Veganacious

Posts Tagged ‘Environment’

How does one get through everyday life when it includes a continuing awareness of the abject misery to which we subject endless animals, children and humans? How do you live within your own skin when others of your species are so abjectly cruel? Over the holidays, when I was placed at a table next to a “ham,” I could not help but consider the pig that was the living being, treated so dismally, slaughtered without mercy, eaten without consideration.  I saw the beheaded bird that had been deep fried and reminded me of the burnt Americans that were seen in the film, Fahrenheit 9/11.  The same frightening disengagement from what I used to call “humanity” is in evidence in both scenarios, whether the protestors on the streets or the holiday participants. Read the rest of this entry »

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I love the idea of planting peace; one of my favorite photos is of guerilla gardening – it is like a crafty kind of quiet urban relandscape that appeals to my mischievious side. When I first hear about Plant Peace Daily, a website linked to VegFund.org and UnitedNonviolence.org, I perused it over several sessions. Following the publishing of a recent article on Examiner.com, I received a kind letter from one of the contributors of Plant Peace Daily.  He had forwarded to me a link to a couple of videos, one of which I had on my blog already (see above).  I watched the other video, also very informative, and promptly shared it on the Veganacious fan page on Facebook.  When time permitted, I perused their website and found it to be tremendously affirmative and helpful, full of wonderful essays, positive ideas, and excellent resources.  I bookmarked it for later viewing.

Since that time, I have returned to Plant Peace Daily many times.  Their ethical consumer printout is a great thing to have on hand before any shopping trip; it is a handy reminder to consider the consequences of your purchases.  Print it out, stick it in your wallet; it may help you to make more conscious choices when you consume. I have had an article titled Like A Caged Animal on my desktop for some time. It is a great article, beautifully and sensitively written, but I did not remember where I found it and thus could not refer to it or incorporate it into a post. I just found out that it came from Plant Peace Daily and it is only one of several excellent articles and essays on the site (see below).  Their blog allows you to enjoy their travels, too; the amazing photographs give you a close up of what is going on in different parts of the world that you may be missing: fairy doors, telephone poles adorned with hearts, dogs awaiting slaughter – all the good, the glorious and the hideous that life has to offer.

Plant Peace Daily is a crew consisting of JC Corcoran, Rae Sikora, Tikvah and Bean; the first two are bipedic and the last two are quadripedic earthlings. They travel together spreading the good word about peace, conflict resolution, the environment, conscious consumerism, veganism, health and nutrition.  They are a sort of mobile fitness team – fitness for the body, soul, planet, mind; a team that teaches living in harmony.  I love one of the cartoons on their blog. It shows two diverging roads: on the left there is a sign that reads, “Truth, Justice, Wisdom” and on the right is a path that reads, “99 cent burgers,” on which all the people are lined up.  This is such a good graphic of what faces us on a daily basis, but with the left-sided path often hidden.  Rae and JC and their canine pals travel throughout the country, giving workshops and speaking at universities, retreats, schools, and anywhere else that beckons them.  Go to their website if you are interested in having them speak for your organization.

Rae has been speaking on behalf of animals for over twenty-five years. She is co-founder of the Center for Compassionate Living, the International Institute for Humane Education, and VegFund.org, a new organization that provides vegan food for fundraisers and events.  JC co-founded VegMichigan (largest veg organization in the state) and VegFund.org, along with Rae. Their diverse educational backgrounds (cultural anthropology and environmental education for Rae, emergency medicine and fitness for JC) make them uniquely qualified to provide inspiration and incentives to help people live in harmony with their values.  Their speaking programs and workshops include titles such as “Human Billboards,”  ”Despair Repair, and “In Their Skin,” programs sure to increase awareness and compassion.

Do not overlook their essays page.  The articles are wonderful and will draw me back time and again for inspiration. Like A Caged Animal touched me, but Despair Repair caused tears to flow that stayed with me all day; I doubt the imagery will ever leave me.  It so graphically revealed the individuality of our shared journeys on earth, if only we weren’t so very blind and disassociated from them.  Then there is JC’s article, Ingrid Newkirk and Al Gore in the Same Leaky Boat – it is spot on and well done.  It is hope-inducing to know these two are out there, creatively working for a better, more peaceful world. Whenever I need an affirmative shot-in-the-arm or a bit of activist encouragement, I will return to Plant Peace Daily — you should, too.

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How did climate change lose its climax?  How did the public become so accepting of the planet veering off into self-destruction?  When did watching walruses get trampled and polar bears drown start to seem acceptable to everyone? How about massive tsunamis and hurricanes? It seems clear to me that nature is changing and we humble persons had better wake up before it is too late, if it is not too late already.  It seems like I should be working 20 hours a day on some innovative new kind of green energy and working from home, in a home with only one light on and only for a little while.  But that is not what seems to be going on in my neighborhood. I am sure that in just a few weeks, Christmas lights will be blossoming from every front stoop and shoppers will be busy contributing the GNP and the devastation of the globe simultaneously.

Al Gore has tried. He has worked for decades on raising the awareness of the public to environmental concerns. Could there be anyone more frustrated than Al Gore? First he wins the popular vote for the presidency and then has it snatched from within his grasp. Not only did this rudely truncate his immediate career trajectory but it also meant the Anti-Awareness President just snuck in the back door of the White House.  It meant his work on the environment over the past several years would soon be laid to waste as the interests of Big Business trumped the interests of the American public. It meant the budget surplus would soon become the biggest deficit in history.  It meant peace and prosperity just lost out to war, greed, torture, cronyism, incompetence, abnormally huge disasters, and international disgrace. Then there was the problem with the vegans.  Vegans challenged Gore to go vegan if he really cared about the environment and global warming.  Green People challenged him to stop living in such a big house and take steps himself to stop global warming.  He did the latter; the former, not so much.  It was even more disappointing than his presidential loss for some of the vegan community, maybe for Al Gore himself; he could not seem to please anyone.  He continues trying to get the message out, but no one is actually paying much attention.  The global community is even getting frustrated with the ole U.S. for being a big contributor to climate change without taking a leadership role in moving the planet towards solutions. At least not yet.

People are tired. It was called “compassion fatigue” after Hurricane Katrina. We have been at “war” for so long that the word doesn’t resonate the way it once did.  And only a very small percentage of the population is actually aware of the war, actually paying the price in blood and tears for the war.  There are all of us who are out of work and worrying more specifically about paying the rent and buying our next meal.  Then there are all the millions of people that got Madoffed or scammed or sent into foreclosure.  On top of that are the millions of Americans who do not have adequate healthcare; some of them have insurance, just not the healthcare one would expect to accompany the policy. Some are going to die without proper healthcare; that is what keeps them up at night.  And the deficit that will be handed down to our grandchildren, the debt to China, the loss of prestige in the world community. Iraq, Afghanistan, the war on terror; will they prosecute for Guantanamo and waterboarding? Iran? North Korea? I am tired, too, just thinking of what Obama has on his plate. And he doesn’t exactly have the country behind him; at least there is a noisy group that seems to have zero respect even for the office of presidency anymore; surely race has nothing to do with that. Interesting, since the last guy could not even speak clearly but they never uttered a word. Good job, Brownie. Yeah. Uh Huh.

Climate change just sounds like more, well, change, and lately change has not meant anything too promising.  Yes we have a different set of players and they have certainly tried to institute positive changes. But they keep trying so very hard to play decently – with thugs and detractors. It won’t work. This is a very strange era and a stranger still decade behind us.  I think most people get caught up in what happened at work, getting the kids fed, pay the bills, clean the dishes and straighten up the bed, conk out, wake up to the alarm blaring and do it all again. Weekends mean groceries, vacuuming, laundry, kids and their activities, maybe a good escape movie, church on Sunday for some, lunch, then a nap and the whole thing starts all over. For the lucky ones with jobs that is.  For the rest it is jobhunting, rejection notices, unpaid bills, anxiety.

I just saw Michael Moore’s film, Capitalism: A Love Story.  It is one of those films that gets you laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time.  Old vintage 1950s film make it fun and lively, but it is no comedy. The ending is a delight: do not miss this film. Somehow we have been poisoning ourselves so slowly that we barely noticed.  Our environment has been becoming toxic, our economy dismal.  But even Michael Moore sounds like he is getting tired.  The lack of outrage is disheartening.  Anger and action require energy.  I hope we can all muster some, soon. There is so much to be done.  And as long as we are in the game, we might as well be on the right team.   Here is a list of organizations involved in finding answers. We owe it to future generations to see that there is….a future. October 15th is Blog Action Day. October 24th is International Climate Change Day. The best way to help is to go vegan; if you are already vegan, make certain you are conserving energy, keeping your tires inflated and getting the word out. Get in the game, and be on the winning team!

More information:

October 24th Intl. Climate Change Day

An Inconvenient Truth

Brighter Planet (bloggers)

Sierra Club Climate Crossroads

Stop Global Warming

Repower America

US EPA Site on Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

Science Daily: Vegan Diets Better for Environment

The Vegan Post: Save the Environment

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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

When Native Americans roamed North America, the ecology of man with plant and animal kingdoms remained in balance. Native American attitude required great respect for the earth and all of creation. There was no pillaging of earth’s resources, nor taking more than necessary for sustenance. Man was seen as part of the earth, not above it or separate from it.

When Western Man conquered the continent, the attitude was one of domination. The earth, its plants, its animals were provided for the benefit of only one species: man. In fact, the attitude was that it was for the domination of only a few men: those that were of European descent, privileged, and born in the right place at the right time. All other humans were also there to be dominated: native people, poor people, women, children. Their wants, needs, and feelings were unimportant. This allowed Western Man to be callous and self-serving.

The current decline in biodiversity, deforestation, water pollution, factory farming, overpopulation and global warming are all tied to this attitude of domination rather than respect and balance. Man has utilized death control without monitoring population control. In fact, some people believe “the more the merrier” when it comes to population, without looking at the cost for all existing life forms for the ever-increasing population numbers. Meanwhile, as Man’s numbers have swollen, the animal kingdom has continued to experience extinctions of various species at a rapidly increasing rate. Habitats have been wiped out, migration patterns have been disrupted.  Animals are being killed and tormented by the billions annually to satisfy the carnivorous appetite of some people. The natural world is in danger of becoming extinct, too.

We are a finite earth with finite resources, growing an unsustainable lifestyle, an expanding population, and increasing meat production, while multiple demands are felt for more transportation, more cars, more meat, more things. And where do we get these things? From an ever-diminishing earth whose resources are being taxed to the limit. The above words of Chief Seattle* are important to heed. We must begin to share the earth with other races, other cultures, and other species. It is time to take responsibility for the damage we have caused and try to find a better way to share the earth: with the forests, the rivers, the deserts, the mountains, with the animals, and with one another.  Our time is running out.

*While widely attributed to Chief Seattle, these words may have been based upon a letter he wrote in 1854 but were actually written by screenwriter Ted Perry in 1972 for an ecological film entitled, “Home.”

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I recently moved from a condominium in California to a home in northern Texas, requiring me to consider the lunacy of the suburban lawn.  Whose idea was this?  I don’t think the animals would have voted for it, because it diminishes a home for the bugs that feed the birds and requires a ridiculous amount of time and energy (and water!) to maintain.  My prior residences had been a mountain cabin on the river, with all natural terrain; then a beach condo surrounded by asphalt and cement, with shrubbery maintained by the condo association.  Because I am now tied into an HOA, mow I must – at least for now.

I researched lawn mowers and was horrified to learn that they are one of the largest contributors to pollution – both noise (oy!) and carbon.  They smell like gasoline and make garages potential fire hazards.   They are tempermental and awkward to move about and turn.  They require continual trips to procure gasoline and they pierce the peacefulness of a lazy afternoon. I do not tolerate heat well, so that would mean either mowing in semi-darkness or waking up the entire neighborhood.  Rather hard on ones own eardrums, to boot.

The solution for me was a great Neuton battery mower.  They are one of the quietest machines on the market and have a built-in edger, too.  The machine itself is very lightweight, but the inclusion of the battery makes it a solid machine to push about the yard. There is a basket grass catcher, mulch plug, or side discharge chute.  The edger snaps into the front of the machine and can trim or edge, depending on your setting. The batteries recharge with an electric cord and the cost is very low.  Each battery will last about an hour of normal usage. I maintain an extra battery, just in case I run out of power, although I have never needed it.

Being on a budget, I selected a reconditioned model.  I had some problem with the starter, so the company promptly (express mail) sent out a new one and I easily installed it.  Once I got it running, it  was worth the extra effort.  (The problem was not in the machine but in the shipping.  The company has now improved their shipping through dialogue with the shippers, so you should not have the problem I did.) There is a safety key so the machine will not start without the key being engaged. There are four height settings for the grass, and I can adjust the handlebars to fit my diminutive size quite easily. The machine itself is quite light, but the battery weight gives it enough substance to handle on the erratic slope of my yard.

Now I look at mowing the lawn as a good form of exercise. It is quiet enough that I do not need earplugs and can use it during any daylight hours.  The machine comes in different sizes, so you can select the one that is appropriate for the size of your lawn.  This mower not only helps the environment, it helps many senior citizens continue to be independent when it comes to mowing.  I am still thinking of a way to xeroscape the lawn so mowing will be unnecessary, but I have made peace with the process until I can convince the HOA.  Check out the mower here and get your free DVD to learn about this great product. It even comes with a 6-months free trial and a two-year warranty.  Reduce your carbon footprint while you participate in the folly that is the suburban lawn.

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We all hear the doomsday predictions of the terminal status of Planet Earth, due to our abuse and neglect.  The last fifty years or so have caused traumatic changes in the protective qualities of biodiversity, rain forests, oceans, rivers, soils.  We have used chemicals with abandon, have caused rapid deforestation, desertification, species extinction, loss of animal habitat, geometric human population growth, increase in animal-generated disease and preventable disease through overconsumption and poor dietary habits.  Are we doomed?

Go to http://www.youtube.com/homeproject to view the full movie. No cost for viewing, but there may be a cost for not taking action!

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