A round-up of this week’s environmental, green and ecofriendly news and updates.
Things can get quite busy at this time of year with the approaching holidays. So now is a good time to sit down for 10 minutes and watch Walden.
It’s a short film narrated by Robert Redford that highlights Walden Pond, made famous by Henry David Thoreau. It’s relaxing, calming and very beautiful.
I’m hoping it will help to create greater awareness and appreciation of nature and the environment. All countries need to re-think how we treat our land and natural resources, if we are to heal the planet.
You can watch it for free on walden.org.
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me to be just a short time ago that we were all celebrating the 2017 New Year – and now here we are in November with thanksgiving rapidly approaching. Already!
It’s a good time to reflect on what we’re thankful for. And I’m thankful that you’re reading this!
So I have a gift for you. Several years ago I wrote a report about how to tackle family problems at Thanksgiving (or at any other family get-together), and several people wrote to me afterwards and said it had really helped them. So here it is again for you to download – free, no strings attached, just to say thank you for reading. Get your copy by clicking here.
Toothbrushes. It’s now easier to find bamboo toothbrushes, although the majority are still plastic. Bamboo is renewable and it biodegrades after use so it’s miles more ecofriendly than plastic. (Just be aware that most bamboo brushes don’t have the fancy colors, patterns and “grips” that the plastic ones do (yes, it IS perfectly possible to hold a bamboo toothbrush without fancy plastic grips, LOL).
Charcoal-infused bristles are supposed to remove more bacteria and freshen your breath more – but the amount of activated charcoal is pretty small and it will reduce over time with usage and rinsing – my advice is to save your money.
Activated charcoal is also being used in toothpaste and tooth whiteners. I’m definitely not a fan of this. It’s fine in small doses occasionally. But not used twice a day (even if it is mostly rinsed out). See why I don’t like activated charcoal here.
Back to toothbrushes. Look for brushes with minimal packaging. If you have several family members using the same basin, opt for bushes with different colours so you can tell which is whose. BPA-free is not important for nylon bristles (as they are not boiled or frozen), it’s just a marketing ploy. You can see a selection of bamboo toothbrushes here.
Still staying with the Thanksgiving theme…..
- I love the idea behind Thanksgiving. Here’s how to have a Thanksgiving Day you’ll be proud of.
- We all know that eating less meat is good for the environment – and avoiding factory farm products is great for animals too. Why not consider avoiding the turkey this year and opting for a yummy vegetarian meal instead? Here are 3 great options.
Global Green News:
Vietnam needs lots of new energy to develop. Sadly, the country plans to build many coal plants (there are always willing investors because there’s huge profit in fossil fuels).
But ex-US Secretary of State John Kerry is (unofficially) suggesting renewables instead. They’re viewed as untested so investors are not quite as willing, but he’s trying to convince them by showing them how to reduce their risk. Let’s hope he succeeds – because if so, it could become a model for other developing countries.
With global emissions on the rise (again), the current Climate talks in Germany (COP23) come at a good time. They are being led by Fiji – the island nation that would have hosted the talks if it weren’t for climate change causing severe damage to the country. Thousands of people around the world are demanding more ambitious targets than those set in the Paris Agreement. The US government attended the climate talks – and a group of mostly fossil-fuel executives promoted coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy. Without any concept of irony, they said that fossil fuels could help to mitigate climate change! (Can you believe it?).
US Green News:
Texas is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Scarily, a new report says that huge storms like Harvey are now six times more likely to hit Texas than they were at the end of the 20th century. And in about 50 years, it’s more likely to happen regularly.
Some good news: Recent elections brought coast-to-coast victories for U.S. climate action. Many climate-friendly mayors were elected — most notably in New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Charlotte, St. Petersburg, St. Paul, and Seattle. The results send a clear message: Climate action will continue to move ahead at the local and state level, even with a climate denier as president.
Many Americans were upset when stores opened on Thanksgiving Day, feeling it destroyed the meaning of the holiday and forced both employees and customers to abandon their families. But this year, the tide may be turning – many stores (including Costco, TJ Maxx, Lowe’s, Pier 1, Petsmart, H&M and Ikea) will close for the holiday. And it may pay off for them – in 2015, outdoor retailer REI closed its stores and suggested people #OptOutside, for a weekend connected with family and nature. That move resulted in 1 million new memberships for the store.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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