Monthly Archives: September 2010
Waste-Free Lunch For Adults
| September 18, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Waste-free lunches don’t just have to be for kids, adults can use them as well. Waste-free lunches can help you save money and waste less. Here is a video with tips and products you can use from Reuseit.com.
To help you finish stocking up for your kids waste-free lunches or your own Reuseit.com is offering free shipping on orders over $50 (subtotal). Just use the coupon code SEPT50 when you checkout. It’s valid through Sunday, September 19th, 2010 at midnight CST. It’s for domestic orders only and not valid with other offers.
*Disclaimer: I was not paid for this post, this is my honest opinion. I am a Reuseit.com Ambassador as well as an affiliate. I earn a small percent of products bought from Reuseit.com. For more info please read my full disclaimer.*
Who Owns the Air?
| September 18, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
After my post Wednesday about cement plants I thought this video was fitting.
We need to tell big companies we want cleaner air. Between cement plants, coal power plants, and other industry our air is getting very dirty and we are feeling the effects.
- Approximately 34.1 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma by a health professional during their lifetime.
- The prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980-1994
- Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% from 1980-1994
(Source: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
The number of deaths each year caused by ozone warnings is on the rise. Around 10-15% of lung cancer cases are non-smokers, pollution is playing a role in this.
When will we say enough? Why not now? Go to Repower America to read about the Clean Air Act and why we need to protect it.
Cement Plants Gone Green?
| September 15, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
The cement plant located in my town has always bothered me. I have always known it was polluting my town, but when I did research on the plant for a blog about the links to cancer I was in tears. Cancer causing pollutants are being dumped all over my small town.
Most people say that the highly effected areas for the pollution from these plants is five miles. Within 1 mile or less of the plant are two schools, the Boys and Girls Club, and countless houses. I live about 2.5 miles from the plant and spent part of my childhood around 0.7 miles from the plant.
My problems with the cement keep increasing, now not only are they polluting my city they are trying to claim they are going green. The company as a world wide company has been launching green PR campaigns across the US. In my own town they sponsor a youth green team.
This is true but sadly sponsoring small groups like this has nothing to do with the bigger picture. When the plants continue to dump toxic chemicals on our planet and not even follow current laws and fight stronger laws, how can this small act help?
I don’t blame groups like local one for taking this offer from the cement plant. I have heard their speech about how they are being green, if you don’t know better it sounds great. One of their claims is that they recycle tires, yet really they are burning them for fuel which is where a lot of the toxins are coming from.
Also groups like this need money and they have a lot of that. They are using groups like this for it’s own PR and that is wrong!
Just a couple of days ago I got a phone call from the plant, to be honest this put fear in my heart for a minute. I was thinking “oh no someone from the plant read my blog and is pissed.” I quickly remembered why I was getting this phone call. Some people from the plant came to a meeting for the recycling coalition I’m a member of and was trying to get people to join a new green group formed by the local chamber of commerce and chaired by the plant.
After much soul searching I had already decided I could not be apart of a group that was being used by the plant as a way to look better than they are. I was hoping to go into details about this when asked but ironically I was having trouble with asthma and was unable to start a big debate and just said I wouldn’t be about to join. Hopefully a time for me to give my reason will come up.
We must stop letting these companies pollute our bodies and our planet. We must tell them they HAVE to clean up or get out. Yes we need cement at the moment but at what price are we willing to get that cement?
Sources:
EPA Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO)
United States National Library of Medicine TOXMAP
TOXNET
National Invisible Illness Awareness Week
| September 13, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
As some of you may know I have a chronic illness called Fibromyalgia. It’s considered an invisible illness because to look at me you can’t see that I have an illness. Even though I look healthy I live in chronic pain.
Fibromyalgia causes many symptoms. My symptoms include wide spread pain, extreme fatigue and sleep disorders(something like the fatigue when you have the flu), morning stiffness, chronic headaches, chemical sensitives, cognitive issues (called “fibro fog” my memory is very poor and I will often forget simple words or what I just did), muscle twitches and weakness, anxiety, sleep starts (falling sensations), irritable bowel syndrome, paresthesias (tingling and burning) and many more.
At times in my life I have spend days at a time in bed because of pain, thankfully I’m doing much better now due to my natural lifestyle. It’s hard to describe fibromyalgia pain. Sometimes it feels like their is acid in my veins, other times it feels like someone is stabbing me with a hot ice pick, other times crushing pain and sometimes electric shocks.
I always hurt even on good days but a good day I can live through the pain. I can handle pain very well but being tired all the time is hard. Also the cognitive issues bother me a lot.
Fibromyalgia is one of the reasons I live like I do. I don’t want to take a lot of drugs to cover up my symptoms so I have done a lot of research on natural ways to be better and one thing I kept finding was links with toxic chemicals and Fibromyalgia so I thought I should get those out of my life. A healthy organic diet, yoga, gentle exercise, vitamins, and herbs have helped me a lot.
Another invisible illness I live with cluster headaches. These are different from your everyday headaches and migraines. The pain is so severe they have been called suicide headaches as some people turn to suicide to stop the pain. They also are on one side of the head and are typically shorter than a migraine. Mine last 5-10 minutes but some people have them for a few hours.
The pain is a terrible stabbing pain by or in your eye. Often you also get eye swelling and sinus drainage or stuffiness on the side of the pain. Unlike migraines resting and being in a dark quite room doesn’t help. Most people with cluster headaches will want to find distractions if possible or will walk around or rock trying to get away from the pain. (some even will head their head on the wall)
There are some drugs that help, several migraine medicines help as well as oxygen. I find caffeine can also help me to abort my headaches.
Thankfully I have found what most of my triggers are, they are nitrates, MSG, and many toxic chemicals. By avoiding these I haven’t been having as many headaches. Also thankfully this is a rare condition with only about 0.4% of people suffering from it. I’m extra rare as it’s normally men that suffer from cluster headaches.
Having lived with these illnesses makes me look at people differently. You never know who is suffering with a chronic illness. Telling someone “but you don’t look sick” or “just get over it we are all tired and hurt sometimes” is hurtful to those of us with illnesses. Just because someone doesn’t look sick doesn’t mean they aren’t, so treat people with respect and remember these illnesses are real, our pain is real
If you have a blog and want to help spread awareness for those of us living with chronic invisible illnesses go to Bloggers Unite to find more info.
Continuing Health Issues After 9/11
| September 12, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
As we remember 9/11 we need to remember the people who live near Ground Zero, many are still suffering health issues largely thanks to our government. On September 18th Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA administrator at the time, assured the people of NYC and Washington D.C. that the air was safe to breath.
Sadly this wasn’t the case.The EPA’s own report says they did not have sufficient data to make this statement. When they made the statement they were missing air monitoring data for pollutants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Tests also showed asbestos levels 200 to 300 percent above those considered to be safe by the EPA.
More resent studies have shown that nearly 70% works that responded to the attacks at the World Trade Center have/are suffering lung problems and lung “abnormalities.”
“Doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which conducted the study, said the results prove that working in the toxic gray dust at ground zero made many people sick, and some will likely suffer the effects for the rest of their lives.”- MSNBC
The EPA’s report says “responding to this crisis required organizations from all levels of government to coordinate their response efforts and to make critical public health and safety decisions quickly, and without all of the data that decision-makers would normally desire.”
It is upsetting to think we allowed this to happen. More upsetting is the fact that we aren’t taking care of these people. Thankfully Congressman Nadler has been trying to pass the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to help take care of those suffering from these illnesses. This act would help cover health care cost and help take away some of the stress these people have.
As we remember this day we must remember those suffering life long health because of 9/11. We must also never let this kind of lying and neglect happen again. To many of our brave men and women that responded to the World Trade Center and those that worked and lived near are living with terrible illnesses.
Sources:
EPA September 18th
WTC EPA Report
Crimes Against Nature by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Most 9/11 recovery workers suffered lung ills
Photo Credit:slagheap
Reducing Our Dependacy on Oil
| September 10, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
I was reading my local newspaper’s website the other day and saw they have a poll that asks “Due to recent oil rig explosions, are you trying to reduce your dependency on petroleum products?” The results make me very sad, 74% no and 26% yes.
I live in a small town in Oklahoma so many people are connected to the oil business and it’s a very conservative area. This poll doesn’t surprise me but makes me wonder what will make everyone agree when need to reduce our use of oil? How many disasters will it take? Will we ever agree, or will we just be forced when it’s to late?
What are your thoughts on this and what is your answer to the poll question?
Photo credits: FreeWine
Breaking News! Oil Platform Explodes
| September 2, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Update #2: An oil sheen is being reported. It measures about one mile long and 100 feet wide. It is still unclear what caused the explosion but earlier reports said the rig was undergoing maintenance and Mariner Energy has said the workers were sandblasting and painting.
Despite the reported oil sheen Mariner Energy, told CNBC that there was no evidence of any spill and that the rig was not currently producing.
Mariner has been involved in 13 Gulf accidents since ’06, seven with violations. For more on this breaking news story check out CNN, NY Times, and TreeHugger.com
Update: The rig is owned by Mariner Energy.
“Mariner Energy is among the largest independent oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico. At year-end 2009, the company had interests in nearly 350 Federal offshore leases, with more than 110 of those in development.”- Mariner Energy
A oil platform has exploded 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It’s still on fire and no one knows if anything is spilling. It may have been a natural gas explosion. All workers have been accounted for, one is injured but no one on how badly.
The coast guard has said reports show the rig wasn’t actively producing but there could still be risk of pollution.
Natural Gas- Not a Green Fuel
| September 2, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
They say we have over 100 years worth in North America. Is it only me that thinks that is just a band-aid to put the next generation in our shoes only with less time and options?
Also do you know how they drill for natural gas? Chemicals and water are pushed into the ground and mini earthquakes are caused. Natural gas companies want us to believe this is safe but these chemicals are showing up in our water sheds. Here is a video about what is happening in New York state.
All energy comes with a cost to the environment, even wind and solar use materials that are not always made in the most environmentally friendly ways but at least when you make a solar panel you will get countless years of power from it, not limited amounts of fuel. And people are hard at work making the materials used more eco-friendly.
Natural gas may have to be a temporary fix while we get a new energy system in place but it can’t be our long term answer. Sorry T. Boone Pickens your “energy plan” isn’t as green as you are telling us.
