Cigarette Butts #1 Ocean Trash!

Hi Everyone...

I was shocked too! I thought some type of plastics but turns out it is Cigarette Butts which account for the most Ocean Trash! This article discusses responses from a focus group on why people flick their butts and what is actually in cigarette butts which are so harmful! Check it out!

Norway Recycles 97%!

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Check this article out on how Norway is getting 97% of their plastic bottles recycled!!! I remember when I was a kid we would bring back glass bottles for a deposit refund. I know of one dairy company that does it now. This link also has a AWESOME 9 min video on other birds which are dying due to plastics and a researcher talking about POP chemicals.

Sustainable Gym Shoes

Hi Everyone...

Reebok just created gym shoes with soles made of corn! There is also a link in this article on Adidas making their shoes from Ocean Plastic! :-) Also, don't forget you can take your shoes to most running shoe stores and they will recycle them! :-)

Don't Flush Your Contacts!

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Do you wear disposable contact lenses? Do you flush them in the toilet or throw them down the drain? If you do they turn into microplastics which are harming the environment! Throw them in the trash instead! Check out this article for more details.

Football Uniforms Made from EcoNyl

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Check out these football uniforms made out of trash from the Ocean! The make the trash into EcoNyl! :-)

Plastic out of old Coffee Grounds!

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This is an AWESOME idea of making plastic out of old coffee grounds! Check it out!

Renewable Energy Saves Water & Creates Jobs!

This is a great piece in Scientific American with data on how Renewable Energy Saves Water & Creates Jobs! 

Plastic Recycling Machine for Home

Hi Everyone...

Well this is pretty cool. It really just looks like a shredder that can handle plastic but then you need other machines to melt it and shape & form to what you might like to make. Overall, it does look like a great idea to create new things with recycled plastic and then if they became a problem you just recycle them again. :-) It could give many people a new business and if we had our society (us, restaurants, tiles for floors etc) using recycled plastic it could help with our plastic problem.

More Green...Less Stress & Depression

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Check out this video on how more Green Space reduces stress & depression.

Nanticoke Station Converts to Solar

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On February 28, 2018 Ontario, CA started to convert the Nanticoke Station, what was once the largest coal plant, into a 200,000 panel Solar plant. This conversion will save them 4 Billion a year! Check out the video.

Pharrell: The Plastic Age

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This is an AWESOME video Pharrell made & what he did...featured in the video. You'll also see Dr. Nichols in the video! :-)

Monsanto's Roundup Heads to Court

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The first of so far 800 people suing Monsanto claiming the product Roundup caused their cancer is heading to court. Dwayne Johnson, who is 46 yrs old and lives in California, case is being expedited as he is dying of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. We'll have to see how this gets decided.

Book: Kiss the Ground

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I have just finished reading the book "Kiss the Ground: How the Food You Eat Can Reverse Climate Change, Heal Your Body & Ultimately Save Our World" by Josh Tickell and it was AWESOME!

I learned so much about Regenerating the soil by putting carbon back into it through composting, how tilling soil does more harm than good, how animal grazing process is the best for our soil, how CAFO cows are just horrible, the history of all the harmful chemicals (insecticides, pesticides, herbacides, and fungicides) and how cover crops and rotating crops are best.

Check out these videos above & below & the Kiss the Ground website then read the book! Trust me!!!

Starving & Disappearing Orcas

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This is a very good piece on the reasons why Orcas are starving and disappearing in the Pacific Northwest. Check it out & learn why Chinook Salmon numbers, whale watching boats, sea temperatures, human and other animal pathogens, industrial waste & Sea World captures all may be contributing to the decline in breeding.

How to Pursue a Career Protecting the Environment

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Yes, you can be that "One Voice" and added to many other voices you can "Change the World." Here is a great post by Jan Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council on how to Pursue a Career on Protecting the Environment. It is really good!

Germany Renewable Energy = 1 yr power!

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WOW! In the first half of 2018, Germany has created enough renewable energy to power every household in their country for one year! They are hoping to get rid of their nuclear energy by 2022 but they still need to get rid of their heavy use of coal, gas & lignite.

Netherlands Solar Football Stadium

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This is VERY COOL! If we did this for every stadium in the US can you imagine!!! Here is a link to check out the diagram explaining it all.

Hand Dryers vs Paper Towels

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So have you ever wondered which is better to use for the environment, Hand Dryers or Paper Towel? I know I have! I've asked a number of people and they really didn't know. I just came across this article and I feel much better in choosing now.

Thomas D. Mangelsen

NOTE: For some reason the video is flipping an image, but when I click on the image it then goes to a commercial and then will start to play.

Hi Everyone...

This is such an AWESOME piece! Just breathtaking & a very important message about protecting our planet and the animals on it. There is also a Surprise!!! Jane Goodall comes in about 7:30! I think this segment shows that we can help with Sustainability efforts from many different methods, photography certainly being one of them as it brings other parts of our Planet to us that we me never get a chance to on our own.

Hawaii Attempting to Ban Sunscreen

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The state of Hawai'i has before the Governor a bill which would ban Sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. These chemicals screen out the harmful UV rays from the sun for us but they also bleach the coral reefs. If the Governor signs this bill it would go into effect January 1, 2021. Hawaiian airlines are now giving samples of sunscreen without these chemicals and showing a 11 min video on  the environmental hazards of coral reefs.

Chipotle's 2020 Pledge

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Chipotle has pledge by 2020 50% of its trash will now longer end up in a landfill, 80% of its left over food will be donated to local organizations, 20% will be composting and 100% will be recycling.

Recycling Almond Husks

Hi Everyone...

Check out this video on they use Almond husks for a variety of uses...add to plastics, gasoline etc.

4Ocean Cleaning Up The Ocean!

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Check out this video on 4Ocean whose mission is to clean the ocean. You can also support them by buying a bracelet. One bracelet cleans 1 lb of trash!

Eye Glasses Made from Recycled Water Bottles

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Check this video out! Eye Glasses being made from the millions of recycled water bottles from Flint, MI! You can also return for credit for new styles! Very cool!

Morocco Solar Power

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Check out this video on how Morocco is building a solar power plant the size of Paris!

IKEA Packaging Made From Mushrooms

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IKEA has begun to use Green Packaging made from Mushrooms which you can even decompose in your garden within days! Check it out!

Enzyme Eats Plastic

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Check out this video on the discovery of an Enzyme that can eat away Plastic! It has great potential to help with the plastic problem in the oceans.

The Science of Blue Mind

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Here is a new article which mentions Dr. Wallace J. Nichols and explains Blue Mind & what science has found on the benefits of Water! And if you have not seen this article from 2015 by Dr. Nichols, it is AWESOME! It goes into the benefits and many ways you can get water into your life!

WATER Bill Proposed in Flint, MI

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Well it took 4 years but Flint Mi politicians just proposed a bill stating clean water is a Right! The bill is called the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability (Water) Act of 2018. The bill would create almost 1 Million jobs to help strengthen the infrastructure of the aging pipes and sewers. Lets hope it passes & they fund it, it could help the city of Flint in many ways!

Take the Water Pledge (Until April 30th!)

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If you are not aware...there are 4 more days for the Wyland National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation! Join me & take the pledge! BTW you can win 100s of prizes, including $5,000 for utilities and a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid for a charity in  your town!

Fish Don't Need Glitter!

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Do you like Glitter? Do you LOVE Glitter? :-) Ya, me too! You know who does not like Glitter? Marine life! Well, when you think about it...they really don't need it. They are sooo colorful themselves right?! No, what do you do with your extra glitter on the table or on your hands? Do you wash your hands and use a wet cloth or sponge to wipe up and rinse in the sink? Check out this article on why it is better to get rid of the glitter in the trash.

7 Things We Have Learned Since the Last Earth Day!

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I hope you are celebrating Earth Day in a special way. Here is an interesting article on 7 Things We Have Learned since the Last Earth Day!

Albatross the Film

Hi Everyone...

Dr. Nichols mention Chris Jordan's Albatross film in last night's Livestream session and I wanted to provide you with the link to the trailer and website. Perhaps you can each bring a showing of it to your community. From the trailer..."Do we have the Courage to face the realities of our time, and allow ourselves to feel deeply enough that it transforms us and our future?" O boy...I've seen pictures before but this already had me in tears and it is just the trailer. I'm working on getting it shown at our Green Drinks meeting (Check out your state/city for nearest!) and if not I'll find another way! Please check it out & lets try to get it shown in more communities! We need to take care of God's Beautiful Creatures! We are their Guardians!

Tackling Plastic In Our Oceans

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It is likely you heard about the Sperm Whale that died last week in Spain with 64 lbs of plastic in him. Reports suggest there is 8 million tons of plastic in the ocean globally each year and more than 51 million microplastics in the oceans that are ingested by marine life. The British government has committed nearly 88 million dollars to help tackle this problem. This money will be used in 3 ways: to fund research on the cause and effects plastic has on marine life, prevention of plastics entering oceans and improving the management of waste. The UK is also put together a Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance to continue to work on this problem. The UK has promised to be plastic free by 2042 though some supermakerts are starting to promise to do so by 2023. Now if we could just get some other countries on board! :-)

Microplastics Amounts in Ocean Under-Estimated!

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University of Manchester researchers recent microplastics study was published March 12th in Nature Geoscience. In this study they found that after extensive flooding of the rivers in northwest England 70% of the microplastics (that is 43 Billion plastic particles!) in the riverbeds ended up in the Ocean. They now believe the estimates of 5 Trillion plastic particles in the oceans is far to low.

In January the UK banned microbeads from the cosmetic industry. Illinois is the first state in the US to ban microbeads recently.

NY Largest Renewable Energy Funding

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New York has just committed the largest amount of funding to renewable energy project in US History with 1.4 Billion dollars going towards 26 projects. These short & long term projects will employ more than 3,000 people. The projects will help achieve the goals mentioned in the graphic above. Projects will begin next Month (April) and be fully functioning by 2022. Here is a list of all 26 projects.

Learn About Renewable Energy

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Here is a nice overview of 3 types of Renewable Energy (Wind, Solar & Geothermal) and some quick facts, like 9.8M are employed worldwide in 2016 by Renewable Energy and a few things you need to know about Renewable Energy!

Water is Life

Photo Credit: Buoy Labs

Hi Everyone...

I first posted on Dr. Wallace J. Nichols in 2011!

Here is a nice short piece by his alma mater University of Arizona!

March For The Ocean (M40) June 9th

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Check out this video on March for the Ocean on June 9th. Here is the website to check out more details!

Carl Sagan's Pate Blue Dot

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I like this version. If you have not seen this I think you will really like it.

Chernobyl Turned into Solar Farm

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Many of you are aware of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster but in 1986 there was another Level 7 (Highest!) nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. I was actually in college then & I had a group project on Chernobyl where I had to describe to the class how a nuclear reaction works! :-) A Russian scientist even visited our campus to speak about Chernobyl which was fascinating. Well Chernobyl is going to be turned into a Solar Farm. They are starting slowly & France & China are even interested in developing solar farms there. Check this link out with the details and a short video.

CA Solar Produces TOO Much Energy

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California has had a goal of 25% solar energy by 2025, they have head to cool down their solar production as they were at 27% last year and 50% of the state's demand at 1pm on March 5th. They are actually paying other states like AZ to take their energy so it does cause problems. Now their goal is 100% by 2045. Check out this short piece for more details.

Giant Batteries to Store Renewable Energy

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Check out this short piece on GE's new 20 megawatt giant batteries called "Reservoir" which will storage Renewable Energy. It does mention Siemens has one called "Fluence" which is 3 times as big as GE's and Tesla also some in South Australia working in part of a 129 megawatt grid. Very cool!

Jane airing March 12!

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I'm soooooooooo excited to tell you that Jane will be airing on the National Geographic Channel on March 12th 7pm Central time!!!

Plogging

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Check out what Plogging is if you don't know! Get your friends to do it with you!!! :-)

Taiwan Helps the Environment!

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Check out this video and this article on what Taiwan is all banning soon! Don't you think we need to do the same???

Force Blue

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Well tonight's Dr. Nichol's Blue Mind Live Stream Book Club had some guest speakers from Force Blue! Just AWESOME! Force Blue is a group of Veteran Special Ops divers who now are diving to help Sustain our Oceans! They have a movie called Mercy, Love & Grace...check out the trailer and their website!

Blue Mind FB Live Book Club!

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I'm SOOOO EXCITED! Dr. Nichols is starting his Live Stream Blue Mind Book Club TODAY (2/19)!!! 5pm PST (that is 7pm CST!). Just go to Dr. Nichols FB page and scroll down and you will find the live stream if you don't catch it posting on your newsfeed once you like his page! :-) Check out the video here to hear him talk about it!

Fastest Growing Jobs!

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Take a look at what the fastest growing jobs are!!! Are you surprised?

Psychology Can Help!

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We know the majority of people believe Climate Change is caused by humans, but getting them to change their behaviors in ways that help the environment can be very difficult. Here is great link on 4 Ways Psychology can help with this problem.

The Problem with Coffee Pods

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Are you  using a coffee machine that uses these pods? You might want to rethink it! Picture via 1 Million Women check them out!

Top 10 Environmentally Friendly Countries

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Check out the Top 10 environmentally friendly countries!

Norway Recycles 96% Plastic

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Norway is recycling 96% of their Plastic!!! They have vending machines for recycling and charge a bit extra to get plastic bottles in the first place. Check out the video!

South Miami: Solar Panels New Construction

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Check out this video on how one student got South Miami to now require solar panels on all new construction.

Wind/Solar Cheapest in CO

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Check out this article which discusses how Wind & Solar energy is actually the cheapest in Colorado!

Solar Windows

Hi Everyone...

Here is a great article explaining some new technology which can make windows solar and just about meet our energy needs.

The Problem With Coffee Pods

Hi Everyone...

Here is a video by 1 Million Women explaining why Coffee Pods are bad for the Environment.

CA: Oils Sands to Renewables

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Check out this video on how Alberta changed from the Oil Sands industry to a Renewable Industry.

Palm Oil Causes 50% Deforestation

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Palm oil is in so many products so there is a great demand for it. Unfortunately, it is being grown and harvested in Unsustainable ways. This has led to 50% of the rain forest in Indonesia being destroyed. Check out this video with Suzy Hutomo explaining why this method needs to change.

Ford: 40 Electric Vehicles by 2020

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Ford just announced they will be investing 11 Billion dollars to produce 40 electric vehicles by 2020, 16 fully electric and the remainder plug-in hybrids. Check out the article.

Alaska Climate Change Impact Report

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The State of Alaska's Public Health has just completed a detailed report on the negative impact Climate Change to their state. Alaska is the first state to complete such a report but considering they are an arctic state it makes perfect sense. Check out this article for a few highlights of the report.

2M Acres Saved by Field Museum

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I'm so excited to tell you that Dr. Corine Vriesendorp, an conservation ecologist from the Field Museum in Chicago has had her 15 yr dream of saving 2 MILLION acres of the Rainforest in Peru protected! The Peruvian government has designated these acres as the Yaguas National Park and now the one of the most biodiverse areas along the Amazon River will able to thrive. Of course Dr. Vriesendorp has been working with many others to reach this goal. Check out this video and this link for more information!

Pre-Order Blue Mind Movie

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You can pre-order your copy of Blue Mind Movie by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. Check out video (which BTW discusses Pharrell & the Chicago Cubs!!!) and the link on details of pre-ordering the DVD or digital download.

Sustainability in Norway

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 In 2017 half of Norway's new vehicles were electric or hybrid! They are also at 98% Hydroelectricity! Check out this video and here is some more info!