Filed under: Uncategorized
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everone!
Filed under: care, children, eco-system, environment, family, farmers markets, food, food pyramid, locally grown food, picked fresh
With obesity becoming a major epidemic in our country I think we all need to pay close attention to our diets and our food sources. I do not think that the government food pyramid is correct, although with the recent change it is better but still not what it should be. I received government assistance for a while from two different agencies. They do not really counsel a person to make healthy food choices and many times people will choose the cheapest foods. The cheapest foods usually contain white processed flour and mega corn syrup. The government should spend more time promoting fresh, healthy, locally grown foods-supporting the small farmers and companies instead of the huge corporations.
Look closely the next time you go to the grocery store. Do you automatically turn towards the ‘fresh’ fruits and vegetable section or do you head to the boxed meals, breads, cereals and pasta section? Most of the food in today’s supermarkets is either processed, has made a long trip from picking to final destination or has been genetically modified in some way (which they do not want you to know).
How many times are we tired at the end of the day and just stop for some fast food slop that is virtually empty calories and bad fats. If we make better choices with our dollars, DEMAND better products with our dollars then big companies will listen and provide them.
Shopping locally from farmer’s markets will ensure you fresh, healthy food provided they have not used chemicals and pesticides on the produce. Better yet if you grow or wild harvest your own food you know where it came from, where it’s been and what is on it. Plus you are reducing global warming by either growing your own or buying local. If your broccoli doesn’t have to be shipped from California think of all of the money, carbon pollution and energy that can be saved.
I found a wonderful food pyramid based on a Native American tribes eating patterns. It is something everyone should check out. I believe that eating in a way such as this would greatly reduce and help to eliminate the health problems we are facing related to diet and obesity.
http://www.blpublications.com/html/foodpyramid2.pdf
There is great wisdom in eating foods that are in season and available in your local area. Is it any wonder why our Creator made fresh foods so colorful and appealing to us?
Filed under: batteries, care, children, decompose, eco-system, environment, family, food, Keep America Beautiful, lead poisioning, litter, plastic bags, pollution, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Redude reuse recycle, trash
I live in a very rural area in a small town. I take my things to the next larger town to recycle, which I do gladly, but they limit what types of things they will take. So what do you do with all the other things such as smoke detectors, paint, household chemicals, batteries etc? At www.earth911.org you can type in your zipcode and it will bring up a list of recycling centers statewide and nationwide. You can even look according to topic…such as batteries. When we have facilities such as this there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for not recycling!
Filed under: care, decompose, eco-system, environment, family, food, Keep America Beautiful, litter, pollution, Redude reuse recycle, stats, trash, Uncategorized
I ran across some interesting statistics on trash here in Missouri. People either do not stop to think about the things they use and throw away or they just do not care. For those who do not care I would recommend an attitude adjustment session.
| Type of Litter | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Fast Food Waste | (33%) |
| Paper | (29%) |
| Aluminum | (28%) |
| Glass | (6%) |
| Plastic | (2%) |
| Other | (2%) |
Source: Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) survey of Adopt-A-Highway volunteers – 1994
Here is how long it takes some things to decompose…..
| Object | Decomposition Time |
|---|---|
| Styrofoam container | > 1 million years |
| Plastic jug | 1 million years |
| Aluminum can | 200-500 years |
| Disposable diaper | 550 years |
| Tinned can | 90 years |
| Leather shoe | 45 years |
| Wool sock | 1 year |
| Paper bag | 1 month |
| Banana peel | 3-4 weeks |
The next time you grab a cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup, think about the one million PLUS years it will take for that cup to decompose.
Primary sources of litter: (KAB Research, 1998)
- Pedestrians
- Drivers
- Household garbage cans
- Commercial dumpsters
- Demolition Sites
- Loading Docks
- Trucks With Uncovered Backs
Five types of people with respect to litter:
- Non-litterers – environmentally conscious, don’t litter and usually pick up litter of others
- Inconvenients – too hard, too much trouble, someone else’s problem
- Ignorants – these people are simply unaware of a link between the environment and their litter behavior
- Willful Arrogants – usually litter in a context, i.e. “It’s okay to litter in urban areas but not in the country”
- Anti-establishments – make a statement with purposeful littering
Let’s wake up everyone and be responsible with our actions!! Look for recycling centers in your local area, they are there!!
Stats from www.nomoretrash.org
Filed under: American Indian, care, commerical, eco-system, environment, Iron Eyes Cody, Keep America Beautiful, pollution, Redude reuse recycle, Uncategorized
How many of us remember the commerical that Iron Eyes Cody performed for the Keep America Beautiful campaign in the 1970s? I remember as a child being so struck with a heavy heart every time I watched it. I wanted to cry right along with Iron Eyes. Go view the commerical again.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=87S0jmdYCWI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GlyRRDi1eAw&mode=related&search=
It would have been wonderful if we had listened back then, almost 40 years ago. But things have gotten so much more worse. When will we wake up and see what we have done?
Filed under: batteries, care, eco-system, environment, family, food, plastic bags, Redude reuse recycle
When you see a plastic bag blowing across the road in front of you do you give it a second thought? Every year an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used by consumers worldwide. That breaks down to about one million per minute. Does anyone see a problem there? Many marine animals and sea life die each year from eating plastic bags. They do not biodegrade but break down into smaller toxic pieces that contaminte the soil and water systems and eventually end up in the food chain. ( Facts taken from Reusablebags.com) BYOB = Bring Your Own Bag. Take reusable and sustainable bags to the store with you to pack your items in. It is so simple and no more flimsy bags breaking on you when you are carrying your items into the house!
This is only a small part of the grave injustices we are committing against our Earth…..our home. If we would only stop to think, and more abundantly CARE, we could stop this from happening. A conscious effort in the beginning leads to a lifetime of good habits.
Some other simple things we can all do are these. Replace your existing encandescent light bulbs with energy efficient CFLs or compact flourescent lightbulbs. Incandescent bulbs use only 10% of their energy to emit light, the other 90% being wasted as heat. For each kilowatt of energy used, power plants release an average of 1.34 pounds of carbon dioxide into the environment. The impact of replacing an incandescent bulb with a CFL is a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by over 700 pounds over the life of the bulb. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that if every home switched to CFLs in just ONE room CO2 emissions could be reduced by over one trillion pounds. Carbon dixoide plays a big role in the problem of global warming.
Buy rechargeable batteries and recycle them at the end of their life. Thousands of tons of household batteries are thrown away each year and these ultimately leak chemicals into the ground which is deadly for wildlife and the ecosystem.
Just think before you act. That would save so much horrible pollution to our environment!!
Filed under: children, eco-bags, family, food, lead poisioning, Lunchbags, school lunch
With all of the advocacy for lead free products in the past years who would have begun to think that your child’s lunchbag may be laced with this toxic substance? I know that I did not even give it a thought this past fall when shopping for school supplies.
Here is an article recently published on CNN that says our wonderful government knew of this problem back in 2005 and was testing the soft vinyl lunchbags. They found that one in five contained unsafe levels of lead and one in ten had hazardous levels. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/18/lunchbox.lead.ap/index.html
It seems the ‘governments that be’ cannot agree on what is safe and what is not. In my humble opinon, any level of lead is too much, especially where my children are concerned.
Lead poisioning affects both adults and children but it is children who are most vulnerable to it. Even very low levels of lead exposure can cause things such as learning disabilities, behavioral problems, stunted growth, attention deficit disorders, kidney damage, lower IQs and hearing impairment. Children with exposure to high lead levels may fall into a comatose state, be mentally retarded and may even die from the lead exposure.
So manufacturers thought to put this into a child’s lunchbag where it is readily accessible to get into their food supply? Here is a link that shows some of the bags that are tainted, in case you may have one.
http://www.cehca.org/PhotosandFactsheets.htm
That link also lists some alternative companies that are selling lead free bags. Another great company that I like is www.ecobags.com. In addition to lunchbags they also have eco-friendly shopping totes (no more plastic store bags!!!) and a few other items.
Filed under: Uncategorized
It’s an absolute beautiful day out today. The sun is shining brightly, warming the earth from a long winters nap. My freespirit is also awakening. This would be a perfect day to climb on the back of a kindred spirit, no reins no bridle, just letting the awesome creature roam where it may, becoming one with the sun, the air, the echos of long ago.
The wind is gently blowing making it a perfect day to use my solar clothes dryer. I’ve heard from some that where they live in the city they are not permitted to have solar dryers. My thoughts on that are that I would not even consider living in such a place. Give me fresh air, sunshine and wide open spaces. As well as solar dryers are super for the enviroment and the soul. What have you done to reduce your carbon footprint today?
Filed under: Uncategorized
I saw posted on a friends blog that she knows how to belly dance. This sounds extremely interesting and fun as well as getting a good ab workout. I just ordered some instructional dvd’s on belly dancing and I’m anxious for them to get here so I can learn how. Are there any other belly dancers out there?
Filed under: Uncategorized
I am a respiratory therapist by trade and cold and flu season is in full swing. One of the best and easiest ways to keep from getting a cold or flu is to practice nasal washing. It may sound a bit odd but it really works and it’s very easy to do. You can either buy a neti pot which is washable and reausable or you can buy premade bottle systems. Basically you place your tongue to the back of your throat, tilt your head sideways a little bit and pour in the saline solution into one nare or side of your nose. It will run through your nasal passageway and come out the other side flushing out any germs and debris along with it. When germs can’t stay put they can’t grow and make you sick. This is also excellent for those who suffer from airborne allergies and sinus troubles. You can buy premade saline solution packets to mix with water or you can make your own with 8 oz. distilled warm water a half teaspoon of salt. Go to www.nasopure.com for more information.
This statement is in no way intended to take the place of your physicians advice, but is an excellent preventive measure you can easily perform at home.
Freespirits, Freestylin and Nature 