mind body planet

I don’t know if you have noticed much from me if you have read, but I am typically not much of a girlie type of girl. My whole life doesn’t necessarily function around those stereotypical “girl” things. THat said I want to talk about fashion today because one company that I frequently buy from is not only about style, but they are also very strongly political and environmentally concerned. As with all of my choices, the choice to buy this particular clothing is based on my own willingness to spend more for better and to use my money to represent what I think is important in the world. 

Patagonia is a clothing company specializing in outdoor gear, but they also sell yoga and casual items. Their entire company model is set up around maintaining sustainable production practices with a very limited environmental footprint while at the same time donating and remaining active as members of the conservationist movements around the world. Within the company they actively participate in wiring projects as well as environmental projects such as their big long term project called Free to Roam. This program is essentially and effort to preserve and help areas that are essential to wildlife migration. Through their help and the help of the other groups involved they protect these areas and allow the normal cycles of wildlife to go on as best as possible with the current level of human development in consideration. 

One of their other big projects is the protection and conservation of an area of the world that bears their namesake. The Patagonia region of Chile is a hugely important area of biodiversity within the South American as well s the world context. It has been the longtime plan of the Chilean government to build dams for power across two of the major rivers here. What Patagonia is trying to do in effect is to turn the entire region, which is pretty large, in to a Yellowstone style reserve and park. So far their work has been fruitful in at least keeping the dams from development in any way. But their work continues.

This is just one brad that works to use the money you spend one their products to create a better world for all of us. It’s a big example of how you dollar drives the politics of the world around you. Look for my next post when I will look at another company that is striving to use your dollar to create a better world.

It’s a bit late in the season to be talking about this now but I was wondering what I wanted to talk about today and for inspiration I looked at the fire going in our fireplace here at home. We bought a cord of wood about a month ago and we have been heating our house in this way for the season thus far. Though we have an oil heating system in the basement that kicks on when the temperature gets too low, we have been pretty steady in our efforts to keep our waste down and our house warm and comfortable. Though we have been pretty good about our heating situation, it could be much better than it is for relatively cheap. The only problem is the time it would take to create such a piping system for our house knowing that we will be moving out in the next few years. 

When it comes to heating your place when you are in college this is the common dilemma if you are concerned with keeping bills and waste low. For us the next step would not be to create such a piping system for our house but it would be to find a wood stove that would fit in to our fireplace. The efficiency of regular fireplaces like we have is pretty low. Most of the radiant heat. which is exactly what fireplaces are used for, is released right up the chimney with the smoke and embers. With a wood burning stove you get all of the surface area of the fire right in the house and then you can pipe that around the house if you know how to do it. For people out there with electric or only oil heat, the best thing I would have to say for you is that you really just need to look at your priorities because you may not need to walk around in your underwear all winter if you want to keep the bills low. It may just be sweater weather inside and out. 

If I had it my way though I probably wouldn’t use anything like this if it were my ow house that I have built i the future. I would most predominantly use something like geothermal heat, which is collected from underground pockets of heat like those that fuel hot springs. I would also utilize solar energy for the pumps and if needed, and probably for cathartic reasons, I would have a wood stove just because I love them. Even with sustainability in mind I still have to think of my sanity and there is very few things that stick out in my mind as better for the soul in the winter than sitting by a hot fire. 

I know that my last few articles have sort of jumped around a little bit and missed oe big thing that is sort of the key to my love of Organic foods. Organic farming is all based on the ideas of sustainability and on keeping the surrounding soil and ecosystem clean and preserved. For me my experience with it has been fun and interesting, though I prefer biodynamically raised foods, and I think everyone should know where their food comes from. 

The background about the real facts of pesticides is something that sheds a great deal of light on the importance of eating an organic diet.  Pesticides have been documented ad shown to cause some serious issues among the farmers who work with them.  Even when the techniques are done properly and precautions take, issues can arise from even a slight amount of simple exposure. Many phosphate pesticides are known to cause abdominal pains, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, as well as various skin and eye conditions. Then there are also other studies which have show much more serious problems like respiratory issues, memory loss, cancer, depression, and birth defects. I have never actually been a witness to any of these but the research doesn’t lie. 

One difficult point about pesticides in fruits and vegetables is when it comes to buying things from abroad. I have worked on Organic farms before in this country and the regulations you have to follow are pretty strict and you have to be quite rigid in every step you take ad what equipment is used every day. Each year the farms have to get checked and things have to be cleared by the certification organization so they maintain a very well ru operation. It was also my experience that these farmers were much more passionate about  their final product than just about their business. The issue for the health of the consumer arises because the organic standards in other nations is not the same as they are here. Other nations don’t place as much value on the same scientific research and thus some food enters the U.S. with levels of pesticides that are unacceptable here. 

I don’t want everyone going out now ad running for the hills because that’s not what I am saying is the solution. What I do what you to do though is read ad get yourselves informed because that is the only way anything is going to change. With your knowledge of what isn’t good for you then you can place your dollar and your power where it belongs.

I left off last time talking to you a little bit more in depth about the particulars of the Organic foods we see cropping up, pun intended, all over the grocery store. I’d like to keep that conversation going today ad get back in to in once again. I think that for now what deserves a little bit of attention are some of the particulars that I have experienced that you may not know much about.

I have worked as a farmer in the past at a few different locations. Several of these were Organic farms, some were not certified but could have been if they had the high cost of being certified. Then some of these places were not Organic at all and that was fine at the time for me. So I really have got to see a lot of differing practices when it comes to farming and the biggest issue for me at this point in my life is sustainability. I feel like the issue of whether or not we are poisoning ourselves slowly with pesticides is not nearly as pressing an issue as that of the complete degradation of the planet. If we have no planet then we have no species thus agricultural techniques are a moot point. Of course when we look at from that perspective the Organic farms are protecting the chemical balance of soil because there is no pesticides used. They are also much better at sustaining lots of biodiversity. This is something that conventional farms don’t really even consider. Organic farms are much more about nurturing rather than simply industrializing the growth of life on this planet. The only problem that some say arises from this is that Organic farms require much more land to grow the same amount as the factory farms. This means for some people that if we were to try and sustain the current world population on Organics we would in turn be leading to more destruction of rainforest to grow food. That would, if it actually was the case, would again negate the point of sustainability. 

I’m going to turn to one of my best resources for food information right now and finish today with a quick word about Michael Pollan. He is a world renowned author and scholar who has written a great deal on things like this. He has studied the primary documents ad the facts on the yields ad his view is simply that we could actually increase the world’s food supply by almost one half if we were to switch everything over to Organics. He claims that where the problem lies ow is in the diversity of types of farming. If we were to switch over today then things would have to change in every single ecosystem to accommodate and that would ot be reflexive of the simple industrial growth estimates that every is looking at.

Once again the class time is a callig and I must be gettin on. We’ll keep on with this discussion next time.

I know that in the past I have discussed organic foods and all of the broad topics that fall under that category but I would like to come back around to this idea again. We have once again reached the time of the year when the leaves fall and the temperature makes most agriculture impossible. Farmer’s markets will be closing up shop soon and leaving only winter markets which sell mostly meets and dairy products. This is an especially important time to know what kinds of things there are out there for you to buy when you go to the shelves at the supermarket. Knowing is half the battle and for those of you on a small student’s budget, then knowing where to compromise because of costs is also very important. 

What do we mean when we say Organic food? Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.  Livestock are reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones. In most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.  In the U.S. this is something you must watch out for though because there are still modified products out there. Personally I feel that free range meat is better than just organic. If you buy locally then I bet you could find organic and free range from the same producer without having to compromise on that piece of your diet. 

Organic food production is legally regulated. Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain organic certification in order to market food as organic.

Historically, organic farms have been relatively small family-run farms — which is why organic food was once only available in small stores or farmers’ markets. However, since the early 1990s organic food production has had growth rates of around 20% a year, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations. As of April 2008, organic food accounts for 1-2% of food sales worldwide. Future growth is expected to range from 10-50% annually depending on the country.

The benefits to organic farming are not simply for personal health reasons, but these purchases effect the biodiversity of the area and the sustainability of the farmland. The last two are things that traditional factory farms do not consider when laying out their production line. 

I have to go to class for now but we will keep talking about this next time. Stay tuned.

This week we got a big mix of what seems to be extremely troubling news about the financial state of the country and the world at large. Some pretty big actions have been taken by some of the biggest investment banks and the government to try and salvage the economy and the structure of our society at this point. I have been trying my best to simply ignore the things that I have been hearing because there is nothing I can do about it. All that the people down here on the bottom can really do is hope that everything works out in the end and try to keep going without the comfort we held before.

One of the way that I am doing this is by looking at a lesser known story from earlier in the week. This week GM unveiled their new electric car called the Volt. They held their little press conference and showed off the vehicle. I am sure that everyone who left that day with their corporate gifts in hand was happy to see the newest model, but sharing a question that I am also having around this story. What is the price for such a car?

GM showed off their new car as the latest in a long line of electric designs that has put this one at the fore. In terms of the marketability of this vehicle I think that they surely kept that in mind when designing it. We all have see the Toyota Prius, I love it, out there on the road and thought about how funny the design of the body is. It doesn’t look to me to be that aerodynamic and for many the fact that it is not what could be called stylish would shoot it right out of the pool of new cars they’d buy. The Volt ont the other hand is designed to be the most aerodynamic car GM has ever built thus making it look and handle like a sportscar of old. This sort of contradicts what we would think of when we imagine a hybrid or fully electric car but they have pulled it off here.  GM has also managed to create a product that those who car about environmental initiative can feel happy about. The battery life on this one is around forty miles and then the gasoline engine kicks in to keep the battery charged for hundreds more. It is also only about four cents a mile on avaerage to drive and charge this little baby up for around eight hours a night.

All in all I think that GM has made a winner here. I just hope that they don’t stop here and they move all the way in to the future with this design and they don’t kill it with the price.

MindBodyPlanet 23

It is the duty of the youngest generations of us to be idealistic and driven to change those things we see around us which give us pause. In my life there are plenty of things that force me out of my own little comfortable bubble and make me want to cry sometimes. When I find these inexplicable occurrences I choose not to ever hide my face and run away. These are lessons given to us from some higher power to make us open our eyes. 

You may be wondering why I have gotten myself all worked up and on this soap box. Well i am standing up here because I am now part of a little campus group that hopefully will turn in to something of a movement. We are a group of students for social change and we understand that as a group we must be committed to the betterment of social justice and living everywhere. We have structured ourselves much in the way of Amnesty international in our written guide, but we want to take a more active role in the social causes and how to change them. Where amnesty would be campaigning against the leader of a country who commits genocide, we would do the that but we would also look at the reasons buried under the genocide. 

One of our biggest committed issues is that of climate change. As you all know it is quite an intricate and divisive kind of issue in the country and around the world, and we want to take a big bite out of it. Our group has a greta liberal leaning in our stance on these issues and so we also wish to spread our word through dialogue. We have set up some speaking events as well as debates to try and bring more people in to the fold. At these events we will of course be giving out promotional gifts to help get our namer around. As with any group even promotional pens can turn your garage project in to Microsoft simply by landing them in the right hands. Through these meetings and discussions we want to not only further our own agenda, but try to bridge the political gaps that keep these issues in a dead lock. IF we as students can achieve even a few minor successes I think we can act as an inspiration or even a driving force behind some real change in the places where it really makes a difference. 

Mind Body Plant 21

I know we are all hearing various things about the current presidential race on every issue you can imagine. Every day it seems that there is some new issue being brought up and some big time speech being made on the issue. I will go ahead and just say that I am personally affiliated with the Obama campaign and there are just a couple of reasons for that. One of them being his stance on the issues of those who are oppressed, his views on rising costs of health care and health insurance, and the other thing is his stance on global warming. His policies and views on the issue are quite progressive and it seems to me that he is the only one of the candidates so far that has been fully committed to actually looking and working toward some kind of a solution to this complex and impending issue.

Of course when you look at all of the facts of global warming and the things that have come out of the scientific community, you can validate just about any view you want to. There are as many scientists with their own models for the future out there as there are viewpoints on the issue. Though the consensus is that there is an issue and that global warming is a human caused phenomenon at this point more so that a natural cycle, the effects of that influence are the murky area. Many people believe that we are standing on the doorstep of a catastrophic failure of all of the earth’s systems. Other believe that this is just a normal cycle of the weather on this planet. Then there are the shades in between.

I personally lean a lot farther towards the side of a catastrophic problem looming on the horizon. I think that we have seen enough powerful storms and pollution related problems, that even if the warming is not what does it, the destruction of food systems and ecosystem are what will. We as a species have taken advantage of this planet and turned it on it’s ear. We have lived for much too long and changed too many things to say that we have no power to stop what is going on. Business can adapt, people can change their habits, and society can learn to function without all of its waste. I think I am just one of many right now saying the same thing. This all part of the pendulum swinging the other direction. We had the industrial revolution a hundred and fifty years ago, now we have to have the green revolution today. If we do not make the right decisions here and now, our children may suffer, and theirs may never have a planet to live on.

There are many things in our environment that we all very deeply depend upon. These are what we call the natural resources and I am sure we’re all quite familiar with what they are. IF you read the newspaper at all or watch the news from time to time you will notice that they are mentioned as being sort of ambiguously in danger of becoming depleted. This is true, but the news is designed in such a way that if you don’t actively seek out the real stories, then you are missing the big picture. Most people don’t fully grasp the fact that this planet is in a grave situation right now and is in deep need of better care. Right now though, one resource seems to be popping up more and more as the cornerstone of what may become a global conflict for its ownership and distribution.

Water is without a doubt the most threatened natural resource we have on this planet. It comprises most of the composition of our bodies and so must be consumer by every single human being daily or serious problems will arise. At present, many scientists around the world feel that the situation of our rivers, aquifers, and fisheries are being severely tested and maybe even completely destroyed. In many places water purification is an enormous issue. Water purification may remove: particulate sand; suspended particles of organic material; parasites, Giardia; Cryptosporidium; bacteria; algae; viruses; fungi; minerals such as calcium, silica, and magnesium; and toxic metals like lead, copper, and chromium. Some purification may be elective in the purification process, including smell (hydrogen sulfide remediating), taste (mineral extraction), and appearance (iron encapsulating). Many places around the world need to highly purify their water because of extreme industrial influence on particular streams and river beds. Governments usually dictate the standards for drinking water quality. These standards will require minimum and maximum set points of contaminants and the inclusion of control elements that produce drinking water. Quality standards in many countries require specific amounts of disinfectant (such as chlorine) in the water after it leaves the water treatment plant (WTP), to reduce the risk of recontamination while the water is in the distribution system. This is why in this country many of us choose to filter our water yet again in our homes with tao filters and Brita filters. In other countries though, the option just isn’t there.

All of the statistics point to the fact that the world’s water systems are in crisis. We need to take immediate action if we wish to stop the loss of life that is already occurring due to unsafe or la complete lack of water around the world. According to a 2007 World Health Organization report, 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved drinking water supply, 88% of the 4 billion annual cases of diarrheal disease are attributed to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene, and 1.8 million people die from diarrheal diseases each year. The WHO estimates that 94% of these diarrheal cases are preventable through modifications to the environment, including through access to safe water. Simple techniques for treating water at home, such as chlorination, filters, and solar disinfection, and storing it in safe containers could save a huge number of lives each year. This is staggering for us, but many people live with these problems every day and we must do something soon.