Here’s a quick TED video that shows how you can effectively dry your hands using only a single paper towel. Remember, every little bit counts! If enough people did this, we could save literally hundreds of millions of pounds of paper each year (plus all the energy that goes into producing and transporting that paper).
Bleak outlook for Earth
Things aren’t looking good for this planet. The well-respected group of scientists known as the Royal Society is concerned about the combination of excessive consumption and population growth, and is suggesting increased birth control and global redistribution of wealth to combat that. Two things that are politically untouchable in this country at least. This is the problem I see…scientists look at the path we’re on and have recommendations for how to fix it, but the political and social reality is not guided by science, it is guided by other influences. Scientists, in general, just don’t seem to get this…they keep talking about what should be done to solve the world’s problems, without recognizing what can be done. We don’t need talk about ideal solutions, we need talk about practical, realistic solutions. Changes that you can possibly expect might be implemented. You can read more about the Royal Society’s position on these issues in Scientific American. And no, I don’t have the answer…I’m just really pessimistic about global governments’ abilities to enact change, and get frustrated when the best answer I hear from scientists is to let global governments solve these problems. It’s not going to happen, we need new ideas.
In separate, but related, news, the executive director of the International Energy Agency is warning governments around the world that, globally, fossil fuel consumption is increasing and we need to shift our focus to renewable energy sources. On our current path, we’re looking at a global temperature increase of 6C by the end of the century, triple the international ‘goal’ of 2C (though I’d argue that the goal should be zero!). We’re just nowhere near where we need to be, and there’s no real drive for change.
Bleak news, but then, it’s not really news…it’s just more of the same. We recognize the problem but instead of taking responsibility for our actions, we’ll pass this off to the next generation and make them deal with it. This is our legacy, but I hold out hope that we can find technological solutions to these social problems before it’s too late.
Mining Asteroids
So, it comes to this. Natural resources are becoming scarce enough that people can have serious conversations about mining ASTEROIDS and be taken seriously. Not that it can’t be done, but wow…we are so far from living in balance with this planet that we need to exploit other areas of the solar system to sustain our lifestyle?! Although, it may not be as bad as it first sounds. Rather than bringing those resources back to this planet, it’s far most cost effective to use them to supply spaceships and colonies on the moon or Mars and that seems to be the main intent of Planetary Resources Inc. Which makes so much more sense considering we struggle to get enough public support for a mere six person orbiting space station. Maybe capitalism will succeed where every world government has failed…
The Earth is full – CNN.com
How many people can this planet support? According to Paul Gliding, The Earth is full. Or rather, it’s not the number of people that’s the problem, but the amount of resources we require from this plane to sustain our economies. It’s possible to transform our economies to live in balance with this planet, but let’s face it, that’s not going to happen until we reach the breaking point first, and that’ll probably be within our lifetimes. I’d like to believe that my blog will help influence enough people to achieve change here…but I admit I’m pessimistic, due to the global cooperation required.
Here’s his TED talk:
Recycling – from bottles to sweatshirts
We’ve always taught my daughter to recycle, but for kids, it’s hard to picture just what that means. The bottles go into a different trash can, but so what? What happens then? Well, if it’s plastic bottles, they may end up recycled into clothing, and that’s what I loved about the video here – it allowed me to show my daughter what it means to recycle. She was a bit puzzled when I first told her that I was wearing a sweatshirt made from water bottles, but showing her this video really helped her visualize how that’s possible. If you have kids, or are just curious, it’s worth checking out: