by said hard drive. It is turning out to be a great resource.
This lovely gem I just found is Julian Lwin of LwinDesign’s site. He has great stuff like this BioBench and…
…this re-claimed HOPE laundry liquid bottles, low energy florescent tube lamp.
Cool.
-Cara
Yes, another Ecological Footprint Calculator, but this one has birds, music, animation. I really like it. If everyone lived like me we would need 2.9 planets. I need to work on that.
Currently they have calculators available for the U.S. and Australia. Click here to see how your living habits relate to your use of the planet’s resources.
Nice.
-Cara
Every now and again I will write an entry on how to make your computer more green. Today’s entry is about saving energy by optimizing your system’s fan speed, temperature, and voltage. A free and excellent way to do this is to use SpeedFan 4.35. It is a great monitoring system, where you control the setting to save energy.
You can find this freeware on FileHippo.com.
Cool down.
-Cara
Here’s a small, simple tip to save energy. When you come home from grocery store and it’s time to unpack all those groceries and put them away, separate them into piles. There should be a pile for the refrigerator, a pile for the freezer and a pile for the pantry, cabinets, etc. That way you are only opening the doors once and for a short period of time.
Think fast.
-Cara
I’ll admit I have not really been inspired recently. I have had a lot going on lately and have been making up for lost time, in doing so, I of course lost time. Anyway, I was wading through a multitude of e-mails I fell behind on, which led me to this fresh site, Do The Green Thing. It’s a winner ladies and gentlemen. Every month they come up with a new video that represents one green thing you can do for that month.
I’ve watched two so far and laughed, which I love to do! They are out of London and an independent, not-for-profit fed by grants from foundations and individual contributions.
Also, I think Green Things are adorable.
This month’s video about not buying into marketing and advertising facade about bottled water…or anything for that matter, was done superbly. It was funny, not preachy, well done!
Drink the real deal, drink water!
-Cara
Eco Bunnies in flash, spreading their carbon footprint message to the world. I can always use another carbon foot calculator, who couldn’t? Travelocity put this one together.
One day I hope to be named the official “Blog with the Most Carbon Calculators”…one day….
I love bunnies!
-Cara
I thought it would be cool to put up some of my pictures once and awhile, that go along with this blog’s point, theme, mood, or whatever you want to call it. Not only just that, but my pictures and photography web site will get some exposure, which they both could use! :)
Sometimes I will include commentary and other times, like now, I will leave the photo for you to deconstruct.
This is the view of the building across the street, from my roof, in NYC.
Unplug.
-Cara
The Day After An Inconvenient Truth 
What Did You Say?