Pipeline Explosion in Kenya kills 75

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75 Kenyans died last week due to a pipeline explosion in their neighborhood. Pipelines are popularly and dangerously used in the African communities in efforts to transport oil for production and consumption. It is no secret that the oil companies have no problem exploting the villages of Africa for their own greed. These pipeline are above ground and easily infiltrated.

a section of pipe had burst near the river that cuts through the slum and gasoline was pouring out. Men, women and children grabbed pails, jerry cans, anything they could find to collect the flowing fuel.

Mwangi had planned to get a bucket and join them - he'd done so before with earlier diesel leaks without any problem, he said, and a bucket of fuel could pay a month's rent. "Everybody knows that fuel is gold," the 34-year-old said.

The "importance" of oil to corporations is clear. This goes to show the dangers of the oil industry. It is sad that innocent people lose their lives every day in order to obtain this "black gold". There is a flagrant disregard for the value of human life when it comes to oil. The oil companies are savages when it comes to obtaining this "gold".

Unfortunately, unnecessary situations like this happen everyday. The only alternative to oil, is alternative energy.

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cantaloupe , my poor cantaloupe

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If you are anything like me, you must be devastated over our precious cantaloupe. Apparently, a cantaloupe farm from Colorado has sent out a recall of the fruit due to a deadly Listeria contamination. People in Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and Texas, and four have even died from the outbreak. If an infected cantaloupe is eaten, it can paralyze you. Even some 25% of the people who ingested the contaminated cantaloupe have actually died from it. They recommend that people actually scrub cantaloupes clean before eating and even then, they are still susceptible to infection being that the contamination can hide within the pores of the cantaloupe.

Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., said Wednesday it is voluntarily recalling cantaloupe it shipped to Illinois, Wyoming, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania between July 29 and Sept. 10.

The source of the contamination is unknown.

This is horrible. Cantaloupe are my favorite fruit. Fortunately, cantaloupe are not even in season so if you are shopping eco-friendly, then you have nothing to worry about.

Whoa is me .

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According to Did You Know Facts ..

Since 1981, every Chinese citizen over the age of 11 has been required to plant three trees per year.

I think that is pretty awesome :)

Seasonal Fruits

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Here is a list of produce that you should shop for in season. Shopping for fruits and vegetables while they are in season will leave less of a carbon footprint and is essentially eco-friendly because it requires less energy to produce. Also, the produce that are shopped in season are a lot more fresh. I hate listed the popular produce. For the complete list of seasonal produce, click here.



Fall;

Apples

Artichokes

Beets

Broccli

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Cranberries

Edamame

Eggplant

Garlic

Grapes

Green Beans

Green Onions/Scallions

Lettuce

Limes

Mushrooms

Pears

Peppers

Pomergranates

Potatoes

Pumpkins

Spinach

Turnips

Zucchini

and more..



Winter;


Fall and Winter have most of the same seasonal produce. Here are a couple of the winter produce that are not grown in the fall.

Grapefruit

Kiwis

Lemons

Mandarins

Oranges

Tangerines

Squash

and more..



Spring;

Apricots

Asparagus

Cherries

Garlic

Parsley

Peas

Spinach

Sweet Onions

Turnips

and more..



Summer;

Apples

Basil

Apricots

Avocados

Bell peppers

Blackberries

Blueberries

Boysenberries

Cantaloupes

Carrots

Cherries

Chickpeas

Corn

Cucumbers

Grapes

Mangoes

Melons

and more..

Eco-Friendly Shopping

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Produce;

Shopping at your local Farmers Market for produce such as fruits and vegetables is a an excellent way to shop. It leaves less of a carbon footprint, meaning you are being environmentally friendly. Shopping at your local Farmers Market is recommended because;

Fresh fruit and vegetables. Produce is picked ripe and sold that day. Supermarket produce, on the other hand, can take up to two weeks to travel from farm to store. Flavor and appearance can suffer.

Support your neighbor! Farmers’ Markets put more money in the farmers’ pockets. Commercial farmers get only twenty-five cents of every dollar’s worth of produce sold in supermarkets.

Less pollution. Distance produce travels from farm to you via a grocery store is often greater than 1000 miles. Transport to and storage at the store often requires refrigeration, and these result in carbon dioxide emissions. At our farmers' markets average distance traveled is less than 50 miles and there is no refrigeration or storage. Buying at a farmers' market results in less carbon dioxide emissions.

Save money. You can save money, especially on organic produce.

Shop seasonal produce. Shopping for produce that are in season leaves less of a carbon footprint. Shopping produce that are out of season causes refridgeration to store the produce and also distance traveled for produce grown elsewhere.

Quote of the Day

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"i walk light, so that I don't piss the ground off."

down by the Eno .

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EARTH DAY IS COMING UP

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APRIL 22, 2011

So, what are you doing??



You can do something simple like;

• Recycle! (which should be an everyday thing -_-)
• Pick up a piece of trash you see outside.
• Buy eco-friendly products.
• PLANT A TREE!!
• Use a power strip to turn off televisions, stereos and computer systems when you're not using them and unplug appliances such as phone chargers, extra refrigerators, and printers until you need them.
• Shorten your shower time!
• When you go grocery shopping, buy in bulk. This way there is less packaging and its also cheaper in the long run.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle all day long.
• Wear green and/or brown. Dress in environmental colors for the day; think "tree"!
• Engage others in conversations about your environmental concerns.
• Ride your bike
• Refuse to use paper for the day.
• Install a CFL or compact fluorescent light bulb.
• Also, bring your own reusable shopping bag. You can buy them at local grocery stores.
• Buy organic.
• Go meat free.

But if you really want to go hard..

• Volunteer at your local river/lake for a clean up. (Just contact your nearest lake officials. Google is your friend :) )
• Take public transportation of the day. Buses/trains/metro/car pool.
• Take the time to finally fix that leaky faucets and pipes
• Host a waste-free picnic with friends and family.
• Every night for a week, collect your household garbage and weigh it on your bathroom scale. Record your results every few weeks and celebrate your success as your trash slims down.
• Start composting.
• Consider buying a carbon offset to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions you create on the other 364 days of the year. Carbon offsets fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, that displaces energy from fossil fuels.

For more ideas, check out Mother Nature Network

Environmental Quotes

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The earth does not belong to man -- man belongs to the earth.
-- Chief Seattle

I believe in God, only I spell it "Nature".
-- Frank Lloyd Wright

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
-- John Muir

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
-- Native American Proverb

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.
-- Henry David Thoreau

The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.
-- Barry Commoner

He that plants trees loves others beside himself.
-- Thomas Fuller

The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.
-- Ralph Nader

There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.
-- Gaylord Nelson

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-- Margaret Mead

For 200 years we've been conquering nature. Now we're beating it to death.
-- Tom McMillan

Why should I care about future generations? What have they ever done for me?
-- Groucho Marx

We have met the enemy and he is us.
-- Walt Kelly

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
-- Henry David Thoreau

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.
— Bill Vaughan

The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity… that’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.
-- Gaylord Nelson

Until a man duplicates a blade of grass, Nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge. Remedies from chemicals will never stand in favorable comparison with the products of Nature, the living cell of a plant, the final result of the rays of the sun, the mother of all life.
-- Thomas Alva Edison

The earth is what we all have in common.
-- Wendell Berry

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man.
-- Chief Seattle

To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.
-- William Blake

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.
-- George Gordon, Lord Byron

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.
-- Cree Indian Proverb

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair.
-- Kahlil Gibran

WIFI: THE DEATH OF TREES

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We all know that Wifi is God's gift to man. But at what cost? Does wifi radiation make trees sick? According to studies in the Netherlands, 70 percent of the trees in urban areas (opposed to 10 percent five years ago) have had symptoms such as cracks, bumps, discoloration and tissue damage while the trees in the forest have had little to none of these symptoms. This has also affected trees in the western hemisphere.

To test the theory, researchers exposed 20 ash trees to various radiation sources for a period of three months. The report stated that “trees placed closest to the Wi-Fi radio demonstrated a “lead-like shine” on their leaves that was caused by the dying of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. This would eventually result in the death of parts of the leaves.

Read more: Is Wi-Fi Making Trees Sick? | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

IS IT SAFE .. YET?

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I've been asked numerous times (because I'm obviously an "all things environmental" guru) "Is it safe to eat seafood?". I wrote a blog about it a while back. Remember the sniff test? Well, obviously that didn't work out. Go figure, right? Apparently, the more seafood you eat, the higher the risk you are of being poisoned. Makes since right? Sorry Pescetarians. Maybe this is your cue to go all the way. Vegan!

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) found cancer causing agents from the oil in the Gulf seafood. Obviously, people living in the Gulf are feeling the full force of it all. FDA miscalculated the average amount of seafood citizens eat therefore causing them to downplay the effect seafood from the Gulf will have on those who eat it. I can vouch for this misrepresentation because I eat seafood almost everyday.

Tragic.

What is DEFORESTATION?

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photo credit; http://www.guardian.co.uk

NASA has found new life

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Before you get excited thinking there is an alien walking around somewhere, there isn't. Or at least not from what we know. What NASA has found is a bacteria made up of arsenic. Creepy? Arsenic is deadly to us. This was thought to be completely impossible until, well, they found it. EVERY living being on planet Earth is made up of these vital components; carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur.

Being that this "being" is alive and made up of arsenic opens the door to possibly discovering life on planet unlike the Earth. But I knew that! Of course every being in the universe doesn't need an "Earth like" environment to survive.

GREENPEACE IS GANGSTA

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Activists from Greenpeace just dropped a banner from a Kentucky hotel during an EPA hearing for coal ash. Pretty bad ass if you ask me.

GREENPEACE .. WE GO HARD!

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GREENPEACE DOES IT AGAIN!

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Activists from Greenpeace are now hanging from the anchor chain of Chevron's Stena Carron to prevent the ship from sailing out to their drill site. All this is in effort to combat offshore drilling.

Classic example of one of my favorite quotes;
No one can do EVERYTHING. But everyone can do SOMETHING.

I absolutely love the fight in Greenpeace. These people are extremely passionate about protecting the environment and are absolutely willing to put their selves in danger just to do so(obviously). I am utterly proud to be apart of the team.

One day, you'll see me strapped to a tree..one day.







peace&love




Images from; Greenpeace

BREAKING NEWS: Vermillion Oil Rig 360 Explosion

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Vermilion Oil Rig 380 has just exploded with 13 people on board around 9:30 a.m this morning. All 13 people were blasted into the ocean and are currently awaiting help. Only one was found injured.

The Vermillion Oil Rig is owned by Cairn Energy is is located 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana and west of the BP's Deepwater Horizon which also blew up in April.



Stand by for further information.

VICTORY IS OURS!

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CONGRATULATIONS


Congrads Greenpeace for their amazing victory in getting Burger King to drop Sinar Mas! Sinar Mas has been doing some major destruction to the Paradise Rain forest through their palm oil exploration. The world is already running low on our beautiful rainforests! It's only right that we protect the little that we have. After all, who wants to live in a Concrete Jungle?

Bottles are being popped in the Paradise Rain forest.