Thursday, October 28, 2010

50 Inspiring Blogs Fighting for Endangered Species

The Manatees Liked the Blog Post Too

Tina Marconi from Vet Tech wrote a blog post, 50 Inspiring Blogs Fighting for Endangered Species.

I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the post and the inclusion of Endangered Spaces blog. Thank you, Ms. Marconi.

Please stop by and view her post for other great green blogs.



Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Do Not Forget the Gulf of Mexico

The BP oil disaster happened during breeding season for 400 species of migratory birds and spawning season for sea turtles, shrimp, oysters and crabs.

Other species impacted were the brown pelican, the state bird of Louisiana and Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, the most endangered turtle in the world. What was really sad was that the turtles, covered with oil and disabled, were most easily caught up in the booms. Many of the turtles were burned to death when they fired the captured oil.

See http://endangeredspaces.blogspot.com/2010/06/bp-is-burning-endangered-sea-turtles.html

North American Bluefish tuna were already close to extinction. Whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatees, river otters, minks and thousands of other critters were impacted by BP.

I do not write to bring back bad memories to the folk who lost their livelihoods, but to keep the disaster at the forefront of the minds of environmentalists. We cannot forget the Gulf of Mexico.

Why? Because this disaster was managed without full disclosure to anyone by anybody. We have not seen the full catastrophe of what the oil did to the beaches because we were not allowed to.

Photographers have been run off beaches (for more information, view video):


http://endangeredspaces.blogspot.com/2010/09/homeland-security-patrolling-polluted.html

No one is addressing the huge plume of hydrocarbons remaining in the Gulf


On Good Friday, March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez was run aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Do you know that many of the litigants have died waiting on their settlement.
Litigation continues today.


Friday, October 22, 2010

Five Benefits of Freecycling

Have you ever cleaned out your attic, garage, or basement and wondered what in the world you were going to do with all the stuff you no longer needed? While your items are great at gathering dust and taking up space, they were made for specific purposes. What if you could find someone who could use your unwanted items? What if someone was looking for the very thing that you needed to discard? It is just this type of situation for which freecycling was created.



Freecycling, a hybrid of free and recycling, is a way for you to get rid of unwanted items you need and find things that you need – for free. Freecycling is really a community effort, and it offers those that take part many benefits. If others in the area in which you live do not participate in freecycling, you should think about starting your own freecycling community. It is easy to do, and it offers many advantages to the freecyclers and the planet.

Five Good Reasons to Freecycle

1. Reduce waste – by recycling things such as furniture, books, equipment, tools, and the like, it keeps these items out of our landfills. Instead of discarding unwanted items and relegating them to the trash bin, you can give your unwanted items to others that have a need for them.

2. Reduce environmental impact – not only does freecycling keep unwanted items out of the landfill, but it also reduces the pollution and costs associated with manufacturing and transporting new items. Freecycling can help you reduce your carbon footprint.

3. Save time – most freecycling communities are located within close geographical proximity. This benefits both those wishing to discard items and those in need of items. Long driving distances are not required, and you do not have to wait weeks to have an item shipped. You can get what you need both quickly and efficiently.

4. Save money – one of the best aspects of freecycling is the fact that it is free! It will not cost you any money to get the items that you need and you won’t need to spend much to revamp items to make them look almost as good as new. For instance, rather than buying a new sofa, a tired, unsightly couch can be given new life with a slipcover<. Old, scratched tables can be restored with a little paint, and tablecloths do wonders as well. 5. Make social connections – because freecycling occurs within a community of people, you will have the opportunity to meets other like-minded people that have a desire to protect the environment. Freecycling is an excellent way to get to know others that live in your area, and it is the ideal way for the community to share with one another.

Get Busy, Start Freecycling

With all of the benefits that freecycling offers, why not get busy and start freecycling today? Freecycling communities can be found online at www.freecycle.org, and you may be surprised at all of the great things you will find. If you have an abundance of unwanted goods, let the freecycling community know about it so your things can be reused and kept out of landfill. The way that the concept of freecycling has taken off all over the world proves that one person’s trash really is another person’s treasure and it offers all of us a chance to help the planet.



Thank you, Caroline Smith, for this wonderful guest post. Caroline writes for GetSlipcovers.com, a site all about sofa slipcovers and how they can be used to recycle old furniture. Caroline tries to make eco-friendly choices and enjoys finding ways to bring new life to older items that would otherwise be discarded.



Stop Open Pit Mine in Alaska

Bristol Bay
Right click on map to open a new window or tab with a larger map.


The latest outrage is a proposal by foreign investors to dig an open-pit gold and copper mine, two thousand feet deep and two miles long, in the watershed of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

However, the companies are taking precautions in the form of 50-story earthen dams. These dams will be tasked with holding back nine million tons of waste, polluted with cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic and other toxins--FOREVER. Uh-oh. The area lies in an active Earthquake Zone.

If the dams fail, the damage to the ecosystem would be catastrophic. The area waterways run with the world's largest sockeye salmon. These salmon are an integral part of the ecosystem that includes bears, whales, seals and eagles and a large population of Alaskan Natives who make their living fishing, hunting and guiding tourists.

Natives fear removal of the water from the headwaters of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River, will damage important fish habitats. The site sits at the headwaters of two major drainages that empty into Bristol Bay (Nushagak and Kvichak), and potentially poses a large threat to the region's water and salmon. This proposal has become a major political issue in Alaska, pitting pro-mining forces against local native villages and commercial and sport fishermen.

100% of mines with similar characteristics to Pebble
have contaminated nearby waters.


Lake Iliamna
Closest Lake to Mine Site
Most Likely to be Polluted

The struggle to keep this area pristine has been going on for years. You may read of this neverending battle on the Pebble Mine website or view a wonderful photograph survey on the AK Treking website,

However, recently, National Resource Council (NRDC), has become involved. The companies behind the mine are BIGGIES: Britain's Anglo American and Rio Tinto, Canadian Northern Dynasty Minerals and Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation.

Don't Get Fooled Again!

Take Action

The following message, urging Americans to tell mining giant Anglo American to abandon its plans for digging the disastrous Pebble Mine in Alaska's wildlife Eden of Bristol Bay, was sent by http://www.SaveBioGems.org

Dear Friend,

Last spring we ratcheted up the pressure on Anglo American and its disastrous plan to build a mega-mine in Alaska's pristine Bristol Bay watershed.

We presented a Petition -- signed by 100,000 concerned Americans -- at Anglo's Shareholder's Meeting on Earth Day!

But in the wake of the Gulf oil spill disaster, we need to do more. It's time to tell Anglo American we're not buying its promises of environmental responsibility. BP made plenty of promises, too. Then it proved that corporate claims ring hollow and worst-case scenarios do happen.

Tell Anglo American you don't want another corporate giant gambling with the future of a priceless ecosystem.

http://www.savebiogems.org/bristolbay/pebble/action
<-Take Action

Oil, gas and mining companies like to say: Trust us.

Anglo American is promising plenty of studies and environmental impact statements. They will claim that a massive release of mining waste is a 'worst case scenario' that will never happen.

They will claim that Bristol Bay - the world's largest salmon fishery and home to abundant bears, moose and caribou - is in no danger from the colossal Pebble Mine.

How gullible do they think we are?

Every large copper and gold mine on Earth has suffered spills and other disasters, including acid runoff and mercury contamination.

Anglo American's own plans say that the Pebble Mine will spew some 10 billion tons of mining waste, laced with toxic chemicals, that must be stored behind massive earthen dams FOREVER in an active earthquake zone.

Nothing lasts forever. The only question is, when will those dams fail?

The wildlife, fishermen and Native communities of Bristol Bay cannot afford to find out the answer, because they stand to pay the ultimate price in a devastated ecosystem.

Please stand in solidarity with them by telling Anglo American you won't let them roll the dice with Bristol Bay.
http://www.savebiogems.org/bristolbay/pebble/action <-Take Action Polluters like to think our attention spans are short. They believe they can wait until "the storm blows over," and then go back to business as usual.

Let them know they're wrong. Tell Anglo that, after the Gulf spill, you're not buying any more corporate promises.

Sincerely,

Peter Lehner
NRDC Executive Director



Monday, October 18, 2010

America Pulls Off Plan B in Chile

Well, I missed Blogger Action day and Green Peace action day. I guess I have to turn in my hybrid car and "think green" bumper sticker. Sorry to drop out of sight. We took a one week road trip that s t r e t c h e d to three weeks. It was a wonderful time for swimming, kayaking and feeding all the deer at Lake Medina. They are so tame, they will eat out of your hand.



I also wanted to say God is Good to the Chilean miners who were freed last week. This rescue is the most heroic of this century. It made me proud to be an American when I heard that Plan B was mostly American ingenuity and machines.

U.S.-Chilean company Geotec Boyles Bros. operated a specialty drill, capable of creating shafts large enough to fit the men without collapsing. Then, working with Chilean crews, Geotec's Kansas-based partner came up with the plan to get the miners to the surface almost two months earlier than the Christmastime date originally projected.

Expert driller Jeff Hart, a contractor from Denver, Colorado, was called from Afghanistan to man the drill. Jeff drilled for 33 days straight, through tough mineral ore, to reach the men trapped more than 2,000 feet below. That was a heroic feat, Jeff!

Many thanks to everyone who had a part in raising those miners to the surface. It was an incredible miracle and an awesome testimony to the heart of the Chilean miners. Chile! Chile!