Conserving

(When talking about land Mark twain once said) "They don't make it anymore" and this is certainly true. Three different ways that we are destroying the land we do have are agriculture, mining and development.
Agriculture- the dangerous pesticides and toxic fertilizer people use make their crops grow faster or bigger are then picked up by rain water and it washed into rivers, ponds and underground water supplies. This can then get into our drinking water causing serious health problems and illnesses. Furthermore when we clear forests and fields to plant our crops we destroy ecosystems and animal's lives. Plus we take away all of the diversity in the crops. Especially when we clear rain forests we are taking away all the exotic different trees and vegetation replacing it with usually one type of tree that is planted for miles and miles. One of these industrial plants that are planted in great masses is the Palm Oil Tree. Thousands of mile of diverse rain forest were cleared to create this gigantic orchard of the same kind of tree.
Mining- Strip mining is one of the most destructive ways of mining. It involves removing a strip of land, extracting the nonrenewable resources underneath and then replacing the land. This can be a problem because it makes the soil almost totally infertile and prevents plants from growing there for many following years. In addition it makes the soil more vulnerable to being washed away and eroded.
Development- When people expand and build farther and farther into bucolic natural settings, building roads, factories and houses all the time. This drives animals out of their natural habitats it also means people are farming and mining more.

Ice Cube Theory

Consider these two pictures. They seem the same when really they are very different. The glass on the left has ice stacked on top of each other all the way down to the bottom of the glass. This means that when the ice melts the water level will rise. However the glass on the right has ice cubes floating in it, meaning that when those melt, the water level will stay basically at the same level. This is true because when ice cubes displace as much water as they produce when melted. Anything floating in water pushes the H2O out to the sides. These floating ice cubes represent floating ice caps. When these melt the sea level will not rise. The glass with the ice cubes on the bottom of the glass on the other hand, will raise the water level because they are not displacing water by floating. These ice cubes represent snow melting into the ocean from icy places such as Greenland. If Greenland were to melt the water level would rise dramatically. This could be dangerous to natural cycles. It could even go as far
as causing another ice age says Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.

Below is a link for a good website that has environmental news and articles written about melting ice in Greenland and various other environmental topics.
Science Daily

Gene Pool Diviersity

Gene Pool Diversity is essential to a healthy ecosystem for the following reasons. Firstly, a gene is a structure in an organisms cell that carries the hereditary information. Therefore if there is no diversity in organisms genes in a given area, and an epidemic strikes, every single one of that species has the exact same reactions to that disease, meaning that it could potentially wipe out the entire population. This could even occur in a relatively short period of time. Say everyone in your history class all had the same reaction to the common cold, and that reaction was fatal. If one person caught it...well, everyone would die. However because humans have good gene diveristy our resistance to a given disease differs greatly from individual to individual. Thus preventing the spread of epidemics as easily. (For the most part.) LAstly take the example of German Shepards. They have been interbred for so long that the small hip problem that was probably present in only a few of the dogs then, is now a recurring problem in most German Shepards alive today.

Religion vs. Environment

If religious groups, leaders or texts decided it was time to buckle down and start doing something to fix the current environmental situation I personally believe that the world would experience a sudden and magnificent change. No one truly realizes how religion plays such a key role in millions of peoples lives. For example a few years ago the Dalai Lama implored all people to stop buying and selling animal furs. As a result, hundreds of Tibetans rushed to public squares and immediately started burning all of their clothing made up of fur. People of all different classes especially the lower-class which was all the more telling. Fur is expensive and to see mounds and mounds of animal hide being willingly surrendered, is a sign that people are ready and able to listen to the people they trust and follow. Thus if a religious leader were to say stop driving cars... I am more than willing to bed that some would listen and obey. As a self proclaimed athiest I should probably not be speaking but if anyone has anything to add, please leave a comment with your view.

Obama Wins

Sarah Palin is Stupid

Sarah Palin is not only not trying save the polar bears from extinction, she is actively trying to stop any positive actions people are trying to make to help them. There is proof she even tried to stop her own scientists from revealing their evidence that proved the polar bears needed immediate help. Is it even possible for someone to be stupid, not to mention heartless enough to actually sue the Federal Government to get polar bears taken off the endangered species list? Why? How could she possibly defend that? Now Sarah Palin is so unbelievably close to being given all of this power in our government, we environmentalists have to step up and say something... fast. Can you even begin to imagine how dangerous this is for our animals, our environment and for us? For goodness sake, Sarah Palin doesn't even think we are causing Global Warming. So let's do something... right now. (Click on the link below and sign some petitions against Sarah Palin and others to end this foolishness)

THE PETITION SITE

Fashion and Earth

The Environmental Safety Squad has just stumbled upon an amazing new organization! The aim; to create organic clothing, that's made safely and responsibly, and that's super stylish. The company is called Fashion and Earth and is opening at the end of October. The brand new exciting company offers cheap, wonderful, long lasting clothes. In my opinion one of the best parts of Fashion and Earth is that when you're ready to give up your clothes, they take them back and either give it to a charity such as the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Goodwill, Breast Cancer Support Services, or they can repurpose them. Repurposing can be done if there is a stain on a dress or if it is no longer functional. Fashion and Earth will give that article of clothing a new life for you, by trying to mend it, (eg. Cut the top off of a dress that is stained and make it a skirt) or turning it into rags. Plus Fashion and Earth is cheap, cheap, cheap! The material the clothing is made out of, is toxic and chemical free plus it's super comfortable. These fabrics are made out of bamboo, silk, albaca fuz, cotton and many more organic, eco-materials. Not to mention the fact that the clothing is great and the variety is amazing! What with dresses, blouses, shoes, tops, jeans, jackets, dresses, skirts and accessories. Lastly Fashion and Earth takes already known and loved brands that they have seen are environmental safe and aware and incorporate those companies into their own store! For more information about Fashion and Earth you can call:

Adrian Desbarats at 902.675.2217 or email pr@fashionandearth.com.

And if you're interested in purchasing any Fashion and Earth clothes or would like to find out more information about their environmental policy or about them please visit:

www.FashionandEarth.com

The Debate Over Biotechnology

Biotechnology involves the implanting of genes in foods. Ick, right? Maybe not. Even though enlarging tomatoes for pure appearance is wrong, biotechnology is solving food crisis all over the world. Did you know that 1/6 of the world's population lives on less than a dollar a day. 300 million children go to bed hungry each night because they don't have the money for food. Biotechnology is a lot cheaper because it matures faster and can grow in lots of climates. One such example is "Golden Rice". Golden Rice is fortified with vitamin A. Many children in southeast Asia have vitamin A defiency which causes blindness. Golden Rice is changing that. Another type of rice is helping to solve chronic malnuitrition in China.
Biotechnology is also easier on the earth. In Georgia they are developing a cotton crop that can grow in semi-arid climates. This would save 12 billion gallons of water annually. Biotechnology resistant to dieases helped to save 80% of this year's African sweet potato crop. There is also less pesticide use and affects on ecosystems.


If you want more info on biotechnology check out the Human Genome Project.

-Hollytreetear

The Ozone Layer

Almost everyone loves going to the beach or just walking around on a nice sunny day. What if you couldn't do anything like that during the day because if you went out for more then about 3 minutes you would burn because of the sun's harmful rays? Luckily, because of the ozone layer we can still do activities like these, but if we keep using energy the way we are, we may not be able to even leave our homes during the day. The ozone layer is like an invisible shield that protects us from most of the sun's harmful rays. The ozone layer covers about 90% of the earth and protects us from about 97-99% of these harmful rays. Currently it is being burned by bad destructive chemicals called greenhouse gases which we produce. If it were mostly or completely destroyed the climate would change to a point in which humans or animals may not be able to survive in. For example, with the UV rays being stronger, skin cancer would become more common. Plants would die because of too much sun, therefore herbivores could die. These examples are all "what if's" but here is an example happening right now; our greenhouse gases are burning the Antarctic area's ozone layer, that is why ice is melting and animals such as polar bears are drowning. This hole in the Antarctic is predicted to last until 2050! Can you believe people have damaged the planet almost 65 years in advance, since in 1985 when scientists first noticed the hole?!

There are only about one or two ways to help the ozone layer. The obvious: CUT DOWN ON ENERGY! Even turning off one light or walking to school one morning instead of taking a car could make a difference. The other way is hopefully advance sciences will come up with something that can heal the ozone layer's holes. Of course we can't just rely on them, we need to do as much as we can to protect the ozone layer and our planet.

Deforestation

Forests are beautiful places. Both rain forests and boreal forests alike. They are homes to many animals such as deers, birds, gorillas, bears, etc. The trees that make up the forests purify our air. Some tribes still live in the rain forest and rely on its natural resources. Unfortunately for all of them our forests are being wiped out!

This horrible process is called deforestation. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests and woodlands. Currently 12 million hectares of woodland are cleared annually. At this rate all tropical forests will be cleared by 2050, except for reserved places in the Amazon and national parks. Some places like Costa Rica and Sri Lanka are likely to lose all of there tropical forest by 2010 if nothing is done. That's only 2 years from now.

Now for the consequences. Many animals rely on the forest for food and shelter, well what do you think will happen to all of them when their natural habitats are destroyed? You guessed it! They will slowly become endangered and soon die out. More extensive Climate Change will occur as well. Burning the forests contributes to 20% of the worlds greenhouse gases. These gases burn holes in the ozone layer therefore allowing harmful rays of sun's beams to shine straight down here on earth. These rays are so strong they could burn you within probably five minutes. Yet, all is not lost... yet, there are still ways you can help.

Number one: Cut down on the amount of paper you use. Always use the back of the sheet, even when you print something off of the computer. Also, you can go to www.conservation.org if you wish to, you can save an acre of rain forest! Get your school involved and you could save over 100 acres!

Sarah Palin

As you've probably guessed this is not usually a political sight. However in such cases as Sarah Palin exceptions must be made. You see Governor Palin not only believes in drilling in the arctic (To read more about it and why it is wrong click here) and that human's have nothing to do with global warming (to read more about it and why we definitely do have something to do with global warming click here,) but also that polar bears shouldn't even be on the endangered species list. For your information Mrs. Palin there are less than 200,000 polar bears living in the wild. You see Palin is creating a vicious cycle. By drilling in the arctic she is increasing the ocean pollution, destroying the ecosystem and emitting a great deal of C02 into the atmosphere. This in turn adds to the rising temperatures and increases, what Sarah Palin so passionately refuses to aknowledge, the issue the rest of us call Global Warming. Lastly and most importantly, because of the rising temperatures and the melting icecaps, polar bears are left stranded on islands less than half there size. Polar bears must therefore us and have hardlye most of there energy clinging onto to their feeble, rapidly liquefying home any energy left over to hunt for food. This not only affects the mother bear but it also prevents them from providing enough food to feed their babies. Polar bears are dying and as of now there is hardly any baby bears to take their place. You see Palin is not only responsible for not believing in humans causing rising temperatures and the endangered bears, she is also responsible for actually helping cause the problems she insists are not nonexistent.

Plastic Grocery Bags

On June first a law came into act banning the distribution of free plastic grocery bags at common stores. They also banned it from buses and any public transportation. China is not the only country to make this giant step for green. South Africa, Ireland, Uganda and Bangladesh all took this monumental leap years ago when they realized that the bags were clogging the drainage and polluting their water. As recently as last year Oakland and San Francisco, California outlawed plastic grocery bags being given out at supermarkets. Come on America we can do this! Let's follow in California's footprints! "500 billion to a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year." says National Geographic, this nonsense has to stop.

Here is what plastic bags do to the environment:
• because only 1% of all plastic bags are recycled the remaining 99% wind up in landfills (see below)
• 100,000 marine animals and birds die each year due to being tangled in plastic bags according to Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation
• There is currently and island the size of Texas floating of the coast of California consisting only of fragments of discarded plastic grocery bags.

Landfills

Think of landfills as a giant wastepaper basket that you can never empty. Instead you can only make it bigger and bigger and bigger until it's too big to fit in your house and so you hide it and move to someone else's garbage can. In theory a landfill is a giant whole in the ground that we simply empty all of our junk and all our non-biodegradable trash into. However there are consequences such as chemicals entering water lines causing health problems for the people living nearby the landfills. Landfills are becoming icreasingly dangerous due to the more common dumping of toxic waste. Imagine heaps of stinky, ugly garbage piling up for years and years and slowly polluting the soil all around it, making the virtually impossible for anything to grow in that area. The most horrible part of landfills is that they never go away. The only way we can ever stop this problem is to reduce our unrecyclable waste. Please, this can't continue, something must be done. The longer we wait, the more smelly garbage builds up. It is getting to the point where it is crucial to buy only things that can be recycled such as Baggu and bamboo clothing. Be the first one at school with a t-shirt made of sustainable bamboo fibers and pesticide-free organic cotton.

Drilling in the Arctic

Drilling in the arctic is quite simply putting off the urgent problem of oil shortages. In a few years, when we've exhausted the arctic's supply what will we do? How will we function with out oil? If we drill in the arctic, sure gas prices may go down but instead of devoting our time  to finding alternate sources of fuel we'll be working on ruining a beautiful and irreplaceable ecosystem. If we don't drill in the arctic, we'll be forced to face the problem sooner rather than later, however if we keep putting it off we won't only have killed the polar bears, melted the ice caps, and polluted the air some more, but we'll have done it all for nothing. Eventually we will run out of oil, and wouldn't it be better to focus on that problem now, while the polar bears remain alive than later when they'll gone for ever? We have one chance at this, and one chance only... let's not mess it up. 

To take immediate action on this issue click here.

CFL light bulbs

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL) are a wonderful way to help save energy. They are bright, last for a long time and are great for the environment. Because CFL bulbs last for 6,000 to 15,000 hours whereas normal light bulbs last for 750 to 1000 it actually saves you money despite the fact that the energy efficient bulbs are more expensive. "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a energy efficient light bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars."-Energy Star

Smart Cars

In January 2008 a miraculous thing happened. Smart Cars, the tiny, extremely fuel efficient cars have been sold in France and various other places throughout Europe for many years already. These cars recieve 40 mpg in cities and around 45 mpg on highways. (With the new expensive gas prices you'll definitely wish you had one of these and not a hummer!)

The dimensions of the Smart Car is as follows:

8.8 feet long (you can usually fit two smart fortwos in an average parking space!)

5.1 feet tall (the smart still has as much headroom as most luxury vehicles!)

5.1 feet wide (two six foot, five inch plus people can sit side by side with plenty of shoulder room to spare!)(http://www.smartusa.com/smart-car-faq.aspx)

To buy your very own smart car it only costs around $11,590. You can order a car online by clicking here or you can go to one of the 70 Smart Centers located around the US! To find the closest Smart Center you can click here.

This car is great, this car is elegant and this car is GREEN!

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,

For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.

-George Carlin

Animal Testing

Some animals, for their entire lives are forced to live in tiny dark cages or tanks. They are kept in huge noisy, bloody factories. Every morning, they are taken out of their little cage and forced to feel terrible physical and mental pain while we, the humans, stand near and watch. They are given shots, prodded and polked. Then, they are put back in to that small miserable cage, with no light, just enough food to survive, and are forced to suffer the through the next day and the next...

How many of you have a dog, cat, hamster any sort of pet? Then those of you know that sometimes, when you look into their eyes, you feel a connection. You see right then that they have feelings and that they understand. Those animals have brains and as much as some people try to forget it: They can and do feel pain.

Some people think it’s only mice and rats that are suffering. OH NO! Over 25,500 cats were tested on in 2000, and more then half of those test inflicted a ton of pain and agony on the animals. And Dogs: The U.S tested on nearly 65,000 dogs in 2004. However what bothers me most is what we humans do to monkeys. Primates are so close to us I would think that most humans would be morally unable. However obviously I'm wrong. Some chimpanzees have proven they can understand and speak American Sign Language.

Isn't this enough proof that they are human enough not to be kept in cages that are way to small, underfed, studied and injected with shots every day of their short, painful lives. Then only a few years later have all those animals who died be forgotten forever and have that one greedy human get all the credit. Does this seem remotely fair? think of this next time you use Johnson & Johnson, Finesse, Kleenex, Post-its, Vaseline, Neutrogena, Lysol, Listerine, Lubriderm, Huggies, Scotch... the list goes on and on.

.

Becoming a Vegetarian

Meat is murder. How can you continue to eat chicken when you know that their brutally beaten and kept in cages for their entire, miserable life? Did you know that almost all the chickens that are bred for butchering never have a chance to ever spread their wings?

Imagine being born in a smelly, loud factory where you are immediately put in a cage and kept until your old enough and big enough to be slaughtered, so that some ungrateful person can eat you?

On a more pleasant note becoming a vegetarian really helps you strive toward becoming a good, healthy eater. Plus cutting down on meat reduces and gets rid of the chances of getting such diseases as salmonella, mad cow, heart disease, anthrax and tuberculosis.

The link below is to an excellent website that will help you on your mission toward vegetarianhood! It has delicious recipes for vegetarians, reasons why you should become one, why it's good for the animals and why it is a very important for our environment.
chooseveg.com

The only catch to being a vegetarian is you have to make sure you are getting enough protein! It is easy to forget about that. However with meat being most peoples number one source, you must find substitutes that you like. Here are some good protein filled foods:
Nuts
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Yogurt
Beans
Soy (tofu)
These foods allow you to remain healthy and animal friendly!

If ever you start craving a hamburger or are tempted to have some meat watch this video. This is the video that made instantly transform from animal murderer to animal best friend. However I am warning you this video is disturbing. I can guarantee it will make you feel like throwing up numerous times. I can also basically ensure you that after watching this you will never comfortably eat meat again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4

I hope you make the wise decision... you could save this mother pigs life, and her little piglets' as well.

Flexitarian-an omnivore that doesn't eat a lot of meat
Pescatarian-eats fish and no other meat
Vegetarian- eats no meat whatsoever
Vegan-eats no animal by-products, including meat, dairy, eggs, honey

Global Warming

Global warming is not just an issue, it is the issue. Slowly but surely, we, the humans are not only putting ourselves in danger by global warming but also our kids and grandkids. In a few years, it will be to late to fix what we've done. We must act now. We must act strongly and do all we can to prevent global warming! For those of you who don't know a lot about global warming here is the basic idea.

Whenever we drive or turn on the lights, we are using energy. The energy comes from somewhere. Most of the time, it is made by burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gasoline. When these are burned, they emit Carbon Dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Normally, some of the sun's rays are absorbed by the earth, giving us warmth, while others bounce off back into space. This keeps our climate stable and the earth inside safe temperature ranges. When we emit CO2 into the atmosphere, it blocks the reflected rays from going back into space, and reflects them back down at earth. This is something like the conditions in a greenhouse, and is thus called the "Greenhouse Effect". As the Earth's temperature gets warmer, species are thrust out of their niches, forcing them into extinction. It also affects wind and ocean current patterns which cause more hurricanes and tornadoes. Furthermore, it is melting the ice in Antarctica, Greenland, and the Arctic, causing rising sea levels. These will flood cities and wreak havoc with human civilization, displacing hundreds of millions of people!


Animals will be affected even more, as it is much more difficult for them to migrate. Penguins and Polar bears will be left stranded, and eventually driven to extinction.

Al Gore has an excellent book and documentary, both entitled An Inconvenient Truth. It clearly outlines the topic of global warming in greater detail. Among the facts: Because of the effects of less salty ocean water, the Great Conveyor Belt (global system of ocean currents) will stop moving. The Gulf Stream will stop. As a result, the earth will undergo another ice age!!!

We all emit way too much CO2. The average American dumps 5 tons of the stuff into the air each year. There are many ways of cutting down on your emissions:
1. Change a regular light bulb for a Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL). It costs more, but will last 10 times as long and will save you $150 over it's lifetime. It will also keep several hundred pounds of CO2 out of the air over it's life.
2. Keep your car tires inflated. This will improve your mileage by 3%, and every of gallon of gas you don't burn keeps 20 pounds of CO2 out of the air.
3. Change your air conditioner filter. Save 200 pounds a year.
4. Carpool, walk, or ride a bike if you can. Save hundreds or thousands of pounds a year! Plus, you get exercise.
5. Insulate your heater. Save money on energy costs and cut down on your emissions by over a thousand pounds.
6. If possible, open the window rather than turning on the AC, put on a sweater rather than turning up the heat, and/or set your thermostat 2 degrees colder in the winter and 2 degrees warmer in the summer. Save untold amounts of energy.

We can't just keep avoiding this matter! It is serious and needs to be addressed now! You can make a difference! You can help stop global warming! Please, the world needs your help! If you haven't already, go see AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH!

Baggu

Baggu is a wonderful organization which makes nylon reusable shopping bags which can hold up to 25 lbs! Did you know that 1 baggu a year is equal to 300 to 700 disposable bags. Most families all over the world bring home around 1,000 bags per year. The majority of those plastic shopping bags wind up in land fills. Which means one hundred billion plastic bags are sent to U.S. landfills every year!

Every time you use your Baggu bag instead of plastic or paper you are making a difference!

To find out more about Baggu, or where to get them go to:

http://baggubag.com/

Earth Day and Peace Day

Earth Day takes place on April 22 every year. It all started in 1970 when 20,000,000
people all over the USA rushed to celebrate the first ever holiday celebrating and rallying people to do their best for the environment.

Peace Day was started in 1981 when the United nations General Assembly passed a resolution stating that there should be an day of no fighting and peace recognized all over the world. Finally in 2001 The UN General Assembly announced that starting that year September 21 of each year would officially be the International Day of Peace.

"Declares that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day...

“Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, and non-governmental organizations and individuals to commemorate, in an appropriate manner, the International Day of Peace, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of the global ceasefire.”

Taking care of your earth

The Earth is a very special place. The only problem is not everyone knows it, or appreciates it. What they don't understand is that we only have one. If we destroy the earth we have no where to go. Plus all the innocent animals who didn't do anything to anyone have to suffer for our ignorance and our stupidity. My point is that everyone can make a difference. Most people say, " I don't have to help because one person helping won't make the tiniest difference." BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE! if no one does anything because they think someone else will do it, the world would fall apart. One strong person can make a huge difference! Take Al Gore for example, his movie An Inconvenient Truth really opened people's eyes to global warming. It is even what inspired me to write this blog. So, go and turn of a light that doesn't need to be on, and you will be making a difference!

Catalog Choice

Catalog Choice is a magical website which enables you to cancel your catalogs online. It is quick, easy and actually fun! Canceling catalogs is a great way to help the environment! Catalog choice is completely safe. All you have to do is create an account, and follow the instructions from there! If you've created your own environmental club canceling catalogs online is a productive, quick activity you can do. Just collect a few of the many unwanted and unread catalogs lying around the house, and click here.

Starting an Environmetal Club

If you are interested in starting an environmental club, whether it be with your community, school, job, or just friends here are some ideas:
First create a list of activities you would like to do with your group
Next organize your group by telling your friends about it and spreading the news
Now you must assign jobs such as, a secretary, a vice president, and a treasurer
By creating an environmental club you are proving to people that there is hope for the coming years. You will inspire others to step up to the plate and take some responsibility. What winds up happening to our earth lies in the hands of people who are ready to take the responsibility and actually strive to make a difference.

*Tip: Write everything down! Including what you did in your meetings, and any good questions that are asked...

The rest is up to you!

Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall, my personal hero, grew up in England. As soon as she was able to she started studying animals. She once hid in a chicken coop for hours, and hours waiting to see how a chicken laid an egg. Jane worked hard and eventually met the famed archaeologist, Louis Leakey. Louis Leakey took an immediate liking to Ms. Goodall and invited her out to help him look for fossils with him and his wife. Seeing how well Jane did at that, Leakey arranged for her to go to Africa to study the chimpanzees, however the government said that they did not want to be responsible for the young girl. So Jane's caring mother volunteered to go along too! They set out. At first Jane's studies brought nothing but failures. She just couldn't get close enough to the chimpanzees to observe them properly. However with the help of one particularly curious chimp named Gilbert Grey Beard, she was soon able to become friends with the entire "family". Jane quickly became famous and now spends her life traveling around, making lectures about the environment, chimpanzees, and most importantly... how we can help.

The World

The Earth is a very special place. The only problem is not everyone knows it, or appreciates it. What they don't understand is that we only have one. If we destroy the earth we have no where to go. Plus all the innocent animals who didn't do anything have to suffer for our ignorance and our stupidity. My point is that everyone can make a difference. Most people say, "Oh, I don't have to help because one person helping won't make the tiniest change." BUT THAT IS NOT TRUo one does anything because they think someone else will the world would fall apart. One strong person can make a huge difference! Take Al Gore for example, his move and inconvenient truth really opened people's eyes to global warming. It is even what inspired me to write this blog. So, go now and turn of a light that doesn't need to be on and you will be making a difference!

The Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest is an amazing place brimming with life and animals. In fact the Amazon is home to the most assortment of animals in the world and one third of all the species. Except there is a serious problem. The Amazon and many rainforests like it are quickly disappearing! Every minute 50 acres of rainforest is cut down and destroyed which is equivalent to 9,000 square miles per year. Scientists have also concluded that 137 plants, insects and animal species are being forced to extinction every single day !!!! At one time rainforests such as the Amazon and many others covered 14% of the earths surface, now however in 2007 they only cover 6%. It's not just the animals however who are paying for our ignorance there were around ten million Native Brazilians living in the Amazon Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000! The rain forests are being destroyed however for a reason. The price of the wood from the trees is high and there is illegal logging and burning of trees. This deforestation is leaving thousands of animals homeless! Some people just don't understand we are not just losing any replaceable thing we are losing millions of animals and a beautiful place to observe the wild and learn more about nature. Although it seems there is no hope there is! In fact there is a lot of hope. Many, many people are doing everything they can to make a difference. You, can be one of those people. Please, the world needs you on there side. Every one can make a difference. Everyone can help make this world a better place.

Canceling Catalogs

In September, I had an idea. It all began when I would walk passed a garbage can and see 100ds of catalogs thrown out, unread and certainly unwanted. So I found away to stop it. This is what I did! First I set up a box and put it in my mail room accompanied by a sign. My plan was to collect all my neighbors unwanted catalogs and then send them in to the company with a note asking them to stop sending that catalog to the person in question. Slowly but surely more and more neighbors and friends started contributing to this project and now I get around 100 a day! That's about 5 hours of community service a week! My point is that this project (although I won't lie to you takes time and commitment) is a great way to help out and do your job to save our earth. Below are instructions on how you can make a difference by canceling catalogs.

Canceling Catalogs For Dummies
Catalog canceling is a simple but highly important skill to know how to do. If you do it right you can save forests! Hardly anybody does it so it is even more essential to start spreading the news.
Instructions:
1. Make a poster! Post it up in your mailroom! Explain clearly about the project and what you will do with the catalogs. Say that you will collect and then cancel all your neighbors' unwanted catalogs.
2. Put a box under the sign. Write in legible writing "All Unwanted Catalogs go here!"
3. Start telling people in your building to read the poster and to donate catalogs and wait.
4. Check the box daily, rip off the backs of the catalogs, recycle the rest of it, and store the backs in a filing cabinet. Sort them alphabetically. If there are any duplicates, which I'm sure there will be, paperclip them together.
5. After, 5 days take the catalog with the most duplicates and cut out the white box with the subscribers address off the back page, just so it fits in the envelope. Write or type a small note to tell the company to cancel them. One idea of a note is:
To whom it may concern,
I am participating in a paper-saving project in our building in which we cancel unwanted and/or unread catalogs. We would appreciate very much if you could mark our accounts both "Do Not Mail." And "Do Not Rent." The back(s) of the catalog(s) are here in case you need them.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, ___________

6. Cut out the white box with the subscribers address on the back page and then address the catalog according to address on the back. Stamp it and put it in the mail.
7. Every day try to address and mail at least 10 catalogs. In this way in a matter of weeks you will have saved many trees. You also could call the toll free number on the back of the catalogs, (but it takes longer.)
8. Tell everyone you can about this project. A few people can make a lot of difference.
Thank you so much for being a part of this project. You can rest assured that your time and your energy are going to a noble cause.

To ensure your name and address is removed from most national mailing lists, write your name and address below. Be sure to include any variations on your name that you might have noticed. (With or without an initial, middle name, nickname, etc.)

Or, a fast way is to go to catalogchoice.org and cancel your catalogs completely online!

Don't forget,
"Be Smart,
Be Green"

Donate

Here is a list of safe, environmental companies and organizations that you can donate some money to!

www.rootsandshoots.org
www.panda.org
www.gorillafund.org
www.janegoodall.org
www.rainforest-alliance.org
www.koko.org

rainforest2reef
Please help out!