Tag: Green

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Bicycling Environmentalism Sustainability Uncategorized

RelayRides: A Pollution Solution

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     So I have written several times before about the pitfalls of being a bike rider in a big city. Often there are not bike lanes, traffic is rude, or worse dangerous, and the weather tends not to co-operate. The worst one of all is when I just CANNOT get somewhere without a car. I personally do not own a car and many of my friends do not either. Insurance, maintenance, gas, pollution and a million other reasons for me not to own my own car. But the problem is our society is built for cars. If I want to get to the far north of my town you need a car. So I tried services that rent, or the bus, and still sometimes I had to be the friend calling to borrow the car.

      Well now I found a great idea out of Boston, (its also in San Fransisco) one that is moving to a nationwide platform before to long I hope. It’s called RelayRides car rentals.

       So you can go check out their website, register to rent a car, OR you can register to rent your car out. Make that disused gas guzzler as shared car. It will help pay for all the aforementioned cost of ownership. They have a great insurance policy.

From their Website:

“Just need to run a few errands? Why deal with car ownership or the hassle of traditional car sharing when RelayRides lets you borrow your neighbors’ cars from as low as $5/hr. Or if you own a car, don’t just let it sit around when you could be making up to $7,000/year loaning it out safely and securely.”

      RelayRides start at $5/hr with gas and insurance included, but since the cars belong to your neighbors, they’re conveniently located just down the street AND you keep the money local. Personally I think the founder, Shelby Clark, shows well how the money stays local, a double bonus. This isn’t some centralized rental company, I may soon be able to rent my neighbors Toyota. Imagine the local economy boost this could bring!

     The average car is only used 1 hour per day. By letting your neighbors borrow your car, you’re keeping an average of 15 other cars off the road while reducing overall driving.

     You can check out the five easy steps to get signed up, its a snap. This isn’t the ultimate fix, but it’s a pretty good one!

 

Categories
Activism Environmentalism Sustainability

What Does The Public Think Of Environmental Concerns?

By: Keith Barrett

Environmental concerns are often in the news and often aired by celebrities and the public.  However, the environment is a broad term and covers everything from global warming through to the quality of the air that we breathe, so what exactly does the term “environmental concerns” mean to people.

A Gallup poll in America addressed this in order to find out what was most the most pressing and worrying issue when it came to their environmental concerns.  The study, which had also run in a previous year, actually showed that all environmental issues had actually dropped, with American citizens putting more importance on other points of concern such as fuel costs and terrorism.  However, of the environmental concerns stated, the largest concern was the pollution of drinking water, with over 50% of those surveyed citing it as a particular worry.

Fears about water pollution

Second in the list, at 46%, was the pollution of rivers, lakes and of reservoirs, again hinting at the concern of the health and safety of drinking water.

Further down the list was the contamination of soil.  Contamination of soil could lead to toxic products or toxins getting into the food chain through the indigestion of contaminated product through animals.

This quickly shows that the environmental concerns on the mind of Americans are those that could directly affect them and their health.  This was backed up further with the next most common environmental concern being air pollution.  Air pollution has been linked to increased cases of asthma and other respiratory problems as well as allergies.

Towards the bottom of the list of environmental issues was the loss of tropical rain forests, followed by the extinction of plant and animal species.  Surprisingly, at the very bottom of the list was global warming with just 28% of people volunteering it as an environmental concern on their mind.

These figures definitely show that environmental concerns seem to be driven by how they could directly affect people and their families rather than how it could affect other countries or the World in general.  This is a worrying environmental issue in its own right considering that some of the most pressing issues are indeed global warming and rising sea levels all of which need to be tackled sooner rather than later.

Policy impacts

Looking at this evidence of views in the United States, it seems that there must be an impact here for policy makers. In order to really get the message across on a range of green topics, it appears to be clear that there’s a real need to get the public engaged.

At present, this evidence suggests that there is a real lack of dynamic energy when observing the way that such issues are being handled. Media stories often surround extreme cases, but the public want a more reasoned debate, with informative discussion of the key problems that are being faced.

Keith Barrett writes about environmental news and on varied topics relating to environmental issues. He believes that awareness of these issues is enlightening.


Categories
Activism Agriculture Animal Rights Nature pestecide

A New Purdue University Study Reconfirms: Pesticides Kill Bees!

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A new USDA funded study performed by Purdue University verifies what many environmentalists have long alleged and several groups of scientists have proven. The massive beehive die-offs known as Colony Collapse Disorder are linked to factory farms and pesticides. In particular, researchers are pointing to a category of pesticides sold by the German company Bayer.

 

The Perfect Specicide System For Bees (brought to you by Bayer©)

According to this study  , the bee deaths are connected to neonicotinoid  class of pesticides, which use a synthetic derivative of nicotine. These chemicals are applied as a glaze to corn and soybean seeds prior to planting. They are then absorbed by the plant’s vascular system and the appear in pollen and nectar. Factory farms have planted MILLIONS of acres of farmland with neonicotinoid treated seeds since 2003, and this is not the first time danger has been shown. On July 23, 2010, Dutch toxicologist, Dr Henk Tennekes had a scientific paper published in the journal, Toxicology (online) titled, “Druckrey-Küpfmüller Equation For Risk Assessment” He then authored and published a book in regards to his research called “A Disaster in the Making”. The book explores the impact of neonicotinoids on the immune system of bees.

The newer Purdue study shows that Bayer’s products are far more poisonous to bees than the company wants the Government and people to think. The researchers found that “maize pollen was frequently collected by foraging honey bees while it was available: maize pollen comprised over 50% of the pollen collected by bees, by volume, in 10 of 20 samples.”
Bayer denies its pesticide has contributed to bee die-offs. (Bayer also continued to sell contaminated blood plasma causing thousands of hemophiliac patients to be infected with AIDS, as reported in the NY Times 22 May 2003, but thats another story of this evil and old company). The company says that bees do not seek corn and therefore only trace amounts of neonicotinoid containing pollen will return to hives. And to date, the EPA has propped up Bayer’s claims.

There are also some unanticipated means by which bees are exposed to the pesticides, largely caused by hefty sized commercial “factory farmers”. The highly automated world of automatic monoculture uses giant mechanical seed planters. The seeders need a powder  applied to prevent the polymers used to bond the chemicals to the seeds from clogging up seed coating machine and the seed planters. This powder, along with small amount of pesticides collect in and on the seed bins. As the tractor does its rounds these bins shed a powdery waste of pure poison. This waste is dangerous to bees. The powder can contain up to 700,000 times the bee’s lethal dosage of neonicotinoid, and so of course any bees that come into make contact with it are killed. These initial population losses begin to weaken the hives.

As the pesticide cloud comes to rest on plants in close proximity to the fields and into the soil and water, there is lasting danger to bees as the pesticides are persistent in the foodchain. An dif these chemicals hurt bees, you can be sure humans, plants and other animals in the area are at risk. Any flowers or even your own home garden near treated crop fields can harbor the poison. Bees gather nectar and pollen from the flowers and other plants and will bring the neonicotinoids back to the hive. Although these small levels of the pesticide do not kill the bees, their immune systems become compromised, leaving hives vulnerable to other pressures. Also, newly developing larvae are affected by exposure to pesticides through the stored pollen, bees only source of protein. The cascading effects of these small but continuous doses can potentially devastate an entire hive. Scientists found neonicotinoid pesticides in every sample of dead and dying bees as well as in pollen the bees collected and brought back to the hives, not only in this study, but in several studies now.

The Human Hive Mind

US regulatory agencies follow a policy of relying on manufacturer funded and provided data to conclude the safety of pesticides and herbicides. Although a leaked document in 2010 revealed that EPA scientists found Bayer’s research on its neonic pesticides to be suspect, the agency has not acted to stop the sale or use of these products.

Bayer has profited over one billion dollars from its two neonic products imidacloprid and clothianidin. Given Bayer’s immense wealth and power, it seems unlikely the EPA will take action, particularly in a presidential election year. This means Colony Collapse Disorder is likely to continue to devastate bee populations, leaving reverberating effects on the environment for generations to come. Honeybees are responsible for 80 per cent of all pollination as they collect nectar for the hive, t The mortality rate is the highest in living memory

This type of insecticide was banned in France, Slovenia and Germany after this step the bee populations began to rise again.

 

Tell the EPA and the US President to take action BAN neonic products like imidacloprid and clothianidin.

 

 
Sources:

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/purdue-study-implicates-bayer-insecticide-bee-die-offs

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120111KrupkeBees.html

http://www.panna.org/blog/banner-week-bee-science-zombie-flies-poisonous-planter-exhaust

 

Categories
Environmentalism Fracking Green Energy

No Fracking Way – Keep Fracking BAN In NY

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Environmentalism Green Energy Self-Reliability Sustainability

Environmental Ways to Survive the Economic Crash

 

Grain stocks will be at the lowest levels since 2004 this year, and overall food stores are down dramatically, global warming will only worsen this problem. Food prices as a whole are up, there are nearly monthly riots overseas for food. Unemployment is up while overall purchasing power of the dollar is down. What can average citizens do to protect their families and insulate themselves from this economic downturn? Here are a few environmentally friendly ways that you can survive the economic disaster known as “The Great Depression 2”.

 

 

6. Get a Bike – Bikes are  a great way to get around, and if you have saddle bags or a trailer you can haul a significant amount of goods. Travel to work, your local store, or just to your neighbors house up the road, a bike will get you there and back again with very little energy.

 

 

5. Check Your Insulation – Winter or Summer we waste a lot of energy on poorly insulated homes. Even if its a rental, a few dollars can make a huge difference in the right areas.

 

 

 

4. Electrical use – Cutting back is a obviously the first choice, turn off the lights, get LED light bulbs etc. When you have the money to, invest in an off-grid system consisting of wind, solar, water, or any combination of whatever you have available in your area. If you are technically savvy you can even get cheap kits to make your own solar panels or wind generators, if your not so mechanically inclined, maybe someone you know and can barter with is.

 

3. Learn A Craft – Basket weaving, candle making, sewing,  spinning, knitting, crocheting, construction, or even woodworking. The more you can do for yourself the better, and you can trade the baskets and sweaters if you need.

 

 

 

2. Move in With Roommates – Even if your older, even if your have two families, moving in together and sharing expenses, labor, and resources can be beneficial and is better than both families having a lesser quality of life. Two older couples whose children have moved out could be the perfect pairing to live together. Or even two young couples who are just starting out.

 

1. Plant A Garden* – raised beds, bay window spice garden, greenhouses or even just a “hoop house” can produce a significant amount of food and spices for your family. If you find that you cannot do this, try finding a Community Supported Agriculture club in your area, you can usually get a lot of fresh, organic food at a good price.

 

 

 

 

*Many cities will not let you, but if you can,  small livestock are also an excellent way to produce some food at home, a single goat or a few hens can give you lots of food and materials, and take little care and food. (goat hair can be spun, and they can be milked, feathers can be used in pillows and bedding, and of course eggs)

 

These are only a few of the ways you can keep yourself out of the consumer trap and get better quality, ethical, organic products and foods, while surviving the current economic hit that the working class is taking. Think locally, a group of people doing this in a community can easily support each other and make a resilient and diverse economy. Do not wait on the Government to fix the problem, lets roll up our sleeves, get dirty and get it done. Yes you can…do it yourself.

This is a wonderful book that 3 out of the 5 board members of Future Farming own (and other will eventually get a s a gift, but don’t tell them). Its by John Seymour, its titled Self Sufficient Life and how to live it. Check it out, its a great resource.