Category Archives: Carbon Footprint Reduction

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Kindness, Leadership, Nature

Healing Nature Together

Humpback Whale, courtesy of Art Tower

What if the greatest lesson of the pandemic was not how much we could live without, but how quickly the natural world could begin to heal when we gave it a chance?

During the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, when millions of people stayed home and travel and industry slowed dramatically, pollution and smog levels declined in Los Angeles and other cities. In India, people in some areas could see the Himalayan Mountains from their rooftops for the first time in decades. For a brief moment, the world seemed to exhale—and nature reminded us what was possible.

That experience showed us something important: our lives are deeply interconnected with the lives of animals and the health of the planet. We do not have to choose between human prosperity and a thriving natural world. We can find ways to share this planet with all life.

Sometimes, meaningful conservation can be as simple as giving wildlife the space and time it needs.

Beaches can be temporarily closed during nesting seasons so endangered loggerhead turtles can come ashore to lay their eggs undisturbed. Protecting those nesting sites gives hatchlings a better chance of surviving their perilous journey to the ocean.

Farmers and elephants can also coexist. In some communities, people have planted strips of grasses along the edges of farmland, giving elephants an alternative source of food and reducing the likelihood that they will enter and trample crops. These practical solutions demonstrate that conservation does not always require choosing one species over another. Sometimes, it simply requires understanding what animals need and finding room for them in our shared landscape.

The oceans offer another powerful example. Ships can slow down and coordinate their movements in areas where whales and other marine animals live and communicate. Underwater noise from human activity can interfere with the sounds animals depend on to find one another, navigate, feed, and survive. Reducing that noise can give marine life a better chance to thrive.

And we can continue reducing our carbon footprint—because climate change affects every living thing, from the smallest insects and plants to the largest mammals and the ecosystems upon which we all depend.

None of these actions alone will solve the environmental challenges facing our planet. But together, they represent something profoundly important: the choices we make every day can either make the world harder for wildlife—or give life a chance.

We share this beautiful, fragile planet with millions of other species. They do not have the ability to speak at our dinner tables, vote in our elections, or decide how we use the land and oceans. But they depend on the choices we make.

There is still time to choose coexistence.

As Jane Goodall has reminded us, “there is so much worth saving.”

And there is.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Climate Change

Hurricane Helene

Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

I have not written about hurricanes in a little while and yet I now must.  Last week Hurricane Helene (category 4) swept up the western coast of the United States, leaving devastating damage and destruction throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.  More than 170 people are dead or missing and almost 2 million people had no power.  Homes and buildings were twisted and left looking like pickup sticks.

Climate Week also took place in New York City with pledges to triple funding for nuclear energy, the establishment of a new green banks’ forum, and calls for more carbon removal.  Education about sustainability was also high on the list so that corporations and the general public better understand the options they have to remove carbon.

I bring up these two topics because they are intertwined.  The consequences of climate change are high.  If we persist in driving up CO2 levels in the atmosphere, we will continue to experience catastrophic weather events which devastate lives, businesses, and our emotional well-being.  We must reduce our carbon footprints, we must work with one another, and we must act urgently.  As I have said before, time is of the essence.

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Children, Climate Change, Kindness, Leadership, Life, Uncategorized

Hope

I hope you all had a nice summer and enjoyed some time with your loved ones. There is so much hard news out there and devastating forest fires in Canada, the United States, Greece, Spain, Croatia and Vietnam. People and animals have lost their homes, and many died from smoke inhalation. And yet, I remain hopeful that we can turn this situation around. There are so many people working to mitigate climate change and make sure that the Earth’s temperatures stop rising and start to decline. So, this is message which is meant to be encouraging in its nature. In the words of so many, we can do this. We each, individually, and collectively, can make a difference to help our fellow humans, and the precious animals of the world. Please reduce your carbon footprints, eat less meat, consume less, and take a walk in a forest or swim in the ocean. I have said it previously, each minute counts. Each one of us matters, and we can positively impact the future.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Dolphins

Circularity

I just read an interesting article, “Iceland Makes Circularity Look Effortless”  by Sarah Golden.  You may be wondering “what is circularity?”.  It an economic model that emphasizes reduce, reuse and recycle; and transforms the way we think about what goes into the garbage.  It challenges manufacturers to consider what happens to products after they land in the hands of consumers.  In a nutshell, it is about not creating waste.   99% of the things we buy end up in the trash within 6 months.  And we have already dumped 10 million tonnes of plastic into the ocean.  It would be better for humans, as well as wildlife, if more businesses and all of us adopted a circular model.  No one likes to swim in plastic, neither do the dolphins

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Leadership, Life, Nature

Canada’s Wildfires

I write this blog while scorching wildfires race through eastern and western Canada.  Honestly, my heart is quite heavy and I fear greatly for our precious, livable planet.  The fires are out of control and over 9.4 million acres have already burned.  The fires affect countless people, pets, and wild animals.  The smoke from the fires is so bad it has reached down to New York, NJ, and Washington DC.  Air quality levels have been frightening and New York City ranked among the worst cities in the world.  People have been told to stay at home and schools are conducting remote classes.  As I think about all of the animals inhaling smoke who can’t shut themselves in an enclosed space with air purifiers, I shudder.  I wonder about the animals in Canada literally fleeing the fires and dying.  I had to bury two dead birds that I found lying on my lawn.  When will we end this chaos?  When will we all wake up and drastically cut our carbon footprints and change our ways of life?  This matter is so urgent and time is of the essence.  Please, we must WAKE UP!!!  We must make different choices.  It is truly a matter of life and death.

@climatereality
@gretathunberg

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Climate Change, Leadership

The Motivation of Hope

I recently watched this moving video (below) where David Attenborough, a British biologist and broadcaster known for his natural history television series, talks about reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and hope. He said, “Nature is a key ally. Whenever we restore the wild it will recapture carbon and help us bring back balance to our planet.” He went on to state that “we must use this opportunity to create a more equal world. Our motivation must not be fear but hope.” I urge you to continue to make a positive difference in this world.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Oceans

The Ocean’s Promise

Many of you know about reducing your carbon footprints to help mitigate climate change. Some people eat less meat, others work for companies which plant trees and re-build biodiverse forests. As we move forward in time it is also important to think about the oceans, as they absorb as much as 30% of our annual carbon emissions every year. Scientists in Florida recently tried an experiment, adding lime to the Apalachicola Bay, off Florida’s panhandle, in an effort to reduce the acidity level of the water. While the experiment did cut carbon levels and acidity, more work, on larger scales, has to be done. Increasing the oceans’ levels of carbon storage represents hope and promise as carbon levels throughout the world continue to increase.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Forests, Nature

International Day of Forests

Many people, including me, did not know that Monday, March 21st was the International Day of Forests.  How precious forests are and yet, we don’t often realize their importance.  “When we drink a glass of water, write in a notebook, take medicine for a fever or build a house, we do not always make the connection with forests. And yet, these and many other aspects of our lives are linked to forests in one way or another”.  Sadly, we lose a football field size of forest every second, and yet planting trees and preserving biodiversity are one of the best ways to solve climate change.  Many non-profit organizations and companies such as Terraformation are working to reforest the planet, please join me and them, before time runs out.  Thank you.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Leadership

Climate conference & Villains

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26 and as the Glasgow Conference, has begun.  It is being held in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31st through November 12th.  World leaders have their work cut out for them because individual countries and their citizens have not been cutting greenhouse emissions enough to avoid climate catastrophe.  Clearly said, the world needs a 55% reduction in emissions to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5°C, the limit defined by scientists as the less risky scenery for our planet and humanity’s future.

As world representatives meet at COP26 gather, it is important be aware of some of the dirty dozen climate villains as noted in a 10/27/2021 article in The Guardian newspaper.  They have worked to keep emissions high. The list includes Jamie Dimon, CEO of Chase Bank and Senator Mitch McConnell.  Check it out. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/27/climate-crisis-villains-americas-dirty-dozen

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Leadership

Still Very Important

This video, from September 2014, is still very important. Dr. Jane Goodall said, “in 200 years people will look back on this particular period and say to themselves, how did those people, at that time, just allow all those amazing creatures to vanish?” She continued to say, “if we all lose hope there is no hope. Without hope people fall into apathy. There is still a lot left worth fighting for.”