Earth Hour - March 29th @ 8PM - Will you join me?

I am going to give this conservation thing a shot on by simply turning my lights off for 1 hour on March 29, 2008 @ 8PM. To take it to a new level, I will actually flip my breaker off to my entire house.

Of course, this doesn't do much without the help of 150,000+ others who have joined together across the world in what is being called Earth Hour.

Earth Hour started in 2007 with our friends Down Under. It seems to be a really big thing down there as over 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour. WOW! That is really impressive to me. (Of course, you never real know if they did it of their own good will...or did their government kill the switch on everyone?!!)

Either way it seems like a cool thing to do and is so easy. I mean...who couldn't live without lights for an hour? (I say that now...but we shall see what really happens that night!)

Some cool links:
Sign Up Here
Earth Hour main page
Very Cool Map of Support
FAQs


SIGN UP HERE - on my personal page so that I can track the impact of this blog! More importantly, when you sign up you will also be able to track your own impact.

Global Warming....or just Sun Spots?

Have you heard this theory? That global warming could be attributed to sun spots? In other words, it has nothing to do with us humans....with our 'polluting' ways. (Even if this is true, I think we should still clean up our act.)

At any rate, I was reading that back in the 70's (before my time) they scientific community was actually calling for a mini ice age. ICE AGE??!!! What a dramatic change from the news of today.

I found a few different articles on the subject, but not being a scientist most of them were way over my head. If you want to read one that is written for the common man, read this one by Enric Palle Bago when he was a doctoral student at Armagh Observatory. It is an easy read and does a pretty good job of explaining things in a way I can understand.

The evidence to support that our current warm climate is relatively normal is good news. That means our self destructive, earth polluting behavior is not the only culpurate. (Though it is probably speeding things up...)

So I am back to square one in my thoughts. Are humans causing global warming or is this a normal cycle and regardless of that answer, can we clean up our acts to preserve the Earth in a way that not only saves the environmnet, but makes economic and political sense?

Plastic Bags Everywhere

I am sure this is not the type of advertisement Walgreens was thinking of when it gave this plastic bag to a customer. I found this wonderful example at http://www.bagsintrees.com/ which chronicles these wonderful plastic pieces of 'art' in Baltimore, MD. One of my favorite things about their site is that they have integrated their find with Google Maps so that you can see where they found the bag. I love this type of humor. They should have an ongoing map that shows you all of the spots on one map.

Digging a little bit deeper, it is simply amazing the amount of plastic bags that are used and thrown away every year. Here are a few stats that were compiled by http://www.reusablebags.com/: (you can find more here.)

• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
• In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 4,755,060 of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.

So what's the answer to the plastic bag problem? Ireland seems to have done pretty good. I just wonder if the consumption mentality of Americans would produce the same sort of result. My fear is that we would just pay the extra 15 cents thus taxing ourselves. Retailers are already counting the cost of those plastic bags into their cost of product. It is not like they are giving it to us for free.

I agree that if a change is going to be made, it needs to be consumer focused since the stores loose control of the bags once they leave the store. You need a reason for the consumer to want to change.

Personally I can't see myself carrying around a bunch of hemp or bamboo bags. But maybe I shouldn't slam it until I have tried it....

Anyone out there use bags like you can find on http://www.reusablebags.com/?

Start with those who scream the loudest

I have to admit, when someone mentions an environmental group like Greenpeace, my gut reaction is slightly negative. Though my opinion is changing (and I hope to learn much more through diving into this issue), I have more or less ignored them as tree hugging, aggressive, idealist who are more interested in some sort of crazy social agenda then anything that could be considered substantial. Over the coming months I hope to better understand thier views, see how they are working with folks across the world to bring awareness to the issues revolving around our environment.

Reviewing thier site today, I came across some fun pictures of them at the Boston International Seafood Show handing out 'awards' for unsastainability. Personally I like this kind of protest...very passive, walking around handing out awards and making a point without causing a lot of confrentation.

Next on my agenda is to better understand Al Gore and his positions on the environment. Sure, folks who are much better reporters and investigators around the world have writen about him extensively. I am not trying to replicate or replace their work, but to bring both the left and right view together and determine if there is one that is 'more' right.

Though he may be absolutly right, my main concern is that Al Gore has substantial investments in green technology. I equate this to believing everything a drug company says about their own pills. (Sure they are going to tell you their pill is safe and cure your illness....how many times have we found this to be deadly wrong?)

So in investigating Gore, I really want to better understand his scientific facts and see what he investments he has that are being impacted by the 'facts'. In my mind, the one thing that I keep coming back to is that he is PROFITING from the explosing of 'green' ideas and products. He needs us all to believe that what is happening in our environment is unique and has never happened before. (so what did happen to the dinosours....wasn't that a period of extreme heat?)

Ok...enough for today. I am just formulating my thoughts and look forward to digging in much deeper.

Ceremonial First Post

Hello and Welcome,

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you find the information interesting and helpful in your own search of what is going on in our world with respect to Global Warming, Environmental Impact, the Oil Crisis, and Global Finance.

What I am chronicling here is my journey to better understand whether these issues are myth or fact. Important or overblown. Something we should worry about or something that is completely normal as part of our evolution in history. Finally and more importantly, are the people promoting these topics out to gain something from the rest of us? In other words: Are we being used?

Would you join me in my journey as I learn more about these topics? Please leave your feedback and post your own questions for us to investigate together.

A bit about myself: I am your standard guy with a full time job and a growing family. Though I love to camp, hike, and adventure travel, I have never really been engaged or concerned about our environment. Of course, if you watch the news these days you can not seem to get away from these topics and so the relentless pounding of the drums has finally broken me down and I feel the need to start separating fact from fiction.

I go into this with one premise:
'If we, as a race, are not necessarily damaging the environment by our actions, BUT we could improve the environment without irreparable financial and personal harm...we should do it.'

I know this may sound a little Al Gore-ish, but I do not believe in the axiom 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

Let us not be herded as "sheepal", but let us make our own decisions.