Tag Archives | Environment

“Green” Your Emails

June 25, 2008

Save the Earth tip: Remind everyone you know to save paper by adding the following line to your email signature:

        Please consider the environment before printing.

 

If your email program can handle rich text or html, then you can use the complete signature. The picture of the tree that is being used is actually the letter P using the Webdings font. If your email cannot handle rich text or html (gmail, for instance.), then simply use the sentence only without the webdings character. Either way, it’s a nice, gentle reminder to save some trees.

It’s easy and straightforward, so why not do it today and then pass this on to your family, friends and colleagues.

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Caring for Mother Earth

April 21, 2008

 First the rhyme…

13 steps you need to know
to make this world forever go

Recycle paper from a tree
to keep your breath forever free

Keep faucets off while brushing teeth
h2o doesn’t need to flow

Burn less coal, wood and oil
greenhouse gases make us boil

Stop unwanted letters and mail
so this Earth will never fail

Snip plastic six pack rings
save gulls and terns from the sting

Clean up trash by the road
so we won’t see any mold

Use detergents that are clean
flowing phosphates can’t be seen

Save some energy and pay less fees
turn water down to 130 degrees

Don’t go with the flow
Short showers keep us in tow

Ozone depletion through CFC’s
avoiding foam peanuts is the key

Carpool to work everyday
to keep our gas here to stay

Go shopping with a canvas bag
avoiding plastic is no gag

Toxins add to hazardous waste
buy non-toxic to have good taste

Simple things to save the Earth
it’s no trend, it’s the birth
~Christine (1991, Poetry 101)

 Now the lesson behind the rhyme…

In 1991, I was a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. For the first time, I learned about Earth Day that year. I attended an Earth Day festival on campus, photographed and wrote about the festival for one of my last projects in journalism school, and wrote a couple of poems for my Poetry 101 class. I wanted to do my part to care for Mother Earth, so I started recycling, a step in the right direction.

Earth Day was a big deal that year, but now it’s 17 years later and once again it’s a big deal. So my question for all of you is this: Is caring for Mother Earth going to be another trend that comes and goes, or are we all going to commit to doing our part — always? What can you commit to on an ongoing basis? What is “sustainable” for you? Recycling? Going vegan? Buying less stuff? Saying no to plastic water bottles? Small steps are good. Do what you can but do something, and keep doing it — day in and day out.

In the past year I began saying no to FREE bottled water at work and started bringing my own reuseable water bottle. I began consistenly bringing my own reuseable bags to the grocery and other stores. I also changed out the majority of lightbulbs in my home to environmentally-friendly compact fluorescent bulbs. I would love to hear steps you have taken to protect the Earth and what you plan to do going forward. Post a comment below and share your ideas! We are all in this together.

Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22nd. Happy Earth Day!

 And now another poem from 1991…

For Earth Day ’91 (and now 2008 and beyond)
Take the Earth to borrow
for your lifetime

Climb the high mountains
     see for miles
Swim in clear blue oceans
     guided by wild dolphins
Walk on hot sands
     smelling cactus flowers
Camp in great forests
     crowded with Redwoods too tall to climb
Run in wide open fields
     green grass growing past your knees
Bicycle on neverending trails
     feel the wind on your face, the sun on your back

See it
touch it
be with it
don’t break it

What is here today
may become shattered hopes of Mother Earth
destroying the future of 
unknown generations
invited to share
this one Earth with
you

Take good care of her.
~ vegan girl next door (1991, edited 2008).

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Vegans unite to save the planet

March 4, 2008

We (meaning us vegans!) all know we are saving the planet one meal at a time. So take a moment to sign the Save The Planet petition from the Argentina Vegetarian Union to encourage the whole world to get in on it.

Posting from the International Vegetarian Union Online News – MARCH 2008:

“The Argentina Vegetarian Union has started a petition to the UN, entitled Save The Planet – Change Your Diet. Here is the explanation.

According to UN report, Livestock’s Long Shadow, the meat industry is the one of the main producers of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation states that ranching is “the major driver of deforestation worldwide”, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert. Pesticides used to grow cattle feed and antibiotics and hormones used to treat cattle get into drinking water and the food supply and endanger human health.

The Argentinean Vegetarian Union (UVA) asks the United Nations and, through this organisation, every government in the world to sensitize the world population about the importance of basing our diet on plant foods and to promote a dietary change as the main measure to diminish greenhouse gas emissions.

The UVA calls on every sensitive person interested in preserving life to sign this petition. The collected signatures will be sent to the United Nations.

Join this initiative! Save the future of our planet for future generations. Click here to sign the petition.“

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Go vegan for the environment!

October 15, 2007

As you may know, going vegan benefits three main areas: your health, the environment, and, of course, animals. This blog generally covers animals and health issues regularly. Today is all about the environment.

According to a 2006 United Nations report, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. This would mean eating meat, eggs, and/or dairy are by far worse than driving to work. Although walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation would be much better than driving every day. Imagine the power of this one-two punch: going vegan and reducing your driving. That would be good for your health, the animals, and the environment. Take the veg pledge today!

Other links of interest:

Ask Al Gore to go veg

Time magazine reports 51 Things We Can Do To Save The Environment.

EarthSave International

Global Mala Project: Go Vegan to Stop Global Warming

A Truly Inconvenient Truth

The 11th Hour movie

Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet. If you missed this exhibit in Chicago, check out the globes, the artists, and their solutions for combating global warming online.

This post is in honor of Blog Action Day. On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind – the environment. The aim is to get everyone talking towards (and more importantly acting on) a better future.

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