Leave no trace.

As Mark and I get closer to starting our hiking season, it's occurred to me that it's time for us to brush up on what it means to be a responsible hiker- specifically, leaving no trace in the woods. This is easier said than done, but I've come upon some great information in recent days that begs to be shared.

HikeSafe, it's your responsibility.

HikeSafe is a nonprofit, joint effort between the White Mountain National Forest and New Hampshire Fish and Game. It gives the best ways to be prepared for anything while subjecting yourself to nature's whims and reminds hikers of conduct on and off the trails. This is a must visit for anyone planning on hiking this year, even if you're planning on being gone for just a few hours.

Leave No Trace is an other great site with training opportunities and great reminders on how to maintain wild places while enjoying them. Humans have a huge impact on the world around them- even just walking into the woods has an impact.

For the folks who are looking to blend in, do some nature observation or even become one with the forest and life around you- read any and all Tom Brown novels you can get your hands on. I plan on attending his Tracker School at some point down the road. What a rush that would be!

That's all the time I have for now. It's about the time in the season for people to strap on their hiking boots or trail running shoes and get back to nature. Remember to be prepared: carry a first aid kit of sorts and let people know where you're going and when you'll be back. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Hike Safe everyone!
Best,
Say

The cooler colored end of the spectrum. Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Okay, there's a lot of lead in to this particular post, so bear with me.

*My coworker, Peter, alerted me to this fantastic web site that we all should take the time to browse. There are at least 50 Ways to Help the Planet. Thanks for the link, buddy!

Here is a link to a Grist.org story about the newest term in greening your life: Blue.

This link was shown to me by my coworker, Brian. It's the International Earth Day web site.

This is a link to the article Adam Werbach wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle, pronouncing environmentalism dead and declaring the need for a new movement to better our planet and our communities.

Now that you have all of that information down your gullet, we can start talking about all of this.

Why BLUE, Werbach? Granted, you're the former president of the Sierra Club, but to what authority does that give you to declare environmentalism DEAD? I sincerely doubt that statement.

So, Blue is this new-fangled idea that, as Grist explained:
"People who are part of the BLUE movement aspire to make a difference through the people and products that touch their lives. It encompasses green issues like protecting our last wild places and reducing our output of CO2, but it also includes personal concerns like saving money, losing weight, and spending time with friends and family."

The last time I checked, that was our moral obligation as human beings.

Am I wrong?

Are we not required to be stewards of the Earth and our own beings? What Werbach is trying to do, I suppose, is hold all aspects of human existence at the same level of importance, which is great- I just think people are supposed to do this on their own. The folks that want to join have already made necessary changes in their lives- they're already forward thinking. He gives Switzerland as an example of a country that has been green for decades and considers their consciously-living citizens as blue.

I guess I want to know if you consider yourself blue or not? I would like to think of myself as falling into that criteria, I certainly try to stay healthy, eat right, spend conscientiously, encourage the same from my peers, but I know there are vices that keep me out of blue company. Who knows, maybe this will take off, maybe it won't.

Perhaps we should consider today, Earth Day, our new Resolution Day. Perhaps we can all make an effort to "green" or "blue" our bodies and thus change our economy, communities, even the world. Who knows. I'm still slightly skeptical of the whole "blue movement" idea, but it's definitely something worth pondering.

Other subjects worth pondering over:

How much do you REUSE instead of RECYCLE? This is a theme Gary Hershberg of Stonyfield Yogurt refers to often ... my friend Nathan and I just had a brief conversation about it, too. There's a lot of energy that goes in to recycling. If we make an effort to buy previously recycled materials or remove wasteful materials from our lives entirely, we'll save more energy, time and money than if we created new materials to recycle later. Think about it.


Also, how many hours a week do you spend outside? Now that the weather is nicer we're all getting out there and enjoying nature, but just how much time do you spend surrounded by trees? Our children are facing Nature Deficit Disorder ... now is the time to get ourselves out in the woods, at the beach, on a mountain, and allow our beings to be nurtured by nature.


So, if you feel even just an inkling to do so, please comment. Share with me the strides you're making to make this planet and your being a better place to dwell.
[Nathan: I know you're getting LEED certified- shout it from the rooftops!]

Happy Earth Day, everyone. Love your mother.
[Perhaps we should switch the title to Earth Mother's Day, hahaha.]

Best,
Say

Earth Day is on it's way- how to help with out going too far out of your way.

Happy Earth Day everyone! Actually, with all the enthusiasm over this little known day of awareness (specifically in my town of Concord, NH)- it seems this year Earth Week is a more appropriate moniker. I am certainly not complaining. It's nice to see my neighbors and friends becoming more interested in this cause that directly effects all of us. Race, gender, financial wellbeing ... nothing separates us when it comes to the health of the planet. It effects all of us and we must band together to stop the effects of global warming before it's too late.

So, in honor of Earth "Day" I've decided to make a brief list of the ways you can make a difference this Tuesday (or which ever day you choose) instead of dedicating yourself to an organization or any other large group activity. Sometimes the things that need to be done are right in our back yards.

1) Beautify your city.

Local Parks and Recreation departments often have programs that coordinate volunteers in their communities to help in cleaning up local parks and other green spaces. If you live in an urban area and frequent a park, pond or just an open field, put on some grubbies, good shoes and gloves and head over to that spot on your own. Mark and I cleaned up a local beach we frequented last year. It blew people's minds that we just did it on our own, but it was a place we went to often and got sick of seeing so much trash everywhere. You can check in with your parks and rec department to let them know you'll be doing some work on their (and your) behalf. Normally, volunteers in city green spaces are the first line of defense for public maintenance workers when it comes to big projects. Are there any trees down? Any land/water/animal problems that need to be addressed? Take note while you're there and let your city know what needs to be done.

2) Walk these streets.

My neighborhood is grubby this time of year. I know my neighbors do what they can to keep their lawns clean, but we all share the same street. This year I'm taking matters into my own hands and picking up the litter we all see every day, but are often too busy to clean up. This is an especially nice effort to make if you live in a culdisac area or a suburban neighborhood. There's a lot of green space there and sometimes neighbors in those areas don't get out on the street to see the damage. If you live in a city like I do, clean up your immediate block- or, if you feel adventurous, clean the surrounding blocks in your neighborhood, too. Your neighbors will thank you.

3) Change one habit- change the world.

There are lots of indulgent practices we all participate in that lead to carbon emissions and other consequences hazardous to the planet. Do you leave a light on at night? Switch to a night-light with a sensor on it. Do you let your car idle in the morning? Try letting go of that habit and start the car only when you're ready to leave for work or school. Haven't changed the bulbs in your house yet? Switch to CFLs and watch your electric bill drop. There are plenty of little things we can do that can make a big difference once we implement them. What are some little things you can change that will eventually make a big difference? Now is the time to start.

4) Spend wisely.

I suggest everyone visit www.climatecounts.org, an organization that rates companies in the US on their sustainability. I've mentioned them in previous blog-posts, but check out their website and you'll see what I mean. Most of the companies listed on their score card are ones you might never associate with green practices. Who knew that Nike, Starbucks and Unilever are green leaders in their industries? There's lots to check out- learn where your dollars are best spent and help change our economy for the better.


That's all for now, everyone. Thanks for reading. If you have any tips on how to spend Earth Day or you want to share what your plans are for Tuesday (and hopefully the rest of the year), please leave comments. I would love to hear what everyone is planning!

Best,
Say

What did I tell ya??

And so, they say, the world's "greatest power" failed once more.

Several developed nations participating in yesterday's meeting on climate change in Paris, France. One major official, who asked to remain nameless, said of Bush's speech:

"This is disappointing. But Bush will be leaving office soon. What he says doesn't matter so much any more."

Woah. This is what the world thinks about him ... Here's an article from Grist.org, where I found that annonymous quote.

In this article, published by the Wallstreet Journal, you can get a brief overview of environmental capital as a result of the meeting held in Paris. It makes mention of French President Sarcosy flat out ignoring Bush's speech.

I wonder what it feels like to be the leader of the free world, but every room you walk in to will hold people that hate your guts. What does George Bush feel like when he wakes up in the morning? Does he have anxiety? Does he rise to greet the day with a huge Texan grin on his face? I would like to ask him that, should I meet him one day.

Since our federal government thinks liquid coal and nuclear power are the answers to all of our troubles (even the democrats feel this way, our politicians can't be trusted farther than we can throw their pork-barrel asses), it's up to the states to make big changes. New Hampshire has done a fantastic job in making environmental change tangible, even required by law.

As consumers, we have the power to let our money do the talking. I don't have much in the way of disposable income, but when I do make purchases (and I have to all the time, as I'm sure you do) I want to be sure my money is helping sustainable industry instead of the same old mass-production, genetically altering, pollution factories that have supplied us with our life-stuffs for the past several decades.

There is a group that can help all of us spend in the right direction. I've mentioned them before. They call themselves Climate Counts.

The beauty of this organization is their business scorecard. They have three criteria to label major companies on: Stuck (the company isn't doing much in the way of greening their practices), Starting (they're working on it, but they need some more time) and Striding (these are the companies you should support, they're working their booties off to become sustainable). I totally admire the project. They're based in Manchester, partially funded by Stonyfield Yogurt and they're working to connect with young consumers across the country to encourage conscious spending.

Hooray for Climate Counts!
Visit them, become an educated consumer and change the world.

Happy Fryday, everyone!
Party on-
Best,
Say

Economies Majorus ... Time is ticking.

President Bush likes to fish.

He also likes to pass legislation.

Today, April 17, 2008, marks the third Major Economies meeting on Energy and Climate in Paris, France.

When this group first got together the outlook wasn't rosie. It still isn't, but European countries are spearheading the effort to slashing their carbon emissions as rapidly as possible. The European Union wants to cut emissions 20% by the year 2020.

I'm sure they can do it. To match that encouraging goal, President Bush had this to add to the mix on behalf of the American people:

"I have put our nation on a path to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of our greenhouse gas emissions. In 2002, I announced our first step: to reduce America's greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent through 2012. I'm pleased to say that we remain on track to meet this goal even as our economy has grown 17 percent.

As we take these steps here at home, we're also working internationally on a rational path to addressing global climate change. When I took office seven years ago, we faced a problem. A number of nations around the world were preparing to implement the flawed approach of Kyoto Protocol. In 1997, the United States Senate took a look at the Kyoto approach and passed a resolution opposing this approach by a 95 to nothing vote."

So, El Presidente wants to slow emissions, but by only 18% in the next four years? Quelle surprise he's passing the buck to the next administration. Wait, there's more.

"The Kyoto Protocol would have required the United States to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of this agreement, however, would have been to limit our economic growth and to shift American jobs to other countries -- while allowing major developing nations to increase their emissions. Countries like China and India are experiencing rapid economic growth -- and that's good for their people and it's good for the world. This also means that they are emitting increasingly large quantities of greenhouse gases -- which has consequences for the entire global climate."

Of course they're damning the planet. These countries are finally moving through their industrial revolutions. Americans did that decades ago- and we polluted the hell out of our environment in the process. I'm not sure how our historically poor behavior gets lost in the fray. Perhaps if we could learn from our mistakes, we could help guide developing nations on their path to success- at least provide examples of how to do a better job at growing than we ever did.

Then, he makes this statement that upon first glance looks like valid improvement:

"Today, I'm announcing a new national goal: to stop the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

To reach this goal, we will pursue an economy-wide strategy that builds on the solid foundation that we have in place. As part of this strategy, we worked with Congress to pass energy legislation that specifies a new fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, and requires fuel producers to supply at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022. This should provide an incentive for shifting to a new generation of fuels like cellulosic ethanol that will reduce concerns about food prices and the environment."

Okay ... he says "stop the growth of" our emissions. The United States' emissions levels have grown by 1% every year for the past decade or so. So, if we stop that growth in 2025, it will have grown by 1% every year up until then. That's a 17% increase. Compare that to the EU who will REDUCE their emissions by 3% more than that by 2020. They'll be ahead of us in a charge that should be ours to lead.

As for the ethanol he's so fond of: It's a bad crop. Corn isn't a miracle plant. It doesn't absorb CO2 like other crops, it damages soil, requires pesticides and fertilizers ... its popularity is encouraging farmers to switch their produce crops to ethanol corn, making food prices sky rocket. Ethanol is bad for the current engines our transportation units use. Putting money into ethanol production instead of advanced and alternative fuel technologies is like dieters drinking Diet Coke instead of water: Sure, there aren't any calories, but the artificial sweeteners and the other crud in the soda will give you cancer and rot your teeth. Ethanol may reduce emissions to a point, but it won't save us in the long run.

Here's the transcript of President Bush's speech on climate from yesterday.



This is a diagram from the New York Times, published in March of last year. Predictions are made, proposals to solve the problem are on the table. Go figure John McCain is behind one of the more effective proposals.

Why haven't we adopted any of these strategies in the past year? Where is the action we need to make a change?

Is anyone else frustrated by any of this?

The answers are there. There are things we can do. Now we have to just DO IT ALREADY.

This slow move to progress is so unlike everything we stand for in this country. I don't understand why we insist on dragging our feet.

Please comment, share your thoughts- I want to know how you guys feel about all of this.

Best,
Say

In the opinions of many ...

I read a lot of scorn for environmentalists, specifically on popular blogs I bump in to, folks involved in social networking sites and things of that nature. It's rare that I ever rant beyond the confines of my own blog- I don't need to press my views upon other people, it just isn't necessary and can often create tension instead of active participation on behalf of casual observers. Global Warming is a topic of fierce debate in our society. For example ... I'm a frequenter of Myspace, that's a given, and as a result I'm privy to some great causes on the enviromental side of things as well as sites dedicated strictly to humor. One of the humor sites I really enjoy is the Myspace Awards Center [MYSAC], in conjunction with www.mikeink.com. The owner- Mike, go figure- created some posting tags in regards to the environment. They're a bit counter to the argument, if you will. Here's an example:

[Please note, HTML code did not transfer. To view examples, please see www.myspace.com/myspaceawardscenter.]

I'm not entirely sure that this example will be transferable to a blog, but I might be able to figure the html code myself later. Regardless, all of the comments are "anti" environmentalism. That and they're kind of funny. What good is life if you can't take advantage of laughing at yourself? I'm guilty of letting my passions get the better of me- such insistance on my part has spurred a lot of my peers into action and for that I'm glad. Beyond that, I run the risk of sounding preachy. No one likes a nag.

Well, I guess Mike got a few nasty comments from the environmentalists that frequent his page. I chuckled to myself, though I don't even know who I would post the comments to. Mike got fired up and then fired back and he made a valid point in regards to people being vicious when certain causes are concerned. Mike likes to see what it takes to get people fuming. He's fairly good at it.

The point of this particular blog is to speak to my fellow Earth Warriors:

Are we really that snarky? Are we a bunch of tight wads? Is an eco-marxist method the best way to work people into action? There's a fair amount of folks in the world that aren't the least bit interested in what we have to say- many of them work urgently to prove us wrong and make us out to look like fanatical planetory-jihadists, if you'll pardon the expression. When we get all fired up and angry, we fuel that fire.

Sometimes, I feel my face get hot. Sometimes I want to reach through my monitor and shake some sense into whatever ignorant pontificator declairs that Global Warming is a hoax. And then I tell myself, "Calm down, Say. It aint all that bad. There are folks doing the work to get the problem taken care of. The strong few will save the many with mob mentality."

So, to get back to my example, Mike got chewed out, he lettered a decent response, his loyal network of fans ran to his aid- they fired off plenty of anti-environmental sentiment and though I do believe that many of them understand the urgency facing our planet ... the ball got rolling and the conversation started to turn nasty.

I guess I really just want some feed back on this. Do we scream out in protest? Do we risk frightening those new to the cause? Do we risk alienating ourselves?

How can we best conduct ourselves to keep our sense of humor, charm and wit, thus undoubtedly influencing our peers to see that though we can poke fun at the problem, the main objective must still remain in sight.

Any and all comments are more than welcome. Are you slow to conversion, a person who still chuckles at your friends that refuse to throw away plastic, glass and aluminum? What do you say to your environmentalist friends when they harp on you? What should they say instead?

Understanding a proper method of persuasion is the best way to gain cooperation.

More flies with honey, Honey.

More soon.
Love,
Say

It's not as "pink" as it is "salmon."

Heeeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!

That's what Pacific Salmon fishers are crying out these days.

The Chinook Salmon- the fish that serves the bulk of the California fishing industry- has taken a dive ... and no one seems to know why.

Here's a link to an article addressing the information leaked from the Pacific Fishery Management Council.See how they run?

There's one more species on its way out ... I really feel for California, ya'll. It seems they take the brunt of all the climate change consequences. Reduced water supplies, big floating masses of plastic waste off the coast of San Francisco, incredible smog counts- and now this. I have no doubt there's more on the way. Take it from the author of The Great Warming, Brian Fagan- He claims that California is one of the first states to take it on the chin as the world continues to face the threat of wide spread drought. Other states include Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and so on. Could warmer ocean waters be what's keeping the salmon from accomplishing their normal migratory routes? Could over-fishing be the main cause of heart ache? Since commercial fishers are having a hard time making any money off of the dwindling population, they're trying to put an over all ban on sport salmon fishing for the time being- from the Mexican to the Canadian coasts.

I say, go for it. However, there's a few sport fishermen out there that would disagree with me. I'm sure they make a very small dent in the overall population, but to that I say the less we interfere with a species, the better.

That's all I have time for this morning. It's crunch time for OXX and I'm way swamped.

Oh yeah, one more thing ... check out this site: www.climatecounts.org.

This national non-profit campaign is a great resource for finding environmentally progressive companies. Use their rating system to better apply your consumer dollars and change the world in the process. They're also on Myspace- don't hesitate to friend them.

Happy Thirsty Thursday, everyone! If you're having brews, keep them organic. I suggest the following:

Peak Organic
Wolaver's
Green Valley Brewing, from Anheuser-Busch

Cheers!
*Say

How bacteria can turn you on ...

Microbes making electricity?

Believe it. I found this article, written by my friend Steve, through Renewable Energy Access Weekly. It's a great site, great newsletter. Very informative.

It's ironic that they included this article on this particular week. Just this past Saturday, I went to Keene State College to see my sister's Academic Excellence presentation. She's been working on it as part of her accelerated masters program and she looked at gender rolls in the classroom and academic success. Her project was so interesting, well informed and presented in an entertaining manner. I was really proud.

Regardless! She wasn't the only project there. There were lots of undergrad and grad students all exploring different areas of their expertise. One that stood out to me was a kid named Jeff who spend the past few months learning about microbiology and its link to sustainable energy sources. Let me explain what he told me...

When bacteria in river beds "eat"- meaning they ingest nutrients in the soil- they create electrons ... this goes into basic bio-process, like calcium channels and things like that, all very complicated. I'm somewhat science savvy, but not so much that I could break down all of this info for you.

Anyway, this bacteria creates a weak charge, but if that charge is harnessed, could be turned into batteries or large scale electricity sources. The perfect places to implement such ideas? Waste water treatment plants. They have some doo doo, lots of bacteria, all they need is the right materials to harvest the charges the bacteria give off.

That and the industry has to find the perfect kind of bacteria to make this idea really viable, able to contribute a large amount of electricity to the greater picture.

Jeff was using the sediment from the river that runs along the campus.

I stood there with this kid and picked his brain for a while, but we both started getting really excited by the conversation ... then it dawned on me.

I know I often say that I feel like we're not moving fast enough to solve the problems we're facing. But, if kids like Jeff, my friend Tom at the Meeting School, my friend Jessica at Indigo Cafe, keep pursuing their dreams of bringing our planet into the next few centuries, we might not be at that large of a loss. We might even be able to change the course of our future.

Here's an other study, featured on ScienceDaily, that explores bacteria-produced-electricity.

The photo at the top of this post looks a lot like the project Jeff was working on. Feel free to explore the topic more, but above all- I want your feed back!!!

Think it's a waste of time?
Excited by the prospects?
Do you know of more innovative ideas for producing energy???

Let me know! I love hearing from you.
More soon. Lots of love and givin' trees hugs!
*Say