Summer Staycation

High fuel prices putting a hamper on your vacation plans this summer? Try out a "staycation". It's the new buzz word which encourages people to take a vacation at home and be a tourist of your own city. Chances are, you haven't experienced everything there is to your local region. Now this idea and concept all depend on where you live although even if you live in a rural location, try taking hikes on unknown trails or visiting a nearby museum.

If you live on the west coast or the east coast, try visiting the ocean. The beach is always fun weather it is off the hot southern California coastline or the rocky tide pools off of Oregon's coast, there is always some great summer adventures.

Staycations are a great way to save money with the rising costs of fuel. Personally, as I have stated in the past, don't drive unless absolutely necessary. Something I did this summer so far which I have never done before is ride my bike to the local farms right outside of town and picked berries from them in the sun. It supports the local farmers, it's therapeutic to be out in the sun, and it's fun.

In this unruly economy, people are just now beginning to think more creatively when trying to save money. I am personally all for the localization of the economy. What are your thoughts about staycations? What are you doing to save money?

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Legacy of a Green Thumb

By Bretton Ahrens

What happened to the good times? What ever happened to the mantras of peace and good will towards man kind? It seems like in today’s world, the worth of a person based is on the tangible items that consumers value and not on the impact that someone makes on this planet as a whole. Why are the teachers and the fire fighters and even the garbage men not considered the “important” roles in society? Without them, communities could not safely exist. It seems like every where I look, society has got it all wrong.

I, as a young man growing up in this global society, am very confused to say the least. I was brought up to have a mutual respect for the planet and to enjoy the simple pleasures it affords to us. I was taught about the beauty and science of nature and the possibilities it brings. “The planet gives us everything that we will ever need,” my grandfather told me. “Learn to appreciate nature, use it to your advantage, and protect it for we are the only thing that can destroy it.” My grandfather taught me many amazing things as a child. He taught me about ecological design and the importance of renewable resources. He taught me how to look at the world through the eyes of a Green Thumb and to take advantage of the gifts that we were given. He knew about craftsmanship and the reward of self creations. He spent all of his time, until the end of his life, trying to fix the problems that others have created both for the planet and for the generations to come.

My curiosities about my grandfather’s lessons went dormant through my teenage years and have only now reawaken because I am starting to see the world in the context of which he was trying to show me. As you get older, I have realized, one places him or herself in the context of the world to try and place a worth on their life. I have started doing this and found that it can be quite depressing. Now I realize that he had the right idea from the start and I lament the time I wasted with him because I could have been learning so much from him and about him.

One of the things that my grandfather was really interested in was the ecological design of communities. Once, while I was visiting him, I stumbled upon a booklet of architectural blueprints for building a “sustainable” city. I was blown away! There were ideas for everything and they seemed quite realistic and accommodating. It was this discovery, of something that he probably made himself nonetheless, that has stuck in my mind for years now. I think back on it from time to time and wonder about the realistic utilization of such designs. At the time I found them, they seemed to be a fanciful idea about a town completely off of the grid. But now, when I think about it, it seems that ideas like this one, are the only chances that we have left of changing the path of the cultural destruction of the planet which have endured now for more than a century. I will now recap the high lights of “the plans” which I believe are to be some of the best ideas I have ever heard.

Imagine a town that you would live in. It is probably a basic infrastructure of roads and houses and businesses and schools. This will work with any town really so pick the one you are most fond of and let your imagination make it better! The first thing that we will want to do is remove the residential roads. Not in the literal sense, but by removing a section in the middle and replacing it with trees. I think that apple trees would work the best but this is your town so you can pick any thing you would like. So where your residential road used to be there is now essentially two sidewalks with grass and trees in the middle. This will serve as a bike path/ side walk where people in the neighborhood can congregate to talk, kids can play without having to worry about cars coming and people can bike and exercise. This will serve as the basis for the “moral foundation of the community”. A close community is also a very important part of this dream so imagine some friendly neighbors and lets keep building!

Now with the cars gone, and the bike racks full, we now live in a place with better air quality and healthier people. So what to do with the cars? Well the cars of the neighborhood will be placed in a garage that is built into the side of a hill or mound. What this does is keeps the cars warmer in the winter, protects them from the elements and will cut down on energy costs and the need for individual garages.

Next, we place the schools in the Parks that are no doubt located in each neighborhood in your real town. The school houses will serve multiple roles in the community. They will teach kids, all year round in my world, during the week but will also be very valuable community centers on the weekends, where the playgrounds and the educational materials will be utilized for families to enjoy. This also will be where the community will meet twice a year and discuss how things are going and any changes that need to be made.

So far these are pretty basic ideas, but no major changes have been made yet. So here is where we really get cracking! The kids in school will be made to create one solar panel and one wind mill generator every year as part of there grade and the school will fund the basic materials. These will be placed in the optimum areas for energy production. If there is a river near, a water wheel would be a great idea too. This is the basis for the supplementary power production program. It will also give great education to the children of the community.

Next, the community will need land for farming, and some of the municipal building that will be required. The waste treatment plant will filter and treat the waste and mix it with important nutrients and then be used as fertilizer for the farm. The farm will produce supplementary food for families to enjoy and also for festivals and gatherings in the community center. Corn will be used to make bio-diesel, and also to feed the livestock. An artificial pond will use algae and bacteria to treat the liquid and unusable waste and will also be used to house fish. Chickens and other poultry which will be housed near by and all of the animals waste will be used as fertilizer for the crops.

So we have extra food and extra energy production for the whole community to enjoy. All we did was borrow a little extra land from the community and use it to our advantage. I think that with an alternating weekend labor system, these new additions can be well taken care of. As for the residents, they can keep their jobs and still enjoy modern life. It would be just a short bike ride to their car and then off we go!

I know that this seems idealistic and there are major problems with my plan, but I think that it has a few good ideas and the point is to get all of the rough drafts out there so humanity can evaluate them for efficiency and then pick and choose the best ideas to start our Utopian communities. I think that progressive ideas, processes, and anything else that might be used to help better the world that we live in should be explored and not criticized, because all to often a good idea is thrown away for a bad reason. It takes vision, strength, and determination to see our best ideas come to fruition.

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Toxics All Around Us

In our modern world, we are exposed to small amounts of toxics through various methods. It's in the food we eat, it's in our household products, it's in our air, and it's in our water. As much as we would rather not think about it, taking a blood test might reveal a chemical build up of up to 39 different pesticides and harmful chemicals that will never go away. Environmental health organizations around the country are working to expose the truth about the dangers we all face to prevent diseases that will eventually catch up with us. [- see this Washington Study for details]

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, exposures to benzene, fine particulate matter from wildfires and agricultural field burning, and chemical exposures through aerial sprays in rural areas are almost inescapable. If you live in a home that was built before 1978, which consists of 80% of the homes in America today, lead exposure from old paint can be built up your body. Teflon from clothing and non-stick cooking ware are prevalent in most humans. [ see the Oregon Toxics Alliance for more info]

Living a healthy life seems to be quite a daunting task. I became a vegetarian due to the concerns of mercury in fish, the arsenic that's fed to chicken, the genetically engineered corn being used in high fructose corn syrup (which is in your soda and store bought juices), and not to mention all the antibiotics. Synthetic hormones, cloned meat, and excessive pesticides and fertilizers all are a part of the diet of the everyday American. The safety of certain ingredients manufactured by Monsanto, Bayer, and other bio tech companies are questionable with MSG, aspartame, and chemical coatings that could be attributing to colony collapse disorder. Pollution is continuing to accumulate in conjunction with respiratory and cardiovascular ailments.

Our world is struggling to cope with energy resources, food supplies, and an unstable economic future. In my eyes, the world will need nothing short of a savior to correct itself and provide stability for all. Some recent articles and comments on talk radio suggest that American is headed for a great depression. What can we all do at this point? I suppose we can change our lifestyles, but I doubt it will be enough. I suggest prayer or meditation. Peace.

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Good Things From Rising Fuel Costs

In my own personal beliefs, I feel that the rising cost of oil and gasoline are driving the future of green technology. Many technologies such as the battery and solar and wind energy technologies have seen very few drastic improvements. Our best performing battery, the lithium ion, is expensive and not good enough for us to develop competitive electric vehicles (EV's) to our current gas powered automobiles. Wind energy only makes up 1% of all the energy produced in the United States and solar energy produces far less. What are the reason's? Expensive initial costs, and perhaps a resistance to change. Well the vision's that Barack Obama have for our future really inspire me and many like-minded young adults. But besides hope and besides vision, the market has created the perfect catalyst for green energy to boom. The future is green, as it is being forced down our throats at every aspect of our lives now.

Some positive things that I see happening because of rising fuel prices are:

1. Niche automakers are capitalizing on falling sales figures from low fuel economy vehicles like SUV's and trucks by making viable EV's like the Bug EV and Aptera which could eventually obliterate the current auto industry, in my opinion. Hybrids sales are still in high gear as well.

2. Rising fuel prices have caused an interest in the four-day work week to conserve gas, reduce congestion on the roads, and save the environment.

3. A re-kindling bicycle industry has spurred some people to ditch four wheels in favor of two. It is much cheaper to ride your bicycle to work, if possible, and it is great for your health.

4. Local food has seen an increasing interest because of the many miles most food has to travel to get to your grocery store. Farmers Market's are ever more popular and even Wal-Mart is trying to capitalize on people's interest in buying local to save the environment and to support localization.

5. Mass transit systems and public transportation projects are getting new funding to help alleviate fuel costs. A cool rent-a-bike program in Portland, Oregon is quite innovative. Los Angeles is looking at building a subway, as many American's are flocking to public transportation at rates not seen in decades.

PETA has come up with a list of 5 things they feel are positive in spite of the continuing rise of high fuel prices. They are:

1. Squid fishers suspended fishing for two days to protest rising fuel costs. Don't let any dopey people shrug their shoulders and think, "So what?" When you can, show them this mind-blowing video about squids' satin-smooth seduction moves.

2. Later this month, 230,000 Japanese fisherman will strike over fuel prices. Sushi lovers fear shortages of tuna sushi and sashimi, but vegan sushi is delicious and doesn't require that the seas be fished until they're devoid of all life. Win-win.

3. A rash of gas thefts across the nation might inspire reward money for nabbing criminals caught siphoning gas. Crime is bad. Reward money for catching criminals is good.

4. With airlines now charging for checked bags and soda, there's speculation that they might start charging by weight, which could inspire more people to go vegetarian.

5. And leave it to our friends in Boulder, Colorado, to strip down to the basics and wheel out the fun with a caravan of naked bicyclists. The cyclists' message? Depending too much on oil is nuts.

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Fruit Creates Solar Energy!

Solar energy products these days as many know are quite costly. Imagine everything you use in your home from the radio on your desk, your refrigerator or even your toilet were powered by blackberries, blueberries, oranges and grapes. Sounds kinda far fetched but thats exactly what's being done according to research being done at the University of Rowen. Scientists say "to develop efficient -and most importantly inexpensive- solar cells scientists are following the design of photosynthetic systems". Research on so called "third generation" solar cells is being carried out by a team at Rowen university in New Jersey.

So whats the difference between first, second, and third generation solar cells? "First generation" solar cells such as the solar panels people put on their roofs are based on crystalline silicon which is the same material used to make computer chips and as you can imagine are very expensive. "Second generation" solar cells are based also from that same expensive material but use only thin film strips of it. And so that leaves the "third generation" solar cell which are still in research stage and are some ways away from wide commercial use. There are several different designs under this field including Rowan's "dye sensitized solar cells" which is where the fruit comes in.

The team of Rowan researchers are working on a refined process in which they extract dye from a range of fruit and blend it into a kind of scientific "smoothie". You can make the components from store-bought items," a student at Rowen University said. "Construction of the cells is so simple and inexpensive that anyone can build his or her own given fruit, white paint, iodine and glass." Antonelli added, "There's less output from these organic solar cells than a traditional silicon cell," admitted Green, but the production from fruit is "dirt cheap." While similar work has been done, the extraction process is new, to the best of the team's knowledge. "This project was completed as a part of a chemistry laboratory course," Kuciauskas said. "Students who continue this work will attempt to develop better light-harvesting dyes by assembling larger aggregates of photosynthetic pigments. Such a biomimetric approach is based on green plants and photosynthetic bacteria."

In the past few years solar energy has expanded dramatically and is known as the fastest growing energy technology in the world. In this new research it is clear to me that the future of inexpensive solar energy could potentially help to increase this rapidly improving industry and make an even bigger beneficial impact on the environment. I have great hope for the future that a cleaner more energy efficient future is ahead of us.

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Written by Angie

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Kenya's Election Crisis - A Poaching Epidemic

Mass killings, people being burned to death in a church, riots and other horrible mayhem in Kenya will keep tourists away from exploring the rich wildlife of the Maasai Mara.

Tourism is Kenya's main source of income giving locals many jobs such as working at hotels, restaurants, and as tour guides and other tourist trade occupations. With the recent month-long political unrest, riots, and mass murders in Kenya, many are without jobs and are hungry.

Meat from wild animals also known as "bush meat" is significantly cheaper than beef or livestock meat. With poverty at its peak in this country and tourism almost completely non existent, many endangered animals and all in between will be killed rapidly and in higher numbers.

Increased snaring is posing a big threat on many wild animals - big and small such as giraffes, zebras, buffalo, gazelle, rabbit and even monkey. These animals rarely have a chance of escaping the metal noose that tightens every time they struggle to get free. As many as one million animals are suffereing and dying in these snares each year. They are cheap and effective killing trap that are scattered all over thousands of acres of land where many wild animals roam.

Environmental NGO wildlifedirect.org warned that the world-renowned Maasai Mara Game Reserve

"is under severe threat from widespread poaching following the collapse of tourism in Kenya's post-election crisis."

"Wildlife is going to be hit hard," Brian Heath, head of the Mara Conservancy Trust, was quoted as saying in a statement.

Thankfully despite all thats going on there is anti-poaching teams in Kenya that fight hard to protect wild animals from poachers. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) depends almost solely on tourism revenue to fund its conservation and wildlife protection activities. But with KWS coffers empty, patrols have all but come to a halt, leaving wildlife exposed and an easy target.

The Mara is home to the worlds most famous wildlife spectacle, losing it because of political unrest in Kenya would be a global tragedy.

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Written by Angie

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