WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY? It is a term used by scientists to describe the variety of life on Mother Earth. The interconnectedness of all living things. We humans are blinded by civilization. We think we own the Earth and stars. We think we can destroy, change, or alter anything within our power. Knowledge IS power. Having the knowledge and awairness of the environmental crisis the Earth is in makes it easy for change. Environmental awareness is changing many peoples outlook, for example recycling. Small things can cause great impact on our environment.
Earth Day 2010 April 22nd. Plant some flowers, plant a tree!! Add an indoor plant to your home.
Nature, we use nature as a source of our recreation and take from it without giving. Every little thing can help. Some examples are: make sure your motor boat does not leak fuel and oil into the water, choose organic golf courses to play on. Did you know a golf course can be one of the most toxic sites on earth? If going "off-roading" stay on trails, and put something back into nature, plant a tree or volunteer some time cleaning up along a beach, river or road.
HONORING TRIBAL RIGHTS WHILE PROTECTING PARKS. In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill creating Death Valley National Monument, home of the Timbisha Shoshone. The new law confined the tribe to a tiney remnant of their lands. In 1999 Tribal Chairperson Pauline Esteves says "deal will give us an opportunity to stay on our homeland in a selfsufficient, sustainable, and spiritual way." The tribe will acquire thousands of acres, and may build houses, an inn, and other structures. On another 300,000 acres at Death Valley, upgraded to a National Park in 1994, the tribe will resume traditional harvesting activities and will interpret cultural and natural history for visitors. This is an example of what The Wilderness Society is up to.
Unique trees will help the planet's atmosphere. Imagine the emissions from thousands of cars every year. This totals almost 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years. That is how much carbon pollution will be removed from the Earth's air if a new project is funded. The "Klinki Forestry Project" which will demonstrate how farmers can help the environment by using the latest tree farming technology. To learn more about the Klinki project and how it will help improve the environment, check out Reforest.
The MILLER-BOXER BILL is very important. Did you know in the U.S. alone we are losing 7,000 acres of farmland, wetlands, wildlife habitat and other open space every single day. That's 2.5 MILLION ACRES every year! Find out what you can do to help stop suburban sprawl. Visit the National Resources Defense Council.
Cutting grass produces pollution, and I'm not talking about the obvious power lawn mower. When grass is cut it releases methanol and ethanol amoung other compounds. Mowing can account for as much as 10 percent of hydrocarbons entering the atmosphere. You can help by choosing natural landscaping or by mowing on cool days not during smog-alert / ozone days.
Take a byte out of energy use, screensavers do not save energy. They use as much power as your spreadsheets. In "sleep" mode a computer will suck up energy. The amount of energy used by leaving your computer on all the time for a year could add up to 300lbs. of carbon going into the atmosphere. Turn off computers if they are not going to be used within 4 or more hours.
Of trash that we Americans throw away every day, 30% by weight is packaging alone. In 1993, we threw away 14 billion pounds of plastic packaging.
It takes a GLASS BOTTLE 1 MILLION YEARS to decompose, an ALUMINUM CAN 80-100 YEARS, NYLON FABRIC 30-40 YEARS, PLASTIC FILM CONTAINER 20-30 YEARS, PLASTIC BAG 10-20 YEARS, CIGARETTE BUTT 1-5 YEARS, and a ORANGE or BANANA PEEL takes 2-5 weeks.
While the U.S. makes up only 5% of the worlds population, we produce 72% of all hazardous waste and consume 33% of the worlds paper.
Millions of pounds of toxic chemicals, like lead, mercury and pesticides, pour into our waterways each year contaminating wildlife, sealife and drinking water.
Did you know that you can do almost all your cleaning and laundry with safe and basic ingredients as lemon juice, baking soda, vinegar, borax, salt, and olive oil? I've compiled some recipes for Earth friendly cleaning. Check them out!
Some of the most important foods to buy organic are: rice, strawberries, grains, milk, corn, bananas, green beans, peaches, and apples.
We are losing national treasures like the Everglades, Lake Superior, and the Columbia River System to toxic pollution, chemical spills, development, and diversion of freshwater flows.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
1. Get excercise as well as help out the environment. Pick up trash along your road.
2. Recycle. Make a bin outside to hold all your recyclables. Make one day a month to turn it in.
3. Purchase organic foods. Grow your own.
4. Get involved with an environmental organization. Knowledge is power.
5. Dont use weed killer or pesticide. These are harmful to your body and the environment.
Golf courses and your own lawn can be very toxic sites. The amount of chemicals used to keep grass perfect is outrageous. "Weed" killers are trickling down into aquifers and we end up drinking and bathing in it. Wildlife is suffering. Society is playing a game called "keeping up with the Joneses". People want their lawn to look better than the one next door. Some sub-divisions even have codes about lawn care. If having yellow flowers through out your lawn were advertised and made popular, your local nursery would be selling dandelion seeds, which are herbs. The lush green "weed" free lawn idea came from another country. England and Ireland have suitable climate for naturally thick green grass. It is beautiful, but in the U.S. it takes harmful chemicals and lots of water to keep a lawn perfect. There are grasses which thrive in your region, study up on which ones they are, and go the natural route instead of the sod. As for the golf courses, let them know you are concerned about being on the greens. If enough people are aware and work for change, it will happen. If no one speaks out things will continue to get worse....
Weeds are plants too, and they have a purpose.
DO:
*Spread compost on the lawn every fall. *Cut grass no shorter than 3 1/2 inches high. *Leave the clippings on the lawn. *Sharpen your mower blades regularly. DON'T:
*Cut off more than 1/3 of the grass at a time. *Use pesticides, they kill the soil life that keeps grass growing healthily. *Overwater, it is more damaging than underwatering. *Aerate and dethatch, these tactics do more harm than good.
We humans seem devoted to growth just like bacteria. We yearn to propagate our kind yet our devotion to growth endangers Mother Earth by using up resources, accelerating pollution and driving other species to extinction. We are becoming more gluttonous and greedy. What are we selfcentered ravenous creatures to do? We keep pushing limits of oil burned, vehicles on the road, hamburgers sold, babies born, and acers paved - until one day nature puts us back to ground zero. Or we may choose to care, striving to live simply and conservingly. Today we can ignore what is going on around us, but tomorrow we will wonder why we neglected to do something yesterday.
Environmental Protection Agency
HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW CONIFERS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AS THEY AGE THEIR GRAIN GRADUALLY SPIRALS TO THE RIGHT? More branches and needles grow on the sunny side of trees. When exposed to a prevailing wind, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, over time this torque shows in the grain. Natural selection may have favored trees with grain that helps foliage cope with a west wind. That's the theory.
~~HONORABLE MENTION~~
Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring" and "The Sea Around Us" touched off the age of ecology. During the 1950s Carson started looking into ecosystems and the effects of the agricultural chemicals such as DDT. Critics with close ties to growers and marketers of chemicals called Carson a "cultist". She built a convincing case that biological systems were being upset by careless use of pesticides.
