carbon is not bad. seriously, think about it.
it’s pretty ridiculous how much everyone hates carbon now. for gosh sake people - you know we’re made out of that stuff right? well, to be completely accurate, we’re giant ugly bags of mostly water. if you want to laugh your face off, watch the second video to see where that reference comes from.
anyhow, yeah, carbon is not bad, necessarily. it’s all about where the carbon ends up. think about carbon as paper in an office. or, if thinking is too hard for you (i know, it hurts me too), watch this rather clever video.
thanks instant egghead!
and now…
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the european union compares our current crisis to a flooded basement in letter to obama - clever…
what i’m going to say next may shock you, but i am putting it out there on the interwebs and will deal with the consequences at a later time. so here goes…
i like europeans. that’s right. you heard me. i like them and i don’t understand why it is considered unamerican to like them. is it because they don’t get fat? i guess that’s a valid reason, but they still pwn us when it comes to the environment.
that being said, i submit for your approval a letter written by european union environment commissioner stavros dimas this week to president obama, asking us to adopt regulations on climate change.
courtesy of green inc.
now that we have a new leader, the whole world is looking at us to either step up to the challenge or run away in denial like we have in the past.
the letter has several noteworthy excerpts. one of them is a rather on-point analogy that alludes to those who say that we need to put environmental concerns on the backburner and focus on nursing our sick, sick financial system back to health:
“If someone’s basement floods and they lose their job on the same day it is certainly an unlucky day. But they would not wait until they found a new job before pumping the basement and fixing the leak. If they did, then not only would they be unemployed, but they would also have a house that is starting to fall apart. Common sense says that the longer you leave a problem unsolved the harder it becomes to find a solution. I am quite sure that even Joe the Plumber would agree with this. Climate change is similar. We know there is a
problem and it would be short-sighted foolishness to not address it immediately.”
right on! mr. dimas - you are like my brother from another mother. and you threw in that little thing about joe the plumber. bravo.
check out the rest of the letter here. a lot of the points that mr. dimas makes may seem like no-brainers, but it’ll be very interesting to see how president obama will respond.
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save the planet and make $
there have been so many times when i thought to myself that the only way to get people to start recycling, conserving and, basically, changing their ways was to pay them!
well, the founders of savetheplanetandwin.com had the same idea, and have thought of a simple way to actually pay you to reduce your carbon footprint. of course, they can’t actually see whether or not you are taking shorter showers, walking or biking more, or using less electricity, so the program is really based on the honor system. but the idea is that by clicking on sponsor links and shopping for green products, you will be able to educate yourself about the smarter and greener choices that are available to you.
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now that more people are strapped for cash than ever, i really hope that getting people to see the green light, even if it means having to pay them, will be easier. like i’ve written in past posts, some people make a living out of recycling on a daily basis, even though they have no intention of saving the environment at all. they just do it because they need the money. seems like there is a constant debate in the green space about what it means to really be “green.” what if you’re just doing it for the money, like some manufacturers do in order to attract eco-savvy customers? is it about intent or outcome? personally, i think a homeless woman who collects and recycles cans in order to make an extra buck to grab a slice of pizza is doing her part just as much as i am when i recycle my newspapers.
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21 reasons not to shop at forever 21
it’s friday night, and you’re planning on going out after work around 9 or 10, but you haven’t a thing to wear! not to worry, you can just hit up your local forever 21 for something cheap that you can toss as soon as a. you don’t like it anymore or b. it gets pilly, the straps break or it just looks ratty. right?
what you may not have known is that tons of labor (allegedly unfair and underpaid labor) goes into making each item you buy at forever 21 and most other retail stores. in 2004, forever 21 settled for an undisclosed amount in a dispute with the garment worker center and the asian pacific american legal center of southern california. the workers said that they were denied lawful wages and worked long hours in dangerous and filthy conditions. (source la times)
although forever 21 pledged to make their clothes under legal conditions after the suit, one still wonders how they get so many clothes made so cheaply? and you have to wonder what your part in all this is as a consumer.
here are some reasons not to shop at forever 21:
21. you can’t bring your kids into the dressing room because of a strict “one person at a time” policy (consumerist article) that seems to make no sense
20. “clubbing” tops purchased there disintegrate after 21 days
19. yours could be 1 of the 98,930 credit and debit card numbers naxed from its computers by criminals if you shopped there on March 25, 2004; March 26, 2004; June 23, 2004; July 2, 2004; July 3, 2004; August 4, 2007; August 5, 2007; August 13, 2007; or August 14, 2007
18. the only way you would know about the security breach is if you visited the forever 21 website and clicked on the tiny, 10 font link entitled “important customer notice” at the very bottom.
17. the John 3:16 bible reference printed on the bottom of all of their bags which doesn’t really bother me, although i thought this response from a manager at one of their stores to a post on corpwatch.com was interesting:
“I am a Manager at XXI Forever and and I would consider myself more of a Satanist than anything else. (I am not a praticing one, but it is the basic lifestyle in which I live) I am fully aware of the verse on the bottom of the bags, and to be honest, I could not care less. This company is individually owned by Mr. & Mrs. Chang and they are devout Christians. They have every right to put whatever their hearts’ desire on the bags. If you don’t like it, don’t look at it.”
i agree, i guess?
16. another guy wrote “Free country. And free bag.” that’s awesome on so many different levels.
15. gwen stefani don’t like ‘em.
okay, i don’t actually have time to write out 21 reasons, and you probably don’t have time to read them.
the point is that it’s great that we can buy so many pretty things here in america for so cheap, but it’s also important to think about how retailers can make these things for so cheap and who that price might be hurting. if you’re concerned about where your clothes are coming from, please consider shopping at thrift shops like housingworks here in the city. buying things at thrift shops or swapping clothes is a great way to fight unfair trade and unlawful working conditions. and since most people bring their unused clothing to the stores themselves, used clothing is also really low on the carbon-emission scale.
and it’s cheap! what are you waiting for?
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graunch
imagine using this puppy to compact all your trash into artful cubes and possibly even using those cubes to build walls. it’s patent pending and i haven’t been able to find any other information on it but will keep you updated when i do!
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why is this a site?
swyyne has always been an experiment for me. with all of the other super eco sites out there, i've been feeling like i want to contribute something just a bit different. so for now, here are my random musings.
look for stuff
feed yourself