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great minds think alike: blogs of note

unplug

unplug magazine asks you to unplug from your current modes of thought and look at life in a new way, whether this means unplugging from our toxic consumer culture, mainstream society, the tv, or a limiting mindset. author megan prusynski explores life's alternatives and discusses activism, progressive thinking, and moving towards a "green" & sustainable life.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Check this out...

Where are you on the political compass? I'm hanging out around Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. :) Fun little test, and interesting to see where everyone sits on the graph.

Labels: politics

Monday, April 24, 2006

Some Earthday Thoughts

Earthday has come and gone, but environmentalism is something that must be kept alive all year long. I certainly hope people think of the Earth on more than one day a year, but the sad truth is many people seem to ignore the natural world and our ties to it. Moving towards a more sustainable society is something that each of us must participate in each day. I am working on an article on "Practical Environmentalism" which will explain why living sustainably is not only helpful to the environment, but efficient, economical, and enjoyable as well. So to start off the brainstorm, here's a short list of easy practical ways to live more sustainably, in honor of every day being Earthday!

Use washable bamboo dishes for your summer picnics instead of disposable plastic and paper dishes and utensils.

Buy food in bulk to use less packaging. This goes for teas, too. Instead of using a teabag for each cup, use a muslin bag or tea strainer and loose-leaf tea.

Buy local organic produce if available, if not, buy regional. Or better yet, make friends with a local farmer or grow your own food! Fewer miles the food traveled to get to you means less gas burned and less pollution spewed.

GO VEGETARIAN! Here's why. Meat production is horribly wasteful and polluting. Your planet and your body will thank you!

Participate in local stream, park, and trail clean-ups and get involved with environmental organizations, whether local or international.

Next time you are in the market for a car, consider a hybrid or a diesel car which can be easily and cheaply converted to run on bio-diesel or even waste vegetable oil.

Get a kiddie trailer on your bike for hauling groceries or kids. Start running your errands on a bike instead of in the car, and get some exercise while you're at it!

Ok this oughtta be a no-brainer: turn off the damn sink when brushing your teeth and turn off lights & appliances when you leave the room.

If it's brown flush it down, if it's yellow let it mellow. (If it's clear, you've been drinkin' lots of beer!)

Re-use plastic yogurt or sour cream containers (or soygurt and tofutti sour cream containers in my case) for your leftovers or to store things you buy in bulk.

Re-use plastic baggies. They're real easy to wash out, I promise.

Another no-brainer: RECYCLE EVERYTHING that you can, after you've re-used it as much as you can. I love the curbside recycling pick-up. If you don't have this service where you live, see what you can do to get it started or collect recycling for your apartment complex and take it down to the recycling center.

Volunteer with local environmental groups, whether that means donating your time, some money, or your services.

Keep yourself informed and be vocal about environmental issues in your conversations. Start changing minds and inspiring change one person at a time.

Practice Leave No Trace camping and backpacking when you're in the outdoors.

Reduce your consumption, especially of heavily packaged, highly artificial, or environmentally-intensive products. There are lots of sustainable, earth-friendly products and companies out there for you to support. Check out TreeHugger.com for lots of info on new products and product reviews.

And of course... unplug! Unplug those appliances when they're not in use, unplug the tv and computer and go for a walk instead, or unplug from your normal lifestyle and start being more conscious.

So these are just a few off the top of my head but obviously there are a million different ways people can live more sustainably, most of them are relatively painless, so there's no excuse not to start now! Of course there's more drastic measures you can take, like living in a totally sustainable house like an Earthship or not owning a car. These things have more impact and may require more sacrifice, but who knows, maybe eventually they'll be the norm? With a change in mindset and lifestyle, I see a much greener future...

Labels: environment/sustainability, lifestyle

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Legalize Hemp!

This weekend is Moscow Hempfest, and I designed some lovely posters and t-shirts (the front shirt graphic is shown here) for the event. I think it's great that a little town in Idaho has something as progressive as a whole day dedicated to an illegal but very useful plant, hemp. Of course, the Moscow Hempfest (which is held, quite fittingly, on Earth Day this year) is nothing like the Seattle Hempfest, which draws a HUGE crowd of hemp and marijuana activists. Our Hempfest is quite a humble gathering that strives to raise awareness of the hemp movement.

Cannabis is basically a miracle plant. It can be used for a multitude of things: not only hemp paper, rope, and cloth, but fuel, paint, food (hemp seed oil is one of the most nutritious complete proteins on the planet), plywood, glues, medicines, and many other things. The cannabis plant, which can be used for both industrial hemp and marijuana, was legal to grow and a large part of the American economy until 1937, when DuPont pressured the US government to make it illegal and a media campaign of "reefer madness" spread through the nation. DuPont wanted to eliminate the competition for its new product, Nylon, which is made with petroleum.

Hemp is a renewable resource that we can use for almost anything, and even though its legalization for industrial purposes makes a lot of sense from an environmental standpoint (hemp plants require far fewer pesticides and fertilizers than cotton and other crops and can reduce our consumption of trees), several industries want to keep it illegal. These industries enjoy making money raping the planet, so naturally they wouldn't want any competition from a very earth-friendly and versitile alternative. They include the paper, timber, pharmaceutical, oil, and cotton industries. So they make sure to keep our leaders constantly skeptical of the cannabis plant, despite the fact that in 1988, the DEA's own administrative law judge concluded that "marijuana is one of the safest, therapeutically active substances known to man." Hmmmm.....

So where did I find all this wonderful information? One of the best hemp resources I've ever read has been Jack Herer's book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes. There are also lots of great hemp and medical marijuana activist organizations and information resources on the web. Check out NORML for Marijuana Law Reform, Hemp.co.uk for information on industrial hemp, and Vote Hemp for hemp advocacy information. Join the Hemp Revolution and educate yourself! :)

Labels: environment/sustainability, politics