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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
Why save water?
Of all the water in the world, only 3% is fresh. Less than one third of 1% of this fresh water is available for human use. The rest is frozen in glaciers or polar ice caps, or is deep within the earth, beyond our reach.
To put it another way, if 100 liters represents the world’s water, about half a tablespoon of it is fresh water available for our use.
Remember that our local water supplies are part of a bigger global water cycle.
Fix those dripping faucets. If it drips every second it can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year.
Filling up your tub can require up to 70 gallons of water, where a 5 minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons.
When you brush those teeth of yours don’t run the water. That way you save about 8 gallons per day.
Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning.
Don’t let water run while shaving or washing your face. It’s just a waste.
Do not use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator. You snooze you loose.
I myself save water by never drinking it except in restaurants. ;-]
Just some things to think about.
-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
The first thing to do with ketchup packets is not use them. When you order delivery remember to say, “no condiments” and “no plastic utensils” is also a good way to go. I bet you have ketchup at home and I am sure most people have utensils, so you don’t even need them.
I have a hard time remembering this as I looked at ketchup packets siting on my counter this morning from last nights delivery. I decided I need to look up some information on said ketchup packets that will really push me to remember the little things that make a big difference.
Here’s something I found,
Heinz sells 11 billion single-serve packets of ketchup per year around the world. That’s 2 packets for every person on earth. That means that 11 billion packets are landfill-bound. This is just Heinz packets.
Enough said.
-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
General Motors are at it again, but this time they are loaning out their “green” Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicles to the United States Post Office. I guess that way they’re not people’s personal automobiles, so possibly in GM’s mind, postal workers will not get so attached and protest the destruction of said electric cars. Well they will have no claim to them anyway.
GM better think this one over, I’ve heard some people who work for the postal service may be a bit sensitive, anxious, stressed and easily annoyed.
The chosen citizen test drivers are only allowed to have the car for three months. I guess that it the limit before attachment begins to set in by their test subjects.
The technology is interesting to the nerd in me.
I don’t trust them.
-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
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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. :]
I live slightly under a rock not having a TV with satellite, cable or any local stations broadcasting from it. Imagine my surprise when I came across Bagley’s Best products, by Ed Begley Jr. of course. I loved “Living with Ed“, when I had a TV, so much so it was one of the first blog entries I wrote about back in the day.
Bagley’s Best was started when a man named John Watts bumped into Ed Begley Jr. in Real Food Daily. It was this occurrence that created an eco Paul Newman like business, where most of the company’s profits got to charities, environmental causes and non-profits.
Live the life.
-Cara
I went to my YouTube channel CaraTV today and had a friend request from LivingGreenChannel.com. It is there I heard about this new BMW Electric MINI E.
The BMW MINI will release an electric MINI Cooper line, some of which will be available as early as next year (2009). Up to 500 test drivers in the US (Southern California, New York City and New Jersey) will get the chance to take the MINI E for a spin. The MINI Cooper E will have the standard 150 mile range before needing to be recharged, and the car also uses a regenerative braking system that conserves power while driving in a metropolitan area. The standard recharging time is three hours using the quick charge kit MINI provides or when you’ve got the time you can plug it into any wall socket. The MINI goes from 0 to 62 in just over 8.5 seconds, and can reach 95 miles per hour, which is more speed than most need. The MINI Cooper E has no backseats, as the size of the battery created design constraints. They cost around $850 a month to lease.
500 to lease only…remember the evil General Motors’ EV1 scandal…
Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
-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.
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
On Oct 4th after months of rehabilitation, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), along with members from Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos (CRAM), Institute for Aquatic Mammals (IMA) and the environmental authority in Brazil, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), 372 juvenile Magellanic Penguins, stranded because of inadequate food stocks, were loaded onto a military plane and airlifted to Southern Brazil for their release back to the wild.
According to Dr. Dee Boersma, a penguin researcher, the mass stranding of the penguins left them in extremely poor body condition. She states, there is a flow of warmer water (1° C higher than normal) which has caused the juvenile penguins to keep going north, past their usual range, where they are unable to find adequate food. There is always a high mortality rate for first year birds but this increased northerly range and lack of available food had increased the normal mortality rate for this group of penguins.
There is also the Penguin Network, which is works with The International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), that put a lot of work into this and other bird rescue projects.
I don’t know what to say, but it seems like we might have broken something…
-Cara
According to the Rainforest Action Network’s (RAN) site, they established the Protect-an-Acre program in 1993 to protect the world’s forests and the rights of their inhabitants by providing financial aid to traditionally under-funded organizations and communities in forest regions. The PAA program supports projects that protect forests through grassroots efforts led by local forest communities, Indigenous federations and non-governmental organizations.
The PAA program is an integral part of RAN’s commitment to halting further destruction of the world’s forests while also supporting the livelihoods and right to self-determination of those living in forest communities. PAA projects complement RAN’s efforts to end agribusiness expansion, oil exploration and old-growth logging in critical forest areas.
Supporting Protect-an-Acre
When you donate to Protect-an-Acre, you receive a certificate of recognition acknowledging your contribution, which includes a description of the specific projects you helped fund. More importantly, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you support projects which contribute to saving the world’s endangered forests and protecting the rights of their inhabitants.
Support RAN’s
Protect-an-Acre Program.
I went to the Better Business Bureau to check out their charity report, which they pass with flying colors, so here seems a good cause to give to.
Do something.
-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
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
That’s really good.
-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
This exciting, new entry is about recycling business cards. When I went to the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair at McCarren Park Pool not to long ago I picked up a million vendors’ business cards. I grabbed them so I could check out their web sites, see more of their wares, review their business structure and the design of the cards themselves. Marine and I have a few projects going on right now and are always looking at what other people are doing, or if someone else had the same idea, etc. We are almost done visiting every site, now the question is, what am I going to do with all these business cards from the Fair? Oh yeah and cards from old jobs as well. :)
Let’s find out together…
- One of the first solutions I found was Steve Patterson. Steve is a man with an obsession and that obsession is business cards. You can learn about him and this obsession through his site. You can send your old cards to him here: Steve Patterson, PO BOX 27840, Knoxville, TN 37927-7840. Go Steve!
Build It and They Will Come
- Number 2 is build a level three Menger Sponge. Yes, that’s right a super fresh three-dimensional fractal curve…nice. Thank you Dr. Jeannine Mosely (an MIT Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science and a career in three-dimensional modeling) for this and other cool stuff you do.
- If you’d rather start small check out BussinessCardAhedra and learn how to build your own business card polyhedra.
- Last but not least, a few small, fun things you can do to recycle your card are, bind together a few business cards and draw a short, animated flip film, take 52 of the business cards and create an awesome deck of cards, or if you have cards where only one side is printed on, take old magazines and make a collage on the printed side and put your info on the blank side.
See, recyling is fun.
-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
I am not what you would call a wolf person or even a dog person for that matter, but my Aunt Cheri always loved wolves and what they stood for. She was also a respectable and talented Shiloh dog breeder, with the greatest heart.
My Aunt Cheri painted awesome pictures of wolves (and other things). I have one in my office, it is so fresh, they are in the woods, their eyes are intense. My Grandmother, Aunt Cheri and her daughter, my cousin Renee (who was my age) died in the last few years all around the same time. The eyes of these wolves each remind me of one of these people. It is unfinished, but my parents had it framed for me as a gift. It is a way I hold onto my grandmother, aunt and cousin.
To honor my Aunt I want to give a shout out to the wolves and include some links for you all to click on and take a positive action.
Tell Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to end aerial hunting of wolves!
Send a message to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin urging her to end the state’s unfounded aerial hunting program immediately. There is a video on this petition I don’t really recommend watching as it is people aerial hunting these beautiful wolves and them suffering. It is horrible. I made it through two seconds and can’t get the image out of my head…SIgn it…really…. I wonder if Governor Sarah Palin watched it.
Outrageous: Gov. Palin’s $400,000 Propaganda Plan
Alaska Residents Only – Tell Governor Palin that you oppose the Alaska state-funded campaign to support aerial gunning.
Tell your Representative to sign on as a cosponsor to the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act!
Tell your Representative to sign on as a cosponsor to the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act to put an end to Alaska’s brutal aerial hunting program — and prevent programs like it from spreading.
Support a National Wolf Recovery Plan
Help ensure a lasting future for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies and provide a needed boost for wolf recovery and management efforts in the Southwest, Northeast and Pacific Northwest.
Sign the petition to support sensible, science-based management of struggling Southwest wolves!
Southwest wolves are struggling to survive: the latest population count confirms only 4 breeding pairs, and 52 wolves total, in the wild! Sign the petition to support sensible, science-based management of struggling Southwest wolves.
Bark at the moon.
-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
Recycle Mania is a flash game and a pain to play, but I like the challenge. It is easy to get the papers….everything else is a challenge. You need to learn the tricks and way to move.
Here’s some stuff from the site…
RECYCLE MANIA
by Roman Sandoval
Did you know you can make energy out of what you recycle? You can do your part by testing your reflexes and see how much you can recycle in a minute! Be prepared because this game moves fast!
MORE FACTS ABOUT RECYCLING
Every day American businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth 20 times.
Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water–how many swimming pools is that?
Americans use more than 67 million tons of paper per year, or about 580 pounds per person. So, if we recycled all of the paper that we use, we could save over 1 billion trees every year. Which brings us to the next cool fact:
One tree can take out up to 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year. So if we save all of those trees by recycling, we can help the environment and improve the quality of the air we breathe tremendously.
This simple thing–making sure that paper and cans and other recyclables go into the right bins–can have a huge impact and can begin to address the problem of global climate change.
Recyling is fun!
-Cara
Rainforest Action Network has 25,000 stickers, a database of household products containing the not-so-awesome palm oil (which they compiled with the help of people who love the rainforest) and a date: August 13.
Bring all three together by signing up for RAN’s August 13th Stick it to Palm Oil Day of Action.
Sign up online and you’ll get a Day of Action packet including “Warning: Product May Contain Rainforest Destruction” stickers and a step by step guide to taking part in the action. I hope the stickers are made from recycled stickers and not new paper, which comes from trees…I’m just saying.
Rainforest Action Network is also sending letters to every company that uses palm oil encouraging them to be responsible by joining forces with RAN to put pressure on agribusiness giants ADM, Bunge and Cargill to stop destroying rainforests for palm oil. They should send emails instead of letters, every piece of paper we can save is fresh…that’s right I said that too.
Help stop global warming, and support the rights of frontline communities across the world, by going here and doing what you can.
Stick it to ’em.
-Cara
The Day After An Inconvenient Truth 
What Did You Say?