Patriotic People Recycle!
There’s no doubt about it: if you’re a patriot, you should feel great about recycling.
Think about it. Recycling saves trillions of kilowatts of energy every year. It conserves our natural resources. It makes our country’s air, water and soil cleaner by limiting pollution, and it stimulates our economy by creating new jobs.
Politicians and pundits from both the Left and the Right strongly agree that we should decrease our dependence on foreign oil. So recycling makes you a true patriot who’s doing something to make the people and economy of our great nation cleaner, healthier, richer and stronger!
I can see some folks in my mind’s eye (not you, of course!) with a slight sneer of disbelief on their faces. So allow me to share some basic statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency and other reputable sources that back up my argument.
Be a Patriot: Save Energy!
In 2003, the energy savings from recycling 54 billion aluminum cans exceeded the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil, or the amount of gas the U.S. uses in one day.
Another way to look at it: recycling 1 can = 3 hours of TV, so in 2003 the U.S. saved enough energy by recycling cans to run 162 billion hours of TV, or about 25 hours of TV for every man, woman and child on Earth.
The Center for Ecological Technology found that the glass industry uses 50% less energy to create glass from recycled glass than from raw materials.
Americans recycled about 40 million tons of paper products in 2003, creating an energy savings of 163 trillion (yes, with a “T”!) kilowatt hours of electricity.
Recycling one pound of plastic soda bottles – or PET plastic – saves 1200 BTUs of energy (1 BTU is the amount of energy needed to raise a gallon of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit).
2005 saw the U.S. recycle 5 billion pounds of PET plastic, which equals a savings of 60 trillion BTUs of energy.
Be a Patriot: Conserve Natural Resources
Americans disposed of 83 million tons of paper products in 2003. According to the EPA, by recycling nearly half of that, we saved 705 million trees and 290 billion gallons of fresh water.
4% of U.S. annual oil consumption, or roughly 219 million barrels of oil, goes into the manufacture of plastic. Thus increasing the amount of plastic we recycle can make a significant impact on oil use.
In 1997, the U.S. recycled 13 million cars, which conserved 32.5 billion pounds of iron ore, 18.2 billion pounds of coal and 1.5 billion pounds of limestone.
Aluminum can be recycled forever. Over 2/3 of all aluminum ever created is still in use. Most of the 1/3 not still in use is aluminum cans in landfills.
Be a Patriot: Limit Pollution
Recycling just half of your annual recyclable household waste saves 2400 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Many scientists contend that human-released CO2 is a leading cause of global warming.
Recycling household and car batteries keeps heavy metals such as mercury, lithium and cadmium from being released into our air and water. Heavy metals, when consumed by people and other animals, cause numerous health problems and diseases.
The EPA estimates that 200 million gallons of used motor oil are improperly disposed of each year. Recycling used motor oil keeps it from polluting your ground and fresh water.
Americans dispose of 270 million waste tires each year. Illegally-dumped and stock-piled tires are fertile breeding grounds for rodents and mosquitoes, and illegally-burned tires release oil and soot into the air and ground water.
Be a Patriot: Stimulate the Economy
Recycling creates a net gain in jobs – 5 to 1 over landfill management.
Jobs created by recycling cover a wide variety of skill sets, including basic labor, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, advanced science and engineering.
Recycling creates new “green” technologies designed to take advantage of the reclaimed resources.
The National Recycling Coalition reports that recycling has created 1.1 million jobs, $236 billion in gross annual sales, and $37 billion in annual payroll.
So there you have it. Patriotic people recycle! I challenge you to come up with another activity that every family in the country can so easily do to make such a huge difference in so many critical areas of the health of our great nation.
Mac Bartine writes about business, music and the environment for his website, http://KnoxvilleBusiness.com. For more of his writing about recycling, visit http://KnoxvilleBusiness.com/why-recycling-is-important.html
Smart Homes to Eat Their Own Rubbish
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all do something to help with global warming? Actually, wait a minute, we can! You would have to be on a different planet not to know about how bad global warming has become. You only need to take a look out of the window to observe the ever increasingly unpredictable weather. The weather is becoming so bad that natural disasters are becoming more frequent and causing more death and destruction than ever.
Why is it important for us to change the way we live?
As you know, the earth as we know it is damaged. The way we humans have lived has taken its toll on the planet and because of it, global warming is causing things to happen that shouldn’t happen. Icecaps are starting to melt and as a result, species of animals are becoming extinct.
So what can we do it about it?
The problems we humans have is that we are naive by thinking how can one person wasting electricity or doing something else along the same lines cause this much damage? Well, this may only be your thoughts, but then how many other people think if I do this it will not do any harm? Before you know it, a lot of people are doing the same thing and it all contributes.
So, if you are not sure what to do, assess the way that you live. Basically, do you leave lights on when you do not really need to? Just by making little changes, you could be doing your part to help save energy.
Smart houses could be a reality
There has been a call to produce smart houses that eat their own rubbish and power themselves up. The government’s chief scientist, Sir David King, is overseeing this project that plans to design these smart houses that can withstand the conditions of the 21st century. It is thought that the homes need to be wireless so it would need to draw any energy that it can from its own environment, whether it be solar or wind energy.
It could be a fair few years before this can happen, but in the mean time, the government is constantly trying to find new ways to help reduce carbon emission and other things. New methods include taxing people for the amount of rubbish that they have and they are trying to also encourage people to recycle more of their rubbish instead of throwing it away.
Why not change the way that you live today by switching off lights, or by trying to find other ways of saving energy. Together, we can help to make the changes needed and to try to help the planet repair itself. If nothing is done, things will just becoming a whole lot worse and it may get to a stage where nothing could be done whatsoever anymore.
http://www.envirochemcontrol.co.uk/ supply waste management services.
Global Warming And You
It seems everyday we’re bombarded with even more information regarding global warming. Scientists give us finding after finding; this ice shelf is melting, that drought is longer and more severe than even before, plus it seems wherever you are in the world politicians add their personal opinions, whether genuine or not.
Early summer, late winter.
Here in London we’ve been basking in beautiful near summer weather for the past few weeks, a full 3 months early. Yet now tonight we have snow forecast over the next couple of days. No matter what we think is happening, nature is confused. Trees and flowers in full blossom thinking it to be mid to late April will now lose their colour to late frosts and snow.
Is it true; are we to blame for Earth’s atmosphere warming to artificially high levels?
I was recently inspired by the new movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Based on US Senator Al Gore’s illuminating and extraordinary slide show dealing with the onset of global warming dating back to the industrial revolution, the movie contains all the latest factual information, plus strategies of what we as individuals can do to alleviate the situation. It most worryingly shows how the human production of CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gasses have dramatically increased in the latter half of the 20th century.
Tackling such a serious subject head on, I also found famously heavy and some-might-say-boring Al Gore to be light, informative, funny and a very human person indeed.
I don’t usually make movie recommendations during my newsletters and articles, however on this occasion I would recommend and encourage you to seek out ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. Have a look at the official website (link below) and take an extra step forward today.
What would it take for you to become inspired?
Being inspired to make positive changes for our planet and future generations surely is the biggest legacy any of us can leave, isn’t it? I’m currently coaching with Tom, a young man in The Netherlands who’s re-training in order to move into environmental research to reduce and reverse global warming, and even though much of the technical side of what he does is completely over my head, his focus and dedication is totally inspirational to me.
The spectrum of what we can all do is huge. And just to bring this back into the area of life coaching & personal development, it’s the area known as ‘contribution’.
Of course, there is also a debate doubting the present scientific data. Some suggest the Earth warms and cools as part of its greater long-term cycle, and that what is happening now is simply a part of that. It’s mentioned the oceans produce far more CO2 than any human factory ever could, that cows produce more methane than a human ever could, and that most of the predictions published by scientists throughout the past 20-30 years have proved either inaccurate or just plain wrong.
Personally I lean on the side of global warming being a reality, and one I can effect. I believe we have an obligation to future generations to safeguard their world whether we have irrefutable evidence or not. If we took no action, believing scientists to be wrong, and they turned out to right, by that time we might have inflicted irreversible harm on the world they inherit.
So, what some actions we can take that will tell future generations that even if the scientists are right or wrong we took care of their planet anyway? Here are a few handy hints I’ve picked up along the way, which as well as helping reduce global warming will also cut down your fuel bills and make you more healthy!
1. Leave the car at home more often, especially for short trips. Use public transport, walk to the shops instead of driving. As well as saving money on gas (petrol), carrying the bags and walking will be great for your body.
2. As light bulbs blow in the house, replace with low emission bulbs and also switch lighting and other appliances off in rooms or areas not in use. Think TV, DVD, music system, think big savings on your fuel bill each year!
3. Take a shower instead of a bath. Showers use only around a 5th water compared to taking a bath.
4. Recycle household waste. I know some countries and cities view this with different levels of urgency. Even here in London some councils are more proactive than others. I just moved from a lackluster one to a really good one, and now have separate bins for garden and vegetable waste, one for cardboard, plastic and glass bottle, papers and books, etc, and everything else goes in the regular black bag destined for a landfill. What I’ve noticed however, is since I’ve been doing this the size of the black bag is smaller and smaller as I feel better and better.
5. Become more eco savvy. Check items that have less, or more easily recyclable packaging. This gives supermarket shopping a whole new twist, which for those of us who seem to spend hours in the places each week, helps pass the time and make the experience a whole lot more interesting.
And finally
It has been suggested that intention is everything. In the case of global warming, whichever side of the debate you’re on, your intention is still so important, and asking the question, what condition do you want to leave the planet in for the future, does make a difference, not least to you.
Mike Blissett is a Peak Performance Coach, and Sport & Fitness Hypnotherapist based in Harley Street, London, working with people and organisations to help them achieve better results.
http://www.mikeblissett.com/
CFL Light Bulbs In Texas – Not The Brightest Idea?
Mercury is poisonous, yet it’s a critical part of most compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), the kind that environmentalists and some governments are pushing as a new way to cut energy consumption. Mercury is probably best known for its effects on the nervous system. It can also damage the kidneys and liver, and in sufficient quantities can cause death.
There were an estimated 150 million CFLs sold in the United States in 2006 and, and Wal-Mart alone hopes to sell 100 million in 2007. Some scientists and environmentalists are worried that most are ending up in garbage dumps. U.S. regulators, manufacturers and environmentalists note that, because CFLs require less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs, they reduce overall mercury in the atmosphere by cutting emissions from coal-fired power plants.
But some of the mercury emitted from landfills – in the form of vaporous methyl-mercury – can get into the food chain more readily than inorganic elemental mercury released directly from a broken bulb or even coal-fired power plants, according to government scientist Steve Lindberg.
“Disposal of any mercury-contaminated material in landfills is absolutely alarming to me,” said Lindberg, emeritus fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The mercury content in the average CFL — now about 5 milligrams — would fit on the tip of a ballpoint pen, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and manufacturers have committed to cap the amount in most CFLs to 5 milligrams or 6 milligrams per bulb. To prevent mercury from getting into landfills, the EPA, CFL makers and various organizations advocate recycling. Besides commercial recyclers and some municipal waste collection services, some retailers accept used CFLs.
IKEA, the Swedish home furnishings chain, has free drop-off programs at all of its 234 stores, 29 of which are in the United States. Now advocacy groups are calling on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other big chains to get involved.
One problem with recycling is that it isn’t cheap. The value of the metal, glass and mercury reclaimed from recycling fails to offset the cost of the process. Costs can range from 20 cents to 50 cents per bulb – not a paltry sum when some CFLs sell for less than $2 at Wal-Mart.
But, compared with the overall lifecycle cost of buying and using a bulb, recycling would be less than 1 percent. Another obstacle lies in the fragility of the bulbs and their mercury content.
The U.S. government has no single recycling plan in mind. Among the alternatives are special curbside collections by municipalities, mail-back programs by manufacturers and drop-off programs at various places, including retail stores that sell CFLs, he said.
Some methods lend themselves to certain geographic areas more than others, because of differences in population density, transportation infrastructure and proximity to recycling sites.
State laws are also a factor. Federal regulations mandate recycling of fluorescent lighting, while exempting households and other small users. Some states, however, are strict. For example, California no longer allows anyone to throw CFLs in the trash, while Massachusetts requires manufacturers to implement recycling programs and meet certain targets.
As technology advances, however, mercury could become less of an issue, at least as far as light bulbs are concerned. Last month General Electric Co. said it was working on doubling the energy efficiency of incandescent lights and eventually developing versions comparable with CFLs. These bulbs, which the company hopes to begin marketing in 2010, will cost less than fluorescents but they won’t last as long.
Meanwhile, some environmentally minded consumers in Dallas, Houston and throughout Texas are embracing CFLs and doing their best to dispose of them responsibly.
Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at http://www.precedent.com
Mother Cow Report Card
In one respect, possibly the best person to do a preliminary assessment of a cow protection program is an accountant, because of his or her training to evaluate performance in terms of names, dates and numbers. These factors reveal a lot about the quality of cow protection, even before the project is visited.
Let’s evaluate the Mother Cow program by a set of standards (abbreviated here) that I posted a year ago. The point here is not to attack Mother Cow, but rather by revealing positive standards of cow protection to promote the defense of Dharma in all cow protection programs.
MONITORING AND RECORDS
1. The entire herd should be counted daily.
* Whether Mother Cow follows this standard is unknown, but probably it would not be difficult at least to count the cows still being maintained at Mother Cow.
2. Every cow should have a name.
* It appears that all Mother Cow’s milking cows have names, but it’s worth noting that the website doesn’t give names of any calves or bulls. Thus it’s harder to know what becomes of them, and less noticeable when they are missing.
3. Records should be kept with the name, sex, date of birth of each cow. When a cow or calf dies, the cause of death and date of death should be recorded. Annual records should be provided to members each year.
* Unknown. Website does not specify whether members receive an annual cow census.
4. Calf mortality should be less than 10%. In the absence of proper records, this can be determined retroactively by seeing how many cows have been milking in the last 2-3 years and determining how many of their calves are still alive.
* Website indicates over 50 calves born to 22 milking cows – yet Mother Cow states it is protecting only 12 calves. What happened to the other 40 calves?
5. Analyzed by sex, the herd should be approximately 50% cows, 50% bulls or oxen. If there are far more females than males, it’s a sign of a discrepancy – either in the organization’s incomplete understanding of cow protection, or in substandard protection for bull calves.
* Website indicates over 50 calves born to 22 milking cows – yet Mother Cow states that it has only one bull and one ox. Of the total of 70 animals, only 2 males are currently protected by Mother cow (less than 3 percent). The oxen shown in the website’s photo don’t appear to be from Mother Cow, since all the cows are taurean breeds, but the oxen shown are Indic or Brahmin breed.
6. Any cow who has taken shelter on Krsna’s land or in Krsna’s temple should never be subsequently sold, traded, given away or killed.
* Statistics show that several dozen cows are missing from the herd. We’re assured that bull calves are given to a Jain project where they will be “protected for life.” Out of site, out of mind. On one hand, if the Jain temple is protecting these cows, why not donate money directly to the Jains? On the other hand, getting rid of unprofitable cows by giving them to others makes Mother Cow’s claims of providing life-time protection unconvincing.
BREEDING AND AQUIRING COWS
7. No cow should be bred for milk production alone, without plans for the resulting calf. No cow should be bred unless there is a clear and concrete plan for the care of the calf for its entire life, which may be 10-20 years. This means there must be adequate land, adequate funding and adequate trained personnel to care for the resulting calf.
* The statement of goals indicates that cows are being bred primarily for milk production: “Our plans for expansion include the purchase of 6 acres of land (in addition to our present 3 acres of land), 40 milk cows.” Cows are not being bred to produce working oxen, nor is there any description of training the resulting bull calves, who appear to be simply unwanted offspring.
8. Cows should not be acquired based on sentiment alone. A goshalla should not allow itself to be exploited by those who “donate” animals with mixed motives.
* Mother Cow cannot be accused of this flaw.
9. Milking should be a pleasurable experience for the cow.
* Milking techniques are unknown. This is generally difficult to assess without being on-site. There seem to be enough cowherds to prevent the necessity of machine milking.
10. Milk production should not be developed primarily as a profit-making venture. “You say we must have a gosala trust, that is our real purpose. krsi-goraksya-vanijyam vaisya karma svabhava-jam, [Bg 18.44]. Where there is agriculture there must be cows. That is our mission: Cow protection and agriculture and if there is excess, trade. This is a no-profit scheme…
* It seems clear that this project has been developed primarily as a profit-making venture, which is why most of the calves are missing. It’s simply not profitable to keep them. Profit-motive, especially in a competitive capitalist system, always endangers the welfare of cows. (See also my article, “Why Commercial Dairies Can’t Stop Killing,” Back To Godhead, Vol. 30, No 6, 1996.)
TRAINING OF OXEN OR BULLOCKS
11. In general, all bull calves should be trained to work. As Srila Prabhupada stated, “If you do not use the bulls for plowing, one day you will say, let us cut their throats.”
* Out of 70 animals, it appears that one ox is being trained to work.
12. No ox should be overworked or worked by force only.
* Not relevant at this point, since no oxen are working.
13. In general, bull calves should be castrated by the time they are 1 year old, or whatever age is appropriate for that breed. This can be done with minimum discomfort by using a bloodless emasculator or burdizzo, which only pinches the semen tubes to achieve sterilization.
* Whether oxen are castrated before being given to the Jains is unknown.
SHELTER, GRAZING AND FEED
14. The cows’ living conditions should be clean and comfortable.
* The 30 animals who have been permitted to remain at Mother Cow appear to have clean facilities. The living conditions of animals donated to the Jain goshalla are unknown.
15. All cows should have adequate shelter.
* Again, the 30 animals who remain at Mother Cow seem to have adequate shelter. It is unknown what kind of shelter the other 40 animals have.
16. Adequate fencing should be maintained.
* Apparently the fencing is adequate since the goshalla stresses that cows are not permitted to wander the streets eating hazardous garbage. Thus they are also protected from street injuries and from slaughter by rustlers.
17. Cows must be provided sufficient grazing opportunity. And, as stated by Bhismadeva in the Mahabharata, no cow should be kept always tethered.
* Grazing opportunities unknown.
18. The program should maintain adequate pasture for animals. Generally the minimum would be at least 1/2 acre (1/4 hectare) per animal, preferably 1 acre per animal.
* 30 cows on 3 acres of land means 1/10 acre of land for each animal, probably less, because buildings occupy some land. Mother Cow plans to purchase more land, but indicates land will be for 40 more cows (and presumably their 40 more calves). “Our plans for expansion include the purchase of 6 acres of land (in addition to our present 3 acres of land), 40 milk cows, 2 fully equipped barns…” It appears that to increase profitability of the dairy, conditions will become more crowded, not less crowded.
19. Cows should be sufficiently well fed.
* It appears that the 22 milking cows are well fed. The conditions of the animals sent to the Jain goshalla are unknown.
20. Ideally, feed for the cows should be grown on site, not purchased from outside.
* Given the small amount of land, most feed must be purchased from outside, but it appears from the photos that some is grown on site.
FUNDING AND ACCOUNTING
21. The goshalla should have an accurate and clear method of keeping accounts, and members should be presented with an annual statement of accounts.
* It is unknown whether members are presented with an annual statement of accounts. Since the endeavor is set up primarily as a profit-making dairy rather than as a cow protection program, it seems doubtful that the standard of public accounting exists at this stage.
22. Ideally, funds collected for a goshalla or cow protection program should be kept separate from other accounts, such as that of a temple or community facility. Funds should not be invested in any speculative business enterprise.
* Unknown.
COWHERD TRAINING AND SUPPORT
23. Cowherds should be recognized as important members in the spiritual community.
* Whether cowherd are regarded as members of the spiritual community is unknown. The fact that their photos are highlighted on the website seems positive. When cowherds are publicly praised, they take pride in their work. This usually results in better care for the cows.
24. Ideally, the goshalla should maintain a well designed program for training cowherds and ox-power farmers.
* Training program for cowherds is unknown, but probably there is some program in place or the facilities would not look as good as they do. It is doubtful that there is a training program for teamsters, since most bull calves are sent away,
25. Cowherds should be facilitated and supported so they can have a decent, if simple, standard of living… Without proper training, facility and care of its cowherds, a cow protection program is threatened by constant turnover of staff and may eventually collapse.
* Standard of living and rate of turnover among the cowherds is unknown.
MEMBERSHIP AND OUTREACH
26. A goshalla should use its cow protection program as a means of attracting the public to Krsna consciousness.
*Difficult to assess at this point.
27. Activities of the cow protection program should be highlighted on community websites and during religious holidays and festivals such as Gaura Purnima, Janmastami, Govardhana Puja and Ratha Yatra. The Deities can be read accounts of the activities of the year, not only how much milk or burfi was produced, but also how many oxen were trained, how much area they plowed, how much wood they hauled, how many bushels of vegetables they produced, etc