5 Simple Ways Women Can Make The World Greener
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Earlier I wrote about how women have enough power to be able to change the world. Today I want to go over 5 simple things women can do to make the world greener. Of course there are many other things we can do also – some more complex – but I’ll focus on some simple, straight forward things today.
1) Teach our kids – women spend time with their kids everyday. You can incorporate learning about how we should protect the environment into your every conversations and interactions with your kids. That is the best way to do it – each and every moment, everything you say and do around your kids has an effect on the person they become and on what they value.
2) Plant green – if you live a house you probably have some sort of yard that you can control what gets planted in it. First – many people are reducing or eliminating their lawns. You can also change your lawn grass to one that is more environmentally friendly, like buffalo grass. It requires less water and less mowing and if you live in North America, it is a native plant. In the area where you have gotten rid of or reduced your lawn – plant bushes and native plants. They are better for the wildlife in your area and are easier to maintain. You can also grow a vegetable garden to help save money.
3) Recycling – yes recycling isn’t anything new – but it is still helpful. Most packaging on products is recyclable, although some isn’t. If you have the time you could also contact the manufacturers of products whose packaging isn’t recyclable and ask them to change to something that is. Get a group of friends and family to send in letters too, or sign yours. If you can afford it – yes sometimes it is expensive – you can also buy products that have been made from recyclables. I noticed that the paper towels at a store near us that were made from recyclable materials were way too expensive for us, but keep watching the prices, they may go down.
4) Energy efficient appliances – most people, like us, can’t afford to go out and buy new stuff just because it uses less energy. But what you can do is be ready – research brands and models available now – so when something does break down and needs to be replaced so you can buy something more efficient. More energy efficient doesn’t always mean cheaper. We had to replace a water heater recently – the one we bought wasn’t the cheapest out there, but it is much better insulated and efficient than many others we could have bought.
5) Transportation – if you live somewhere where there is public transportation, use it when you can. If not try to drive less or do several errands in one trip. When possible, carpool. Or walk or ride a bicycle. Of course, most of us can’t just go out and buy a hybrid right now. But when you need a new car try to choose a more fuel efficient one. Or buy a used one that will last until the new plug-in hybrids are available. Meanwhile try to start setting aside money now so that when those new plug-in hybrids come out you can afford one.
There – 5 simple things you can do now or prepare to do in the future. In future posts I’ll discuss some of the more complex and long term things you can do to make longer term changes. But right now I think what we all need and want is to do something that is within our power to do now.
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Related Posts:
- Energize your life in an environmentally positive way
- Effect the area around you in a positive way
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September 3, 2008
10 Reasons Why Sarah Palin Should Not be the VP of the U.S.
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Here’s 10 good reasons why Sarah Palin should not be the VP of the U.S. – and absolutely should not be just a heart beat away from the presidency!
1) She’s doesn’t have the experience – her experience consists of being a sports reporter, mayor of a town of 6000-8000 people, then governor of Alaska – a state with a population of only 670,000 – for less than 2 years.
2) She doesn’t have enough education – she has only a Bachelor’s degree in journalism – no advanced degrees. On July 31, this year – she asked: “What is it exactly that the VP does everyday?“.
3) She’s anti-choice – She opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest.
4) She’s anti-environment – she wants polar bears taken off the endangered species list, wants to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and doesn’t believe human activities are responsible for global warming.
5) She’s anti-science – she doesn’t believe human activities are responsible for global warming, wants creationism to be taught in science classes and is against life saving stem cell research.
6) She doesn’t know this country’s history – her opinion of the phrase “Under God” being in the Pledge of Allegiance: “If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance“. But of course the phrase “under God” was not added to the pledge until 1954, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the founding fathers.
7) She’s lied – she said she opposed the bridge to nowhere, but in reality she supported it while campaigning for governor.
8 ) Her policies don’t work – she’s believes in abstinence-only sex education which studies have shown doesn’t work and as a perfect example of their failure, her own 17 year old unmarried daughter is pregnant.
9) She’s tied to big oil just like the current administration – her husband works for British Petroleum and she wants to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
10) She was involved in an Alaskan secessionist organization in the 1990’s – the Alaskan Independence Party. A group whose founder, Joe Vogler has stated: “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”
Still not convinced?
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Related Posts:
- Change – Information and Involvement
- 88 years and 3 days later …
- Friday Favorites – 4th of July Edition
September 2, 2008
3 Reasons Why Science is Important in This Election
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More than ever science research and technology affects our lives. And in particular with this year’s election it is very crucial that we elect a president that values evidence and reason over fear and superstition.
What is at stake is the very existence of us as a species on this planet as well as our ability to greatly reduce the amount of suffering that many around the world endure.
Many issues that have been debated all across the country the past few years require some amount of basic scientific knowledge to really understand. Do the candidates have that knowledge? Are they willing to learn?
The following are the 3 main reasons why science is so crucial in this election:
Climate Change and Energy: Global warming due to the use of fossil fuels is changing the earth’s climate. Even a small overall increase in global temperatures will result in the flooding of coastal areas where a large percent of the population lives. We need to reduce or eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels and replace them with truly clean energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal. Are the presidential candidates ready for this challenge? Or will they dig us further into the current mess we are in now?
Health and Medicine: We will have the ability to greatly reduce or eliminate much of the suffering millions of people endure due to cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and many other diseases if we keep moving ahead with health and medical research. But yet much of that research is being delayed or inhibited altogether because some small percent of the population believes that a blastocyst consisting of 150 cells – with no brain or even neurons – is more valuable than a person suffering or dying from a painful and/or debilitating disease. Will the next president prolong that suffering or take the necessary steps to relieve it?
Education and Innovation: The U.S. is not doing a good job with making sure all its citizens receive an adequate education in general, but we are especially failing in science and math “A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th”. Why does this matter? Much of the growth in the U.S. since WWII is due to our innovation in science and technology. We will be able to sustain that growth if our educational system is not preparing students for careers requiring science and math skills?
Back in November 2007 a small group of people created the organization Science Debate 2008 to get the presidential candidates to discuss all the above and many other science issues. Both candidates have now agreed to answer 14 questions about science and this country’s future!
Update: Obama has answered the 14 questions!
How can you help make sure the candidates understand how important these issues are?
1 – you can Digg this question.
2 – Keep checking the Science Debate 2008 site for the answers the candidates give.
3 – If you have a blog, you can join the Blogger Coalition.
Remember – our futures and the futures of our children are at stake!
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Related Posts:
- Energize your life in an environmentally positive way
- Drug Safety: Balance and Discretion Needed
- Strong American Schools
August 29, 2008
88 years and 3 days later …
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After 88 years and 3 days this is all the further we’ve come? The Republican party thinks they can use a woman as a puppet and manipulate the vote of women by dangling the token woman over us?
I don’t think so: no sex over substance! Sarah Palin may be a nice person – but she’s anti-choice and doesn’t have the experience to run the country if McCain dies. A woman as VP would be nice – but a woman for the sake of a woman if she’s not qualified is not what women need or want.
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Related Posts:
- 2 Reasons Why Women Should Vote for Obama
- 10 Reasons Why Sarah Palin Should Not be the VP of the U.S.
- Friday Favorites Part 2: the Democratic National Convention edition
Friday Favorites Part 2: the Democratic National Convention edition
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Happy Friday! (again!)
I decided to share my favorite quotes of some of the speeches from the Democratic National Convention this week.
Michelle Obama
And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.
All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do. That we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.
You see, Barack doesn’t care where you’re from, or what your background is, or what party, if any, you belong to. That’s not how he sees the world.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.
This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.
I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.
No way. No how. No McCain.
Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.
Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.
With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.
I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?
I’m a United States Senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.
This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.
How do we give this country back to them?
By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.
And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.
If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they’re shouting after you, keep going.
Don’t ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.
But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.
We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.
Bill Clinton
Actually that makes 18 million of us – because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.
Everything I learned in my eight years as President and in the work I’ve done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.
His family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world.
America can do better than that. And Barack Obama will.
But first we have to elect him.
Joe Biden
My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.
That promise is the bedrock of America. It defines who we are as a people. And now it’s in jeopardy. I know it. You know it. But John McCain doesn’t get it.
Barack Obama gets it. Like many of us, Barack worked his way up. His is a great American story.
These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I’m ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America’s time.
Barack Obama
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive.
But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
Now, I don’t believe that Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn’t know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year?
It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.
I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels;
America, now is not the time for small plans.
because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.
We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe.
Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.
So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. … Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich.
Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.
America, we cannot turn back.
Have a great weekend! (again!)
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Related Posts:
- 50 Days ‘Til Change or More of the McSame?
- 2 Reasons Why Women Should Vote for Obama
- Barack Obama wins Democratic Party presidential nomination!
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