FLOW- a Film about Water.

(Image Courtesy of Flow)

We're in a drought and to many of us, that reality is hard to grasp. Ever since we were kids, we have thought that water is free and infinite. We used and abused it and most importantly, never thought twice. "Flow" tells us that everything we thought as children concerning the flow of water has been a lie. It uses scientists to provide evidence and then shows us the reality...the humanity of water. It shows the corrupt water industry, the thirst-stricken children of developing countries and the nasty toxins that are infiltrating our pipelines. And with all this learning, it still manages to be utterly captivating. Clink on the link to learn more about Flow. Click on "Read More" if you want to read some of the facts (list form) that I found astonishing.

*More than two million people die per year due to water borne diseases. The majority are children under the age of 5.

Pesticides and Other Toxins in Our Water
* Increased Birth defects in agriculture-rich areas (pesticides from agro seep into ground water)
* A Decline in fertility in European areas where pesticides are in heavy use.
* In Tasmania, cancer rates have shot up 200% after it increased its pesticide use.
* In Texas, toxicologists found high levels of Prozac in tissues of every fish they sampled (urban runoff- our polluted water and soil travel and pollute the oceans)
* The Arctic: Industrial toxins travel in water and have been found in seals, whales, polar bears, fish and in the breast milk of Inuit mothers.
* Creation of dams on a river= Rapid change in ecosystem. A river has organic materials that feed the living creatures that reside in and along the river; it also feeds the oceans. When a dam is created-->  organic matter gets captured behind the dam--> it rots--> creates methane gas, a green house gas.
-- In the 20th century, 10s of millions of people have been displaced by dams.
* Research shows the effects of atrazine, a pesticide made by a Swiss company: atrazine "chemically castrated" frogs. This means that male frogs would become more female- develop ovaries and decrease sperm count- after exposure to the pesticide.

The Anatomy of a Demasculinzed Frog

(Picture Courtesy of Berkeley)

--> Atrazine is the most used pesticide in the U.S. and it's the #1 found contaminant in our drinking, ground, and surface water.
--> It has been linked with prostate cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
--> All of the European Union has banned atrazine, including Switzerland, where the pesticide is made.

Privatization of Water
* Europe is beginning to privatize water. 3 of the largest water companies (all fortune 500 and started by bankers) are Thames Ater, Vivendi and Suez. All 3 are forcing developing countries to give them their water supplies and then charging the citizens of those countries to pay for their own water.
* 1999 Cochabamba, Bolivia: Government privatized water, which led to a water war. 2 years earlier, The World Bank gave Cochabamba and El Alto, Bolivia an ultimatum- if they don't privatize water, the World Bank would cut off their water development loans. However, 10 years after this threat, Bolivia returned water back to its people.
* Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: Invensys Metering System. Each person pays for a card and (s)he uses this card to get water. However, this is a poor region, so most people can't pay for water--> they go to the river (unsanitary; waterborne diseases)--> people get sick--> poor health care system--> death rises.
* New Delhi, India: Suez is blocking much of the flow of the Ganges river- more then 600 billion liters- and will sell that water back to Indians at 10xs the price they're paying now.

* Michigan, U.S.: Nestle has over 70 brands of bottled water and it is using Michigan's water resources- 450 gallons/min- and not paying a cent for what it consumes. Its profits are upwards of $1.8 million/ day. Nestle has gotten over $10 million in tax abatements over the span of 10 years.

* U.S.: Less than one person in the FDA is regulating the water industry. Bottled industry is severely less regulated than tap water.
--> National Resources Defense Council tested over 100 brands of bottled water in the U.S. Outcome: Bottled water is not better, safer or purer than tap water. 1/3 of these brands had toxins like arsenic, organic harmful chemicals and other harmful bacteria invisibly poisoning the water. Some of the bottled water companies with pictures of mountains came from city tap, while others with glaciers on them came from ground water in Florida.

--> In 2007, 16 million gallons of oil were used to make water bottles.
--> U.N. estimated that it will cost an additional $30 billion/year to provide safe, clean drinking water to the entire planet. Last year alone the U.S. spent 3xs that on bottled water.

A Sea of Bottled Water

(Image Provided by Current.com)

Solutions
*Ashok Gadgil, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that ultra violet rays kill pathogens in water, and with this information he developed clean affordable water.
-->Bomminampadu, India: UV ray Water Purification Center. The price at which local people buy the water pays the wages of the locals who run the center = self-sustaining. The price for 10 gallons of safe drinking water per day everyday for a year= $2 U.S. (affordable!) 300,000 people benefit from this technology right now.
* Rainwater Harvesting: catches rainfall on rooftops and a pipe guides it to a storage unit that stores the water, so that when there are dry periods water can be consumed- Super effective.
*Playpumps: there's a circular device that kids ride on and it uses their kinetic force to pump water. 900 playpumps bring 2,250,000 people water in Africa.

Playpumps Providing Smiles and Water

(Picture thanks to Pixelsumo.com)

Read more!

The Dark Sides of Tobacco- The Other Dark Sides.

(Image thanks to www.tobaccolobbyist.com)

I have never been a big fan of cigarettes. To be more accurate, I loathe them. And it isn't because of the health implications because everyone and their moms know that cigarettes are bad for one's health. No, it is because these big corporations have manipulated society into thinking that 1. they aren't really bad for you (back when it was fresh) 2. if you smoke, you will magically transform into the coolest kid in the world. And after they spoon-feed you this bullshit, they rape you of your money and reap the rewards. Essentially, we are paying these corps to ruin our health, our environment and the developing world.

Pesticides- they're everywhere. They're in our food, water, gardens and apparently in cigarettes. However, while the first three are regulated by government agencies, cigarettes largely go without oversight and regulation. To top this off, the pesticides that are used are some of the most toxic- they can cause birth defects, acute poisoning and damage to the nervous system. These pesticides also do severe damage to ecosystems- they decrease algae and fungi, endanger mammals, and harm some plants. And because we need space to cultivate these wonders of poison, deforestation occurs.


Another way that tobacco abuses our environment is when we smoke it. The smoke released from cigarettes contain the greenhouse gases CO2 and methane, which add about 2.6 billion kg of CO2 per year and 5.6 billion kg of methane gas per year (worldwide). Thus, with every moment that passes as you nurse your cigarette is every moment that passes that our environment is in a worse state than before.

As the developed worlds of the U.S. and Europe have decreased their consumption of cigarettes, tobacco companies have looked to the developing world with eyes of gold. Advertisements directed at both adults and children are on display luring them into submission. In Africa, for example, smoking has increased 4.3% per year, according to the World Health Organization. In countries that have such a high rate of poverty and such poor health care institutions, people cannot afford to inflict further harm to themselves.

Many developing countries realized this dilemma and in November 2008, 150 countries came to a solution: Fuck tobacco companies. What this means is threefold:
1. The government and tobacco companies will sever their ties.
2. Public smoking will be outlawed (second hand smoke kills, remember?)
3. Advertisements, especially ones that are directed towards children, will be banned.

So why do you need cigarettes? Don't you know that you're already the coolest kid in the world.

Read more!

Rent-a-text save some green!

A while back a friend, Jazz, and I conjured up a business idea that dealt with renting textbooks rather than buying, so it would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly. After getting into the nitty gritty of the proposal, we dropped it and the idea quickly withered away.

Apparently, when it withered from our minds, the idea traveled to the people behind the website Chegg.com.
Chegg.com is a textbook rental website that has over a million textbooks that you can rent for an allotted time- semester, quarter, or intersession. The shorter the session is, the cheaper it is. Chegg gives you ample time to return books and it covers shipping when returning them. You can also sell or donate books!

The most splendid part of this whole idea is that for every text you rent, sell or donate, Chegg will plant a tree! So not only are you reusing textbooks, which decreases their demand, so less texts are printed but you're also planting a tree simulatenously. Granted, you do waste material on packaging BUT most of us buy our books using half.com or amazon anyway, so wastage already occurs. At least with Chegg, books come from the same place rather than different locations, so all the books rented are packaged in one box.

We are and have been in an age when forests are infinitely stripped down and their slaughtered bodies aren't even fully utilized. Chegg is an efficient way to decrease your contribution in this cycle of greed.

All-in-all, Chegg is economical + environmentally friendly= SuperGreen!

Chegg Read more!

Talk on your cell and be a humanitarian simultaneously.

Lovelies,

I've been sitting on gold for a days now and I keep forgetting to share the wealth.

Credo Mobile, the greenest phone company operating since 1985, has an offer that is quite legit. Here are the specs for your pocket:

-Credo will buyout your current contract (up to $200)
-If you are on a family plan, they will buy out up to 3 lines (up to $600 in total)
-Credo will give you a new phone that looks sharper than a blade for free
-Credo will also give you a solar power charger for free

!!!!!
The network coverage is through Sprint, so you won't be left in the dark when you're out in the boonies trying to make a call.

AND to top it all of, 1% of your service charge will go directly to a nonprofit organization such as ACLU, Greenpeace and Global Fund for Women. So far Credo has given $60 million dollars to various organizations like the ones mentioned above, as well as, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders and Planned Parenthood. It helped increase the first fuel-economy standards in 23 years. It protested against Prop 8. It help shut down 30 coal mines. It lobbied against the War in Iraq. Being socially responsible isn't just a fad for them.

The only catch is...

The offer expires December 18th, 2008. I know that's quite soon (my fault!) but hey, there really isn't much to lose.

Don't you want to make a difference while talking to your friends about your refrigerator's new and not-so-pleasant stench?

The promo code is 500226.

Learn more about Credo and Act Peace:

An Easy Way to Spread Peace Read more!