Don Blankenship Indicited Coal Miners Deaths

 Hi Everyone!

Check this out!!! Don Blankenship has been Indicted for the deaths of the coal miners in Virginia from the explosion at Massey Coal in 2010! You may recall the movie The Last Mountain movie was about Massey coal and what they did to the mountains. In this movie he discussed how workers could be replaced just like a screwdriver.

Here are some links to start with:

ABC has an interview with him.

NPR has an audio piece as well here.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting actually has a copy of the indictment!

AZ Floods Causing Orange Toxic Sludge

Hi Everyone!

If you have not viewed this Webinar of the Psychological Impacts of Climate Change you might want to look at it. In light of this recent news item you may find it VERY INTERESTING!!! The recent floods in AZ has caused ORANAGE TOXIC SLUDGE to ooze from the abandoned mines! The Webinar discusses that we need to discuss the psychological impacts to make them personal. This is personal to me!!! This is occurring about 50 miles south of where my folks spend the winter! What if this was happening where you lived? Your water was becoming contaminated? What will happen in the future?

Walrus Invasion

Hi Everyone!

Check out this short piece on 35,000 Walruses not having any ice so they came up on Alaska's beach!

Dr. Nichols Book Club 1st Vblog

Hi Everyone!

Dr. Nichols just did his first vblog for the Online Book Club of his book! Check it out! You are not too far behind to join now & you can use for Extra Credit. We have read the Foreward & Preface & tonight is page 3-8. Don't forget there are two copies in the library. One can be checked out & the other is on reserve so you can go in the library maybe between classes & read the few pages for the day. You can use it for Extra Credit.  Come join the fun & learn so much about the research on how Water effects you Cognitively & Behaviorally!

Blue Mind Online Open Book Club

Hi Everyone!

I'm so excited to tell you Blue Mind by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols is having a Global Online Open Book Club which begins TODAY (Sun 9/28) & runs through Thanksgiving! Just a few pages each day! Check out the Schedule!

Chapter 1 is online FREE!! You can buy the book here.

Blog/vblog posts will be made on the Schedule page & on the website.

You can go on Twitter with #bluemind, or join on the Global Online Open Book Club for Blue Mind Facebook page to discuss what you read each day!

I hope you will join me in exploring & discussing this AWESOME book with Dr. Wallace!

14 yr old Knows More About GMOs Than TV Host!

Hi Everyone!


Check out this 14 yr old Rachel Parent who certainly knows more about GMOs than this TV host!!! She has a website Kids Right To Know you can check out as well.

Robert Redford on Fracking

Hi Everyone...



Here is a short piece with Robert Redford discussing Fracking.

Do You Have a Blue Mind?

Hi Everyone! Do you have a Blue Mind? :-) Check out this video by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols! He has a new book out called Blue Mind which goes into the research about how our brain reacts to the ocean. You might want to check out this article in Outside Magazine where he discusses a bit about why this research was needed. This is where I first became aware of his work! :-) (First article on the link!

Is Your Food Safe?

How confident are you that your food is safe? How would you know for sure? Do you even know where you food comes from? How it is grown? If not...WHY NOT?

While I always promote hearing out both sides of an issue and certainly encourage you to do so, if you have not seen The World According to Monsanto or Your Milk on Drugs, you might like to take a look at them as part of your investigating your food choices.

Lets Talk Trash!

Hi Everyone!


How much trash do you think you make in a week? Do you recycle? The EPA states on average American's make 4 lbs of trash a day! Wow! Gregg Segal decided to help people visualize this by taking pictures of people with their trash. Take a look at the photos & think about if you had to do a photo what would be in your picture?

Webinar: The Psychological Impact of Climate Change

The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change Webinar from ecoAmerica on Vimeo.

Hi Everyone!

Here a FREE Webinar Beyond Storms & Droughts: The Psychological Impact of Climate Change presented by the APA & EcoAmericawhich was presented this past Thursday.

In addition, here are some other resources they are providing:

* Full Report

* 1 page summary report 

* Blog Post

Any questions let me know.

Saving 30M Salmon!

Hi Everyone!

Northern California is attempting to save 30 MILLION baby salmon from hatcheries which are being effected by the severe drought they are having. They are doing this to save the King Salmon 1.4 BILLION dollar fishing industry & 23,000 jobs! As you know Salmon is a wonder source of Omega 3 for all of us so Thank You CA!

OK Govt Makes Sustainability Harder!

Hi Everyone!

This is just hard to believe! The Oklahoma legislature passed a bill which now heads to the Governor to sign to make it more costly for people to have solar panels on their homes or have small wind turbines. Of course this was supported by all the major electric companies! Sigh!!!! This is why it is soooo important for you all to educate yourself on climate change and methods of reducing it! AND...VOTE!!!!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Hi Everyone!

Here is a very short video on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) if you want to know a bit about what Tuesday's Green Drinks will be about or if you can't make it you can get started learning about it with this video. Hope to see you Tuesday!

Beauty Beads Causing Environmental Problems

Hi Everyone!

Very interesting video on Beauty Beads causing a problem for the environment! Check your products for polyethylene or polypropylene and try looking for some which do not contain them. The video mentions a few without these chemicals but there are others.

Green Drinks: Mar 18th

 

Hi Everyone!

 

The next Green Drinks will be Tues March 18th at the Brickstone Brewery in Bourbonnais. 6pm Social & 6:30 program starts. The topic will be Consumer Supported Agriculture - What It Is & How It Works by Eric Sexton of Nature's Choice Farm. Hope to see you there! 

Student Sustainability Summit

Hi Everyone!

The 3rd Annual SMHEC Student Sustainability Summit will be held at Moraine Valley Community College on April 25th from 8:30-2:30pm. This is the Friday of Earth Week! The theme this year is "I Am Sustainable Because..."

There will be a wide variety of presentations & discussion sessions and food will be a Sustainable as possible as well. Kankakee Community College is a member of SMHEC so it is FREE!

You can find information to register on this flier.

If there is enough student interest KCC may be able to provide transportation.

Please let me know if you would like to attend. You may use it for Extra Credit for my class.

Avoiding Dangers of Teflon

Hi Everyone!

You may be aware the EPA has in place a plan for chemicals found in Teflon to be banned by 2015 due to various birth, thyroid, & cholesterol problems and even cancers. Nearly 95% of the population have been found to have these chemicals in them. Check out this link by The Environmental Working Group on how to avoid the dangers of Teflon.

San Francisco Bans Public Sale of Water Bottles

Hi Everyone!

San Francisco became the first major city to ban the sell of plastic water bottles in public areas.This is one step they are taking to a zero-waste goal. It certainly also will help in reducing many of these plastic bottles & caps from landing in our oceans.

Captain Charles Moore:

Are You Eating Genetically Engineered Food?

Hi Everyone!

How much do you know about Genetically Engineered (GE) or Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? The Center for Food Safety states 75% of your food in the grocery stores do in fact contain Genetically Modified ingredients! Even though the US does not require labeling, more than 60 other countries do!  The Environmental Working Group has a Shopper's Guide on what to avoid if this is a concern for you.

Scallops Not On Your Menu?

Hi Everyone!

If you love Scallops you might want to up your efforts helping out with Climate Change! Scallops are dying on the east coast  and around the world due to high acid levels from the increases in carbon dioxide in the ocean. While there are still other types of shellfish but one wonders for how long???

6 Foods Becoming Extinct Due to Climate Change

 







OH MY!!! Do you remember that movie "Blast From the Past" where they have a underground nuclear fall out shelter? Well, I think I'm going to make one filled with Chocolate & Peanut Butter! HA! :-) Seriously, take a look at these 6 foods which are likely to become extinct due to Climate Change. Just these two alone you think we'd have everyone working on making sure it doesn't happen! :-) Climate.gov has a pretty lengthy explanation on why Peanut Butter will be an issue.

India Going MAJOR Solar!

Hi Everyone!

India is approving the largest Solar Panel project of 4,000 megawatts! The project is planned to take 7-8 years. Take a look!

Plastics Made Out of Mushrooms

Hi Everyone!

This is a very cool short TED video of Eben Bayer who describes how Mushrooms and some other plants can be used to produce a substitution for plastic and benefit rather than harm the planet.

Chairs from Capturing Carbon in the Air!

Hi Everyone!

This is AWESOME! A company in CA is capturing Carbon from the air & making plastic chairs with it. Take a look!!! They are really changing the plastic industry. Now hopefully one will still recycle them when it comes time to dispose of them.