Tag Archive for City

Grow an Environmentalist

Because today’s children seldom get out of the city, when they grow up, not many choose environmental careers, resulting in fewer people to care for our planet. Help reverse the trend and have family fun doing it. Plant a garden with your kids. Watch it grow. Enjoy the colors, smells, and textures. If you grow vegetables, cook them together to enjoy at a family meal. Or take the family on walks. Many cities boast of several beautiful easy-walk trails where you can share nature’s sounds, sights, and smells. Probably, there are parks nearby, too, for picnics or just experiencing the wonders around you.  While on your outings, pick up trash you see and explain to the kids that, even if we didn’t cause it, we should show respect for our lovely surroundings.  That night your children should be tired enough to sleep soundly—and dream happy dreams of butterflies and forests.

Free Trees for Your Community

Trees, nature’s air purifiers, are inexpensive and easy to plant.  In my area (San Jose), there’s an organization called Our City Forest. It helps people choose the right tree for their location, demonstrates how to plant it, and gives it to to the person for free (donation requested).  If the person is older or disabled, they’ll even send out someone to plant it for them.

Does your community have such an organization? If not, propose it. See Our City Forest details at www.ourcityforest.org so you can offer your city some information about how a successful program can operate.

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[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

Shame: San Francisco and the Super Bowl

The good news:  San Francisco is spending $5 million on the homeless.  The bad news: they’re spending the money not on services or housing to help the homeless make better lives for themselves and their families but to move them out of sight in time for the Super Bowl.  S.F. has the 8th largest homeless  population in the U.S., yet the city is moving them to a small spot under a highway overpass–far away from Super Bowl Fan City.

My question is, Will the city and businesses then take a good chunk of the tourist money the Super Bowl will bring in and apply it in ways to get the homeless out of the ghetto the city has created and into needed healthcare (physical and mental), jobs, and housing so that these people never need to be hidden away again?

I doubt it.  And there’s the shame.

For details, go to http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-22/san-francisco-nudges-homeless-away-from-super-bowl-fan-village.