The world doesn't change all at once. People won't suddenly wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to recycle, I am going to make my footprint a smaller one, starting today." Maybe someone does start their day that way. Maybe you do. I know that I don't start my day that way. So we can't expect each and every one of us to wake up on the same morning with the same idea of decreasing global pollution. That kind of change happens gradually. YOU can make a difference. YOU can recycle. YOU have to pull your weight, whether you attend a lecture, assemble a meeting, or go to a community pickup session. But YOU can do this, and the world is full of YOU's and ME's, and every one of those you's and me's makes a difference. The person who ate a Hershey's chocolate bar and threw the wrapper on the ground makes a difference. The person who uses more than necessary makes a difference. But the person who uses the right amounts and picks up the Hershey's wrapper makes more of a difference. And that person is a hero. The world is full of Hershey's wrappers. And the world is full of good, hard working people. But what separates a good, hard worker from a great worker, is what that good, hard worker calls himself or herself. Call yourself a great worker. Attend the lecture. Start a community cleanup or fundraiser to get the people you know and the people you love involved. The more people we can get to at least acknowledge our efforts, the more people they will tell, and it will spread and spread until it gets to every person on this planet. That's my goal. What's your goal? Make a goal and stick to it. Make a difference. You do it every day. At school, at work, at home, in the car, in the supermarket, at the gas station, wherever you are and whatever you are doing: It makes a difference.

Help me, help you, help us, help them. Help to make a difference. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

Glaciers & Ice Caps

Everyone has heard the news, and I'm sure you've heard this line repeated several times: "The Polar Ice Caps are Melting".
Each year, the sea level rises an inch. The ocean gets warmer every year, too, resulting in more severe hurricanes like what we saw with hurricane Katrina in 2006 in Louisiana. But of course, I'm sure you knew that too. But part of the reason it rises is because the warmer climate is causing the ice to weaken, and therefore chunks of the ice caps break off, and those chunks become icebergs. you drop a rock into a glass of water, the water rises. This is what is happening to the earth. 70% of the earth's water and 90% of its ice comes from Antarctica. If the ice on that land mass were to melt, the sea level would rise 200 ft. But, that is completely unlikely, because parts of that continent has a temperature that never gets above freezing.
Greenland, on the other hand, is experiencing 3 times the melting speed it was 5 years ago. Researchers say that between April 2002 and November 2005 the melting of the surface of Greenland reached 57 cubic miles.

The Coral Reefs

So what's wrong with the Coral Reefs? Every year, hundreds of people go to see them. Why not take a little piece of the reef with you? If every one of those people took one inch of the reef...after a few years...what would the ocean life have? That's what is wrong with the reefs today. Although I know I'm not an expert, I do know that this isn't good for our coral reefs' ecosystems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has tried to extend the prohibitions of the ESA (Endangered Species Act) to both the staghorn and elkhorn corals. The NOAA has also made an effort to stop the taking and trading of elkhorn and staghorn corals, so that the species will have a chance to grow back. The staghorn coral (shown to the upper left) is accurately named, because it looks like the rack of antlers on a stag. The elkhorn coral (top left) looks similar to the staghorn, however, unlike the staghorn, it looks flatter and broader in dimension.

The Australian Barrier Reefs

Animals smaller than ants have built the great Barrier Reefs off the coast of Australia. Larger than anything ever built, the reef covers 92,000 square miles. Each year, new coral grows over the old coral, and the skeletons of old coral (Pacific atolls) are layered for nearly a mile under the surface of the living reef. You might think that these coral grow quickly and can undergo human strain, but the truth is, already one quarter of the earth's natural reefs have been destroyed. The big killer is pollution. An unbelievable amount of human waste (garbage and secretion) have been dumped into our oceans, wiping out some ecosystems. But Global Climate Change, Sedimentation, and Destructive Fishery Conducts have also made an unfriendly footprint on the reefs. Every year scientists are linking new coral diseases to unsanitary human activities. Wastewater from hotels, resorts, golf clubs, agriculture, and sewage treatment plants leak into the ocean and raises the ability to sustain algae life. Algae lives off the coral and suffocates it, blocking light from the sun and limiting new coral growth. Reefs need the right balance of light, temperature, and salinity to survive. Even if the temperature raises itself 3 degrees more, the reefs could be devastated. Scientists believe that over the next few years, the reefs will die. Who cares? Well, everyone should care, because reefs are the home of 1/4 of the earths marine life.
How do we stop it? The best thing for us to do is to help prevent global climate change. The Bush Administration has clearly turned away from this matter, but as the #1 polluter of the world, we need to TAKE ACTION...lets preserve the reefs for our great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren. I don't know about you, but 100 years from now, I want my descendants to know I did something to stop it. Let's be leaders. Show the world that the U.S knows what we have to do. Let's lead the world one person at a time into a better state of life...I want to know that we did something...together.

A Few "Green" Links

These links are great for getting up-to-date information on the environmental status. Maybe you'd be interested in taking a look with me!!!

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/home.cfm
http://www.acton.org/newsletters/environmental/09-17-04.html
http://www.atkinsglobal.com/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/environment.html

The Beauty of Nature

How can something...something so beautiful, be destroyed, for something so unrealistic? These beautiful places, these gorgeous, wonderful places...and all the life within them, are dying. Would you want a lovely place like this destroyed?

No. I thought not.

We look at these cities we've built, and most people have been to Las Vegas, New York City, Las Angele's, Miami Beach, but.....have any of them been to a place like this?

I'd love to go to this place. Wouldn't you? Or would you rather go to some place...different. Picture this.

You are wanting to go on a great family vacation. You have the materialistic vacation in mind. You're ready for a massage on the beach in Florida, you want the cruise line and the fancy dinner, you want to shop, see a movie...or two....and go for a few thrill rides in the giant theme park across from your hotel room. Then, in the evening, you'll kick back in the pool and float around. After coming back in, snacking on some cookies and throwing the plastic packaging away, you sit down, watch a little TV, and go back down at 12:00 am to enjoy the jets in the hot tub. Your spouse, however, wants to take you and the kids to Yosemite, California, for a camping trip. No massage, no cruise line, no fancy dinner, no shops, no movies, no thrill rides, no hotel room, no pool, and no jets in a hot tub (although there are currents in the river). You are reluctant, and have no camping experience whatsoever. You are envisioning bugs in your sleeping bag, sandwiches for every meal, and sweat...lots and lots of perspiration. YUCK!!!!! But you go with them, and when you get to Yosemite, you realize how beautiful a place it is. Nature. It was the best vacation you ever took. Who could trade this....

For this?

Lake Mead above, Las Vegas below. No, Lake Mead isn't gone, but this is a perfect example of materialization. Las Vegas is in the middle of the desert. That's why it can get as hot as 120 degrees and hotter. If it wasn't for Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, the American gambling and casino hotspot would not exist.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

I am not one to bore readers with loads of...let's face it...boring information. There are so many people wanting the earth to be a clean, healthy place again. Some believe Global Warming is happening not by the work of humans, but by the earth's cycle. Nonetheless, whichever the cause of Global Warming, we are emitting too much Greenhouse Gas.
People are naturally procrastinators. No, YOU as an individual might be, but then again, let's think. Do YOU want US to experience a change? Yes.... Have YOU bought a gas-efficient car? Have YOU replaced YOUR regular old power-sockets with power-strips? What have YOU done to change the way we live? If you are stuck, and don't know how to change the earth...think again. All of us are here to help. Follow a few of these simple tips, look into these simple brands, and we will change...before it's too late.

These are a few really easy house tips that will save you money, and help the ecosystem.

1. Always remember to turn off appliances when they are not in use. Devices like televisions, VCRs, DVD players, Play Stations, computers, lights, radios, and other types of electronics will drain money from your pocket, and clean air from the earth.

2. It's best to use florescent light bulbs whenever, wherever you can. It may not look as nice, but you can always feel good about making our environment green, and, hey! It works!!

3. Buy a Power Strip!!!! Power Strips can be found at any electronic appliance store. You can find lots of different kinds, especially one that is right for you. You can plug all of your devices into one strip that plugs into a single wall socket. They are great, because when you have finished with your tools, you can switch all of your appliances off, saving a LOT of money.

4. Recycling doesn't do much in the ways of reducing air pollutants, but there is one thing it does do: It keeps the need to cut down more trees for paper to a minimum. Glass, paper, plastic, metal, and other products can be used for recycling.


5. New Car?? This is a more expensive way to help save the environment. Ever noticed how many Prius' you see on the roads these days? That's because the new Hybrid Synergy Drive computer technology has created a way to make a fuel-efficient car that saves the driver a lot of money. They get superb gas mileage and are surprisingly roomy on the inside. I happen to have one that we absolutely love, it's a great family Sedan. Car companies are hoping to make all the cars on the road Hybrid by 20??

6. Make a difference! We don't have to change everyone else, just ourselves. Yes, we are all together in this fight for a clean world, but if we just change us, and everyone else changes themselves, we can find a solution. Change yourself, raise environmental awareness in your community. Do a roadside pickup, get together a team, and pick up trash. Littering is everywhere, we can't stop it, we can stop ourselves and clean up.

7. As hard as it might be, STOP SMOKING!!!! It corrupts your lungs and the lungs of those around you. It spoils clean air, and it is SO BAD FOR YOU. There are so many programs out there to help you quit. It is a really hard habit to break, I understand, but we have to do this together. If you are motivated, you can do whatever you set out to do: stop.

8. Get outside, and exercise. You can save time and money by getting outside with your family. Take a walk, have a conversation. It will get you off the couch, with your family, with the TV turned off!!! It is so good for you to just take a walk or hike or whatever you want to do outside with some friends or family. It keeps you in good condition, it is better for you to do something active than to stay home all day.

9. Make compost, get flowers. Think about the things you throw away every day. I have made a Four-way system which reduces smell and garbage. The first group is recyclable items. This can be any of the things that I listed in tip #4. Put your recycling items in a cardboard box or Tupperware container. The next group is compost. This generally consists of organic food items that you are finished with. No paper, plastic, glass, or metal here!! just smelly food products. The third group is what I call 'Salvageable Unwanted' items. Basically, clothing, toys, jewelry, furniture, or tools that are still able to be used, but that you don't want. Old nasty shoes that are coming apart....they belong in the next group, not here. You need to make sure unwanted items are cleaned and usable before you put them in this group and take them to a local flea market or Salvation Army. Put anything that doesn't belong in recycling, compost, or 'Salvageable Unwanted' groups in the trash can. Here, you would find that pair of old smelly shoes, ripped t-shirts, and...honestly, I don't want to know what else.

10. Be a leader people can trust: Get active in community meetings. Go to local events, volunteer whenever possible. The people who lead can change more than they realize. NOTE TO YOUNG PEOPLE: Great community leaders come from all sorts of backgrounds and can do immense things just by talking with you peers at school. Just because you aren't an adult, don't let anything stop you from doing something good with your time.

So how would you like to change the world? Start now!!