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One of my favorite things to do when I’m reading articles on the web is to read the comments that follow. Each and every one of them. People never cease to surprise me! In an article about extending transit services to the suburbs, someone rants about those crazy liberals and environmentalists who want to force him to live in a small condo in a crime-ridden, noisy urban neighborhood.
Any house that stays off the grid is an awesome house, in my opinion. What’s most impressive about this off-the-grid-ready house in San Antonio is that they get 100% of their water from rainwater collection. My first thought when I saw that was that they live in San Antonio. I’ve been there. It’s hot. It’s dry. VisitSanAntonio.com reports 300 sunny days each year and average annual precipitation at only 29.05 inches. The rainiest month is September, when they average 3.7 inches of rain.
As the economy spirals downward, seemingly out of control, people everywhere are cutting back. We’re cutting down on driving to save on gas. We’re cutting out luxury items. We’re not buying meat. So it seems like kind of an odd time to tout the benefits of organic foods, which have a reputation for costing more than their pesticide-laden, nutrient-lacking counterparts. But I think it’s never okay to eat pesticides that are going to contribute to your demise, and we all do it without questioning a single thing we put in our mouth.
Yikes. Walter Williams of George Mason is angry. I don’t know this guy, but I think he’d scare the living daylights out of me if we ever bumped into each other in a dark alley somewhere. In a column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review yesterday, Williams spouts about the power environmental groups hold over Congress.
I agree with some of his points. He is ultimately concerned with the government controlling too much of our lives.
How’s this for sickening? One day the big news organizations are talking about seniors who are living on pasta because they can’t afford anything else in the midst of high gas prices and the struggling economy. The next, they’re announcing Exxon Mobil’s record second quarter profits of $11.68 billion. CNN does the math there to really drive home how staggering this is – their profit amounts to $1,485.55 per second. It’s Exxon’s largest quarterly profit in US history.
On the 23rd, we posted about household toxins and how to stay safe. A recent article in Men’s Health discusses what you can eat to help ward off serious disease, such as prostate cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and help fight the effects of environmental toxins.
It’s become a constant in the news – every day, someone reports on what people are doing in the wake of such high gas prices. While many people are cutting back on what they spend in other areas, resoundingly, people are changing their lifestyles so that they don’t have to purchase as much gas.
An article at Canada.com touts the health and cash saving benefits of turning to walking as an alternative to driving. Author Helen Vanderburg mentions the muscle groups that get worked during walking – legs, buttocks and lower back – and reminds us that we can walk to accomplish daily tasks that are located near our homes and offices and get fit in the process. She recommends buying a pedometer (they cost as little as $5 and increase
In its July issue, Marie Claire magazine featured 10 Things We Won’t Ask You to Do to Cut Back at the Pump. The list, though meant to be humorous, really seems to laugh at the oil crisis as if no fashionable 20-something woman should ever consider making some serious lifestyle changes to do her part to change the world.
After writing yesterday’s post about keeping your pets safe from household toxins, I came across an article from the TodayShow.com about going green with your pets. The author mentions using dog shampoos made of natural ingredients and finding leashes and collars that are free of pesticides. You can even buy pet beds and blankets made from organic fabrics.
