Here are my quick links of the week to some information that is designed to inspire. Red states and blue states, we can all use a little jolt of love to remind us to keep moving and working forward.

One about food (eat well!), one about the movement (live well!).

1- The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Co-op has provided this AWESOME list of reasons why GM (genetically-modified, not the failed auto giant!) food is not the bees knees:

http://obpeoplesfood.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-reasons-why-we-dont-need-genetically.html

Read a label today!

2- If you haven’t heard about Paul Hawken’s inspirational commencement speech at the University of Portland, you should check it out. The title is, “You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring”

http://yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=3559

(my favorite parts:

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.”

-and-

“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.”)

Be delicious!

BB

The contest asks you to “place a simple, colorful flier on high mileage cars that you encounter, showing the vehicle owner that she or he has done something worthy by choosing a leading-edge (in fuel efficiency) vehicle.”  Once you have placed the flyer. snap a picture with a digital camera (or cell phone), then upload the pics (free registration required) to Planet Thoughts.

The vehicles on which flyers are placed must be models that achieve at least 40 Miles-per-Gallon, as listed on the High-Efficiency Cars page on Planet Thoughts.  The person who uploads the most pictures of valid car models will win the grand prize of at least $500.

The contest’s “simple rules” can be found here.  The competition has already started, and runs until June 2, 2008 at 11:59pm Eastern (US) Time (GMT -5).  All pictures must be submitted by that time.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Today is a rare day where we have a not-so common combination of all three!  On the Logistics Today website the other day there was an article called “Air Group Pushes Environmental Programs.”  Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said, “The $132 billion fuel bill that airlines pay is the biggest green incentive of any industry to reduce its carbon footprint.”

Since fuel is any airlines biggest expense, it only makes sense for the IATA to try to help airlines reduce the amount of fuel they burn (or, to put a green spin on this solely profit-motivated opportunity, to increase their efficiency), IATA appointed former World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Paul Steele to direct new environmental initiatives of the association.  IATA, under Steele, has built an environmental strategy based on the following four elements: new technology, improved infrastructure, efficient operations, and economic incentives.

The article states that IATA helped reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 15 million tons in 2006, though it does not say how it did so or how the reduction was calculated; however, I will stand by environmentastic!’s policy that any focus on the environment is good – even if just to increase awareness of what is possible!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Simple Ways Episode 1:  Silverware vs. Plasticware 

Bring silverware from home instead of using plastic silverware provided at work. 

Think about this – each time you use a plastic fork and throw it away, you are adding .15 ounces or so of plastic waste to a landfill.  If you use plastic every day at work for lunch, that’s nearly two-and-a-half pounds of plastic being thrown away every year! 

How many people are in your office?  If each of them throws away a plastic fork every day as well, how many pounds of preventable waste is being added to landfills every year?  Let’s say ou have 100 people in your office – that’s nearly 250 pounds of waste, just because of plastic forks!

By simply carrying an actual piece of silverware with you every day, you can prevent your portion of the waste – and who knows, you may even encourage others to reduce their plasticware waste by your simple action!

So I always am on the lookout for companies that are doing the right thing environmentally and still maintaining success in an industry not known for it’s Earth-friendliness. 

With that in mind, I ran across HiRAIL Corporation while leafing through a transportation industry magazine.  HiRAIL manufactures the rubber fittings that butt-up against rail-road tracks when the tracks intersect with a road.  These are called grade crossings.

According to Walt Barry, Vice President of HiRAIL, the company’s rubber crossings contain 85% recycled rubber from used tires and rubber buffings (rubber buffings are a result of re-treading a used tire so it can be used again safely). 

Raw Material – shredded tires & rubber buffings

Mr. Barry goes on to explain:

Our current yearly usage is equal to approximately 500,000 used tires which do not have to be discarded in landfills. Using recycled material to produce our product rather than virgin (new) rubber, saves material resources and reduces the contribution to global warming caused by the manufacturing process of virgin (new) rubber.

Additionally, the rubber crossing is also 100% recyclable when it has worn enough to warrant replacement.  Though Mr. Barry did not specify whether or not this is the case, I would hope that anytime HiRAIL replaces any of its previously installed products with new, it does indeed recycle the old one and use it to create another new crossing for some other grade elsewhere!  If this is the case, HiRAIL is most definitely on the cutting edge in the transportation industry as far as taking responsibility for their company’s product at all points of the lifecycle. 

Final Product – recycled grade crossing!

The idea is much like the “grune punkt” system in Germany, in which manufacturers of products are responsible for the packaging of their products and must ensure that it is recycled or disposed of properly. This has resulted in much less packaging being used, and also leads to more thoughtful manufacturing of products.  HiRAIL, if it is not already there, is well on its way!

As an environmentaslist in transportation clothing, I would like to thank HiRAIL for what it is already doing to help conserve our environment, and encourage them to keep innovating and making their product more and more green.  Mr. Barry – you are leaders in an industry that is in dire need of green leadership! 

Thank you.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

What do you think of this?  Is this just a small win in the face of an unsolvable problem, or do you think that HiRAIL is on the right track (excuse the pun).  Leave a comment and let us know!

Enter Diatomaceous Earth. Sounds like dirt or dust, but in actuality is a fossil (another name for it is “Fossil Shell Flour”).  It’s made up of microscopic little shells of diatoms, a one-celled type of algae. 

These fossilized shells have tiny little points, which puncture an insect’s exoskeleton and dry them up, killing them.  In this way, Diatomaceous Earth is a mechanical insecticide, not a chemical one.  Because of this, insects cannot become immune or resistant to Diatomaceous Earth. On the downside, Diatomaceous Earth will kill all insects – even good ones – so it should be used carefully!

Diatomaceous Earth has little to no health effects to humans or pets as long as it has not been treated for use in such things as swimming pools – look for “Amorphous Freshwater Diatomaceous Earth” and a “silica-content” of less than 1.5% to ensure that it is safe to use on pets or around people or farm animals.

In fact, Diatomaceous Earth is used in some livestock feed to kill any bugs that might eat or ruin the feed before it can be fed to the animals.  Diatomaceous Earth is so safe, the livestock just eats it with the food!  It actually can kill worms or parasites that live inside animals as well as the pests that bother them on the outside!

For more information about Diatomaceous Earth, or to buy some to try yourself, click the following links:

Dirt Works
Internet-Grocer
Amazon.com – GreenSense
Freshwater Organics
Perma-Guard

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley