Gaia: The World's Biggest Problems

Re: The world's biggest problems.

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:01:41 GMT

Gathering information is important provided the information is about relevant issues.
Not recognising the big difference between symptoms and their causes means we can be so absorbed in fighting fires that we have no time to catch the arsonists.

The referenced article would be worth a full read, Curmudgeon. May be you would perceive the substantive difference between dealing causes (core issues) and the unending growth of symptoms*.

Investigating fundamental economic practices and theories will reveal how the pyramid of symptoms grows out of some basic design faults in the economic engine:
For example, the mistaken drive for full employment creates the cancerous growth behaviour of the economy. This behaviour is in turn sanctioned because of the mistaken theory that people need jobs; whereas the real need is for income with or without employment.

*The correct role of recognising symptoms is the triggering of any possible "first aid" response and, equally or more importantly, it should initiate the search for the underlying causes to be eliminated once and for all.

As for relevant investigation see Internal Combustion --- How corporations and governments addicted the world to oil and derailed the alternatives, and the website, www.internalcombustionbook.com. Or just watch the trailer

The Ultimate Question: What Can We Do?

http://thundermountain.gaia.com — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:01:42 GMT

From looking over the messages on this list I noticed that:

Its been a while since someone has posted something on such pertinent list.
People are becoming overwhelmed by all the problems that are cropping up all over the world. Whether its the environment, war, starvation, global pollution, etc. they all fall into the problems category.

From my own perspective, I have noticed interesting correlations between what my clients are experiencing within their bodies and what is happening on a global scale. I will address this in a later blog.

One of the main issues that I have noticed is many pulling back from or ignoring the problems because they don't know what to do or how to do it. The thinking may be that by not participating, one can't be blamed or that nothing can be done on such a small scale.

In actuality, I think what Rev. James Parks Morton said in 1990 at the Second Global Forum in Moscow captured the truth of it perfectly:

"The problems we're dealing with really can't be isolated. If we're talking about the environment, by definition the environment doesn't respect boundaries. Boundaries are man made."

If we look at our society we isolate ourselves from our environment constantly whether by walls, clothing or attitudes. It has been centuries since we have lived with the land instead of on it. This can and has naturally caused a rift or separation between us and our environment and its this rift that we widen when we step back from what we see today.

Understandably, if we look at all the worlds problems as a whole they are overwhelming and unmanageable. What can one person do, let alone someone who doesn't have political power or unlimited finances? I believe the answer is contained in Rev. James Parks Morton's quote as well.

If the environment respects no boundaries and we are the ones constructing the walls between what is around us and how we interact with it, then it can be said that by modifying our perspective, actions, habits or some other part of our life's routine, we can drastically impact our environment. We are not separate from it after all. This shift doesn't have to be profound, in fact its probably going to be more effective if it is a simple, low impact change that is the catalyst from which all other transformation occurs.

For example, in my own life, I try to help the environment by recycling. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be enough based on current environmental statistics. So, I started paying attention to the moments where I don't or can't recycle. What I noticed was that every time I traveled, I would throw everything away unless the hotel or restaurant, etc. had a recycling program. If they didn't it all went to the landfill. That's when I started bringing home as much of the recyclables as I could in my luggage, carry on etc. Mostly this consists of paper and cardboard ( metal doesn't travel well through security :) ). It is a small movement towards a larger goal and that is how it starts.

By creating a habit within our lives we, the effects ripple outward from us and begin to impact the environment around us. Inaction because of frustration, laziness or exasperation only serves to increase the problems we see, not make them go away. Do something small within your sphere of influence and I believe you will begin to see that action mirrored in a larger way all around you.

Jeff Masters
Thunder Mountain Wellness

Re: The world's biggest problems.

http://omdesign.gaia.com — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:09:29 GMT

We are now capable of presenting the actual problems as measured by all people all over the earth with graphical representations.

This method can produce a visual experience of problems and assist the devleopment or disbursal of solutions.

Objective factual information as gleaned by environmental sensors or satellites can produce a great wealth of good, if utilized for benefit.

From space we can determine the best location and time of year to plant money making crops. What I propose is a means to tell a farmer in that location the name of seeds suppliers and the time to start growing this plant. We may also use the exact same system to solve the problem of the merchant looking for that plant.

The first step for me is to get 100 people to sign up for free google apps here

http://google.koolu.com/google-apps-referral/google-apps-signup.php?r=1000297

This collective action will earn me a free linux based gps phone with wifi.

Much of the world is covered by mobile phone users and if they had a means to 'tell' us their problems and needs, then 'we' could facilitate the provision of those solutions.

Tracking all needs would provide information to industry about what to focus mass production on.

Re: Jan. 11, 2008 Day of Action to Close Guantanamo Prison

http://environsand.gaia.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:30:40 GMT

We are including our action for Jan 11th
into our 8 month long Friday vigil outside
our local army base and Enoggera , in Brisbane.

Jan. 11, 2008 Day of Action to Close Guantanamo Prison

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:27:13 GMT

Witness Against Torture, a member group of UFPJ, has been a leading force in the efforts to shut down the detention center at GuantÃ¡namo. Now they are organizing what promises to be an important day of protest on Friday, January 11, 2008. More information about the plans for activities in Washington, DC, that day -- as well as what you can do locally -- are included in the message below.

Peace,

Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator, UFPJ

"Immediately close the detention center at GuantÃ¡namo Bay, Cuba,
and either release its inmates or bring them before an impartial tribunal."
â€" United Nations Human Rights Commission

CALL TO ACTION

We declare January 11, 2008, six years after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo, an International Day of Action to Shut Down GuantÃ¡namo. In Washington, DC, we will hold a permitted demonstration at the National Mall followed by an orange jumpsuit procession to the Supreme Court. There will also be solidarity demonstrations in Chicago, Miami, London and Paris, with more being added every day. We invite you to come to Washington and participate, or else join or plan an action in your own community. We also encourage people around the world to wear orange t-shirts, armbands or other orange clothing on January 11th to mark the date.

JOIN US IN WASHINGTON, DC

Friday, January 11, 11:00am. (National Mall).

The day involves several elements:

Demonstration at the National Mall. Witness Against Torture has teamed up with Amnesty International and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture to hold a permitted demonstration on the National Mall at 11:00am. (Gather at 12th street NW between Madison Dr NW & Jefferson Drive SW - near the Smithsonian Metro Stop.)

"Prisoners of GuantÃ¡namo March." Hundreds marched in last year's procession
A provocative street theater performance involving people wearing orange jump suits and black hoods. We will march from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in an orderly silent procession hauntingly evoking the moral disgrace that is GuantÃ¡namo. With your help, we will form a prisoner contingent including as many protesters as there are prisoners.

Funeral Ceremony at the Supreme Court. Following the procession to the Supreme Court, we will hold a Funeral Ceremony to remember the four men who died in custody at GuantÃ¡namo and to mourn the death of Habeas Corpus. Like last year, some may choose to risk arrest. To participate, please consider attending an orientation meeting on Thursday, 4pm, at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church (1525 Newton Street, NW) or come early to the National Mall for an orientation and rehearsal at 10:00am. Please let us know in advance if you are willing to participate in either the Prisoners Contingent, Nonviolent Direct Action, or both. Email jan11@witnesstorture.org or call Matt Daloisio at 201-264-4424.

For up-to-date details as well as information about housing, food, rides and directions, legal support and much more, please visit our website at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=KcnPe1lIjQXPcM%2Fta%2FWEhNcwg%2Bixqqk6.

WEAR ORANGE ON JANUARY 11TH!
Wherever you are on January 11th, we encourage you to wear orange to raise public awareness and strengthen the movement to demand an end to torture and indefinite detention. Consider wearing one of Witness Against Torture's Orange "Shut Down GuantÃ¡namo" T-shirts, an ACLU arm band, or even an orange jump suit.

JOIN THE GROWING NUMBER OF LOCAL VIGILS - ATTEND OR ORGANIZE AN ACTION IN YOUR COMMUNITY
If you can't join us in Washington D.C., please consider attending or organizing a vigil, march or a public forum in your community. Actions are currently planned in 30 cities, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami, London, Paris and elsewhere.

Visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jbIGLMk5uIb00rQWxbVsW5AAAAmDI8X6 for up-to-date details about solidarity events, as well as to find ideas for actions, to post to our calendar, or to download flyers and other resources.

WHO WE ARE
Two years ago Witness Against Torture drew international attention after it walked to GuantÃ¡namo to visit the prisoners. Upon its return, the group has organized vigils, marches, nonviolent direct actions and educational events to expose and decry the administration's lawlessness, build awareness about torture and indefinite detention, and forge human ties with the prisoners at GuantÃ¡namo and their families.

Some of the organizations endorsing the Jan 11 Day of Action include:

    Act Against Torture
    Bill of Rights Defense Committee
    The Catholic Worker
    Center for Constitutional Rights
    CodePink
    Declaration of Peace
    International Federation of Human Rights
    National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
    Network of Spiritual Progressives
    Pax Christi USA
    Peace Action
    School of the Americas Watch
    Torture Abolition and Survivors Coalition
    United for Peace and Justice
    US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
    Voices For Creative Nonviolence
    War Resisters League
    World Can't Wait
    ...and more. See a full list of endorsers.

DONATE
Please make a contribution to help cover the costs of the January 11th event. You can donate online or send a check made out to "Witness Against Torture" to Mary House Catholic Worker, 55 E. Third Street, New York, NY 10003.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Zk68A9FOKSO0ek%2FrkZZayJAAAAmDI8X6

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0bk2yhauBoiWV0J3KCc5sJAAAAmDI8X6 | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=eT8k8zlqNpJyR%2FXsl70k2ZAAAAmDI8X6

Reduce Paper Use

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:27:27 GMT

Saving paper means saving forests which we need to slow climate change. The Ancient Forest Friendly website, http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/ , has the following guide to reducing paper use (http://www.ancientforestfriendly.com/paper-efficiency/home).

A Practical Guide to Increasing Paper Efficiencies

In this section you'll find practical ways to make your paper use much more efficient. Paper efficiency means you are acting smart about your environmental and financial resources. We ask this of our signatory companies, but individuals can practice paper efficiency as well.

The three R's of waste reduction are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The first ‘R' is the most resource efficient of them all.

At Home and Work

read newspapers online, read magazines from the library or buy digital magazine subscriptions,
have your name removed from catalogue mail lists,
post a ‘no unaddressed mail' notice on your post box and don't print your emails.

And here are more tips for around the office:

Photocopiers

Set photocopy machines to double-sided by default. Your photocopy technician can perform this simple service.
Introduce codes for use of photocopiers. This will provide everyone with insights to their consumption by tracking the paper consumption of various departments. This is particularly helpful and motivating when working towards increasing efficiencies. Add a little incentive to your paper efficiency drive - set up inter-departmental competitions or annual targets for each department based on the previous quarter/year's consumption.
Adjust photocopy machine for recycled paper to avoid any potential of copier jamming. Your photocopy technician can perform this simple service.
When purchasing new printers and photocopy equipment, ensure they can easily print double sided.

Mail

Wherever possible shift to electronic bills and online application forms. For clients who require hardcopies, print double sided bills and application forms.
Reduce the basis weight of the paper - it will save postage costs.
Where possible, reuse envelopes for correspondence. Use address labels to cover original information.
Use inter-office envelopes which can be re-used multiple times.

Computers and the Paperless Office! Use your computer to reduce paper consumption not increase it!

General Office Use

Reduce the basis weight of the paper used in the office and for promotional use. E.g. switch from a 60lb sheet for general office use to a 50 lb sheet.
Post memos on a central bulletin board.
For editing processes, have several people edit the same document using different colour ink and track changes.
Use single sided waste paper for printing drafts.
Maximize formatting by reducing font size and increasing margins.
Buy 100% post consumer recycled copy paper. Many brands are available and they work well in today's machines.

Company Documents and Reports

Reduce size of printed pieces by working with your designer and printer to try creative formatting to maximize use of parent sheets for printing.
Post reports electronically.
Reduce the basis weight of paper used.

Faxes

Use fax stick it forms rather than cover sheet.
Use plain paper faxes
Program your machine to eliminate printed confirmation sheets
Format fax carefully so that excessive pages are eliminated.

Green Shopping: Recycled Paper Towel, Toilet Paper, Napkins...

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:36:32 GMT

The National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) website has some general tips on how you can help save forests by choosing paper products (paper towel, toilet paper, napkins and tissues), which you can find below. The website then has charts which list brand named paper products and which are the best and worse choices for the environment. I can't seem to add the charts without everything getting scrambled, so you'll need to have a look yourself:

http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp#facial (best & worst brand name charts)

TIPS: THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE FORESTS

1. Buy paper products with recycled content-especially post-consumer fibers.
Look for products that have a high recycled content, including high post-consumer content. Post-consumer fibers are recovered from paper that was previously used by consumers and would otherwise have been dumped into a landfill or an incinerator.

2. Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes.
Paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter, but chlorine used in many bleaching processes contributes to the formation of harmful chemicals that wind up in our air and water and are highly toxic to people and fish. Look for products labeled totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF). In some cases, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) may be acceptable.

3. Tell tissue manufacturers to stop using virgin wood for throwaway products.
If a brand you buy for your home doesn't have any recycled content, contact the manufacturer (click here to send a message to paper giant Kimberly-Clark). Tell the company to use more recycled fibers, to avoid sourcing from ecologically valuable forests such as those in the Cumberland Plateau and Canadian boreal, and to ensure any virgin fibers used are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Saving forests also helps reduce global warming pollution.

P.S. If you live in Canada, go to the Greenpeace.ca website, where they have similar information on best and worst choices of paper products for Canadians: http://tissue.greenpeace.ca/

I realize there are even greener alternatives than post-consumer recycled paper products, such as cloth napkins or towels, but most people are not keen to switch to cloth "hankies" from tissue, and I don't even want to think about whether there are alternatives to toilet paper.

Re: Green Things You Can Do At Home

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:20:34 GMT

Here are some things you can do in your kitchen, to stop global warming. These suggestions are from the British Channel 4 website: http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/E/environment/help_1.html .

Tips for being green in the kitchen

Quick tips

Don't overfill the kettle
If you're making tea for one, only use that amount of water. If you're making tea for two, use that amount and so on. Overfilling the kettle wastes needless energy.

Don't waste food
This might seem like an obvious point, but a survey by Braun found that YUBBIES (Young Urban Bin Baggers) waste £865m of food every year by letting it go stale or out of date. One in six people wastes more than 10% of their average £42 weekly groceries shopping. Salad and fresh vegetables are the most likely items to be thrown away.

Eat your leftovers
The Braun survey also showed that people in the UK no longer keep leftover food for another meal, preferring to bin it or feed it to the dog instead.

Let food cool down before refrigerating it
This saves energy. Also, only keep the fridge door open for as long as you need to.

Make your own lunch
Not only will this save you a lot of money, but also you'll use less packaging than a sandwich shop.

Only wash full loads in the washing machine
Only ever wash full loads of clothes instead of half loads to save water and energy.

Replace ordinary light bulbs with energy efficient ones
They might cost more initially, but they last much longer and are significantly better for the environment.

Recycle
As well as buying recycled products, get in touch with your local authority to find out about recycling schemes in your area. Pretty soon you'll be required to sort your rubbish anyway, so why not start now?

Re-use items
Bottles, carrier bags and refillable containers don't have to be thrown away - they can all be reused. Many supermarkets now offer 'bags for life'.

Think twice before you put something in the bin
Can it be reused or recycled?

Turn the lights off when you leave a room
This is one of the easiest things anyone can do - and the difference it can make to the amount of energy we consume is considerable.

Use refill packs
Most washing powders, liquids, fabric softeners and dishwasher products have refill packs rather than buying the large plastic bottle over and over again.

More tips

Buy less processed foods
Processed foods are often over-packaged, so try buying more fresh items.

Buy locally produced food where possible
Locally-produced foods don't have to be transported, making them a considerably more environmentally-friendly option by far.

Buy products with less packaging
Less packaging usually means less waste - although how environmentally friendly a product is also depends on how the product was packaged and transported originally.

Don't pour oil, fats and harmful chemicals down the sink or toilet
Inside drains lead to a septic tank or sewer system, where water will be treated. But some chemicals and substances won't be broken down and will still end up back in the sea or rivers. Inside drains and toilets should not be used to dispose of hazardous waste or chemicals - go to your local dump where they will be disposed of properly.

Dispose of your fridge properly
Many old fridges contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which contribute to the hole in the ozone layer. If you need to dispose on an old fridge, contact your local authority.

Grow fresh food in your garden
Like locally-produced foods and products, there is no transport involved here, so you can't get much greener.

Repair damaged goods
Half of electrical goods that go to the dump only need minor repairs - and it will probably cost you less than buying a replacement.

Reuse plastic and glass bottles and jars or take them to a recycling bank
Containers like bottles and jars don't always have to be thrown away or recycled - you can reuse them, too.

Separate your rubbish
Recycling is going to become a bigger part of all of our lives, so why not start separating your rubbish for recycling now? Contact your local authority to find out when your nearest recycling point is - there might even be a local collection service available.

Shop environmentally
Books like The Good Shopping Guide list the most eco-friendly products and brands to buy.

Use and buy energy efficient appliances
Products like fridges and washing machines have energy labels on. Categories 'A' and 'B' are the most energy efficient and use less water. Anything rated below rating 'D' is being phased out and should be avoided - it will cost you more and will use more electricity.

Use low temperatures on your washing machine
This saves water and energy.

Oct 16 & 17; Worldwide; Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:41:36 GMT

As a supporter of Make Poverty History, I received the following information (English, then French) about a worldwide event to Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty. I've picked out one of the events happening in Toronto (where I live) to attend; however, there are many, many other events worldwide you may wish to participate in. Or you may want to gather family, friends, and neighbours together for your own event.

La version française suite

Dear Make Poverty History supporter,

Join millions of people around the world to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT to make poverty history between October 16th and 17th - and set a Guinness World Record at the same time!

Between 5pm Eastern time on October 16th and 5pm on the 17th, millions of people in Canada, Pakistan and Namibia and dozens of other countries will be sending a message to government leaders - that we need bold action now to make poverty history - by standing up and speaking out in their communities. Join this movement and help set a record for the number of people standing up in a 24 hour period!

Check for STAND UP events in your community that you can participate in.

Find out how you can organize a STAND UP moment in your school or workplace.

Check out the STAND UP video, an up-beat look at this global event.

The STAND UP Global White Band Day of Action - the 24 hours between 5pm on the 16th to 5pm on the 17th (Canadian Eastern time: see makepovertyhistory.ca/e/stand-up/when.pdf for your local time) - coincide with the opening of a new session of the Canadian Parliament.

Your participation in the STAND UP Global Day of Action can help to send a strong message to Prime Minister Harper that his government needs to give high priority to ending poverty both at home and abroad.

Canada needs to help to make poverty history by:

committing to a 10 year timetable to allocate 0.7% of Gross National Income for official development assistance;
supporting efforts to make trade rules more equitable by insisting on development-friendly WTO rules and bilateral agreements;
pushing the World Bank and the IMF to stop imposing harmful conditions for debt cancellation and development financing;
developing and implementing a plan to end child and family poverty in Canada;
implementing the Kelowna Accord, a plan to narrow the living standards gap between Aboriginal people and the rest of Canada.

During the recent Ontario election, Make Poverty History supporters helped to get all provincial parties to support a poverty reduction plan for Ontario. Your action is needed now to push for change at the national level. Stand Up and Speak Out on this date!

Thanks for your support.

Dennis Howlett
National Coordinator
Make Poverty History

Cher partisan de la campagne Abolissons la pauvreté,

Joignez-vous aux millions de personnes partout dans le monde qui, les 16 et 17 octobre, répondront à l'appel Debout et Manifestez pour abolir la pauvreté - et aidez à établir un nouveau record Guinness du même coup!

Du 16 octobre à 17h, heure de l'Est, au 17 octobre à 17h, des millions au Canada, Pakistan et Namibie et dans des douzaines d'autres pays enverront un message aux chefs politiques - la nécessité aujourd'hui d'entreprendre une action ferme pour abolir la pauvreté - en se tenant debout et en manifestant dans leurs communautés. Joignez-vous à ce mouvement et aidez à établir un record mondial du nombre de personnes se tenant debout sur une période de 24 heures!

Consultez la liste des événements DEBOUT auxquels vous pouvez participer dans votre communauté.

Découvrez comment vous pouvez organiser un événement DEBOUT dans votre école ou au travail.

Regardez la vidéo DEBOUT, un vue fraîche sur cet événement globale.

Le jour de la mobilisation mondiale DEBOUT et du bracelet blanc -les 24 heures entre le 16 octobre à 17h et le 17 octobre à 17h (heure normale de l'est du Canada : pour voir d'horaire des activités dans votre région, allez à abolissonslapauvrete.ca/f/debout-et-manifestez/quand.pdf )- coïncide avec l'ouverture de la nouvelle session du Parlement canadien. Votre participation à la mobilisation mondiale DEBOUT peut aider à envoyer un message fort au premier ministre Harper, à savoir que l'abolition de la pauvreté au Canada et ailleurs devrait venir eu priorité majeure. Le Canada doit contribuer à l'élimination de la pauvreté. Pour ce faire, il doit la promesse :

S'engageant, d'ici dix ans, d'allouer 0.7% de Revenu National Brut à l'aide publique au développement;
Le soutien des efforts pour rendre le commerce international plus équitable, en exigent que l'OMC adopte des règlements plus favorables au développement;
Mettre de la pression sur la Banque Mondiale et le FMI pour qu'ils arrêtent d'imposer conditions défavorables à l'annulation de la dette et au financement du développement;
Concevoir et appliquer des mesures pour mettre fin aux pauvreté infantile et familiale au Canada;
Appliquer l'Accord de Kelowna, qui permettrait de réduire le fossé entre le niveau de vie des populations autochtones et celui du reste du pays.

Durant la récente campagne électorale en Ontario, grâce aux partisans de la Abolissons la pauvreté tous les partis provinciaux ont acceptéé de soutenir un plan de réduction de la pauvreté en Ontario. Nous avons désormais besoin de vous pour une action nationale. Debout et Manifestez les 16 et 17 octobre prochains!

Merci de votre soutien.

Dennis Howlett
Coordinateur national
Abolissons la pauvreté

Green Things You Can Do At Home

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:14:46 GMT

The David Suzuki Foundation website has a ton of useful information about: Solving Global Warming, Protecting Human Health, Conserving Our Oceans, Protecting Our Health, and Building A Sustainable Economy. Dr. Suzuki is a Canadian scientist, professor, broadcaster, writer, and is one of the people referred to in the 11th Hour movie. Here is the general site for the David Suzuki Foundation:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

The section of the site called "What You Can Do", is divided up into the following parts:
At Home, At Work, Go Carbon Neutral, Take Action, Join Climate News email list, Take the Nature Challenge. Here is the part about what you can do at home.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/

WHAT YOU CAN DO: AT HOME

Simple changes in our everyday lives can help slow climate change. For an excellent overview of actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint, please download our brochure, 10 ways you can stop global warming, reduce energy consumption and make a difference (PDF). Together, we can make a difference.

What you can do:

Reduce your home heating and electricity use. A more energy-efficient home will lower your utility bills and reduce the emissions that cause climate change. Find out how you can increase energy efficiency in your home through the EnerGuide for Houses program.
Choose energy-efficient appliances. New refrigerators, for example, use 40 per cent less energy than models made just 10 years ago. Find out more
Check the Canadian government's Auto Smart ratings for the next car you intend to buy to make sure it's fuel efficient and low polluting. A typical SUV uses almost twice the fuel - and releases nearly twice the emissions - of a modern station wagon, although both seat the same number of passengers. Visit the Canadian Annual Office of Energy Efficiency EnerGuide Awards to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles.
Walk, bike, carpool or take transit to get to one of your regular destinations each week.
Learn about the impacts of air travel and consider vacationing close to home.
If you are moving, choose a home within a 30-minute bike, walk or transit ride from your daily destinations. A convenient place to live reduces the amount you drive, which means you'll lower your greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.
Take care of your trash. Composting all organic waste - and recycling paper, cardboard, cans and bottles - will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with landfills.
Eat wisely. Choose foods that are local, organic and low on the food chain whenever possible. Make the most of seasonal foods.
Learn about how to plan a green, low-carbon wedding.
Take the David Suzuki Foundation's Nature Challenge to learn more about other ways you can help protect the environment.
Go Carbon neutral!

Did you know?

Standard light bulbs give off 90 per cent of their energy as heat. New compact fluorescent "spiral" bulbs are 75 per cent more efficient and fit in standard sockets.

If you combined all the "heat leaks" in an average Canadian home, you would have a hole the size of a basketball! Proper weather stripping and caulking of doors and windows can reduce heating bills by 25 per cent.

A typical car produces three times its weight in carbon dioxide emissions - a major greenhouse gas. Light cars produce fewer emissions and cost less. Annual fuel costs average $648 for a new Volkswagen Jetta and $2,067 for a Ford Expedition 4x4.

Refrigerators are an energy-hogging home appliance. Replacing a 10-year-old refrigerator with a new EnergyStar-approved model would save enough energy to light your home for more than three months.

Encourage your local government to move towards energy efficient communities. Encourage your city to expand transit and other alternatives, make city operations more energy efficient and encourage compact development instead of sprawl. Tips on contacting political representatives.

Green Pods at Zaadz

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:15:17 GMT

Here is a list of all the green pods on Zaadz. This includes Zaadz pods on topics related to global warming, sustainable, ethical business, activism, alternate energy, Greenpeace, green energy and investing. I will add others as they arise or if I have missed some.

If you are green, on your way there, or wanting to get there, you will find a number of these pods tworthy of exploration. The number of green-related pods seems to have blossomed lately. Let's support these pods by exploring them, adding and reading comments and by joining.

Global warming is THE greatest problem the world has ever faced. By becoming part of the Zaadz green community of pods, we can motivate ourselves to become greener and more knowlegeable, so that we can inspire and influence other Zaadsters and our friends, family and co-workers and worlds outside of those circles to take action and reduce their carbon footprint.

"Act" is the Operative Word in "Act"ivism

Activism: Spiritual/Physical/Psychological

An Inconvenient Truth

Architecture

Blessed Unrest

Carbon Neutral New Year

Charity Central

Clean Energy Cars

Climate Change

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Re: The evolution of consciousness

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:33:35 GMT

As soon as I understood how serious climate change was, I understood I would have to make many changes to my habits and energy use. So change started only with the consciousness that I personally had to change what foods and products I bought at the grocery store, that I should bring someone reusable to bring those items home in, that presents for birthdays and Christmas could be green ones, that I should change more of my bulbs for compact fluorescents.

The more changes I made and those I thought we should make in my office through a Green Committee started by a co-worker, the more I started to share change with my family and friends.

But at some point in the process, I realized it was possible to make some green points by just living more simply and not purchasing things unless they were really needed (most stuff we just want but can live without). I also realized without even thinking about it that in eating mostly as a vegetarian, I could further have an impact. And neither of these things seem at all like sacrifices.

I think the change in consciousness can just happen along the way without even seeking it out. It can be the unexpected gift and quiet reward.

Re: The world's biggest problems.

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:10:25 GMT

I was really more concerned about human rights and poverty until more recently when I started to understand how climate change really had to take centre stage. If the world is not inhabitable, there will be no humans to worry about other peoples' human rights or poverty.

I think a lot of problems are connected to the main problem of having treated our world like a giant toxic dump, which in turn is making our bodies and those of our children full of toxic, carcinogenic, hormone disrupting, bioaccumulative chemicals or other substances.

One reason corporations feel free to pollute (in North America), is because the leader of the U.S. and Canada right now, do not care much about the environment. Corporations themselves have also changed. Companies centuries ago were built on the morals of their owners. In this century, there is no concern for ethics or morality; a corporation's job, according to corporations, is to make money for itself and its shareholders - no matter what needs to be done in order to maximize those profits.

The North American Free Trade Agreement gives more power to corporations on some issues that to the countries involved. Say that a company wanted to come to Canada or the U.S. to build a chemical plant in the middle of urban settlements and that this is a company and industry that has a record of emitting toxic chemicals in the air or spewing them in the water. Under NAFTA, if a country or city is getting inthe way of a company making profits, the company can sue under a NAFTA tribunal, which takes place secretly without the country or city present. Canada has already been sued in such a fashion when Canada tried to keep a polluter from setting up shop and polluting the environment. Guess who won, the country or company. The company won millions of dollars in compensation.

We have also let agri-business take the place of farms. The agri-businesses do not care about the environment; cramming thousands of animals in feedlots and letting their feces collect in manure pools that leek into drinking water or rivers or using geneticallly modified single crops which require great amounts of pesticides, which also poison the air and soil and air (not to mention the farm workers and their families). Agri-business is not just the farm, but has become conglomerates of everything from the farm to the supermarket and everything in between. Farmers get less money; consumers pay more, but there are great profits for the agri-businesses.

There are interconnections between farmers planting more corn or wheat than can be used, which is then sent as surplus to poor countries, which then unfortunately ends up undermining that country's farmers.

After I read a book on Bhopal, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and another one called Frederick Street by Maude Barlow, which is a story about Canada's version of the Love Canal, you realize that people and company's and government's couldn't have done a better job than if they had tried, to poison the environment and ourselves. Global warming is just a continuation of what we've been doing to ourselves and leading up to all along.

However, now that I have mentioned a few depressing things, I will mention some good ones. Since the federal governments are not doing much if anything, many cities and states or provinces are. I was very surprized and happy to learn how much Governor Schwartzenager is doing in California and other states - even though you don't think a Republican would generally do this.

I am also received responses from the many senators and members of parliament I wrote to, to let them know of my concern about global warming. A number have hybrid cars, or walk or bicycle to work and many letters were more personal than you often see with responses from government officials about what they were personally doing about climate change. I even had one Member of Parliament in another province than where I live, and from a conservative party, call me because of my letter. He has children and he is trying to do what he can for the environment.

I have been very encouraged by many of the responses from the politicians.

I am on a Green Committee at work (because of a co-worker who saw An Inconvenient Truth and was motivated to get a committee set up at work. Because of it, I have made many more changes than I would have otherwise. I get my electricity now from a company that puts 100% green energy into the power grid for the energy I use. The company is called Blue Frog Power, and is only in Alberta and Ontario right now.

One of the first things the Green Committee did was to set up a viewing of the Al Gore documentary for about 50 people. I have never heard people in my branch listen to anything so intently and quietly. And who knows what those 50 people are doing and who they are influencing.

Everyone needs to make whatever changes they can, not only to reduce their impact on the environment, but to support organic foods and products and local ones, which removes money from some of the multi-national corporations. There are a number of recycled tissue products that are available, especially napkins, toilet paper, paper towel (there are not so many tissues (I hate to say Kleenex, since neither the kleenex boxes or the tissues are recyclable) that are recyclable.

One of my friends and a co-worker mentioned that the last time she had tried recycled toilet paper that it was all rough and horrible (must have been quite awhile ago). So I ended up bringing a package of recycled toilet paper to work and distributing a roll to various people so they might decide to start buying recycled toilet paper. It is such an easy thing to do to help out.

I think anyone who tries to make some changes in their lives, will find it easier once started to make even more, and to share what they have done with others. There are many, many websites, and books and articles in newspapers these days (many more than I remember seeing a year ago), so it is going to get harder for people and businesses and governments to ignore (climate change).

I used to think everyone single person's attitude and habits had to be changed, but I no longer believe this. One book/article/?? suggested if 10% of the population were to get really involved with the issue, that that would be enough. A Margaret Mead quote I found recently and use all the time, which provides me with encouragement, says:

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

I also firmly believe that one person can make a difference (even if they are not Ghandi or Mother Theresa or Nelson Mandala, etc.). My two sons are also my motivation; I want to do whatever I can so that there will still be an earth for people to live on.

In a poll of Canadians some months ago, 62% said they did not believe that earth would be habitable in 100 years. Fear can be a good motivator unless it sends you all the way into despair. I try to keep a balance between occasional feelings of panic, particularly after I read a particularly stark book about the issue, and optimism and the ability to continue to write or email politicians or put my comments onblogs or send them to the editor of a newspaper. It is not so important to me whether I know if a certain action with others has any impact or not, as long as I keep at it (and keep after the politicians or companies or whoever needs to make changes).

I'm in the process of changing mutual fund investments to company's who are environmentally or socially responsible. I don't need to have my savings or retirement money made out of profits from tobacco or weapons or the worst polluters on the planet. I'm trying to talk the people who look after the company pension plan about the worst companies who stock the pension plan has purchased. I haven't got a response yet, but it will take them some time to respond to all the issues and points I raised and sources I used.

May the force be with us.

Dryad
Forest Guardian

Re: Terrorism

http://shelivesintheforest.gaia.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:45:43 GMT

How to stop terrorists?

Fix the Palestinian issue, so children do not have to grow up in refugee camps and be sponsored by World Vision in order to improve their lives. If the U.S. gives a lot of aid to Israel, use that as leverage to get the issue resolved, and the quicker the better. Injustice often causes activism and some activists choose violence and are thereby terrorists.

If there is any American military base, air strip, personnel in Saudi Arabia, get them out. To have unbeliever Americans on the soil of the country where the most holy Muslim religious sites are, offends many Muslims.

Stop propping up or supporting dictators like the Saudi royal princes or the Shah of Iran in the past. The Shah was even worse as the U.S. kicked out a democratically elected government to put the Shah in place. As people do not like being ruled by dictators, they certainly would not like the countries that help put those dictators in place or supported them in staying dictators.

Stay at home and fix problems at home regarding poverty, the environment, health care, gun violence and so on instead of going to war in other countries to make peace (or to take revenge and then make peace?). The Bush administration has made the U.S. into being seen as a war-mongering , bully, who does not even treat its own friends well (ask someone from France or Canada (me) if you don't know the answer to that one and I'll explain ). It goes to war to secure the oil fields owned by oil corporations and covers this by saving they are getting rid of evil dictators and bringing freedom & democracy, even though the U.S. makes friends of dictators and doesn't not allow its own citizens to say they do not think we should go to war, without branding them as traitors or getting them fired from their jobs.

I do not think for one minute that the Bush administration is in any way representative of the character of the American people. And I don't want anyone thinking I am anti-American, as my parents and siblings became American, and I lived there for ten years as a child and teenager. I think the U.S. deserves a better President though, and from July's Newsweek poll of Americans which gave Bush a 26% approval rating, quite a number of Americans, including some Republicans, feel this way as well.

NY Times Article about Warrior cultures (Purple/Red Memes)

http://jubu531.gaia.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:06:24 GMT

August 6, 2007

CONNECTIONS

Reconsidering the Role of the Warrior in Our Post-Enlightenment World

By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN

In one of the final events of the recent Lincoln Center Festival, a lone Mongolian bard named Burenbayar came onstage and chanted "The Secret History of the Mongols." He had memorized the 13th-century text during long hours grazing animals on the steppes of Central Asia. And as is true of many ancient sagas, he sang of arms and the man - that is, of warfare and heroism.

His subject was Genghis Khan, a conqueror of many peoples who was both barbarically ruthless and soulfully sentimental, reveling in revenge by tearing out an enemy's heart and liver with his bare hands while also forgiving, again and again, the bloody treachery of an envious childhood friend. He was at all times a warrior whose goal was conquest and whose demands could not be assuaged, except by victory.

Almost every culture has such figures in their past, men like Odysseus, King David, Muhammad and Aeneas, whose triumphs were often attained through extreme, horrific battle. Such founding figures often also display powerful streaks of sensitivity and elevated vision along with prophetic abilities; on their broad chests and battle-readiness rest the later triumphs of their civilizations. But warriors don't have to display such qualifying attributes; throughout history they are revered.

Except for now, it seems, and particularly in the West. Today we are so wary of the warrior that we would find it unthinkable to celebrate him with elaborate descriptions of the beheading or disemboweling of his enemies. Instead we think of the warrior as a fanatic, an extremist with a streak of the berserk.

In "The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islam's Threat to the West" (Basic Books), a new book in which the idea of the fanatic warrior plays a central role, Lee Harris points out that the word berserk comes from Icelandic accounts of Norse warriors of the 12th century who were so fierce in battle they fought without armor and raged like wolves. They were called "berserksgangr." These days we tend to think of all warriors as berserk.

It isn't that we don't recognize, at some level, a need for warriors. At least in our cinematic fantasies warrior heroes abound. But they are kept on a short leash; they need a license to kill. Though they keep testing constraints on acceptable behavior, when they violate them, people around them tend, as the films put it, to "die hard"; freelance warriors like those played by Bruce Willis pay a steep personal price.

It is a measure of how distant we are from the ancient Greeks, Mongols and Romans that the most complete contemporary incarnations of the warrior are supervillains. Such evildoers display, as their ancient models do, a fierce tribal loyalty; a scorn for any life that stands in their way; a blood lust that megalomaniacally affirms human expendability. "Do you expect me to talk?" James Bond asks Auric Goldfinger, who has strapped Bond to a table where a knifelike laser beam gradually approaches his crotch. The villain laughs in amazement and says: "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."

We watch these figures or read about their exploits with a certain sense of superiority. We like to think we have transcended this kind of ruthlessness; we are no longer tribally bound, but universally concerned; we don't imagine eliminating our enemies in battle, we imagine driving them to the bargaining table. The West, riven by tribal and religious wars for centuries, imagines that humanity is capable of overcoming that past. Genghis Khan has been superseded by Jimmy Carter. The world's remaining barbarians, even those in our midst, will eventually come to learn the virtues of the Enlightenment, the powers of reason and the prospects of a democratic future.

On the other hand Mr. Harris's arguments should give us pause. And his book demands close attention even by those who would mistakenly consider him another form of berserk.
By taking a long view of history Mr. Harris argues that the modern view of how to vanquish enemies is based on false ideas: first, that history progresses; second, that it progresses toward greater influence of reason; and finally, that reason, through its powers, can overcome all opposition. Our smug disdain for the warrior, he suggests, is based on a mistaken view of the powers of modernity and the Enlightenment.

In Mr. Harris's view these errors are affecting the crucial confrontations now taking place between jihadists and Western liberal culture. We keep straining, he says, to see terrorists as if they were just slightly more extreme versions of ourselves, reflecting our own convictions, as if the jihadist were advocating destruction in the name of a version of liberalism.

A Palestinian blows himself up in a pizza parlor, a Shiite drives a car bomb into a crowded plaza of Sunnis (or vice versa), videotapes display beheadings and Internet sites herald massacres. Such horrific deeds are taken almost as proof of suffering, poverty, frustration. The surest cure for terrorism, the argument goes, would be to ameliorate injustice; in the meantime violence can be curbed with well-considered policing.

But Mr. Harris suggests that the jihadist is more accurately thought of as a fanatic, a warrior of the old school, whose technique has been remarkably successful over the centuries. Such warfare accepts no rules other than fealty to the tribe and accepts no compromise other than victory. Islam, he points out, has made "permanent conquests in every part of the world into which it has expanded with only three exceptions: Spain, Sicily, and certain parts of the Balkans": three areas where Islamic fanaticism was confronted with opposing fanaticism.

Mr. Harris argues that by failing to characterize Islamist warfare accurately, the West deludes itself, even employing another Enlightenment idea - tolerance - to grant harbor to those who seek to destroy it. And the West implicitly affirms that, in the end, reason will triumph.

But why? The Enlightenment had inordinate faith in itself and the evolutionary progress of history. But look closely at the few places in the world where these ideas have triumphed, Mr. Harris writes: their success is more fluke than destiny. Democracy and reason displaced warfare and fanaticism not because of their superior powers, but because of rare historical circumstances difficult to replicate (including, he argues, in Iraq). Their survival, far from being inevitable, is always tenuous; liberal societies will always need to live with war.

So Mr. Harris mounts a challenge, and even if we harbor less apocalyptic visions, that challenge is considerable. If we believe, as Mr. Harris affirms, that the societies that have arisen out of Enlightenment ideas, whatever their flaws, really are morally superior to others, if we are convinced that the values of the West are rare and crucial and fragile, then to what extent are we willing to make a stand on their behalf?

In the most extreme case, how does a liberal society embrace the practices of the warrior, which are inimical to its most fervent beliefs? Wouldn't this destroy precisely what's being defended? Mr. Harris can't fully imagine the ways in which liberal society will evolve under such circumstances, but he believes we will soon need to find out. And one way or another somebody like Genghis Khan will be involved.

Connections, a critic's perspective on arts and ideas, appears every other Monday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/arts/06conn.html?pagewanted=print 8/6/2007

Re: The world's biggest problems.

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 19:34:45 GMT

Here is a problem: A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives which could kill the attempt to install wind power on a broad scale, or even in your own back yard:

http://www.relocalize.net/wind_power_to_be_made_illegal_in_usa

Contact your Representative: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Re: The world's biggest problems.

Wed, 30 May 2007 20:12:23 GMT

Here is a link to an series of posts on the Gulf Stream http://www.climatepatrol.com/forum/10/2484/pg4/index.php

Here is a brief discussion quoted from www.theoildrum.com

PrisonerX on May 30, 2007 - 11:22am

I've been following the Gulf Stream Current flow since the theory first appeared 20 or so odd years ago. Something doesn't seem right with it right now, I mean much worse than before. They point out when looking at maps of the current now, that they have changed the way they "compute" it. Off the top of my head its called from "relative" to "absolute" or perhaps the other way around.

The way they used to compute it (don't have the exact date of the change over at hand, but it is fairly recent) showed the GS broken and very sluggish. Then they changed the way they compute it and it looks nothing like the old version. The current seems OK compared to the old views, but a current map shows it begins its turn a tad bit farther south before its northern turn.

A group of amateurs has been following it for the last couple of years and right now they are concerned. They seem to think it has stopped or is very close to it. The change over in computation of the current makes them wonder about what is going on. The water temps along the coasts (they claim) are below normal in the Gulf and along the Atlantic coast.

They do use charts etc. They noted since the time they thought it had shut down the weather in England turned very cold, as well as in Ireland etc. They also say its too early to make the claim as fact, but if things don't change they are wondering why the media is ignoring this. (welcome to the club guys).

Because of this they are thinking a big Hurricane is going to hit the Atlantic seaboard this summer. If it has shut down, NG is going to be a big topic in the British Isles and in the NE.

I can't say they are correct, I'm giving it a bit more time, but I can say that cold water pools have been making appearances for the last few years. If they are correct, the effects will be felt rather quickly, even the Pentagon report on Climate Change and the GS made this claim.

Looking at the current and temp charts and the buoy readings they have access to, it really seems to fly in the face of the recent claim that the current is stronger than ever I read the other day from a scientific group.

Anyone here follow this and notice this also.

Quid Clarius Astris
Ubi Bene ibi patria

Has anyone got any observations of comments?

Re: The world's biggest problems.

Fri, 25 May 2007 16:32:53 GMT

With all due respects, if a newcomer may butt in, are we not talking only about “symptomatic issues” here? There is a big difference between “big” issues and “core” issues. Even integral philosophy seems to miss this vital distinction.

Seems like a distinction without a difference. I admit I didn't read the whole site, but I think that the ideas of the privileges are explained if you look at a long term historical context (Merchantilism, imperialism, colonialism, etc., etc.). I agree with ocean that at the bottom overpopulation (and overshoot) is a root cause of all the problems we could list. Maybe the cause. But in Richard Heinberg's book there is a lovely little graph showing human history into the past and the future with the present in the middle. In the middle lasting about 200 to 250 years is the fossil fuel blip. sharp rise then a precipitous plummet. We are on the cusp of a radical rearrangement of the worlds living arrangement. The difference between this and other "Repent! For The End Is Near" predictions is that there are hard, real world facts/evidence for the onset of peak production of oil, and combined when with global climate change, ...well, problems such as international economic privilege are going to go out the window.

Without growth the international monetary system will crump of its own accord, globalism is a dead end without jet fuel and and diesel fuel and reliable electrical supplies (natural gas will decline too). The food supply is in dire peril. Billions will die of famine and disease... uh huh, Billions with a B, before this is finished. We have waited too long to stop it, because there are big lead times for technological change, and all the wishful thinking in the world, all the positive thinking, and incantations will have no impact on this catastrophe. The difference we can make is in preparing ourselves, but more importantly our children and grandchildren, to pick up the pieces in a way that might lead to a positive outcome. I am doomed, which is cool, but I still have time left to prepare my two kids, it will be up to them to teach my grandkids, because I don't expect the dust to settle in the lifetimes of either of my children.

I think discussing the big problems is important, but you might as well do some investigation first. I have listed a bunch of links here: http://pods.zaadz.com/zlounge/discussions/view/137699#137699 and there are more here: http://pods.zaadz.com/life_after_petroleum

As Matt Simmons said http://www.financialsense.com/Experts/2007/Simmons.html(A long time oil insider and investor): the people who are talking about a near term peak have data, the people who say, "Not to worry, plenty of oil" have no data, just warm fuzzy feelings and wishful thinking.

The time for wishful thinking is over, the time for action and preparation is here. It is time to wake up from our slumber.

The Curmudgeon

Re: The world's biggest problems.

http://Oceann.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:36:19 GMT

Great idea - the distinction is noted.
Yes, the evolution of human thought - and then commitment and action - is required to save our planet and us, let alone all the other species, quality of life, and so on..
To open minds to the problems and to seek solutions is the reason we're posting here - or at least, the reason I am.
I invite discussion and the trading of ideas as a great way to find solutions!

Re: The world's biggest problems.

http://goodworld.gaia.com — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:28:02 GMT

With all due respects, if a newcomer may butt in, are we not talking only about "symptomatic issues" here? There is a big difference between "big" issues and "core" issues. Even integral philosophy seems to miss this vital distinction.

A document at Saving Communities spells out this approach. I need to know if this makes sense to the podsters here.