Posts Tagged ‘environment’

Think. Motivate. Create.

Friday, June 25th, 2010

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Gulf Support T-shirt Sale

Friday, June 18th, 2010

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.

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Diasters and a Health Care plan that could save us

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

your choice

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

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and the Population Growth Continues to Harm

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

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.

Picture 1

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.

Picture 3

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

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How Green is ‘Green?’

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

green

In this week’s JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with Daniel Goleman, author of ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE, about how to find truly eco-friendly goods amongst the sea of products now marketed as ‘green.’

“Let me reassure you. Everything that we’ve done that’s ‘green’ is to the good. I recycle my papers and plastics, and I try to get the ‘green’ product. But once you realize, through the lens of the life cycle assessment, that every product has a thousand environmental, health, [and] social impacts, and you see that what we call ‘green’ has taken one slice and improved it, there’s still the 999 other things that we need to get better.” Daniel Goleman Read more HERE.

This was once again a great Bill Moyer’s Journal (I love this man) and what Daniel Goleman had to say was alarming, informative and he actually gave solutions that most reporting does not do. I haven’t read his new book yet, but I hope it does the same. No matter how little our present “green” effort is in fighting the big monsters, it is something and a start. Change happens generationally and of course we see some younger ones that may put us back some years, but it is never too late to try to reach people and get them to understand the impacts on a personal level so that they will give a damn and do the right thing. They have to see the personal impact for change to happen!! Sad, but true for most. It amazes me how many people I see with kids that don’t even try to be green. They don’t see the personal impact on their children. Wow!! Also know that most of these companies claiming to be green, going green or whatever, are full of crap. They will jump on any “bandwagon” that will bring them more sales. As Daniel talked about, this is one place we need to make change by telling them with our buying dollars and letters to their companies that we want them to change their ways and do the right thing.

The term “VOTE with YOUR dollars” is always relevant and this is a good place to apply this. Don’t complain, take postive action, big or small!

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Glue – Cool Stuff you have to see

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

This great endeavor has to be shared so we (Marvelous) are hoping you take a look and get involved. Cool stuff.

Glue mural

The Passion

Glue, Inc. began in 2005 with a fundraiser inspired by the thousands of Africans living in Nkhoma, Malawi, who are both directly and indirectly affected by poverty, the drought and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief effort showed evidence that people are willing to reach out and stretch their own funds when the need was brought closer to home. The challenge was to get people to care about those in need who are far removed from their daily lives. The solution was creating a party with a purpose to draw them in, inspire conversation, and provide a starting place for a much bigger community based on caring.

The fundraiser was a success. The San Diego community was joined by well-known artists, musicians, and brands with a common passion and purpose for helping those less fortunate. The amazing response showed many are not only willing to help, but looking for opportunities to do so. Dreams were formed of an ongoing network created for the sole purpose of helping and connecting people who aspire to make a difference.

The Purpose

Accelerating the shift from ?ME? to ?WE?.

thegluenetwork.com is on a mission to provide a network, a venue, the technology, the credibility, the content and the choices to enable individuals, causes and corporations to plug in, connect, act and make a difference. Simply put, the mission is to connect people to make a difference.

The Network

thegluenetwork.com is a cooperative, transparent, online community of passionate, purpose-driven people. thegluenetwork.com connects non-profit organizations, brands, bands, musicians, fans, athletes, artists and young people all over the world who want to, and can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. thegluenetwork.com changes the way people give of themselves, their talents and their resources ? and in so doing, thegluenetwork.com helps people change their own lives.

http://bridge.thegluenetwork.com/TheBridge

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