Who hasn’t thought, “There goes another one of those massive pest-trucks, clogging up my highway”? I’m guilty. I won’t think it again, thanks to this video.
[Allow time for the video to load, then right-click and choose “unmute” to get sound.]https://www.facebook.com/WellRoundedLifebyattn/videos/1950984405206511/
You’ve seen them, either in person or on TV–bursts of smoke and flame from oil and gas stacks. This process of “flaring” burns off wasted…wait for it…METHANE. Yes, they put hazardous, health-endangering methane into the air people breathe.
But doesn’t the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management oversee this to protect us? Yes and no. Soon possibly mainly no. Because that Department has proposed weakening what protections currently exist. Leaving the way open to more flaring, which means more methane into our air to poison it and increase the threat to life.
Read more about this and sign the petition to the Secretary of the Interior to urge him to oppose this proposal.
Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area now have bike-share programs. Rent a bike for an hour or a day to run errands, sight-see, etc. (More details can be found at http://bayareabikeshare.com.) Your city doesn’t have such a program? Propose it to your local governing board.
Why? Because if all Americans aged 10-74 walked or biked half an hour a day instead of driving we would save 6.5 billion gallons of gas and lose 3 billion pounds off our bodies!
[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.]
Buying a new BBQ to replace the one that gave out during your 4th of July celebration? Say “no” to charcoal or wood briquettes, which cause a ton of greenhouse gasses. Switch to an Energy-Star certified gas grill or maybe try one of the new solar grills.
[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.]
Although I’d love to switch from an environmentally harmful gas car, I’ve had several concerns. One is that there haven’t been any electric mini vans made (I need one to carry my handicap scooter), but that’s changing, according to this morning’s news. Another is the slow-moving plans for long-lasting batteries that can adequately be recycled once they die. Price, obviously, has been a factor, as well, although competition is starting to have some effect there. And my monthly electricity bill has been a deterrent–until I learned that gas would have to go down to a dollar a gallon to be as cheap as electric power for vehicles.
I look at old faithful–my 2004 Dodge Caravan–and know she won’t last forever. Maybe I’ll eventually replace her with an electric van. In may garage, at least, if not in my heart.
Can you explain something to me, please? When my father needed a new oven in the family bakery he saved up and bought it himself. When my son’s handicap equipment sales and service shop needed painting and plumbing repairs, he paid for it himself. When I needed updates to my computer and printer so I could carry on my writing and editing business, I used my own money. None of us went to our customers and said they had to chip in. And why would they, anyway?
Yet, our gas and electric company is seeking a rate hike–which the PUC will probably give–again–so they can repair and upgrade the pipes that carry their product. In other words, we customers will be the ones paying for their repairs and upgrades, not the shareholders or the company itself.
I don’t get it.
My husband, who served two tours as a submarine sailor, fondly talks about his experiences with dolphins at sea: escorting the sub back into port and playfully doing jumps across the sub’s bow. We read stories about dolphins saving human lives, protecting them and leading people out of danger. I often wonder if these peaceful animals don’t have an ocean-full of lessons to teach us humans.
But we’re putting dolphins, whales, and fish in danger so we can easily search for new gas and oil deposits in the Atlantic. We blast areas with super-noisy air guns to get at deposits that are estimated to yield far less (some say nine times) than reserves off the coast of Alaska. These seismic blasts, 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine, can cause death and injury to those creatures. Meanwhile, the Navy’s use of sonar and explosives may, according to their own estimates, kill more than 200 marine mammals a year.
What the &%@#! are we doing?! Surely the great minds in government and science can find a better, non-harmful, less selfish way to co-exist on our planet.
So what if five San Francisco Bay Area cities, including San Jose (http://www.vta.org/bike_information/bike_sharing.html) and San Francisco(http://www.sfbike.org/?bikeshare), are launching their bike-share program? Well, it encourages us to leave our car behind and rent a bike for an hour or a day while we run errands, go sightseeing, or whatever. (More details can be found at http://bayareabikeshare.com.)
This reminded me of some figures I ran into some time ago about what would happen if all Americans aged 10-74 walked or biked half an hour a day instead of driving: we would save 6.5 billion gallons of gas and lose 3 billion pounds off our bodies.
Something to think about…and try.
[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]
What would happen if all Americans aged 10-74 walked or biked half an hour a day instead of driving? We would save 6.5 billion gallons of gas (think of all the pollution NOT hitting our air) and lose 3 billion pounds off our bodies.
[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]
Avoid drive-throughs, warming up your car, talking in your driveway with your car running, and other needless idling, which releases double the emissions of a moving car and adds to air and noise pollution. It costs you a bundle in wasted gas, too: Americans squander at least $2 billion worth of fuel yearly on this activity.
[For more easy, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.] 