Jason Chatraw
Blog
Was Obama Right about Tires? Aug 20, 2008
How proper automobile maintenance really can save the environment
Addressing our dependence on foreign oil by "urging" Americans to make sure their tires are properly inflated is like trying to lasso a bucking bull with dental floss--it's doomed for failure. Despite Senator Barack Obama's good intentions becoming the full-on... more
It's in the Can Aug 15, 2008
How to keep those garden fruits and veggies from going to waste
In our shrinking global world, it's easy to forget that food isn't in season year round in your neck of the woods. But you wouldn't know that from a quick visit to the produce section of your grocery store. Every... more
Going for the Gold Aug 12, 2008
... in clutterless living, that is
As I was sitting on the couch last night watching Michael Phelps win another Olympic gold medal by beating a field of swimmers that looked so slow in comparison that maybe they were wearing floaties, my wife organized our cutlery... more
Air Quality Overwhelming? Aug 8, 2008
Book addresses how social change is leading in battle to save planet earth
With the 2008 Summer Olympics opening today, the truth about China’s vast environmental issues will come to light—that is, if the sun is able to get through Beijing’s thick smog. One article I read even joked that one good thing... more
Small Acts of Anonymous Mercy Aug 5, 2008
How little things you do change the environment—and the world
I often get overwhelmed when a seemingly insurmountable problem looms over me. It’s not that I really think most problems are insurmountable, it’s just that I see them taking way longer to resolve than I want to work on them.... more
High Gas Prices Have You Feeling Low? Aug 1, 2008
David Wann offers tips to create a sustainable lifestyle to beat the blues
While ExxonMobil continues to set quarterly records through prices at the pump, most Americans are scrambling to figure out how to create a sustainable lifestyle that will weather an economy on the verge of a genuine recession. Though gas prices... more
Free Money to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Jul 29, 2008
Well, only if you're from Toronto, but here are some ideas for you, too
The city of Toronto has a program called "Live Green Toronto" that is offering citizens grants for ideas that would reduce their carbon footprint. It may take a while before any U.S. cities follow suit, but this great idea will... more
Jimmy Carter Gives a Dam about Saving Water Jul 28, 2008
And how you can, too
Jimmy Carter may have presided over one of the darkest times in our nation's history, but he's determined to be remembered for something other than being a lousy president. Now the former president is building a legacy that may prove... more
Filling Up Your Freezer Jul 21, 2008
How to make farm-fresh food last all year round
While out at lunch with a friend, the discussion of green living came up in regards to food. My friend was pondering what people ate prior to refrigerators and other appliances that keep food fresh. The simple answer was that... more
When Should You Buy Organic? Jul 11, 2008
What You Need to Know to Make Safe and Healthy Choices
Sometimes when I go to the grocery store, I think my head's going to explode. In those rare moments when my toddler daughter isn't ripping food off the shelves, I try to figure out what is the best purchase to... more
A Canadian company, Naturally Nova Scotia, makes supplements from foods instead of synthetics. The have vitamin C from fruit, herbal tinctures, green drinks, vitamin D3, and others.
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shehanaaz
Supplements from Foods
Click on the link below to get more on cooking Green food and other health stories, tips & tricks and Recipies.
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vikbaba
Cooking-Cooking
Great post on Van and 'Green Collar Economy.' I wanted to pass along a link that allows you to read an excerpt of the book online for free! It is a great resource. You can just copy and paste the URL below:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspxisbn13=9780061650758&wt....
Thanks,
Laura Ortberg
Asst. Publicist, HarperOne
We had a home energy audit on our home last fall and are very glad we did. It took around 2 hours and the report we received contained easy to understand charts, graphs, our house's EnerGuide rating, a comparative EnerGuide rating for similar homes, numerous home energy conservation tips and several recommendations specific to our home. Nice to know we have sufficient attic insulation, for example.
We have written about the report we received if others are interested on the ECOENERGY page of our home web site, including all of the above.
Dan
DailyHomeRenoTips.com
Last Child in the Woods ––
Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,
by Richard Louv
Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D.
November 16, 2006
In this eloquent and comprehensive work, Louv makes a convincing case for ensuring that children (and adults) maintain access to pristine natural areas, and even, when those are not available, any bit of nature that we can preserve, such as vacant lots. I agree with him 100%. Just as we never really outgrow our need for our parents (and grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.), humanity has never outgrown, and can never outgrow, our need for the companionship and mutual benefits of other species.
But what strikes me most about this book is how Louv is able, in spite of 310 pages of text, to completely ignore the two most obvious problems with his thesis: (1) We want and need to have contact with other species, but neither we nor Louv bother to ask whether they want to have contact with us! In fact, most species of wildlife obviously do not like having humans around, and can thrive only if we leave them alone! Or they are able tolerate our presence, but only within certain limits. (2) We and Louv never ask what type of contact is appropriate! He includes fishing, hunting, building "forts", farming, ranching, and all other manner of recreation. Clearly, not all contact with nature leads to someone becoming an advocate and protector of wildlife. While one kid may see a beautiful area and decide to protect it, what's to stop another from seeing it and thinking of it as a great place to build a house or create a ski resort? Developers and industrialists must come from somewhere, and they no doubt played in the woods with the future environmentalists!
It is obvious, and not a particularly new idea, that we must experience wilderness in order to appreciate it. But it is equally true, though ("conveniently") never mentioned, that we need to stay out of nature, if the wildlife that live there are to survive. I discuss this issue thoroughly in the essay, "Wildlife Need Habitat Off-Limits to Humans!", at http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/india3.
It should also be obvious (but apparently isn't) that how we interact with nature determines how we think about it and how we learn to treat it. Remember, children don't learn so much what we tell them, but they learn very well what they see us do. Fishing, building "forts", mountain biking, and even berry-picking teach us that nature exists for us to exploit. Luckily, my fort-building career was cut short by a bee-sting! As I was about to cut down a tree to lay a third layer of logs on my little log cabin in the woods, I took one swing at the trunk with my axe, and immediately got a painful sting (there must have been a bee-hive in the tree) and ran away as fast as I could.
On page 144 Louv quotes Rasheed Salahuddin: "Nature has been taken over by thugs who care absolutely nothing about it. We need to take nature back." Then he titles his next chapter "Where Will Future Stewards of Nature Come From?" Where indeed? While fishing may bring one into contact with natural beauty, that message can be eclipsed by the more salient one that the fish exist to pleasure and feed humans (even if we release them after we catch them). (My fishing career was also short-lived, perhaps because I spent most of the time either waiting for fish that never came, or untangling fishing line.) Mountain bikers claim that they are "nature-lovers" and are "just hikers on wheels". But if you watch one of their helmet-camera videos, it is easy to see that 99.44% of their attention must be devoted to controlling their bike, or they will crash. Children initiated into mountain biking may learn to identify a plant or two, but by far the strongest message they will receive is that the rough treatment of nature is acceptable. It's not!
On page 184 Louv recommends that kids carry cell phones. First of all, cell phones transmit on essentially the same frequency as a microwave oven, and are therefore hazardous to one's health –- especially for children, whose skulls are still relatively thin. Second, there is nothing that will spoil one's experience of nature faster than something that reminds one of the city and the "civilized" world. The last thing one wants while enjoying nature is to be reminded of the world outside. Nothing will ruin a hike or a picnic faster than hearing a radio or the ring of a cell phone, or seeing a headset, cell phone, or mountain bike. I've been enjoying nature for over 60 years, and can't remember a single time when I felt a need for any of these items.
It's clear that we humans need to reduce our impacts on wildlife, if they, and hence we, are to survive. But it is repugnant and arguably inhumane to restrict human access to nature. Therefore, we need to practice minimal-impact recreation (i.e., hiking only), and leave our technology (if we need it at all!) at home. In other words, we need to decrease the quantity of contact with nature, and increase the quality.
References:
Ehrlich, Paul R. and Ehrlich, Anne H., Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearances of Species. New York: Random House, 1981.
Errington, Paul L., A Question of Values. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1987.
Flannery, Tim, The Eternal Frontier -- An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples. New York: Grove Press, 2001.
Foreman, Dave, Confessions of an Eco-Warrior. New York: Harmony Books, 1991.
Knight, Richard L. and Kevin J. Gutzwiller, eds. Wildlife and Recreationists. Covelo, California: Island Press, 1995.
Louv, Richard, Last Child in the Woods -- Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005.
Noss, Reed F. and Allen Y. Cooperrider, Saving Nature's Legacy: Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Island Press, Covelo, California, 1994.
Stone, Christopher D., Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1973.
Vandeman, Michael J., http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande, especially http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/ecocity3, http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/india3, http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/sc8, and http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/goodall.
Ward, Peter Douglas, The End of Evolution: On Mass Extinctions and the Preservation of Biodiversity. New York: Bantam Books, 1994.
"The Wildlands Project", Wild Earth. Richmond, Vermont: The Cenozoic Society, 1994.
Wilson, Edward O., The Future of Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.