Green Patchwork

The Exxon-Valdez oil spill is one of the world’s worst environmental catastrophes and the damage it has caused is greater than was previously thought. After many studies, scientists are realizing how large the impact is of this single event on the greater ecosystems. To learn more about oil spills read the Wikipedia link. Also, I just found an interesting video about how scary an oil spill can be and how much it impacts wildlife.

For those of you who live in Madison and want to eat meat, but without all the antibiotics, steroids, growth hormones, and anything else that goes into an animal before and after it is slaughtered, there are many retail options to find organic or naturally raised meats. I haven’t been to Artamos’ Specialty Meats and Deli yet, but I have eaten some of their products and think their store is a conscious carnivore’s delight. “All the organic meats featured at Artamos’ are free-range and raised without hormones, antibiotics and steroids. In addition, the animals are fed an all-organic vegetarian diet (no animal by-products), which is particularly important. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently posted about Canada’s oil fields and the major pollution being caused by it. But now I would like to write about something closer to home, right here in the U.S., and literally right in people’s backyards. In Brooklyn, NY., particularly Greenpoint and Williamsburg, there are neighborhoods of people living right next to major oil spills, buildings full of garbage, and nuclear chemicals. About fifty years ago there was a major oil spill larger than the Exxon/Valdez, but it was not taken care of and continues to be a problem today. If you have about 45 minutes to watch the whole series, Toxic Brooklyn on VBS.tv, you’ll be just as surprised as I was to find out how much our oil companies are getting away with.

To find the show, scroll through the ride side bar to find Toxic Brooklyn.

Last month I wrote a post about the Alberta tar sands which currently is providing the U.S. with 16% of their oil imports. I found another article on the topic in OnEarth magazine and what I read gives me a feeling of great sadness. Canadians are destroying a forest the size of Florida and creating a toxic wasteland that is unsafe for wildlife and will continue to emit greenhouse gases for a temporary oil fix. Read the article “Canada’s Highway to Hell”.

I have been to Arizona once just to see the southern rim of the Grand Canyon, but when I think of the rest of the state I think “hot and dry”. I think of it as being a desert state and not somewhere to live, but many people do live there and they deal with the heat thanks to air conditioning and sprinkler systems.

In a climate that would otherwise be inhospitable, we have built large cities and golf courses during times of abundant rainfall. Those times are over and now the dry west is heavily reliant on rainfall and the Colorado River. Rainfall has decreased and the water level of the Colorado River is at an all time low. So what is to become of the western states and their beloved golf courses?

Water is a precious commodity in the wild dry west and water shortages have ignited tensions between urban and rural users. Read this National Geographic article and don’t forget to look at the photo gallery.

I bet this will be news to you as it was for me. There are massive floating patches of garbage in the Pacific Ocean weighing over 3 million tons that are killing marine wildlife and releasing toxins that enter the human food chain. Most of the garbage is plastic that is breaking up and falling to the ocean floor. Marine wildlife are being poisoned by either eating the plastic or being smothered by the plastic (that falls to the ocean floor). This problem is not easily resolvable since there is so much garbage and because it is breaking up into tiny pieces that is impossible to collect. Also, there is no one to be held accountable for the mass of garbage in the ocean.

Read The Daily Galaxy’s article titled “Are there really ‘continents’ of floating garbage?’ to learn more about this issue and what you can do to help.