Earth Day Every Day

Earth Day really should be every day.  And there are many actions that we as private citizens can take to minimize the harm inflicted upon our environment and to conserve energy.  These actions require minimal effort on our part; all we need to do is simply adjust habit.  When our habit harms, why not take simple steps to be more energy conscious?  Big change happens when individuals are moved to do something.  Please take this upcoming Earth Day (Wednesday April 22nd) to recognize personal environmental faults and implement change for the years to come.  As far as we know, we only get one earth.  Here are some ways to be an Earth conscious and Earth protecting individual:

Ways to conserve water| Water Use it Wisely.com

When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run while rinsing. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

Collect the water you use for rinsing fruits and vegetables, then reuse it to water houseplants.

Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.

When running a bath, plug the tub before turning the water on, then adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.

Designate one glass for your drinking water each day or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.

Grab a wrench and fix that leaky faucet. It’s simple, inexpensive, and you can save 140 gallons a week.

When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.  (Also, try to only do laundry when you have a full load.  Same with the dishwasher: Don’t hit clean until the dishwasher is at full capacity!)

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and save 25 gallons a month.

Encourage your school system and local government to develop and promote water conservation among children and adults.

Energy Conservation| The Energy Detective.com

Turn the lights off whenever you leave a room.  Yes, even the fluorescent ones.

Put in compact fluorescent bulbs.  They have improved tremendously in recent years!

Rather than leaving the outside lights on at night, replace them with a motion-sensing light.

Plug the components of your entertainment center into a power strip; turn the power strip off when you are not using your home electronics.

Turn off your computer at night…do not put in the ’sleep mode’…turn it OFF.

Prevent Pollution| Do Something.org

Reuse bags and containers. Brown paper bags are great for wrapping packages. Wash out plastic containers and glass jars you buy food in and use them as Tupperware.

Donate old clothes and toys to a local shelter or second hand store like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Remember, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

Organize an in-home recycling center and teach your family how to use it. Have separate bins for glass, plastics, and newspaper/cardboard. Make a deal with your family that if they put their recyclables in the bins, you’ll take them to the curb.

Be fancy! Replace the use of paper napkins at dinnertime with cloth napkins. You can wash these a few times a week or whenever they’re dirty. Use dish towels to wipe up messes instead of paper towels. This too will help cut down on the amount of garbage your household produces.

Choose paper over plastic for your party. Having people over and want to use disposable plates and cups? Skip the plastic and get paper ones. These break down easier in the environment and don’t deplete the ozone layer as much (although it’s better to nix the disposables and use washables!).

Grocery Store Cashier: “Paper or plastic?” You: “Neither!” When grocery shopping, take your own reusable canvas or cloth bags (or ask your parents to).

What Maryland is doing| NPR.org

More than a dozen states have adopted ambitious goals to cut back on energy use.  My home state, Maryland, has one of the most aggressive plans.

Please comment and let us know some other ways to implement change!

Looking to the Past or Helping the Future?

The Legacy of Bush\’s \’War on Terror\’

NPR recently held a discussion on the war crimes committed during the Bush administration.  Some people believe that the Obama administration should prosecute the Bush administration for the torture of captives, etc.  Others believe this effort to be pointless, stating that history will judge the past administrations accordingly.  Are we by-passing a prosecution because it is not convenient?  What purpose would a prosecution serve and would the precedent set by the decision affect the operations of future presidents and their accountability unto the American public?

Is Violence on the Decline?

In this TED.com video, Steven Pinker, distinguished linguist and author of the book “The Blank Slate,” offers evidence to show that our modern culture is living rather peacefully compared to the atrocities of the past.  His presentation charts violence in an overarching way as well as by century and decade.  But what definition of violence is he operating with?  

It seems to me that he is speaking of physical violence, or that pertaining to warfare.  He says that in biblical times and the hunting-gathering era, warfare was to be expected.  Pinker even offers reasons why the general public appears to be disillusioned into thinking that violence is as bad today as it has ever been.  These reasons, he believes, include the more salient coverage of war by the Associated Press, the phenomenon of the cognitive illusion, directed advocacy marketing and their dependence on the “bad times,” and the interesting concept of a change of standard outpacing a change of behavior.

But I wonder why he doesn’t approach the more abstract concept of violence, which in many ways can be just as damaging, and affect more people, in daily life.  Has this alleged decrease in physical violence, this repression of overall direct warfare caused a bubbling up of more passive violence?  By more passive violence I mean the violence of abusive language, gossip, stereotyping, discrimination, etc.  Thoughts?