souldreamer7
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Planet Earth
What can one person do to change the way we care for Planet Earth? The answer is: a lot!
The MJJC Legacy Team Project is setting up this thread to make awareness about the
condition of the earth, how we can heal it and how we can encourage others to follow our footsteps.
With some changes we can make sure to continue with what Michael always fought for;
a gentle and blue planet. It is our one and only planet and we have to clean and care for it
to make sure our next generations feel at home as well.
We want to encourage everyone to participate in this thread and start with themselves. <o></o>
Let us know how exactly you are participating, what news you’ve heard, what projects
need awareness, what you did lately, etc.And most important; don’t hesitate
to share your, with no doubt lovely, ideas.
condition of the earth, how we can heal it and how we can encourage others to follow our footsteps.
With some changes we can make sure to continue with what Michael always fought for;
a gentle and blue planet. It is our one and only planet and we have to clean and care for it
to make sure our next generations feel at home as well.
We want to encourage everyone to participate in this thread and start with themselves. <o></o>
Let us know how exactly you are participating, what news you’ve heard, what projects
need awareness, what you did lately, etc.And most important; don’t hesitate
to share your, with no doubt lovely, ideas.
There’s nothing that can’t be done, if we raise our voice as one.
45 Ways To Heal The Earth
45 Ways To Heal The Earth
1. Insulate your home.<o></o>
2. Buy energy-efficient appliances.
3. Buy products that will last.
4. Install storm windows.<o></o>
5. Close off unused areas in your home from heat and air conditioning.<o></o>
6. Wear warm clothing and turn down winter heat.<o></o>
7. Switch to low-wattage or fluorescent light bulbs.<o></o>
8. Turn off all lights that don't need to be on.<o></o>
9. Use cold water instead of hot whenever possible.<o></o>
10. Opt for small-oven or stove-top cooking when preparing small meals.<o></o>
11. Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when full.<o></o>
12. Air-dry your laundry when possible.<o></o>
13. Instead of ironing, hang clothes in the bathroom while showering.<o></o>
14. Take quick showers instead of baths.<o></o>
15. Install water-efficient showerheads.<o></o>
16. Collect rainwater and graywater for gardening use.<o></o>
17. Explore getting a solar water heater for your home.<o></o>
18. Learn how to recycle all your household goods<o></o>
19. Start separating out your newspaper, other paper, glass, aluminum, and food wastes.<o></o>
20. Encourage your local recycling center or program to start accepting plastic.<o></o>
21. Encourage friends, neighbors, businesses, local organizations to recycle and sponsor recycling efforts.<o></o>
22. Use recycled products, especially paper.<o></o>
23. Bring your own canvas bags to the grocery store.<o></o>
24. Start a recycling program at your work.<o></o>
25. Limit or eliminate your use of "disposable" items.<o></o>
26. Join a car pool or use public transport to commute.<o></o>
27. Walk or use a bicycle whenever possible.<o></o>
28. Rent or borrow items that you don't use often.<o></o>
29. Use natural fiber clothing, bedding and towels.<o></o>
30. Avoid rainforest products, and inform the supplier or manufacturer of your concerns.<o></o>
31. Buy locally produced foods; avoid buying foods that must be trucked in from great distances.<o></o>
32. Read labels. Eat organic or less-processed foods.<o></o>
33. Start a garden; plant a garden instead of a lawn<o></o>
34. Talk to friends, relatives, and co-workers about preventing global climate change.<o></o>
35. Educate children about sustainable living practices.<o></o>
36. Get involved in local tree-planting programs.<o></o>
37. Join an environmental organization. If they're not involved with climate change, get them involved.<o></o>
38. Support work to alleviate poverty. Poverty causes deforestation and other environmental problems.<o></o>
39. Donate money to environmental organizations.<o></o>
40. Support electoral candidates who run on environmental platforms.<o></o>
41. In place of TV and the stereo, spend time reading, writing, drawing, telling stories, making music.<o></o>
42. Spend time seeing, hearing, and rejoicing in the beauty of the Earth. Feel your love for the Earth. Make serving the Earth your first priority.<o></o>
43. Think often about the kind of Earth you would like to see for your grandchildren's grandchildren.<o></o>
44. While doing small things, think big. Think about redesigning cities, restructuring the economy, reconceiving humanity's role on the Earth.<o></o>
45. Pray, visualize, hope, meditate, dream.
2. Buy energy-efficient appliances.
3. Buy products that will last.
4. Install storm windows.<o></o>
5. Close off unused areas in your home from heat and air conditioning.<o></o>
6. Wear warm clothing and turn down winter heat.<o></o>
7. Switch to low-wattage or fluorescent light bulbs.<o></o>
8. Turn off all lights that don't need to be on.<o></o>
9. Use cold water instead of hot whenever possible.<o></o>
10. Opt for small-oven or stove-top cooking when preparing small meals.<o></o>
11. Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when full.<o></o>
12. Air-dry your laundry when possible.<o></o>
13. Instead of ironing, hang clothes in the bathroom while showering.<o></o>
14. Take quick showers instead of baths.<o></o>
15. Install water-efficient showerheads.<o></o>
16. Collect rainwater and graywater for gardening use.<o></o>
17. Explore getting a solar water heater for your home.<o></o>
18. Learn how to recycle all your household goods<o></o>
19. Start separating out your newspaper, other paper, glass, aluminum, and food wastes.<o></o>
20. Encourage your local recycling center or program to start accepting plastic.<o></o>
21. Encourage friends, neighbors, businesses, local organizations to recycle and sponsor recycling efforts.<o></o>
22. Use recycled products, especially paper.<o></o>
23. Bring your own canvas bags to the grocery store.<o></o>
24. Start a recycling program at your work.<o></o>
25. Limit or eliminate your use of "disposable" items.<o></o>
26. Join a car pool or use public transport to commute.<o></o>
27. Walk or use a bicycle whenever possible.<o></o>
28. Rent or borrow items that you don't use often.<o></o>
29. Use natural fiber clothing, bedding and towels.<o></o>
30. Avoid rainforest products, and inform the supplier or manufacturer of your concerns.<o></o>
31. Buy locally produced foods; avoid buying foods that must be trucked in from great distances.<o></o>
32. Read labels. Eat organic or less-processed foods.<o></o>
33. Start a garden; plant a garden instead of a lawn<o></o>
34. Talk to friends, relatives, and co-workers about preventing global climate change.<o></o>
35. Educate children about sustainable living practices.<o></o>
36. Get involved in local tree-planting programs.<o></o>
37. Join an environmental organization. If they're not involved with climate change, get them involved.<o></o>
38. Support work to alleviate poverty. Poverty causes deforestation and other environmental problems.<o></o>
39. Donate money to environmental organizations.<o></o>
40. Support electoral candidates who run on environmental platforms.<o></o>
41. In place of TV and the stereo, spend time reading, writing, drawing, telling stories, making music.<o></o>
42. Spend time seeing, hearing, and rejoicing in the beauty of the Earth. Feel your love for the Earth. Make serving the Earth your first priority.<o></o>
43. Think often about the kind of Earth you would like to see for your grandchildren's grandchildren.<o></o>
44. While doing small things, think big. Think about redesigning cities, restructuring the economy, reconceiving humanity's role on the Earth.<o></o>
45. Pray, visualize, hope, meditate, dream.
“I think about the generations and they say they want to make
it a better place for our children and our children's children
so that they know it's a better world for them and
I think they can make it a better place”
OUR RAINFOREST
One of the biggest threats this earth is facing is deforestation of the rainforests, without these natural, nutrient rich resources, our planet will soon face a much darker future than what we could ever imagine.
Currently all rainforests are rapidly being destroyed due to human activity. This could globally lead to an environmental disaster. One of the greatest threats to the rainforest is deforestation. Deforestation occurs for many reasons; some of these might be to create new land, build hydro-electricity plants or to sell lumber for profit. Deforestation may have positive effects on man but it has very severe consequences on nature and the world we live in. Deforestation tears apart and destroys animal habitats, the increased soil erosion leads to acres upon acres of Barren land - lacking vegetation and nutrients, landslides and flooding. The machinery used to deforest the rainforest, produces several hundreds if not thousands of Co[SUP]2[/SUP] every year.
Deforestation is rapidly reducing our earth’s biodiversity and risks losing many, many organisms that could be useful in the future. One of the greatest concerns of deforestation is the rate at which it occurs. Currently, over 29 Million acres of forest are being destroyed and cleared every single year. It is predicted that by the year 2050 that all tropical rainforests will have been lost, this cannot happen. Of course, isolated and protected areas such as Amazonia, Costa Rica and Nigeria are exceptions, however this does not mean that something that should be done. Every single minute, up to 20 football field’s worth of forest is being destroyed.
During the years 2000 and 2006, up to 150,000km[SUP]2[/SUP] of Brazilian forest was destroyed. Throughout our earth fragile ecosystem, each animal depends upon another to stay health. If one animal’s habitat is destroyed due to deforestation, this can have dramatic effects on another animal. If worms are no longer found in certain areas due to barren land then Birds will soon disappear or starve, having dramatic effects on that species population which could eventually lead to extinction.
Deforestation not only has detrimental effects on the environment, it also has dramatic effects on us, humans. Trees not only help the hydrological cycle by putting water back into the atmosphere, they also aid in our fight against Global Warming by taking the Carbon Dioxide and transforming it into oxygen. If we allow deforestation to continue, these vital tasks cannot be carried out. The result of this? Less rain, higher temperature and extreme weather across various parts of the globe. Areas in West Africa are suffering from the dramatic effects of deforestation; they face draughts and unbearably high temperatures, all at the hand of deforestation.
Currently all rainforests are rapidly being destroyed due to human activity. This could globally lead to an environmental disaster. One of the greatest threats to the rainforest is deforestation. Deforestation occurs for many reasons; some of these might be to create new land, build hydro-electricity plants or to sell lumber for profit. Deforestation may have positive effects on man but it has very severe consequences on nature and the world we live in. Deforestation tears apart and destroys animal habitats, the increased soil erosion leads to acres upon acres of Barren land - lacking vegetation and nutrients, landslides and flooding. The machinery used to deforest the rainforest, produces several hundreds if not thousands of Co[SUP]2[/SUP] every year.
Deforestation is rapidly reducing our earth’s biodiversity and risks losing many, many organisms that could be useful in the future. One of the greatest concerns of deforestation is the rate at which it occurs. Currently, over 29 Million acres of forest are being destroyed and cleared every single year. It is predicted that by the year 2050 that all tropical rainforests will have been lost, this cannot happen. Of course, isolated and protected areas such as Amazonia, Costa Rica and Nigeria are exceptions, however this does not mean that something that should be done. Every single minute, up to 20 football field’s worth of forest is being destroyed.
During the years 2000 and 2006, up to 150,000km[SUP]2[/SUP] of Brazilian forest was destroyed. Throughout our earth fragile ecosystem, each animal depends upon another to stay health. If one animal’s habitat is destroyed due to deforestation, this can have dramatic effects on another animal. If worms are no longer found in certain areas due to barren land then Birds will soon disappear or starve, having dramatic effects on that species population which could eventually lead to extinction.
Deforestation not only has detrimental effects on the environment, it also has dramatic effects on us, humans. Trees not only help the hydrological cycle by putting water back into the atmosphere, they also aid in our fight against Global Warming by taking the Carbon Dioxide and transforming it into oxygen. If we allow deforestation to continue, these vital tasks cannot be carried out. The result of this? Less rain, higher temperature and extreme weather across various parts of the globe. Areas in West Africa are suffering from the dramatic effects of deforestation; they face draughts and unbearably high temperatures, all at the hand of deforestation.
So what can we do?
There are many things we can do to prevent this. By just simply recycling, it will reduce the necessity for more Paper and Lumber and in turn slow down the process of Deforestation. Check where you’re materials and paper come from? Many companies are now only using certified renewable forests, all you need to do is check the labels and instead of just grabbing a pack of paper, check where it’s from, see if it’s from a renewable source.
MJJC Legacy Team Project Staff
Together, We Can Make That Change!
How to Start Recycling at Home
Together, We Can Make That Change!
How to Start Recycling at Home
New to the world of recycling at home? Then you’ve come to the right place. This is a quick and dirty guide to setting up a home recycling system to make it convenient and easy to divert as much of your waste to recycling centers as possible. And if you’re not yet convinced that recycling’s benefits are worth the effort, read our Recycling Facts article to find out why it’s important to recycle.
Determine what kinds of things you can recycle: Knowing what you can recycle will help you set up an effective home recycling program for you and your family - after all, there’s no use separating film plastics from the rest of your trash if there are no recyclers willing to take it from you!
We’ve got Recycling Guide for every type of trash problem with resources for how to find recyclers in your local area.
How to sort your recyclables: Various recycling programs require that you sort your waste in particular ways. Various colors of glass, for instance, often have to be separated. On the other hand, some municipal recycling programs let you throw paper and apple cores in with dirty diapers and pizza boxes! Once you know how you’ll have to sort your recyclables, you can calculate how many bins you’ll need.
Decide where to locate your recycling station: To decide the ideal location, you should ask yourself what’s more important - a home recycling system that’s easy to access or one that’s hidden away from public view? The answer will help you determine the best location. Whether you want to hide it in a closet or not, for convenience, we recommend having several recycling stations located where you produce the most waste. For instance, you may need a recycling station in these rooms:
•Kitchen: Which is likely where you’ll produce the most garbage from food prep - cans, cardboard, plastics, glass bottles, soda cans, etc. Here you’ll likely want an extra bin for organic waste.
•Home office: For collection of office paper, newspaper, and so on.
•Garage: Where you’ll have old paints, vehicle fuels, cleaning products, and yard waste. The garage is also a good place for hiding your recycling station if you want it out of the way.
•Bathrooms: For collecting containers from personal care products and paper waste.
Measure available space: Take out a tape measure and determine exactly how much space you have for your recycling stations. Don’t leave this step out because you don’t want to bring home bins that don’t fit!
Choose recycling bins: There are many models from which to choose - some more stylish and others more functional. In the process, you may want to change your trash bin as well - the smaller the better to encourage more recycling. Here are some great recycling bin models you could try (make your recycling bins more eco-friendly by choosing those made from recycled plastic!
•Ben the Bin
••Busch System
•Gaiam Folding Recycling Bags
•IKEA
•Mode
•simplehuman
•TRASHY
•UMBRA
If you’re looking for how to start recycling in your condo, apartment, or townhouse complex, check out these resources for multi-family recycling programs:
•Complex Recycling Issues
•Condo and Apartment Recycling
•Home and Apartment Recycling Bins
•Multifamily Recycling - A Golden Opportunity for Solid Waste Reduction
•Recycling and Waste Reduction in Apartment Buildings
•Recycling Handbook - For Superintendants and Property Managers
•Steps to Establish an Effective Apartment Recycling Program
Check Out EcoLife - A Gide To Green Living
EcoLife
-------Together, We Can Heal The Word-------
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Earth Day
Remember to mark Earth Day as well as Earth Hour on your calenders every year.
About Earth Day Network
The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network (EDN) works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the worldEarth Day
Remember to mark Earth Day as well as Earth Hour on your calenders every year.
About Earth Day Network
But Earth Day Network does not stop there.
Greening Schools and Promoting Environmental Education In partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council and The Clinton Foundation, EDN’s Green Schools Campaign, aims to green all of America’s K-12 schools within a generation. Green schools save money, conserve energy and water, and foster better-performing, healthier students. EDN’s Educators' Network, used by over 30,000 teachers and administrators nationwide, provides innovative tools and resources to promote civic participation and to develop a sense of environmental responsibility among students of all ages. Together, EDN’s Education and Policy Teams organize federal and state legislative campaigns to green school facilities, improve school food, and enhance environmental education and civic engagement. These include the Healthy Schools Act, No Child Left Inside, the National Civic Education Project, No Idling and the Climate Change Educators’ Grant. EDN is also working internationally to promote green schools and improve environmental education.
Accelerating the Global Green Economy
A Billion Acts of Green®
From greening schools to hosting town hall discussions on clean energy investment and green jobs, Earth Day Network leads its network in thousands of Earth Day events and actions worldwide each year. To catalyze global environmental activism, Earth Day Network chose A Billion Acts of Green® as the theme for Earth Day 2011. A Billion Acts of Green® – the largest environmental service campaign in the world – inspires and rewards simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the global Earth Summit in Rio in 2012.
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Find Out More on Earth Day:
http://www.earthday.org/
http://www.earthday.org/about-earth-day-network
Earth Hour
with the people of world by switching off your lights for an hour, then go beyond the hour.
From its inception as a single-city initiative -- Sydney, Australia - in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global symbol of hope and movement for change. Earth Hour 2011 created history as the world's largest ever voluntary action with people, businesses and governments in 135 countries across every continent coming together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the one thing that unites us all -- the planet.
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Find Out More on Earth Hour:
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://youtu.be/FovYv8vf5_E
One Day on Earth
souldreamer7 MJJC Legacy Team Project Staff
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One Day on Earth - Release Trailer from One Day on Earth on Vimeo.
<iframe height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/37157765" frameborder="0" width="400" allowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe>
One Day on Earth - Release Trailer from One Day on Earth on Vimeo.
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