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.
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. Profit from the sale of oil was up 70%.
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. Yesterday, the Federal Highway Administration announced that Americans
put 9.6 billion fewer miles on their
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.
