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[Inspiration] Two Stories About Change

by Chandra Leave a Comment

One of the reasons why we started this site is to provide reasons for you to hope. A lack of hope makes us want to give up, and then our apathy leads to a self fulfilling prophecy. When we are feeling hopeful, we’re more likely to take ecoaction.

So on that note, let’s have a look at two very interesting signs of change.

First, there’s a proof of concept project for regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture goes beyond sustainability and into, well, regeneration. It’s a great way for farmers to improve yields with fewer inputs, and it can improve carbon sequestration, and water management.

Where better to test out this idea than in the harshest of decimated environments: the Saudi Arabian desert?

In this video on Al Baydha, you’ll see how modifications to the landscape, which apparently take their inspiration from indigenous land management practices, have transformed a patch of the desert. The twenty minute piece is fascinating and well worth your time. Link to YouTube presentation: The Story of Al Baydha: A Regenerative Agriculture in the Saudi Desert. If we can do this in the desert, where else might we reclaim land? Is there anything you could do to support these efforts? Is there land in your community that is brown field or derelict that could be turned into something better? How’s your backyard looking?

Our second story today is from The Guardian. It suggests that the coronavirus crisis may speed up the collapse of the fossil fuel industry.

That’s because the value of fuel reserves has dropped significantly. The worldwide shut downs made the demand for oil and gas sink like a stone, and producers quickly ran out of storage space. This in turn means we have a huge supply glut. When this is combined with permanent work at home announcements by companies like Shopify and Google, and movements by some cities to push for aggressive clear sky policies, it seems like the oil industry is unlikely to recover any time soon. (And we may find that, after weeks of not having to commute, people are not keen to start that grind again).

This will, of course, cause short term economic pain, as we retool our economy and shift workers from these industries into others. Remember to be kind to people experiencing this sort of shock, and to push your local governments to help facilitate that transition, rather than sinking money into bailouts or propping up the industry. As this year’s temperatures indicate, we don’t have any more time.

Guardian story link (free to read with registration; consider subscribing to support the publication):

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/04/coronavirus-crisis-collapse-fossil-fuels-demand

Filed Under: Inspiration

[Share This] Plastic Icebergs: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

by Chandra Leave a Comment

Guest Post By Frank Atkin

As if the novel coronavirus weren’t enough, there’s another invisible enemy lurking off our shores. Five giant spiral currents or “gyres” in oceans around the globe sweep in and trap floating debris. The largest gyre is home to a debris accumulation known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). Perhaps you’ve heard that it’s the size of Texas and can be seen from space. But, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), those are myths. It’s insidious. You may have flown over it or even navigated through it without seeing it.

NOAA explains, “Because gyres are dynamic, the size of these concentrated areas is constantly changing, making it extremely difficult to estimate the size of garbage patches. In addition, although these areas have greater amounts of marine debris, they are not forming ‘islands of trash.’ Instead, this debris is continually mixing and is spread throughout the water column, from the surface all the way to the ocean floor.”

An expedition conducted by Algalita, a Long Beach-based marine research and education foundation, noted an enormous quantity of plastic debris of every description “from toothbrushes to tires and even a floating island bolstered by dozens of plastic buoys used in oyster aquaculture that had solid areas you could walk on.”

But this floating debris is just the tip of the iceberg. According to NOAA, microplastics (plastic pieces less than five millimeters in size) make up the greater part of garbage patches. Sun, wind and waves break larger plastic debris into microplastics. “Other microplastics are manufactured at this size, such as microbeads found in some personal care products or microfibers from synthetic clothing.”

Marine life; including fish, cetaceans, birds, and turtles; often mistake these small pieces for food.

Subsequent expeditions by Algalita have revealed that the accumulation of debris is growing and little is being done to mitigate the problem. Research revealed that debris in the GPGP was the highest density of anthropogenic, (human-produced) debris recorded anywhere in the world, with 99.8% of it consisting of plastic. Despite skepticism from NOAA, the Ocean Cleanup Project has set the ambitious goal of cleaning up 50% of plastic pollution in the GPGP over five years.

A prime example of the worldwide debris problem is Henderson Island, located near the middle of the South Pacific, and its accumulation of plastic debris. Its remoteness suggests that there is nowhere on Earth that is safe from plastic accumulation. And no wildlife habitat is safe. Virtually all marine life has ingested plastic debris to some degree. An additional problem is that the breakdown of plastic particles can exacerbate the spread of industrial chemicals.

Currently, there is nowhere on Earth that is plastic free. From the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the highest mountains to the remotest outback, every location has shown to have at least some degree of plastic contamination. The pollution is so widespread that maybe no wildlife or even domesticated animals have escaped ingesting at least some small amount. And it is likely that this is also the case for all humans.

This is a world health crisis. The time to take action is yesterday. Recycling is not enough. We need to end single-use plastic.

Filed Under: Share This Tagged With: oceans, plastic pollution

[Ecoaction] Will You Take The Pledge?

by Chandra Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a way to take Ecoaction as things slowly open back up, look no further than Bee City Canada.

The website has provided a way for you to pledge to protect pollinator species, and it provides lots of resources to help you do so. In addition to videos and webinars, there’s also an extensive province-by-province list of places to purchase native plants that are pollinator friendly.

US residents can do their part as well, with Bee City USA.

If you’re feeling even more ambitious, or if you don’t have a yard to convert to a pollinator paradise, you can consider motivating your municipality to become a Bee City; you can also encourage the development of Bee Schools and Bee Campuses.

You don’t have to wait for an organization or a government to take action. You can make a difference in your very own back yard.

Image credit: Screenshot of Bee City Canada website.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Possibilities Tagged With: bees, gardening, pollinators

[Books] The SIMPOL Solution

by Chandra 1 Comment

One of the most frustrating aspects of living in the 21st century is the vicious circle we seem to be caught in. A book by John Bunzl and Nick Duffel provides an interesting way to think about that vicious circle, and suggests a way we might tackle it.

The book’s central thesis is that “competitiveness” as touted by economists and politicians is more than just a way to attract investments and jobs. It has a destructive unintended consequence: it actively prevents action on global and national problems.

To put this in a way that every Ecoactionist has heard before: we can’t do anything about climate change because doing so would make us unattractive to investment, and that would kill the economy.

Bunzl and Duffell call this destructive global competition or DGC. As long as there is one jurisdiction that ‘competes’ by offering low corporate tax rates, or lax environmental regulations, or some other incentive for corporations, then all the other jurisdictions have to do something similar. Otherwise, corporations move jobs elsewhere. No jobs results in no votes for a politician, and of course, unemployment for the citizen.

Bunzl and Duffel have proposed what they call a “SIMPOL” solution, which is short for SIMultaneous POLicy. In this scheme, a policy is developed, and citizens push politicians to pledge to support it. But because it is a ‘simultaneous policy,’ pledging doesn’t bind a politician unless all jurisdictions involved agree to it, and thus pledging is a safe thing to do, politically. And it gets issues out in front of the voting public to discuss and support.

This is a vastly simplified explanation of what’s in the book, and it would be worth your while to purchase it to read the whole thing. You can also check out their website: www.simpol.org. It would also be worth your while to use SIMPOL to push your local politicians on issues that you can about, as it’s a low cost way for you to take ecoaction. It’s one of many tools, and it’s probably a very good idea to throw absolutely everything possible at the problems we face.

That said, there are two weaknesses here. One is that unless SIMPOL goes ‘viral,’ it will take a long time before we reach any sort of critical threshold for politicians to really sit up and take notice. Politicians are asked to publically support or pledge to a variety of issues all the time. SIMPOL will have to have a loud and active majority to rise above the noise.

The second is that we need to question the whole narrative around competitiveness. There’s no question that the public and politicians believe that society-friendly policies harm competitiveness, and thus we are caught in a terrible DGC loop. But do these policies really hurt? Or can we demonstrate that they are either neutral or even positive?

There’s evidence to suggest that environmentally friendly policies like sulfur dioxide cap and trade and carbon taxes both work to reduce emissions and do not actually harm the economy. This article does a round up of evidence that shorter work weeks actually make for more productive employees. This Harvard Business Review piece suggests that happy customers are the outcome of ensuring your employees are happy.

Indeed, this might be the drum that we bang to appeal to both sides of the political spectrum. Environmentally and society-friendly policies are good for the people and the planet, while simultaneously (you see what we did there?) being good for profit.

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: economy, political action

[Share This] Only Connect

by Chandra Leave a Comment

Did you know that Ecoactionists has a forum for direct person-to-person conversation? Come on out of the toxic soup that is Facebook and chat with likeminded people. There’s never been a better time to connect with one another: https://ecoactionists.com/forums/

Filed Under: Discussion Tagged With: community, discussion, outreach

[Share This] Accept Imperfection

by Chandra Leave a Comment

Lawns are the single biggest ‘crop’ in North America, and they use up a ridiculous amount of water, pesticide, and fertilizer. If you want to make your space more wildlife friendly, stop using these products. Bring a little colour into your lawn! Allow some dandelions and clover, and seed with other low growing plants. Share this post to spread the word.

Filed Under: Share This Tagged With: carbon emissions, lawns, pollinator

[Inspiration] How Green is Your Thumb?

by Chandra 1 Comment

When it comes to both climate change and social justice, growing green things has huge potential.

The Drawdown project has an extensive section on the changes we need to make to our agricultural processes. If we can switch to “regenerative” agricultural practices (things like no till, cover crops, and using beneficial insects for pest control), we can sequester a heck ton of carbon dioxide, improve crop yields and make food cheaper.

Daniel Christian Wahl, writing on Medium, discusses how we might create a global effort to spread regenerative practices. You could contribute by doing something in your community. What could you do, right now, to introduce local landowners and gardeners to regenerative practices? If they need a nudge, you can point to carbon marketplaces like Nori, where you can get paid to store carbon.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Ron Finley is changing the urban landscape of Los Angeles by being a ‘gansta gardener.’ He’s defied local bylaws to plant gardens in otherwise ecologically dead zones, and encouraged other people to do the same, helping establish dozens of community gardens. He’s done a TED Talk and there’s a documentary featuring him as well.

Take a look at your yard. Does it have to be grass? What do you think you could grow yourself? Have a good look at all the vacant lots in your city. Check out the church lawns. Which of these might be converted to a community garden? Do you have older neighbours who have land, and who could use the fresh vegetables? Could you start and maintain a garden for them?

If vegetables aren’t your thing, don’t forget flowers. Most urban areas are wastelands from the pollinator’s perspective: non-native species they can’t suck on or eat, grass that is of no interest, and heavy use of pesticides and fertilizer. Can you convert your lawn to something more interesting? If you can, did you know you might be able to get a nifty certificate for doing so? In Canada, for example, the Canadian Wildlife Federation offers a habitat certification program. Your local jurisdiction might do the same (and if it doesn’t, how about starting one yourself?!). Meanwhile, you can enjoy all the birds, bees, toads and frogs that will visit your garden. And who doesn’t like flowers?

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: carbon sequestration, garden, pollinators, remediation

[Good News] New Green Tech

by Chandra Leave a Comment

A roundup of interesting and encouraging green technical developments today.

CBC is reporting that researchers are investigating ways to harvest lithium from oilfield waste. Lithium is important for the batteries that power our phones, tablets and laptops, but also our electric vehicles. You can read more here.

The X Prize website has a long list of products that are literally being made out of thin air, including vodka and toothpaste. Check it out, and see what inspires you to do something with CO2.

Newsweek is reporting on a Canadian company called Flash Forest, which claims to have found a way to plant trees fast — with drones and seed pods.

Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash

Filed Under: Inspiration, News Tagged With: CO2 emissions, forestry, innovation, invention, reuse, trees

[Inspiration] Finding Levers of Change

by Chandra 1 Comment

Three interesting long reads for you to peruse this week, both having to do with how to change things.

The first is a BBC article on Finland, a country that has vowed to be carbon neutral within 15 years. It talks about the old ways and the new ways of doing things in this Nordic country, and how to balance shifting the economy with preserving people’s income in the short term. The question to consider: Can what is happening in Finland happen where you live? What can you do to make that happen?

The second article is a piece on Vox.com that talks about ‘tipping points.’ Previously, any talk about tipping points with respect to climate change has referred to a point of no return, which isn’t exactly inspirational. This article talks more about social tipping points and how to trigger them. That is, how can we produce irreversible social momentum to fix the climate problems we’re facing?

If there is any silver lining to the global pandemic, it is that it may have handed us an opportunity to push for real action, and to make it a tipping point. Ecoactionists must capitalize on this and press ahead harder than ever before. Does that sound exploitative? Perhaps it is, but unfortunately exploit we must: less progressive actors are already doing so. RampantMag has a story on how alt-right is using this chaotic time to push their own agenda, and a search for “list of things Trump has gutted” is sobering, if not terrifying. So the question to consider when you read the Vox article is how can you make the biggest difference during this wild 2020?

The next and final piece may help you figure that out. Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System has a list of 12 areas in a system that you can influence to try to change things, and it helpfully discusses their relative effectiveness.

Thoughts? Provide your feedback in the comments below.

Photo by Bluehouse Skis on Unsplash

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: political action, taking action

[Good News] Three Signs of Progress to Brighten Your Day

by Chandra Leave a Comment

The Guardian announced that it would no longer be taking ad money from fossil fuel companies. This is despite the fact that the newspaper, like many mainstream media companies, is in dire financial straits. Full story here. How can you help? Buy a subscription to The Guardian or use the Blendle app to buy stories from many mainstream news organizations around the world on a pay-per-story basis.

Packaging News has noted that Colgate has developed a recyclable toothpaste tube. Full story with pictures can be found at this link. You can support this initiative by switching to Colgate; if the right tube isn’t at your local grocery store, speak to the manager about ordering that SKU.

Meanwhile, APREN is reporting that Portugal’s renewable electricity production accounted for 103.6 % of the electricity consumption, a value unmatched in the last 40 years. It also ended fossil fuel subsidies. You can encourage your home country to do the same by calling to an end to fossil fuel subsidies and an increase in green energy subsidies.

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

Filed Under: News Tagged With: fossil fuels, recycling, renewable energy

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