Carolyn - My Blog

Water is everywhere, but clean water is not. We must conserve water in order to: 1; prevent it from becoming polluted after it goes down the drain, and 2; to stop whole lakes from being drained in order to provide for the consumption of this precious resource.

Here are a few ways to save water:

1) Place a sealed plastic container in the tank at the back of your toilet. This will prevent the tank from filling up so high, which will mean that less water goes into the bowl every time. Of course, you could always install a low-flush function to your toilet instead.

2) Install a low-flow showerhead in your shower. This can save a lot of water, while still having the same amount of pressure as a regular showerhead.

3) Use aerators on all of your taps. These, too, maintain a good flow, so you'll feel like you are using a regular tap. All the bubbles in the water can significantly reduce your water usage.

4) Stop those leaky taps! See an old blog post of mine on one of my other blogs for details: http://hugatreetodayseriously.blogspot.com/2011/12/stop-those-leaky-taps.html.

5) While brushing your teeth and doing similar activities, make sure to turn the tap off!

6) When doing the laundry and dishes, only wash full loads.

7) Use the dishwasher instead of washing by hand. It actually saves water!

8) Grow plants that are well-suited to your region. These plants are probably less finicky and will use less water. For those of you who live in Canada, you can get some truly fantastic information about which plants are native to your region at http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/what-we-do/habitat/resources/native-plant-encyclopedia/. I'll talk more about gardening, however, as spring approaches.

9) Place a rain barrel outside your house to collect rainwater. This can be used to water houseplants and your garden. Snow can also be used to water house plants, but be sure that it is properly melted first-- you don't want to freeze your plants!

10) Lastly, when cleaning your driveway, sweep it instead of washing it with the garden hose.

Fun Fact!
Water is so essential to life that it has collected many names over the years, and, of course, it exists in many different languages. Here are some other names for water:
 

• H20
• Aqua/ Aqua Pura
• dihydrogen monoxide
• Adam's ale (Australian slang)
• eau (French)
• agua (Spanish)
• shui (Chinese)
• fisherman's daughter (Cockney slang)
• ten furlongs mile and a quarter (Cockney slang)

"Pass the ten furlongs mile and a quarter, please."
"Okay, but make sure to conserve it, otherwise we won't have any aqua pura left!"

Are you searching for a way to help save the planet and incorporate it into your daily routine? Look no further! Today I am going to be writing about activism websites. Although all of us are here on TakingITGlobal, two other handy sites to bookmark are The Rainforest Site and Care2.
Deforestation is a serious problem in the modern world. Ancient species are disappearing off the face of the Earth-- literally-- and the natural processes of our planet are being disturbed. Just thinking about it can be overwhelming, and you may not even believe that it is possible to stop deforestation right in it's tracks.
Take heart! Have you heard of The Rainforest Site (http://www.therainforestsite.com/)? It's a website devoted to saving the rainforest in many ways:
 

• First, it has a "daily click" opportunity, in which Internet users can click on a button once daily to help protect 11.4 square feet of rainforest. You see, for every click, their sponsers pay a certain amount of money to buy that land. Spiffy, isn't it?
• This website also has many petitions that you can sign, all of which are to be presented to important decision-makers. (You may have heard about one of my other blogs, Hug a Tree Today, Seriously, on The Rainforest Site. I always post the urls to my blogs beside my name when I sign those petitions!) Just click on "Take Action!" at the right-hand sidebar to get to the lengthy list of petitions.
• Another way you can help is by shopping at The Rainforest Site for gifts and clothing (only if you need it, of course!). All sales contribute to helping the rainforests. For more information, see the store yourself at https://www.therainforestsite.com/store/trs/site?0 or see the left-hand sidebar on The Rainforest Site.

Care2, on the other hand, encompasses many different topics, including green living. Head on down to http://www.care2.org/ to set up an account, where you can set up a profile telling the world about your beliefs and initiatives. Then go and sign petitions, join groups, read articles, and more-- online! By participating on the website, you earn points which, over time, accumulate to let you "buy" things that help others and the environemnt. You don't have to pay with money; instead, you use your points to buy these things. You can look up my profile, by the way-- my username is "rabbit-cat".
Of course, The Rainforest Site and Care2 are only two of numerous organizations devoted to making a difference. And there are ways to make a difference in your own life, too. So keep an open mind always, and have a nice week!

Right around this time of year, people are starting (or already have started) to think about their long-awaited summer vacation. Although it is only February, there is research to do, reservations to make, and trips to plan. But how can you ensure that your trip is sustainable as well?

• Consider taking a train instead of driving a car or flying when you have to go long distances over land.
  
                          
  • Avoid flying! Flying airplanes has a devastating impact on the Earth. Most of the time (if not all of the time), make your holidays close to home. Even for the wealthy, travelling the world need not be a yearly activity-- as long as you have a few special experiences overseas in your lifetime, that should be enough, don't you think? There may well be some interesting cities right near your hometown-- and there are wonderful campgrounds to visit in many countries.
  • If you happen to stay at a hotel, check out their environmental policies first. http://www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com/ shows you which hotels around the globe are committed to sustainability.
  • While exploring an area of the city, again, don't bother with the car-- it's always a hassle to park those things anyway. You can cycle, bus, walk, or take the subway to get around.
  • If a car is definitely going to be part of your travel experience, rent a hybrid or electric car.
  • Search ahead of time for vegetarian restaurants in the city that you are travelling to. After all-- veggie meals have a smaller environmental impact. See http://www.happycow.net/ for a directory of vegetarian restaurants.
    
     
  • Souvenirs? Do you really need them? Ask yourself how many of your old souvenirs are currently gathering dust in the back of a closet. Remember the old saying: "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints." This applies to visiting cities, too! And remember that souvenirs that come from animals (including wildlife souvenirs) often are a product of cruelty.
  • Pack any food that you'll bring along in reusable containers. Try to use what you already have on hand instead of buying new containers, but if you don't have enough, make sure to buy some metal ones, as opposed to plastic. If you don't think you have enough packing space, use some reusable sandwich bags (http://www.snacktaxi.com/).
  • Treat the city or country that you are visiting as you would (or should!) treat your hometown. In other words: recycle, don't litter, don't trod on people's flowers, etc. Simple enough!
  • Investigate ahead of time what sort of volunteer work you could do while on holiday. You may get some ideas from http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/eco-travel-volunteer-vacations-50022309. If there are no volunteer opportunities being offered, take matters into your own hands and organize a litter cleanup with your fellow travellers, plant a tree, give some of the locals organic vegetable seeds (especially in impoverished countries), and drop environmental organization flyers into mailboxes. Come up with your own ideas-- volunteerism can make you feel surprisingly inspired!
  In summary: Green travel is possible, easy, and fun! So go for it. And come back next week for new tips!
   

Fish are really intelligent creatures, too-- just ask Culum Brown, a biologist who studies fish: "Fish are more intelligent than they appear. In many areas, such as memory, their cognitive powers match or exceed those of 'higher' vertebrates, including nonhuman primates." Fish in research centres have also known at which times of day pressing a lever can provide food. In the wild (which clearly is where fish should be!), they even keep gardens by weeding out types of algae that they don't want to promote the growth of their favourite foods.

Please don't even get me started on catch-and-release fishing-- what a cruel way to kill a fish. The fish who you throw back will end up being weakened by having their scales rubbed the wrong way, will struggle to eat after having their mouth being cut, and will have gone through the trauma of being half-drowned in the air. Their blood (from where their mouth was cut) will also attract predators. Their chances of survival will be severely reduced.

Besides not fishing yourself, there are some other ways to stand up for fish rights:

1) Oppose fishing whenever you can. If one of your friends or somebody in your family is going fishing, tell them why you don't fish.

2) Display anti-fishing bumper stickers on your or your parents' car, patches on bags, and stickers on laptops. You can order some of these things from the PETA store, along with other anti-fishing organization stores. http://www.petacatalog.com/catalog/Stickers-55-1.html

3) Make your signature at the bottom of e-mails an animal rights one. (e.g. ***Fish are people too*** /Oppose fishing!) You can also do this at the end of your voicemail message. (e.g. "Hello, you have reached the voicemail of [blahblahblah]... By the way, did you know that catch-and-release fishing is just as bad as killing the fish? The fish will be so weakened that they will die after bleeding for hours. Order some "fishing hurts" stickers from PETA today! Leave a message after the beep!")

4) Litter that fishermen leave over from their so-called "sport" (nets, hooks, fishing line) can kill wildlife in the surrounding areas. Organize a litter cleanup in such areas, while bringing awareness to the plight of the fish!

5) Set up anti-fishing displays at school, libraries, and community centres.

6) For the public speakers of you, give presentations to groups of people on why they shouldn't fish. If you have a class presentation that you have to give, make it an anti-fishing one!

7) At a local fishing pond or lake, put up signs saying "No Fishing" or "Please clean up your fishing lines before you go."

8) Any other great ideas? Let me know!

Tuna:



"Blood sports" is a term used to describe a "sport" that requires violence against animals, like hunting, fishing, trapping, rodeos, etc. These always amount to either the death or injury of an animal.

First, hunting. Hunters constantly seem to be defending their demented pastime with excuses like:

1. "We need to keep the wildlife populations in check".

Truth: What, can Mother Nature not take care of herself? Some hunters have even been reported to feed the animals so that their populations rise, then go out for a kill. This is just an excuse to put our skeptical minds (and their guilty ones) at rest. (Sorry hunters, but you haven't fooled me.)

2. "It helps the economy."

Truth: Sure, it increases the amount of money people spend in the country. But is that a good thing, considering that humanity is overconsuming so many resources that the Earth cannot replenish itself?

3. "It's better than animal farming-- hunted animals only suffer at the end of their lives!"

Truth: Although hunting is probably less harmful to individual animals than factory farming is, it's important to remember that animals have intelligence beyond what we give them credit for. They have families and herds and babies who accept, rely on, and love them. When you (or someone else, because I doubt that hunters are reading this) kill the first wild animal you see, you are bringing untold damage into the lives of many others. Also, I can't even begin to imagine the fear that it causes all the animals of the forest when they hear the first gunshot of hunting season.

4. "It connects us to nature."

Truth: There are many other ways to connect to nature than killing the animals in it. Many hunters have major problems in their lives, so they go and take it out on the animals, but this is wrong. How about going on a nature walk, birdwatching, feeding the chickadees in the woods, having a picnic, skiing, cycling, and, um, well, going outside???

5. "It teaches our children about wildlife."

Truth: Children are being desensitized to the suffering of others so often nowadays. People can take their kids to do any of the activities that I have mentioned in #4. As I progressed through school, I noticed my classmates becoming less and less caring... Do you really want to support that?

"What can I do to stop this?" you must be thinking (at least, I hope you're thinking!). Well, here are some things you can do:

1. Don't go hunting yourself. Please have compassion!
2. Encourage others-- family and friends-- not to hunt. If they tell you that they want to start hunting, show them with evidence why it's a bad idea. If they are already hunters, show your concern for them by trying to get them to stop. It's bad for them to have an obsession (or even just a "hobby") with killing. It's also sort of creepy knowing that they have a gun...
3. Display anti-hunting  logos for all to see, on your car bumper, laptop, and handbag.
4. Purchase a hunting license-- don't use it, of course-- just to take the opportunity away from other bloodthirsty folk who want one. You should also read more about the regulations in your area, first, though-- make sure that demand will not be met with more supply, otherwise you'll only be adding to the problem.
5. If you're very brave, go out for a picnic during hunting season in a part of the forest where hunting is allowed. Be loud. Play music. Do whatever you can to scare the animals away into no-hunting zones.
6. Link to my blog on your website, or send this post to friends. Really!

Okay, that's all for this week. Come back next Saturday for the next post in this series!