We had to do a t-shirt for the devastation we can’t bare to watch in the Gulf of Mexico. All proceeds from the sales of this shirt will go to groups helping the animals and marine life effected by the oil spill. Send a message to a politician or one of your other favorite people by sending them a shirt and at the same time you help.

Put it on a t-shirt of your choice HERE. Men’s, women’s and children styles.

I recently read this article and thought it was more than worth sharing. – Marvelous Mouth

We’ve all seen Mad Max and been frightened, if only a bit, by how savage a future it depicts. As extreme as that world may be, there is something about its resource-hungry depravity that seems almost tangible.

Our industrial society has a lot of looming problems. From acidic oceans to flooded cities, shrinking biodiversity to new super-bugs, it’s clear that something needs to be done to avert disaster.

Could health care save us from these impending catastrophes?

1. Foods that Kill

Our food is killing us. There are the salmonella outbreaks, the most recent of which cost more than a billion dollars to peanut growers. Then there’s our diet, which has left us obese, diabetic, nutrient deprived, and sick.

Food is central to any discussion of health care. A health care system that treats chronic disease as something cheaper and easier to prevent than treat, places pressure on the food industry to change. As Michael Pollan explains, “to keep from bankrupting ourselves, we will…have to get to work on improving our health—which means going to work on the American way of eating.”

2. Pandemic Disease

Changing the way we make food is tied closely with health care for an entirely different reason: It could prevent pandemic disease. Swine flu has its roots in the industrial agriculture system, and it’s not alone. Some researchers believe that MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staff infection that is becoming ubiquitous in hospitals, is the result of using regular antibiotic regimens on pig farms.

Then, there is the threat of diseases spreading to new regions as the planet warms. Tropical ailments like dengue fever could become problems in the now-temperate United States.

Health care could help avert these tragedies in two ways. First, it could take control of the use of antibiotics, ensuring that human drugs are not used irresponsibly and in ways that could create resistant microbes. Second, universally available health care will be better able to catch new diseases at their source before they have a chance to spread out of control.

3. Not a Drop to Drink

Droughts in California and Georgia, to name only two, have made it clear: The water crisis is global.

The most important thing we can do to avoid a peak water situation is protect the resources we still have. Incineration and disposal of medical waste pollutes the air and the water.

Our health care system needs to adopt a full-circle management approach that considers the production of medicine and supplies, their use, and ultimately their disposal.

4. Every Breath is Poison

Asthma, lung cancer, and even appendicitis: The air we breathe can make us sick. Recently, the EPA announced that greenhouse gasses pose a threat to public health.

A health care system that considered prevention valuable would be forced to pressure the government to regulate such public health threats. If government-backed health insurance costs increased based on the environmental risks of the insured’s residence, legislators would be motivated to take radical action to curb air pollution.

5. Home is Where the Toxins Are

Almost every home in America harbors a bounty of toxic chemicals and these toxins are not only under the sink or in the garage.

Lipstick, toys, and are all commonly cited examples of where toxins hide. While focusing on these individual sources makes for sensational headlines, it fails to miss the true scope of the problem. In 2005, it’s estimated that exposure to environmental toxins cost the health care industry upwards of $5.7 billion.

Eliminating or better controlling these substances would, in the words of one researcher, “significantly improve the state’s economic performance.” This is an understatement anyone in government could understand.

6. The Thermostat’s Broken

Climate change will affect your health in both minor and significant ways. Everything on this list will be made worse by a warming climate and, not even considering the implications it will have on health, climate change is expected to cost the United States $271 billion dollars by 2025.

A health care plan that advocated for locally produced whole foods, prevented the use of human antibiotics in industrial farming, regulated the production and disposal of medical supplies, demanded stronger action on dangerous emissions, and lobbied for stronger control of household toxins would, by default, position the United States as a leader in climate change action.

Any plan that does not address these environmental factors, or strive to correct them, will fail under the incredible cost of our dangerous lifestyle.

Read more HERE

Article from: http://www.treehugger.com

As much as I try to evolve to being that best human possible, I still resort back to wanting controls in the world on negative things like the over populated world becoming more over populated and harming everything natural and good.

The Phajoding monastery in Bhutan is threatened by the growing number of sightseers. The monastery has been around for centuries as the regions centre for solitary meditation.

A new underground train in Barcelona will threaten the famous temple of Antoni Gaudi.

Every wonder about disease? Care about your child’s health? Do something about it! This is 2009 and we are still acting like stupid primates or worse.
– marvelous mouth

from the GoodGuide Transparency Manifesto

We start from a simple premise: People have the right to know what they’re putting in, on, and around their bodies.

There are three simple things everyone should know about their food but don’t:
Where did it come from? How was it made? What’s in it?

In the United States, manufacturers of processed foods are still not required to label where a product came from, whether it contains genetically modified organisms, or was produced using synthetic hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides.

Additionally, government agencies, such as the FDA, continue to face criticism for falling short (marvelous mouth – they suck!) of their responsibility to protect the public from contamination and other food safety scandals.

GoodGuide and consumers around the world have launched the “What’s In It?” Campaign to demand transparency from our food producers.

We call on food manufacturers to disclose the following information about all products:

1. Where it came from:

* Disclosure of where ingredients were grown and processed. For meats, this should include where the animal was born, raised, and slaughtered.
* Tracking and labeling throughout the supply chain, with a process for tracing contaminant issues.

2. How it was made:

* The use of synthetic pesticides.
* The use of hormones.
* The application of antibiotics.
* The presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
* Animal cloning in meat and milk production.
* Food Irradiation
* USDA Organic production standards.
* Explanation of a company’s food tracing and contaminant control program from farm to table.

3. What’s in it:

* Complete ingredient lists, with details of common allergens, applied to restaurant items as well as store-bought foods.
* Nutritional information normalized to a standard serving size.
* Explanation of levels of nutrients that may be harmful (such as saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar).
* Contaminants such as pesticides, methyl mercury, or PCBs that remain in the product, even in trace amounts.

read more HERE and join the campaign