How would YOU like to save the world?

Just a little interesting tidbit of information for you to munch on first. Well maybe more like CHOKE on because it's rather shocking: Captain Charles Moore has recently discovered 3 million tons of plastic and garbage, an area larger than the state of Texas in the ocean about 800 miles north of Hawaii. This 'eastern garbage patch' is growing very quickly, and animals are being killed by the thousands, ..found strangled by the plastic or found dead with plastic in their bellies. The reason it's all collected in one place is because of the ocean currents.. They've found drums of hazardous chemicals, volleyballs, plastic coat hangers, parts of electronics, tires, plastic, glass, bleach bottles, tangled net lines made of polypropylene. The worst part of it all, is that plastic is designed to defeat natural recycling. It takes centuries and centuries to break down.

Another problem is that plastic is photodegradable.. which means it doesn't break down completely, rather breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of "microplastic". Sunlight makes plastic brittle and causes it to break,.. fish mistake these pieces of plastic or plankton and ingest it. the ocean is turning into plastic soup basically. And when we eat fish, we eat plastic! Yummy...
Scientists say that the amount of plastic in the ocean has increased three times over the last 10 years.

I'm going to put a challenge out there to all of you.. For the next month do not buy any plastic that isn't labelled with a "1" or a "2" inside the recycling arrows. Even if the bottle says it's recyclable, the truth is, only 3-5% of all plastics are recycled. Only #1 (polyethylene terephthalate ..used in soda bottles) and # 2 (high-density polyethylene, used in milk jugs) are commonly recyclable. The rest of the plastic you buy ends up in the landfill..or in the ocean.
This may mean you're not going to be able to buy your regular shampoo/conditioners.. or maybe you won't be able to buy some sort of packaged food that you like.. use your judgment. Dont buy shit you don't need, ESPECIALLY if it's plastic.

Do you want to be responsible for the picture above??



There's a really good video on Youtube to watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbOXUza9ZeE\

To sum it up::

Basically we're facing a MASS EXTINCTION.. an Environmental crisis. it's a critical moment in history people.. we 2 options. We either wake up or we Die. Most of us are concerned about it, but we behave as though it's not happening.

Our population has jumped from 2 billion to 6 billion people in one century. We share the planet with about 10 million other species. It is estimated that in THIS century that we're living in, about half of those species will be wiped out.. the crucial time period is thought to be in the next 35-50 years. How would you like to grow older and witness this happening.. KNOWING that you COULD have done something about it. Imagine having such regret..the guilt of 5 million species of life on your conscience? People who say "it's too late to make a difference" are selfish and lazy, simply put. Remember the little engine that could?...

Imagine the nightmare we will face if we don't try to do something about it. it's not just about saving the cheetahs or the frogs or the bees or other species that are in trouble. It's about saving our own human race. The idea that our intelligence has made us successful needs to be taken to a different level. Our success has made us greedy and lazy. We need to take our intelligence and save our own kind...by saving our Earth. That is the definition of success for me. To restore the balance and connection with nature. Billions of humans will die because we depend on a variety of ecosytems...and if those ecosystems are irreversibly wiped out because of our selfish wastefulness and laziness, it will cause profound consequences for human beings.


I know this entry is a little 'soap box' style.. but I'm not preaching religion at you. I'm trying to save our lives. All of our lives.

So I'm going to make a pact to all of you that for the next month I'm not going to buy any plastic that doesn't have a 1 or 2 in the recycling arrows. Would you accept the challenge and do the same?

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing, because he could do only a little." Edmund Burke

Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert

I would encourage anyone reading this post to watch the video that I posted a url for below. I know you probably all have a kazillion other things to do, ...but being that you're here, reading my blog, PLEASE take a few minutes out of your day and watch this. It's so amazingly beautifully breathtaking and inspiring,.... a much better use of your time than reading my online blog. I promise you that your heart will smile; and I truly hope that some part of this beautiful work of art will in some way inspire you and renew a passion and love for nature. So without further ado......


http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/15


P.S.
None of the images are computer generated or digitally collaged. If you want to skip the introduction, skip to 2 minutes and 10 seconds. This is beautiful.

Part of the Introdution.
"To the past 14 years I've been an apprentice to nature. Over the course of 34 expeditions, I've collaborated with over 45 species. They come together in the form of a 21st century bestiary called Ashes and snow that is now being exhibited at the nomadic museum in Santa Monica. It was previously shown in New York City and Venice Italy. This exhibition includes 3 films, and over 100 large scale photographs on Japanese paper. Like all bestiary's it is not designed to provide an intellectual understanding of nature. Ashes and Snow attempts to inspire an emotional understanding of nature, and our place within it. Over the next 10 years, this exhibition will travel to Asia, Europe, and the middle East. Now before I show you some excerpts of the film, I should clarify my use of the term 'bestiary' because the world has disappeared in Western culture. In most societies a bestiary expressed a poetic understanding of mans relationship to animals in their environment. The jaguars resonated with the Maya, the falcons with the Egyptians, the buffalo with the native americans...."