Please join the Global Climate Strike on Friday, September 20th. Greta Thunberg, who I featured in an earlier blog, will be there. Climate change affects all of us, and we have to stand up for the animals and children of this world.
WHERE: Union Square, NY, NY
WHEN: 12pm, September 20, 2019
WHO: You, your friends, your family, your co-workers
Most of us know we need to recycle plastics and put our used
containers into a recycling bin. But are
we getting it right? And where does all
of our plastic waste go? Many people
think it gets recycled and used again.
This is not true. According to the
Guardian newspaper, hundreds of
thousands of tons of plastic gets shipped to countries such as Bangladesh,
Laos, Vietnam, Senegal and Ethiopia
-some of the poorest places in the world. The United States produces 34.5 million tons
of plastic each year, enough to fill a large football stadium 1,000 times.
So, what can you do?
Bring your own coffee mug or reusable container to the coffee shop. The single use cup you normally receive is
not recyclable. Wash your dirty plastic
containers before putting them in the recycle bin, but more importantly, do not
buy food sold in them. Buy loose
strawberries, for example, instead of the ones in a plastic box. Stop using plastic bags, use cloth ones
instead. And just because you see a
recycling symbol, it does not mean the product can be recycled. Don’t fall for that marketing gimmick. Usually, numbers 1 and 2 are the products
which can be recycled.
On Monday, April 15, 2019 a sixteen year old schoolgirl from
Sweden said politicians were failing to take enough action on climate change
and the threats to the natural world.
She told a room full of MEPs and EU officials in Strasbourg,
“Our house is falling apart and our leaders need to start acting accordingly
because at the moment they are not.”
When the young climate activist spoke of a “sixth mass
extinction”, her voice faltered. “The extinction rate is up to six times faster
than what is considered normal, with up to 200 species becoming extinct every
single day,” she said. “Erosion of fertile topsoil, deforestation of the
rainforest, toxic air pollution, loss of insects and wildlife, acidification of
our oceans – these are all disastrous trends.”
Who is Greta Thunberg?
Greta Thunberg gained notice when she began a solo climate
protest by striking from school in Sweden in August of 2018. She has since been
joined by tens of thousands of school and university students in Australia,
Belgium, Germany, the United States, Japan and more than a dozen other
countries.
In December of 2018, at the United Nations climate
conference, she said world leaders were behaving like irresponsible children. And in January 2019 she hit on the global
business elite in Davos: “Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in
particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing
to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here
today belong to that group of people.”
Thunberg said “you are never too small to make a
difference,” she said. Her protests have been inspired by US students who
staged walk-outs to demand better gun controls in the wake of school shootings.
An article in “The New York Times” entitled “Time To Panic” by David Wallace-Wells stuck me by its forthright and urgent appeal to all of us. It is time to make policy changes and alter our lives now. Otherwise, we most certainly will enter a period of true catastrophe. We cannot just simply have meatless Mondays or drive Toyota Prius cars. It is time for new policies to be implemented by politicians all around the world. The answer lies in significantly raising fuel efficiency standards for all cars. It also lies in making sure high speed rail lines are available for use. The answer is also found in making sure farmers feed their cattle seaweed. That alone would cut methane emissions by 60%. Remember, methane, a greenhouse gas, is more potent than carbon dioxide by 30 times.
Mr. Wallace-Wells said it well, the purpose of politics is “that we can be and do better together than we might manage as individuals”. Here is the warning. It is time, before it is too late, for Trump and anyone else who denies climate change to be removed from office. Our children and the animals are counting on it.
Giraffes, whales, coral, apes, oceanic birds, bumblebees, asian elephants, insects, sharks and monarch butterflies are at risk due to climate change.
Rising temperatures, rising waters, heat stress, and disappearing habitat are all affecting these animals. Please take a stand, reduce your carbon footprint and help keep them alive. There are many ways to do this and save money. You can also let your elected officials know it is time for them to support green energy and end fossil fuel subsidies. There is no time to lose!
It is a new year and time for a new commitment to solving the climate crisis. Become a climate leader by joining the Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps. The next training will be from March 14-16 in Atlanta, Georgia. We need everyone to pull together now. Time is of the essence, and our future is at stake. Thank you.
As forest fires spread across the state of California I cringe because so many people in the United States do not understand climate change and do not seem to care about its consequences. California is the bread basket of the country, we rely on it for our fruits and vegetables, wine, movies and so many other things. What will we do without them? More importantly, how will we help all of the people who are losing their homes and livelihoods? How will we help all of the wild animals that are losing their homes? I am deeply grieved and saddened by the current situation. And I am tired of lairs, cheats, and those who abuse their offices because of their own greed and ignorance. Climate change is real. It is not going away. We lose dozens of animal species every day. And we are losing people too.
I urge you to plant trees, to go meatless, to use refillable water bottles, to donate money to a conservation organization. I urge you to make a difference. If we don’t change now there will be no future and nothing left to save.
Yes, you can vote for Earth! She is a penguin and is running for office! Yes, a penguin is running for office. She moved to the United States because the ice is melting in Antarctica. Since she cares deeply about the environment, and all of us, she decided to take action. Please visit her website and learn about work and health matters. She is a really cool penguin. I am certainly going to vote in November. Join us, and her! Thank you.