Category: Activism
Why Gas Boycott Days Don’t Work
| May 11, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Energy |
Gas boycott days have been going around the internet for years now. As much as I love a good boycott, I boycott more than my fair share of businesses, gas boycott days won’t lower gas prices or effect the amount of oil we are using and here is why.
- People will just fill up the day before the boycott and soon after. It doesn’t change how much gas they are buying. So the money lost on the boycott day is made up for on other days.
- This boycott doesn’t change habits.
- To make a real impact people would have to not drive that day. And then there are emergency vehicles, lawn care equipment, delivery trucks, etc…
- Many of these boycotts have also called for boycotting on oil company, like many called for a boycott of BP. These don’t work very well either as the gas you buy likely contains gas from lots of different companies. Also many gas stations are privately owned so the individual will end up being hurt more than the CEO’s/company.
There are ways to make a real impact when it comes to oil and gas.
- Avoid using your car as much as possible. Walk, use public transpiration, carpool, bike, or just stay home.
- Use battery powered lawn equipment.
- Drive smart. You can increase your gas milage by driving better, reduce your speed, brake and accelerate gently, and plan your trips well.
- When buying a new car, buy the one with the highest gas milage that fits your needs.
We all need to work to reduce our dependence on oil. It’s a resource that will run out and some believe it will be in short supply in many of our life times. So, have you worked to reduce your dependence on oil? If so, what are your tips?
Photo Credit: Average Jane
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
| May 10, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism |
While there are times when your voice is a powerful instrument there are also times when saying nothing at all can speak volumes. The other day I saw that the construction workers next door to me had left a lot of trash in the yard and it was blowing into mine. I even watched one worker just drop a piece of trash in the yard on propose.
I could have gone out and chewed them out and part of me wanted to but I decided against that. Often that doesn’t do much and I thought this would possibly be one of those times and there was a CHANCE they had planned to pick it up or that the person I talked to had nothing to do with it, as there were a lot of workers. I also strive to be a pacifist. So, I went outside and just started picking up all the trash in my yard. I took my time to be sure they saw me and didn’t say a word.
Soon after I started a worker on the roof saw what I was doing and while looking quite sheepish and saying sorry, picked up the trash in the yard they were working in. I just flash a little smile and finished our yard. I have a feeling in the future the yard won’t get trashed like that and I never had to say a word.
This is not the first time I have found this method works with litterers. At a sustainability conference, of all places, I watched a lady drop a cigarette on the sidewalk and walk off, I turned around, picked it up and put it in the nearby trash can. She saw what I did and came over and apologized over and over and said she felt guilty as soon as she did it and that she would NEVER do it again. I believe her, she was quite embarrassed. I just smiled that time as well.
Have you tried this kind of thing with people? Have you had similar reactions?
Get a Free Glass Straw!
| April 21, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Earth Day, Giveaway, Waste |
One of my favorite green companies is GlassDharma, they make amazing glass straws. If you know me or have read my blog very long you likely know I LOVE my glass straws. I use them all the time and even carry one in my purse. While straws may not seem like a big issue, they are. More than 500 million disposable plastic straws are used in the United States every day! That’s a lot of plastic waste and straws are also a common source of litter.
Glass Straw in my Cookie Dough Blended Coffee
In honor of Earth Day GlassDharma has been giving away glass straws and you still have the rest of today get your free straw, here is what you have to do. Write a quick 100-200 word essay or make a short 1-3 minute video about why you love glass straws, why you love the idea of reusable straws or why you’d love a glass straw. The first 1,000 entries will receive a free glass straw! And one grand prize winner for each category will win a $100 GlassDharma gift code! Be sure to visit GlassDharma’s website to learn more.
I haven’t had a chance to make a video so I’m going to share a great one from my friend Danielle from It Starts With Me.
An Hour for the Earth
| March 30, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism |
Earth Hour is tomorrow, all around the world at 8:30 p.m. If you are new to Earth Hour, it’s one hour when the world comes together to promote awareness of environmental issues. Turning off the lights is not meant to curb carbon emissions but to just bring awareness that we all can do something.
This year many people are challenging people to do something and in exchange they will do something as well. Here is the most adorable challenge I have seen.
So are you going to participate in Earth Hour? If so what do you plan to do during the hour. I haven’t decided what I will do yet so I can use ideas!
Tell the FDA to Ban BPA
| March 23, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Plastic, Toxins |
Did you know BPA may be linked to breast cancer? Most breast cancer is NOT genetic but is thought to be caused by environmental causes, like BPA. BPA mimics estrogen and can cause changes in breasts which raise the risk of breast cancer. This video helps explain this problem with BPA.
New studies also show that BPA in pregnant women may cause behavioral problems in girls. Other risks thought to be linked to BPA keep popping up. This is a very prevalent toxin, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found BPA in 95% of adult human urine samples and 93% of samples in children.
You can avoid bpa by using stainless steel and glass instead of plastic and avoiding food in metal cans which may be lined with BPA, but it’s in so many things that totally avoiding it is hard. Also if something is showing up as causing so many problems should anyone be eating it? No! That is why we must tell the FDA to ban BPA.
“Over three years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition with the FDA asking them to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) as an additive. After many months of waiting, a decision date has been declared. March 31, 2012 is the last possible day that the FDA has to make a permanent decision about the usage of BPA in consumer products. The FDA has expressed concerned, scientists have expressed concern, organizations have expressed concerned, and relentless public mandate has created a serious shift in its usage within products. Not surprisingly, plastic industry lobbyists, and those benefit financially from the continued use of BPA, doubt its harm. In 2011, Maine Governer Paul LePage went so far as to claim that there “hasn’t been any science” that identified BPA as a problem, but then made the claim that there was, in fact, some talk of BPA acting as an estrogen mimic that he’d heard about, but in a worst case scenario “women may have little beards” as a result of exposure. People like this are aggressively lobbying to keep this additive alive and they will be pushing hard on the FDA.”- Plastic Pollution Coalition
The FDA has finally agreed to decide on a BPA ban by March 31, 2012, so it’s time to act!
Take Action
The Plastic Pollution Coalition has started a petition on Change.org to get the word to the FDA that we want to see BPA banned. It’s already been signed by some pretty big supporters.
Addison Fischer, founder Planet Heritage Foundation/VeriSign
Amber Sakai, fashion designer
Amy Smart, actress
Ann K. Luskey, ocean conservationist
Barbara Benish, UN Safe Planet
Beth Nielsen Chapman, musician
Bill McKibben, author and founder 350.org
Bobbi Chase Wilding, Clean & Healthy New York
Bonnie Raitt, musician
Chandra Jessee, philanthropist
Congressman Stephen Cohen (D-Tenn.)
Daniella Russo, Executive Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Dennis Grimaldi, Broadway playwright
Dianna Cohen, Artist & Creative Advocacy Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Dick Button,Olympic gold medalist & ABC sports commentator
Dr. Marty Goldstein, DVM
Ed Begley Jr., actor and environmentalist
Fran Drescher, actress/producer
Hilary Swank, actress
Jackson Browne, musician
Jeanne Rizzo, RN; President and CEO, Breast Cancer Fund
Jeff Bridges, actor
Jeff Franklin, writer, producer, director
Joan Fabry, architect
Joanna Moore, owner, AXE restaurant
Jodie Evans, co-founder CODEPINK
Keb’Mo, musician
Mario Batali, chef
Mark Christy, President, Hobie
Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Michelle Martin Coyne, artist and photographer
P. Dee Boersma, Ph.D, Department of Biology, University of Washington
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles (PSR-LA)
Rosanna Arquette, actor
Roz Savage, ocean rower and environmental campaigner
Sergio Arau, film director, musician, visual artist
Shari Sant Plummer, President, Code Blue Foundation
Sue Rockefeller, filmmaker
Sylvia Earle, Ph.D., oceanographer and explorer
The Ditty Bops, musicians
Wallace J Nichols Ph.D., marine biologist
Wavy Gravy, clown poet, SEVA
Werner Boote, filmmaker/director of “Plastic Planet”
Yareli Arizmendi, actor, writer
Add your name to the petition and hopefully by April our food supply will be on the way to being safer!
President Obama Gives Pro-Keystone XL Speech in Cushing, Oklahoma
| March 22, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Energy |
President Obama was in Cushing, Oklahoma today. For those that don’t know the Keystone pipeline route, that is where the current Keystone ends and is where the southern leg of the Keystone XL starts. While most media seems to want us to believe Obama is against the Keystone XL, he has just requested that more environmental studies are done in the northern route of the Keystone XL. The southern part is still pushing forward. Pipeline has already made it’s way into Oklahoma and land is being taken (I say taken because eminent domain is being used) in Oklahoma and Texas.
As expected, Obama’s speech today was in favor of the pipeline. As he has stated several times, he is for an all-of-the-above energy policy and today’s speech reflected that. He made his position on the southern half of the pipeline very clear saying;
“… right now a company called TransCanada has applied to build a new pipeline to speed more oil from Cushing to state of the art refineries down in the gulf coast. And today I’m directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done.”
The environmental concerns of the pipeline aren’t all Oklahoman’s are upset about. Several Native American groups have been protesting the pipeline as a survey done by the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey has found 88 archaeological sites and 34 historic structures that will be threatened by the Keystone XL. TransCanada has rerouted around some but it still leaves 71 archaeological sites and 22 historic structures at risk. While the group has been asking for the list of the sites, their request has been denied.
Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement in response to the Presidents speech in Cushing;
“The Sierra Club is deeply disappointed that the President is fast tracking the Cushing-Port Arthur pipeline. This wrongheaded decision will do nothing to lower gas prices and only helps the richest oil companies get richer. While this may have been a political calculation for the administration, it puts American families at risk and only serves to deepen our dependence on oil. Pipelines leak, and tar sands pipelines are dirtier and more dangerous – this decision will affect real people and real families who have a right to keep their property, air and water clean and safe.
“The President has vowed to double down on clean energy and we look forward to seeing those plans. We can’t afford to hit snooze again on our nation’s dangerous addiction to oil, and until the President and Congress make good on promises of clean energy, we are doomed to find ourselves in this mess over and over again.
“The Sierra Club is committed to fighting dirty tar sands and we stand with the families of Oklahoma and Texas and all Americans who care about keeping their air, water and land safe from polluters.”
Take Action
We need to let President Obama know that the Keystone XL is energy policy. You can do this by signing a petition started by Credo Action. Also be sure to let your friends know that even though the northern leg of the pipeline is on hold, the southern leg is moving forward.
If you are in Texas there will be a protest in Austin on March 31st. Stopping the southern leg of the pipeline will be no easy task, the pipeline is already making it’s way into the state and the ground work is being laid but we can’t give up!
You can view the full speech on Green Oklahoma.
Photo credits: 
Some rights reserved by FreeWine
World Water Day 2012
| March 22, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Conservation |
There is an old saying, “whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting.” These days this saying is becoming very true. In Oklahoma, the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes are fighting the state of Oklahoma over water on tribal land. Oklahoma agreed to sell storage rights to 90% of the lake but since the lake is on tribal lands the tribes feel they should have a say.
After a record breaking drought in Oklahoma, and many surrounding states, this issue is an even more pressing one. Many of Oklahoma’s towns are concerned about water. Much of the state was under water restrictions during the summer. And with the drought even more water was needed, making the issue even worse.
Texas is also in trouble. Two Texas towns have run out of water and many others are running out. This video from PBS shows just how bad things have gotten and talk about the connection between the water issues and climate change.
Over the past several days Oklahoma and parts of Texas have gotten a lot of rain. This rain will be essential as many believe this coming summer will be another hot one. At this rate many will be forced to conserve water and drastic measures may have to be taken.
Take Action
While there is no easy fix to this problem, we can each do something to help. Waiting to conserve when it becomes dire is not the way to do it. We can, and should, start conserving now. Here are some simple ways to reduce your water usage.
- Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and/or shaving. In just one year this simple action will save over 2,880 gallons a year.
- Skip bottled water. Using a reusable water bottle and filtered tap water can save a lot of water. Did you know it takes around seven liters of water to produce a one liter bottle of water? In one year of skipping bottled water will save around 580 gallons a year.
- Install a low-flow shower head. This will save around 4,550 gallons a year.
- Use recycled paper products. It takes a lot of water to produce paper products but recycled ones require much less. This action saves around 640 gallons a year.
- If you are going to water your lawn do so in the morning or evening. If you water during the hot part of the day a lot of the water will evaporate. This will save around 4,500 gallons a year.
- Do Meatless Monday. Meat requires a lot of water. Skipping meat just one day a week can save over 170,000 gallons a year.
- Install faucet aerator. These cheap devices can save you around 1,000 glass a year.
- Get a rain barrel. The amount you will save depends on a lot of factors but it is a good investment. Depending on your roof the water may or may not be good for food but if nothing else it’s good for flowers and other non-edible plants. You can also put grey water in your rain barrel. Simple things like putting a bucket in the shower and either putting the water on your plants or in your rain barrel can really add up.
Water is going to become more and more of an issue as temperatures rise, droughts become more common and population rates rise. We are going to have to work together to fix these issues.
Please share your water saving tips in the comments below. Also feel free to join this World Water Day blog hop that Abbie from Farmer’s Daughter started.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and I earn a small percent if you buy a product from the link. However, this does not effect my views.
Kony 2012 Controversy
| March 12, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Human Rights |
If you have read this blog for a long time you know that social justice is a big issue for me. So, when I saw the Kony 2012, yes it made me want to do something. However, I knew what I was going to be watching because I already knew who Kony was and about his crimes.
However, I’m a skeptical person and once I push past the emotion I want to know the facts. I don’t believe it’s ever a good idea to base a view on one source. After watching the video there were somethings that stood out to me, so I started doing some research and found some pretty sketchy things about Invisible Children and the video itself.
Before I get into that I want to be clear, I do believe Kony is a terrible person that is doing horrible things. I would like to see him stopped and put on trial for crimes against humanity. I’m fine with the US helping in this as long as it doesn’t result in war and the people of Africa want our help. See I am a pacifist (at least to a large degree), I believe there are better ways to stop things other than war. Sure, I’m not sure that it’s always an option, though I think it is now more than ever. War always has civilian deaths and it always causes harm to people that have nothing to do with the war, at times even the victims it is trying to save. So with all of that being said let’s look at the problems with Kony 2012.
The first issue is the video is making it sound like the people of Uganda are unable to help themselves and that Americans must come to the rescue. Yet Kony has pretty much left Uganda because the people in Uganda have been able to run him off and his groups numbers are down. Ugandans have responded to this video and are not fond of that part of the message. I think this video from a Ugandan blogger named Rosebell Kagumire gives a lot of insight into the issues with the Kony 2012 video.
One of the things she says that really stands out to me is ”I think we need to have kind of sound, intelligent campaigns that are geared towards real policy shifts, rather than a very sensationalised story that is out to make one person cry, and at the end of the day, we forget about it.”
Basically this issue is far to complex to understand because you watched a 30 minute video. I’m happy it has people talking about Kony and the idea of making him known is a good but it can’t stop there. Educate yourself on the issue. Some parts of the video are pretty misleading and all of it requires more information than what is given. Here are some good articles on this issue if you want to learn more and I urge you to go ahead and read them. Be informed because knowledge is power!
Ugandans Hit Back at Kony 2012 Campaign
Kony 2012: A Lesson in Critical Thinking
African Critics of Kony Campaign See a ‘White Man’s Burden’ for the Facebook Generation
Guest post: Joseph Kony is not in Uganda (and other complicated things)
The best thing, in my opinion, to come from this is that it has us talking about Africa. Is Kony a bad person, yes. Should he be stopped, yes. Is it as simple as all of that, no.
So have you watched the video and read about the controversy? If so, what do you think?
Photo credits: Robert Raines
Happy International Women’s Day!
| March 8, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Human Rights |
This year and the many attacks on women’s rights should remind us of the great strength the women of the suffrage movement had. We can’t stop now though! We are still not given equal pay and many states and even the US government are trying to pass bills that could set us back with our reproductive rights and health care rights.
Blogs are one way women are making their voices known and we have a very strong voice in the environmental movement. Let’s keep it up!
“Men – their rights and nothing more; Women – their rights and nothing less.” – Susan B. Anthony
Here is a wonderful video in homage to Alice Paul and the other brave women of the women’s suffrage movement. No matter your views, we owe those women a lot because we can now voice our views and we can vote in the upcoming elections!
One wonderful group of women fighting for us, is the Mom’s Clean Air Force. They invited me to share my story about living near a cement plant and it went live today so please check that out as well. And happy International Women’s Day!
Tell Tide to Remove the Carcinogens
| February 7, 2012 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Activism, Toxins |
A few months ago Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) released test results from tests they ran on several cleaning products. One of these products was Tide Free & Gentle®. Many parents use this product because they believe it’s gentle and safe for babies and children but WVE found it contains a cancer-causing ingredient! They found high levels of 1,4-dioxane in Tide Free & Gentle®.
1,4-dioxane is a very dangerous chemical that is known to cause cancer. This chemical is not listed in the ingredients so consumers have no way of knowing it’s there. Procter & Gamble (makers of Tide®) already have stripped 1,4-dioxane from some of it’s products like Herbal Essences®. It’s time they do the same for Tide Free & Gentle®.
Tell Procter & Gamble to Get the 1,4-dioxane Out
Lori from Groovy Green Livin, with the help of Healthy Child Healthy World, MomsRising, and Women’s Voices for the Earth, put together a petition asking Procter & Gamble to remove 1,4-dioxane from Tide Free & Gentle®.
Please sign the petition and also be sure to stop by Groovy Green Livin and tell Lori thank you for starting this petition.
What You Can Use Instead
If you are a user of Tide Free & Gentle® and need something to use instead here are some suggestions.
Ecos Free & Clear
A product of Earth Friendly Products, Ecos Free & Clear is free of dyes and fragrances and is also a natural soap. It’s safe for front loaders and high efficiency washing machines.
Biokleen Free & Clear Laundry Powder
Biokleen Free & Clear is also free of dyes and fragrances and natural. It’s also safe for front loaders and high efficiency washing machines. If you are having mold issues with your front loader, switching to a powder soap can sometimes help so this is a good choice.
Soap Nuts
My personal choice for laundry soap is soap nuts. I use the NaturOli brand as I can buy it in bulk and they come in a cloth bag. I have had the same 5 lb bag for well over a year and it’s not even half gone. Soap nuts are safe for HE machines and front loaders. They create few suds which makes them good for front loaders with mold issues. And if you have a nut allergy don’t worry, soap nuts are really berries not nuts.
Thanks to Lori at Groovy Green Livin for bringing this to my attention.
Photo credits: cogdogblog
Disclaimer: The Amazon link is an affiliate link, if you buy from this link I earn a small percent, this doesn’t effect my view on the product.
