California bans plastic bags!

Starting sometime in 2015 for grocery stores and 2016 for liquor stores and pharmacies, plastic bags will be outlawed in the state of California.

What the hell kind of place do we live in that we have to do things like make plastic bags illegal? You know they're terrible, I know they're terrible, just get rid of them!

I'm not saying this isn't great, just so strange that things take so long to take effect after it's become apparent we never should have had them to begin with.

In my opinion the greatest thing about this bill is that it includes funding for retraining workers that are in the, uh, plastic bag making line of work, and/or funding for manufacturing plants to switch gears from making single-use plastic bags. Thus proving that it's entirely possible to fundamentally change outdated infrastructures, without uprooting our economic stability on certain industries. This is something that mega corporations would have you believe isn't possible.



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MFA Investigation: Tyson workers torture and mutilate pigs before turning into bacon

This video is appalling. If you have any sense of morals or feelings at all, you will feel sick after watching it. Like so sick you could puke up that bacon you ate this morning. But it's important to watch and learn.

If I were to put my cat through half the pain that these Tyson workers put all of these pigs through, I'd be arrested faster than you can say ham sandwich. Why the hell should one of the biggest corporations on the planet be allowed to do it on a massive scale?





Not that I want to put my cat through any pain, or have anyone be allowed to. These men should be arrested, and all the upper management should receive even higher punishments. But honestly, if I had to choose between some twisted homeowners beating up their dog, and massive corporations being allowed to do these sick and horrifying things to thousands of animals everyday, I'd choose the option that saves the most animals. Not even from life, but so much pain at the very least.

But they manage to get away with it, every day. But it's OK, because following this investigation, Tyson has done a "turnaround."

Eco-Tec: Building homes from plastic bottles

Of all the materials that you could possibly use to build a house, plastic bottles are the last thing you would expect to actually work. They do, and surprisingly well. A group called Eco-Tec, based in Honduras, has proven that with some sand, a lot of ingenuity, and a desire to give people affordable housing it's very possible.

You can go to their website here and learn all about their projects and priorities. Their biggest mission: training people how to use waste materials (like bottles) with whatever else is available (like sand or soil) to build effective, practical structures. This goes hand-in-hand with their community recycling/reusing pickups, where they get everyone to contribute even if it's as simple as finding plastic bottles.  Over the past 7 years they've done a number of incredible projects, from aqueducts and water tanks to full fledged houses. You can check out a ton of really cool pictures from their projects, and other incredible plastic bottle works from around the world at Inspiration Green.

According to their website Eco-Tec also specializes in composting and vermiculture. Their main english website is here, upon entering you can watch a video that gives a great overview of what they're about. These things go hand-in-hand with educating people in impoverished areas of the world to build effective structures from materials that would otherwise be inefficiently recycled, sitting in a landfill, or simply littered across the land. Altogether this makes Eco-Tec an incredibly important organization that deserves to thrive.

Buycott: Buy from companies you love, boycott those you don't

Buycott is a new, and so far unique smartphone app that let's you scan products in a store and see exactly what company it comes from, and what they stand for. Basically, you scan a jar of pasta sauce, made by company A. Well in reality company A is owned by company C whose parent company is D, and they're a bunch of f***ing A**holes that you don't want to support. That's right, put it back on the shelf. You can create campaigns, for example, "against GMO's," and it'll instantly tell you if the food your buying conflicts with those interests, without actually having to do research on any of those companies. It's not perfect yet, but it's definitely a step in a great direction. And the biggest thing it needs is users supporting it. It's available for Android and iOS, and is free. Click on the link to learn more or download it.

Buycott App

Exxon Pipeline Breaks in Arkansas

This is just a short video of a HUGE amount of oil, spilled right into the backyards of people in Mayflower, Arkansas. It's bubbling through the streets of suburbia and cascading across Mrs. Field's garden flowers.

Can we stop using the word "spilled" when it comes to oil? Spilled implies Exxon was having a tea party and got a little sloppy with the china set and "spilled" some oil. Just a little bit. 189,000 gallons of oil just "spilled" across the backyards and streets of Mayflower, Arkansas. A spill. How about, "another s***ton of oil was carelessly allowed to rupture through a pipeline by another ass backwards corporate conglomerate and once again, they're going to get away with it?" Does that fit the description? I think so.

Shocking investigation from PETA: Chinese fur farms

While this video doesn't exactly fall into the category of sustainable, organic living, (or the opposite) it sure as hell ain't pretty. This appalling video exposes the horrendous acts committed by the fur trade in China, and it's absolutely sick. Although I don't believe there's anything quite this bad in the United States, this probably compares to what livestock farms and slaughter houses do to animals every day, which definitely is not sustainable, organic or just plain humane . In either case, this is animal cruelty at it's worst and if you have any moral decency in your body, you will not be buying any fur product whatsoever after watching this video.

America's First Zero Waste Zone

In February of 2009 Atlanta, more specifically it's downtown district, began the nations first Zero Waste Zone, an ambitious but amazing idea if I've ever heard one. An in-depth article from SmartPlanet explains how successful this project has been, which should be a huge motivational factor for other businesses and cities to follow suit.

One highlight from the article breaking down the project as follows:

"The goal is to eliminate every scrap of food waste. Spent grease is turning into biofuel. Excess food is now donated to shelters and soup kitchens. Used food is diverted to feedstock. And food deemed inedible is now turned to compost for new urban gardens around the city."

It almost sounds too good to be true. And if that's not enough, here's another one that explains how this is beneficial to companies:

"Atlanta food companies are managing to save thousands of dollars a month in hauling and disposal fees, all while creating new revenue streams — from selling compost and used grease to drawing in new customers who favor their social responsibility. The effort has also stimulated a micro-economy of biofuel makers, compost haulers, urban farmers and recycling outfits."

If that's not enough reason for companies and cities to begin implementing this type of thing immediately, I don't think it belongs on this Earth. It's proof that helping the environment and your community doesn't have to damage your pocketbook, and it can even give you access to some untapped revenue streams. 

Read the entire article, written by Kevin Gray here:

For business, food waste a ripe opportunity for savings

You can also check out some facts straight from the EPA on this Zero Waste Zone here:

Atlanta Launches Southeast's First Zero Waste Zone

25 gallons of water: 10 minutes, or 40 days

That's about how much water is used on average every time you take a shower with a newer shower head installed in your home, with a limit of 2.5 gallons per minute. Twenty-five gallons of water, gone in ten minutes. At 2.5 quarts of water per day (the required amount of water to live) this would sustain a person for FORTY days. And I hate to say it, but when I manage a shower in 10 minutes, I'm feeling pretty proud. Or I'm extremely late for work. But this means that taking showers that last 30 minutes or more is an incredibly stupid and wasteful practice, and I'm sure we all have those days.

But it's not easy right? Who doesn't love a nice long, hot shower to wake you up in the morning, or to sanitize your body after a long day of work?

Think of it this way: if you had to choose between clean drinking water for the day or taking a long shower, the choice would be pretty obvious right? We might be far off from reaching that point, but the fact is our supply of clean water is not sustainable (at least at the current rates of our consumption), and at some point we will all have to make hard sacrifices if want water to live. Personally, I'd rather already be accustomed to using an appropriate amount of water instead of getting forced into using an insanely low amount, but that's just me.

Checkout this article from SmartPlanet and see how the Department of Energy Regulators are cracking down on home owners that have shower heads exceeding 2.5 gallons of water per minute. It's a start, but in no way a long term solution.