Natural and Sustainable

The thought of global warming is getting bigger and bigger. With every thing that has happened so far and the threat of losing some animals because of climate change, mainly the polar bear, some people have taken action to make sure the further damage to our planet doesn’t happen. Here are some of those people and ideas that have been produced to help in the damaging problems, mother earth currently faces today and in the future. Join some of them or their causes and groups and take a stand now against climate change and global warming.

1. Burping Cows: The methane gas produced by cows is responsible for 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. So scientist from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart have invented a pill that, combined with special diet and regulated feedings, will reduce a cow’s stomach gas.

2. No lefts, all right?: In 2006, UPS’s new package-flow software allowed it to cut 28.5 million miles from its already carefully crafted routes. The company identified traffic lights where drivers waited to turn left as huge wastes of gas and time for the fleet. By reconfiguring routes and eliminating the left turns UPS saved 3 million gallons of fuel and 31,000 metric tons of CO2 last year.

3. Give ma a stiff one bartender!: Visit Green Drinks for a list of 109 regular gatherings for drinks and growing in the United States and more in 27 other countries, plus directions on how to start your own soiree.

4. Looking for love on Earth: Consider one of several new eco-dating services where owning a low-flow showerhead is important as net worth. Go to Vegan Passions, Earth Wise Singles, Green Singles, or even Green Passions to help find that special someone.

5. Flock of Seagulls or Just Rave hairspray: Jon Bon Jovi played at the Live Earth Concert in the summer of 2007 partly because his guilt of his over-spiked and hair sprayed ’80s hairdo. “I feel guilty about the hole in the ozone layer my haircuts created,” he has been quoted as saying.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Looking for something cool, unusual, and earth-friendly? Try living walls. They currently grace the walls of penthouse apartments in the higher ends of Paris and even some in the United States. Once it’s plants you simple add water occasionally through a top slot. Give one a try at Living Wall Systems.

1. Air fresheners are another common indoor source for VOCs. Skip the artificial versions and make your own: Add several drops of essential oil to a spray bottle of water and spritz. This method helps reduce your exposure to VOCs and will cut your risk of asthma and headaches, some studies show.

2. Surge protectors lower your chances of overloading a circuit, which reduces your risk of house fires, so be sure and help out in more way then one. By using power surge protectors you also save on your electric bill as well as wasted electricity that is just being used without reason.

3. If your fridge keeps food at 40°F or below, you’re less likely to be among the 3 to 4 million people each year who get food poisoning. But for added benefit as well, keep your fridge stocked full so that it takes less power to cool your food inside. But, don’t pack it too tight, be sure air can flow through the food.

4. You will cut down on noise pollution by using a push-operated model of power equipment, such as a lawn mower. Snow blowers produce about 105 decibels of eardrum-rattling sound, and lawn mowers about 90. Prolonged exposure to noise about 85 decibels damages the hair cells in the inner ear; chronic exposure is linked to increased anxiety levels, elevated blood pressure and disrupted sleep.

5. Hemp shower curtains (roughly about $84) are resistant to bacteria and allergy-aggravating mold. With vinyl brands, sold almost everywhere, you get more than you bargain for. For high levels of VOCs, even after a month of use they are still letting out harmful chemicals with every daily, nightly or even afternoon shower time. Opt for environmentally-friendly models.

6. If everyone in the United States switched to cold water for most laundry loads, it would mean a savings of 47 million tons of CO2 emissions a year-which could help reduce global warming and its health effects, such as increased rates of asthma, heatstroke, and West Nile virus infections. But, always wash your bedding in hot water to kill bacteria and dust mites, etc.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Try to shop at farmers’ market and clean with water, vinegar and baking soda. Dust with old t-shirts, and socks. Use a push mower and make your own compost. These practices are great for the environment also fantastic for your health.

Just because a place is environmentally “fit” doesn’t mean you’d want to spend your life there. But finding the perfect balance between what’s green and what’s livable could lead you to paradise. Most countries are lacking turning around their sustainable efforts. The list of countries here could do a lot to change their green habits. If your country is listed, talk to the governor of your state or leader or your area even and see what can be done on your part to change the way your state alone looks at more green practices. Every little bit helps every country. Here’s a list:

• How countries rate:
Top 5:

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Austria

Bottom 5:

137. Chad
138. Burkina Faso
139. Sierra Leone
140. Niger
141. Ethiopia

• Air Quality: Rates concentration of several pollutant in urban areas.

(1) Moldova
(8) Finland
(63) United States
(126) Ethiopia
(141) Guatemala

• Greenhouse Gases: Rates carbon emissions per capita by GDP.

(1) Chad
(18) Ethiopia
(75) Finland
(107) United States
(141) Turkmenistan

• Environmental Health: Rates childhood mortality disease; deaths from intestinal infections.

(1) Austria
(8) Finland
(16) United States
(1256) Ethiopia
(141) Turkmenistan

• Energy Efficiency: Rates conservation efforts and use of renewables such as hydropower.

(1) D.R. Congo
(17) Ethiopia
(66) Finland
(106) United States
(141) Trinidad & Tobago

• The World’s Greenest, Most Livable Cities:

5 Best:

(1) Stockholm
(2) Oslo
(3) Munich
(4) Paris
(5) Frankfurt

5 Worst:

(68) Bangkok
(69) Guangzhou
(70) Mumbai
(71) Shanghai
(72) Beijing

• How U.S. Cities Rate:

(15) New York
(22) Washington, D.C.
(23) Chicago
(26) San Francisco
(36) Atlanta
(43) Denver
(46) Houston
(55) San Diego
(57) Los Angeles
(60) Phoenix

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always recycle your magazines or take them to your local library for someone else to benefit from your old reads.

Barack Obama is one of the main contenders for the 2008 presidental elections, and he has been hailed as a motivational speaker much like John F. Kennedy. But, where does he stand on environemtnal issues.

His appeal to the Democratic base is obvious, and has now pushed ahead of Hillary Clinton in the national polling where he has won 11 straight cacus’ and primaries. Obama’s prospects seem to be caught up with to main facts about him: One, he is seeking to become the first African American President and two, that he is very inexperienced. But, does experience make a president? Plenty of observers say this is a one-two punch that will ultimately doom his candidacy for the next presidental slot. This is possible, but there are others who believe that these supposed downfall will prove the Barack Obama has what it takes and will be his ultimate assets.

His environmental views are that the U.S. must take aggressive action now to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. He is a cosponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309) as well. This important legislation would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 80% in the year 2050. Senator Obama is also an original cosponsor of the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act , which was introduced by Senators Lieberman and McCain and would mandate 60% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Even though as the writer behind Natural and Sustainable I vote for the Green Party, I can’t help but wonder where he will take this nation as far as environmental issues are concerned. There are strong points to his fight for office and a few stand out in my mind:

• Reduce mercury and lead to protect community health.
• Protect the Great Lakes & our National Parks and Forests.
• Give Katrina contracts to locals, not to Halliburton.
• Three months working on minority students recycling.
• Voted YES on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations.

“I spent three months working for a Ralph Nader offshoot up in Harlem, trying to convince the minority students at City College about the importance of recycling. Then a week passing out flyers for an assemblyman’s race in Brooklyn - the candidate lost and I never did get paid.”-Barack Obama (1996)

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: If your state has local recycling programs for aluminum can, glass bottles, and plastic bottles always use this program. Some states even have programs where you get some many cents per container.

One of the most familiar insects in the world is the Honeybee (Apis mellifera). This member of the insect order Hymenoptera plays a key role in the human and natural world. More has been written about honeybees than any other species of insect. The human fascination with this insect began thousands of years ago when people discovered how good honey is.

But, with everything taking place day to day, we send out young men and women to the Middle East to fight terrorism, then we hop into our SUVs and buy the fuel that supports this violence. We are working all day everyday, all to pay our monthly brain-killing cell phones, our cable TV, our iPods, our $200 jeans, but during all of this busy work and non-thinking tasks does it occur to anyone that insects are all around us, suffering while we lay in luxury? More and more people are getting involved in saving one of the most important insects on the earth, the honey bee. Most pollinators are becoming scarce. Be it global warming, infestation be it diseasebe it anything, the fact it they are disappearing. The honeybee disappearance is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and as best as anyone can tell, it began last winter.

Beekeepers everywhere are seeing the change. They go to open their hive and see less than half of their previous years colony. Bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable, as well as apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons. Honeybees don’t just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have.

What can be done?

• Sign a petition to “Save the Honeybee Now”.

• Plant Bee-friendly seeds for bee supporting plantings
including but not limited to Beebalm/Buckwheat and
Clovers.

• Never spray insect repellent on your flowers or flowering plants. For one it is bad for your to consume those chemicals and for two, it kills off the pollinators that your plant needs.

• Elevate public awareness of the catastrophic
decline of the world wide bee populations of most if
not all species.

• Go as far as setting up “hive-housing” in your own yard.

• Encourage bees to stay within your yard and garden buy having flowering plants blooming.

• Never kill a honeybee, their life is short enough as it is. Unless your life is threatened, never kill a honeybee that is on a flowering plant or flying nearby.

• Visit the “Save The Honeybee” website and educate yourself more on the honeybee.

• Join the Natural and Sustainable “Ride for the honeybee tour” July 19th & 20th in Oregon.

**Have you tried Smilebox for your photos? You can get the basic edition free, sign up for a free 14 day trial and then get a the Club Smilebox for only $4.99 a month. Or you can go for the Professional version. Over at TV Boyfriends, Jerri Reason shows one of the ways you can use Smilebox and she also shows you how easy it is to get started.**

Here’s some ways to get started now.

• Try free video clip sharing with Smilebox. Amazing slideshows hold your photos, videos, plus your own music.

• Create a free Smilebox scrapbook in 5 minutes. Just drag photos into amazing e-designs. Email them free.

• Create amazing slideshows with your photos & video–free!

• Free ecards include your photos and videos, plus your own music.

• Blog your photos & videos using Smilebox

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Volunteer your time at local conservation agencies. Start with Volunteer Match to get started.

Known to block male hormones and lead to reproductive feminization in laboratory animals, phthalates are environmental toxins found in plastics and many synthetic personal care products. A recent study may have discovered on way in which these chemicals harm humans.

Compairing phthalate metabolites in blood and urine samples of more than 400 men between 18 and 55 who have vistied a Boston Fertility center, researchers linked higher levels of this chemical with altered thyriod hormone levels. While more clinival stufy is needed, the thyroid connection has been found in male rats as well.

In addition, research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry shows that pregnant women using beauty products containing phthalates gave buirth to boys with smaller genitals. Since the thyroid glans stimulates energy production and impacts basal metabolic rate, it influences all bodily functions, including reproduction.

Phthalates may also cause asthma as well as liver and kidney damage.

These chemicals are hardly essential - in most cases, safer alternatives do exist.

• PVC-free building products.
Steer clear of vinyl windows and doors and choose wood instead. For flooring, choose linoleum, cork, bamboo, or wood instead of vinyl. Adhesives, caulk, grout, and sealants may also contain phthalates.

• PVC-free shower curtains.
Avoid vinyl shower curtains in favor of natural fibers, polyester, or nylon.

• PVC-free packaging.
Look at the recycling symbol on products you purchase in plastic packaging. Plastics marked with the #3 symbol contain PVC. Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Victoria’s Secret, and Bath and Body Works have agreed to phase out the use of PVC in their packaging. Ask the companies you buy products from to do the same.

• PVC-free toys.
Toymakers Brio, Chicco, Early Start, Evenflo, Gerber, Lego, Prime Time, Sassy, and Tiny Love have pledged to stop using PVC. Look for products labeled as PVC-free.

• PVC-free food storage.
Buy plastic wrap and bags made from polyethylene, such as GLAD. For food storage, use glass containers or plastic containers marked with recycling symbols other than the #3. For heating food, microwave food in glass containers, not plastic. Dispose of all clear, shiny plastic baby bottles, unless the manufacturer states they are not made of polycarbonate. Use filtered drinking water (even bottled water may contain phthalates).

• Phthalate-free cosmetics.
Check ingredient lists and avoid products listing ‘fragrance’ or phthalates. A wide variety of personal-care products may contain phthalates, including perfume, cologne, after-shave, deodorant, soap, hair and skin-care products, and makeup.
(Sources: Some information pulled from TFL 2007)

**What is “one habit of moderately successful people”? Over at Get Incensed, Mark Jabo has the answer in more ways than one. **

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Purify indoor air with plants instead of with artificial room fresheners.

The polar bear is one of nature’s most beautiful and fascinating creations, but global warming and oil drilling threaten its existence.

It may be the latest evidence of global warming: Polar bears are drowning. Scientists for the first time have documented multiple deaths of polar bears off Alaska, where they likely drowned after swimming long distances in the ocean amid the melting of the Arctic ice shelf. The bears spend most of their time hunting and raising their young on ice floes. As the sea ice goes, that will directly, to a very great extent, be what happens to polar bears.

Coca-Cola began airing commercials featuring polar bears in 2004 to try to get the word out about how important it is to save these polar bears. These commercials continue to air as of today. But, a lot of people that view these commercials, don’t know what they are all about.

Although the magnificent creatures are well adapted to the water, and can swim scores of miles to solid land, the distance is getting ever greater as the Arctic ice diminishes. They just kind of float along and kick. But as the ice gets farther out from shore because of warming, it’s a longer swim that costs more energy and makes them more vulnerable.

Climate change is a very real threat. It not only threatens us as humans is it treatening everything that lives and breaths. Climate change is threatening polar bears with starvation by shortening their hunting season. If you think it is just little animals getting threatened by global warming, it isn’t. This threat is only the beginning. Positive changes have to be made NOW!

Here are 5 changes in your lifestyle you can do to help, remember, every little bit helps:

1. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket.
You’ll save 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple action. You can save another 550 pounds per year by setting the thermostat no higher than 50°C.

2. Cover your pots while cooking.
Doing so can save a lot of the energy needed for preparing the dish. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%!

3. Take a shower instead of a bath.A shower takes up to four times less energy than a bath. To maximise the energy saving, avoid power showers and use low-flow showerheads, which are cheap and provide the same comfort.

4. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible.You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.

5. Reuse your shopping bag.
When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. Waste not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, groundwater and soil.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE TIPS TO HELP SAVE THE POLAR BEAR.

**Having matress issues? Catherine Neal over at San Jose, CA. blog here at 451 Press is and boy, does she have a commical story. Read her funny air mattress mishap here.**

(Sources: Wal Street Journal, Daily Mail)
*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: After you finish baking a cake or a holiday meal in the oven, turn the oven off and leave the door open to help heat your home. If your kitchen is already warm, don’t open a door to the outside, just turn your heater or furnace down and let the heat from the oven wrap up the warmth. Why open a door and let the heat out and waste more energy when you can cut the energy source off completely. Let common sense be your guide to conserving energy.