The Consequences of Our Actions ...

In northern Florida, in a favorite park, we once found beautiful carnivorous plants growing wild ... Pitcher plants (pictured), Venus Flytrap, and my favorite ... the small Sundew. It's illegal to take these plants ... their numbers have declined because of habitat loss and illegal poaching. They are also susceptible to pollution.

In a recent Scientific American article, I learned that carnivorous plants are on the decline for another reason ... the insects which they "eat" are contaminated with cadmium ... and the cadmium is killing the plants.

Cadmium is a metal and occurs naturally, in small quantities, in soil, water and air. As a metal, it doesn't break down and can accumulate over time. It's the build-up of cadmium that can be a problem ... in humans it can cause lung and kidney disease and make one's bones weak. In plants it appears to prevent growth, preventing any new shoots from developing.

So, how do the insects become contaminated? Cadmium is released into the environment through the burning of fuel, making and using phosphate fertilizers, mining and metal processing operations, and disposing of metal products. When we burn fuel, cadmium is released into the air and eventually settles to the ground as a dust. Phosphate fertilizers contain cadmium which is transferred to plants through the soil. Through mining and metal processing, it is released into both air and water ... and disposing of products containing cadmium (some rechargeable batteries, paints, plastics, Ceramic ware, etc.) causes air, water and soil contamination. Once it gets into the environment, insects ingest it.

And that brings us back to the carnivorous plants.

It may seem like a small thing ... many people have never even seen a carnivorous plant. But as I've said before, what happens to us when plants and animals become extinct? And if plants, out in nature, are showing a build-up of a metal like cadmium, how long will it be before we are suffering the affects of cadmium contamination?

The struggling plant population is another wake-up that our actions have consequences. When we are next tempted to just toss a recyclable battery into the garbage or burn household waste ... when we feel like driving long distances or fertilizing our yards ... let us remember the plight of the carnivorous plant and remember that our actions matter.

As always ... I would love to hear from you!

Beautiful Falling Leaves

I love this time of year ... the air is crisp and the fall colors are lovely. Every time that the wind picks up, leaves float to the ground ... a cascade of yellow, orange and red. The ground becomes nature's patchwork quilt.

Those beautiful falling leaves bring me to today's quick tips:

• Leaves that fall in the yard and flower beds can be left to decompose and nourish the soil. They also act as mulch, protecting plants from winter temperatures.
  
  
  
• Forgo the air blower or hose for walkways and decks ... grab a broom and get busy. The only energy you'll burn is your own ... and how healthy is that!!
  
  
  
• Once leaves are gathered up from the driveway, walkway or patio, add them to your compost pile ... or start one if you haven't already done so. In the spring, you'll have rich soil for your garden.
  
  
  
• I don't usually give you tips that say "Don't ..." but in this case I'll offer one: Don't burn leaves as a way to dispose of them. The smoke caused by burning leaves is polluting and compromises air quality.

There you go ... easy tips ... big environmental benefits.


As always ... I would love to hear from you!

What is happening ... by Argentum Vulgaris

One of the very first people to follow Reduce Footprints was my "bloggy" friend Argentum Vulgaris of Tomus Arcanum. Many of you know AV ... he is a generous blogger who seems to always have time to reply to comments and promote other blogs. He's a frequent visitor here and typically leaves thought-provoking remarks on the "subject du jour".

If you've never been to Tomus Arcanum (or the nine other blogs AV owns), you're missing out. When you arrive at his blog, the first thing you'll notice are these fun little figures that pop up on the screen. As the page loads, you'll find gadgets of every kind ... all interesting and fun to browse. Finally, you'll see the day's post. Here's where it gets real interesting ... his posts range from the beautiful ... to the funny ... to the shocking ... and sometimes to the disturbing, like when he talked about child brides in Yemen or about the slaughter of whales in Japan. He pulls no punches and tells it like he sees it. He is one of the most honest and direct bloggers you'll ever find. That being said ... there's one other thing that is absolutely true ... you'll always be entertained at his site.

AV has graciously agreed to write for us today. So ... sit back ... relax ... and enjoy:



I have been invited as a guest blogger, my immediate reaction was “great!”, but then the sobering thought, what’s a guest blogger arose.

Well, I soon discovered that a guest blogger is one elected who does a lot of work in a short space of time, considered a labour of love, and I am honoured to be considered worthy of performing such a task.

I have burbled for sometime about environmental issues on my various blogs. Ranted about how we, as a race, don’t care for our backyards and continue not to care ignoring all that is before us, telling us in no uncertain terms that we should be caring; and caring a lot. I am not the greatest environmentalist, rather just a man who has lived 57 years, I do a small bit in my own way at home; one to reduce costs and two, make use of things that I have already used. In the case of one, I am a spendthrift, I hate being conned out of one cent change and demand the letter of the law, then give me five cents; and in the case of two, I can’t see the use of buying tupperware when I have perfectly good margarine containers and jam jars to use; and as for buying dirt to go in my pot plants, I compost and make my own. So it all goes back to number one really, money!

Hence, I read Small Footprints, indeed, I even go back and re-read some parts. It is people like Small Footprints, who will eventually be the saviours of the planet; not individually (SF put your Spider Woman suit away – you’re not a super heroine yet), but you and those like you are all super people. I find some of the issues tackled by SF to be somewhat sobering, things we take for granted, things we throw away (and millions of others throw away too) that make it a problem a million times bigger than if it were just me.

Small footprints has given me the chance to write as a guest blogger, I am honoured that my past ranting has been read by at least one other person apart from myself. Thank you SF, so less ado and more do.


What is happening?

We are literally pissing on the planet and we have to stop!

Our planet, the little mudball we call home, is becoming untenable. We, us humans, have already used, destroyed and polluted most of it, the land, oceans, rivers and air; and we are not satisfied, now (and have been for years) we are even polluting space.

It has been common knowledge for years that we are damaging the place. If we were tennants in a building and treated it this way we would have been evicted years ago. Our God is a very tolerant landlord.

The story starts at the beginning. It is evident from paeleontological sites that early man was not a tidy beast, and we have continued to soil our environment ever since with due disregard for nature.


The major change came with the industrial revolution. The introduction of steam, to produce steam you burnt coal, burning coal produces smoke, a lot of smoke and a lot of waste. Money was the driving force, capitalism advanced shame-facedly, to the point where we are today. No heed was given to the tons of pollutants that we threw into the air at this time.


So with all that untidy history we have become a devil-may-care “throw-away” society. We use, we throw away and all this throwing-away accumulates. Not only accumulates, but accumulates exponentially, remember, with each passing year the Earth’s population increases, each year there are more people to throw stuff away. We are turning the Earth into a giant garbage dump. We are fast running out of space.

It doesn’t matter if we are talking plastic bags, disposable razors or toothbrushes (all of which SF has alluded to in past posts), we are throwing more and more stuff away. We have to seriously STOP and take stock of ourselves. It doesn’t matter if I am talking to you, your family, your community, suburb, city, country, or some giant global conglomerate. We have to STOP; and unless we do, we’ll be living in that garbage dump, and living in it very soon; perhaps within some of your lifetimes.

Everybody can start and contribute, yes, even YOU! We must start at the bottom, the top will always ignore the problem as long as money is involved. Education must start at home and the schools, for it is the new generation that will take the issue to the top. Only then will we begin to see the huge corporations sit up and take notice and we will see governments begin to accept their responsibilities, responsibilities shirked for so long.



Each of us must take time out and sit on the beach of life and look at the world and wonder. We had a beautiful planet, we can have that again, but it won’t happen by magic, it won’t happen by leaving it to the other person. We all need to take a personal responsibility, be we are all the owners of this world.

Would you let your child throw chicken bones on the lounge floor?

Because that’s what we are doing to the planet!


I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to AV for that wonderful post. And ... I'd like to suggest that each of you hop over to his site(s) and browse around.

As always ... I would love to hear from you!

How To Grow Your Own Air ...

A few years ago, one of my friends got sick at work. She felt dizzy and nauseous ... to the extent that she had to leave work and go home to bed. By the time she got home, she felt better. This happened frequently in the next few weeks so she went to the doctor. It turns out that the new building, which her group recently moved into, was pumping various chemicals through the air conditioning system ... straight into her lungs. And ... it was making her sick.

We are a climate-controlled society. As global warming creates extremes in temperatures, and as our society's practices create more pollution, we look to artificial means to provide the air we breathe. Unfortunately, these climate controlled environments carry their own problems ... including contaminated air.

Here is an interesting video about an easy way to create clean air:





Wasn't that fascinating? Now, in addition to growing our own fruits and vegetables ... we can grow our own clean air.

As always ... I would love to hear from you!

Strange Bedfellows: Paper, Sugar, Diapers

Paper, Sugar and Diapers ... Strange bedfellows indeed.

That bed has a few more occupants, however: Flour, Coffee Filters, White Cotton Clothing, Tampons, Toilet Paper, Tea Bags, and Cigarette Papers (to name a few). What do all of these "bed mates" have in common? They are brilliantly white thanks to bleaching ... a process which releases dioxins into the environment.

Dioxins are environmental pollutants and have been associated with health complications such as cancer, birth defects and an increased risk of diabetes. Because dioxins are "fat loving", they bioaccumulate in both humans and wildlife. Bioaccumulate means that they are absorbed into our bodies faster than our systems can get rid of them.

Waterways are particularly susceptible to dioxin contamination as a result of bleaching practices. The toxins get into fish and plant life ... and travel right up the food chain to us. Additionally, dioxins linger on the bleached items ... this is a concern because those items come in contact with us and/or our food.

There are many ways that dioxins enter the environment ... burning coal, using products with chlorine, burning trash in a can in the backyard, plastics (think PVC) ... and bleaching consumer products. Here's an interesting fact ... most natural, raw fibers and products aren't white at all ... they are brown or off-white. But somewhere along the line we came to believe that white equals clean. So we started bleaching things ... and hurting the environment.

Once again, there is power is our purchases. Refusing to buy bleached items increases the demand for unbleached items ... and a healthier planet. Here are a few ideas:

• Buy unbleached flour.
• Instead of white coffee filters, go for the natural, brown variety. Or better yet, invest in a reusable filter.
• Try raw or unrefined sugar or honey instead of white sugar.
  
• For paper products, look for unbleached varieties. This includes computer paper, toilet paper, paper towels and napkins, etc.
• Buy clothing made from natural organic cotton or, if you can find it, go for clothing made from hemp and bamboo. Both hemp and bamboo are sustainable crops and use less resources than cotton crops.
• Don't smoke.
• Check packaging ... anything white is a bleaching "giveaway".

As always ... I would love to hear from you!

Does it matter?

Recently, a reader asked "Are you optimistic about the future of the planet? About humankind's ability to fix the damage and take a greener path?" My initial thought was ... of course, every effort counts and we're making a difference. But then ... I began to really think about this and I wondered if that was the truth ... or if I just want it to be the truth.

In the fall I made a trip to Chicago ... it's a really nice city and has a lot going for it. Chicago has a wonderful mass transit system ... it's user friendly and convenient. Since parking is expensive and limited in the downtown area, walking is encouraged ... the sidewalks are wide and clean. Many establishments make use of revolving doors which have been proven to be energy efficient. On the other hand, the high rise buildings, across the street from where I stayed, left their lights and computers on all night. The Chicago River and Lake Michigan show signs of pollution ... as does the city in general. This isn't unique to Chicago but is a condition of most large cities.

In truth, the biggest threats to our environment are large companies and governments who won't make "green" changes.

But still ... there must be evidence that we're on the right path! So I went in search of it. Sadly, there isn't much. That may be because we are at the forefront of this effort and it simply takes time for things to change.

According to an article dated April 28, 2006 by the Environmental News Network, a report by the American Lung Association showed that there has been significant air quality improvement in the last decade. The report "found real improvement in air quality over much of the United States, due in part to reduced emissions from power plants." Researchers looked at the number of days deemed to have unhealthy air from 2002 to 2004, and compared it with the numbers from 1996 to 1998.

In an article dated January 23, 2008, a study was released that "indicated that water quality in the Egyptian segment of the River Nile improved considerably in the months of October and November 2007, giving rise to hopes that drinking water quality for many of Egypt’s 80 million people may improve. " This improvement came about by preventing industrial establishments from discharging their waste into the Nile.

So, there is hope. But what about our individual efforts ... do they matter? When we use environmentally friendly cleaning products in our homes and can breathe easier ... it matters. When we recognize a savings in the cost of water and energy or re-purpose an item instead of buying new ... it matters. And it matters, not only because of the immediate benefits we realize ... but because of the message we send. When we refuse to buy a product packaged in plastic we tell the manufacturers that it matters. When we vote for the candidate who seems to want cleaner fuel and sustainability, we tell the world that it matters. We have a voice and it can be heard through our actions. And let's face it ... as consumers, that voice is powerful.

My answer to the question is ... yes, I am optimistic about the future of the planet. I'm also confident about our individual efforts and their contribution to a better world. It may take awhile to see big results ... but they'll come. We just have to continue on the path!

On Monday, a guest author is going to share her thoughts on the subject ... I hope you'll stop by.

As always ... I would love to hear from you!