W. E. Littlejohn
Let's celebrate Mother Earth EVERY DAY!
Her Spirit moves everything, everyone.
Ahhhhhhhh
What a double rainbow magical Sista!
She’s
Mother Nature!!!
She nurtures us
Her water, air, vegetables, fruits, herbs, sustain us
She even weaves meaning into
Her natural order of things
Have you noticed ….?
Her walnuts two halves resemble
our brain’s two halves
Ahhhhhhhh
What a double rainbow magical, eclectic Sista!
She Loves Us! Uh Huh!
She’s
Mother Nature!!!
Her gifts abound… endlessly
Flowers-a-plenty
Flowers-a-many
a mosaic of sizes….shapes
some smooth, some prickly
like Her Brazilian Blue cactus
Her majestic trees and plants give us Love
drawing down carbon from the atmosphere
purifying the air so we can breathe, breathe, breathe
Her magnificent rainforests in
South America, Africa, Asia
gift us beauty, oxygen, medicine, food
Her plants, flowers, fruits, bushes, trees hold
Magical, healing medicines for
our minds, our bodies, our spirits.
She even weaves metaphor and meaning into
Her natural order of things
Have you noticed ….?
Her walnuts two halves resemble
our brain’s two halves
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Since the 1990s, I’ve become obsessed with minimizing my own carbon footprints; "walking more gently" on Mother Earth, to quote an advocate. It would be great if there were no climate change deniers, and would take responsibility to their own environmental transgressions. More might be inclined to do so if they were more educated on this dynamic. Education comes in many forms and one, and most popular, is media (dramas and comedy). One sitcom, Benson, now in reruns, was one of the sitcoms of the 1970s that contained social raising dialogue. In one episode, the governor’s 10-year-old vigorously pleads with her father to not approve the construction of an industrial complex that would disrupt, maybe even destroy, the beaver population. The last episode concerned water scarcity. Too many of today’s scripted programs are anemic in educating their audience on socially conscious issues. “Green shopping” or recycling could work nicely in a sitcom script.
In my own “green grocery shopping” efforts, I’ve nearly eliminated purchasing plastic-packaged products and carrying a cloth bag (which are washable). Shopping with a purpose also puts less stress on my budget. I got great tips from “green grocery shop” at Earth911.com and foodprint.org. And, instead of buying new household items, including furniture, I shop for free items on craigslist.com and freecycle.org.
"more than a month since the MT Princess Empress, carrying 800,000 liters (211,340 gallons) of industrial fuel, capsized near the Philippine island province of Oriental Mindoro – a rich fishing ground that provides food and livelihood to more than two million people” residents have fallen ill. The “slow-moving environmental catastrophe" threatens the "marine ecosystem home to some of the world’s rarest species, including the critically endangered hawksbill turtle, as well as whale sharks, giant manta rays and dugongs." Source: CNN.com.
I grieved when I read that 95 percent of the Great Barrier Reef , in Australia’s ocean and reefs - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/most_coral. html in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, could be lost. Much of what were once healthy and colorful living organisms that have existed on Earth for 500 million years, that aid in cleansing our oceans of pollutants, are bleached white – dead. “The ocean is…our biggest ally in the fight against climate change,” Rebecca Hubbard, of the High Seas Alliance, said in a Washington Post interview. “Without an ocean full of marine life, it cannot continue to sequester and store carbon.” Our oceans, like trees and plants, can contain treatments and cures for diseases. The FDA, for example, “approved the use of a cancer-fighting drug derived from a sea sponge, in 2010.” The good news is that most nations recently reached a “world-changing deal to protect ocean life.”
I grieve when centuries-old, Yosemite National Park's majestic sequoia trees are threatened or burned due to rapid and intense wildfires.
I grieve when trees are poisoned or cut down by greedy developers, or die from disease. No one needs to cut down another tree for furniture. There's plenty of quality furniture in "upscale" thrift stores. Instead of killing trees for more houses, why not refurbish the millions of boarded up structures across the country and around the globe?
- Trees and plants have a salubrious effect on our minds, bodies and spirits.
We, and all species, large and microscopic, depend on rainforests’ biodiversity, beauty, oxygen, food, shelter, even medicine (a quarter of pharmaceuticals are derived from trees, like “galantamine, an alkaloid extracted from Galanthus nivalis - or snowdrop plant.
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| Snowdrop Plant - https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/270227-product.html |
Plant medicine is the subject of a beautiful YA tale, Every Leaf a Hallelujah, by Ben Okri. The life-sustaining trees help young Mangoshi find a special flower in the African rainforest that will heal her ailing mother. In
her post, Plant-Based Drugs and Medicines, Dr. Liji Thomas, wrote, “At
present, about 8 out of 10 drugs used to treat infection, cardiovascular
disease, or cancers, or as immunosuppressives, come from plants, directly or as
derivatives.”
But, “The world’s rainforests could completely vanish in a hundred years [if not sooner] at the current rate of deforestation,” reported the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Rampant global deforestation for “development” for agriculture and cattle farming mean that greedy corporate bosses and governments don’t give a spit about future generations, including their own.
Speaking of future generations, what if reincarnation is real?
What if they (and we) are the future generation?????
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In “Exploring How and Why Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other,” ecologist Suzanne Simard addressed one of the complex pathways of soil fungi, called mycorrhizal networks, that trees use to communicate their needs and aid neighboring trees and plants.
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When I touch the Mulberry Love Tree, pray and give thanks to God, Goddess, Divine Spirit, Angels and Ancestors, I recall Joyce Kilmer’s poem, "Trees"
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against
the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And
lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest
of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who
intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only
God can make a tree.
“Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree” wrote Catie Marron in her article, “During the season of resolutions, a vow to always appreciate the trees all year.”
Trees’ beauty and life-giving value is dismissed by greedy developers that have poisoned trees, like the offender reported in the Washington Post - “Developer pays fines over poisoned trees.” Trees aren’t the only victims of greed and violence, so are people. “More than 1,700 environmental activists murdered in the past decade,” according to theGuardian.com, although figures are likely underestimated. They “are killed by hitmen, crime groups and governments.”
Day-by-day, season-by-season greedy corporate executives, governments and millions of citizens, disrespect Mother Earth and Mother Nature, causing Her to fight for Herself, as these verses from my poem shows.
GREED!!! UGH!!!
What is it good for? Absolutely NUTHIN’!!!
So… we keep messin’ with tha Sista!
We just keep messin’ with
Mother Nature
Uh uh!
So, Marvin asks…
“How much more abuse from man
[and woman] can you stand?”
Mother Nature has warned us
Time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time…
WHEW!!! and again!!!
BUT… Nooooooooooooo
We don’t listen!!!
Uh uh!
We JUST keep on messin’
with tha SISTA!!!
Soooooooo….. (I’ll say it again)
She’s sick and tired of being sick and tired.
tha Sista is pissed!
thoroughly pissed off!
Tha sista’s got BIG, BIG, B-I-I-I-I-I-I-G
AT-TI-UDE!!!!!!
Uh uh!
If you were Her you’d be pissed too.
You’d be so pissed
You’d scream in agony and roar with monstrous walls of fire!
Monstrous walls of water!
How else would you get the attention of such a Hard-headed, Greedy, Selfish Species?
So!!!
While all the greedy players do their greedy deeds
She’s fighting back!!!
Tha double rainbow magical sista don’t play!
and unless
we “show a little tenderness” like Otis Redding told us
SHOW a SISTA SOME LOVE!!!
“SHOW SOME RESPECT!!!”
like Aretha Franklin told us
she’ll keep kicking butt
and
you, me, WE and our children and
THEIR CHILDREN
and THEIR CHILDREN
will suffer more consequences of
A Mother’s Rage!
Uh Huh!!!!!!
I grieve in knowing that Corporate “takers” have expanded their GREED into outer space. “U.S. airspace has never been more crowded…,” wrote one concerned citizen. According to Space.com, “over 20,000 known and tracked pieces of space debris orbit Earth, each one traveling at about 15,000 mph (24,000 km/h)” and float within 2,000 km (1,200 miles) of Earth’s surface. Space debris is a result of satellites, dating back to the late 1950s, falling apart - hence, man-made garbage in space. It’s estimated that, currently, 4,877 active satellites orbit the Earth, and greedy “takers” salivate over launching more. Unfortunately, some satellites are the connectivity source for things we (including I) have come to depend on - Internet, cell phones, smart appliances, security devices, GPS systems (which, by the way invented by a woman, Gladys Mae Brown), etc. Do we need more???
So, again, what if reincarnation is real? What kind of planet would you return to???!!
Fact
Bit coins’ “mining” process negatively impact our environment. “A University of Cambridge analysis estimated that bitcoin mining consumes 121.36 terawatt hours a year,” which is “…more than the consumption of
Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft combined,” Columbia University reported.
(One terawatt is a unit of power equal to one trillion watts.)
people doing something
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fighting for Mother Nature… for our planet.
Gratefully, around the globe, millions of people are crafting healthy solutions – from old-school initiatives to the present – to heal Mother Earth.
Slhaji Siraj Bah uses coconuts to fight deforestation in Sierra Leone, Africa. Source: WashingtonPost.com “The coconut palm is popularly known as the Tree of Life, and all its parts are useful.” But, coconuts, too, are threatened, according to Theconversation.com.
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In their video, the founders of EarthDay.org show how they grow organic cotton to make sustainable tee shirts. Ecovative has developed “mushroom leather” to replace cow hide. In New York, a coalition of nonprofits - the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance - unveiled its Fashion Act of 2022 or Sustainability and Social Accountability Act. The “social accountability” part of the Act focuses on international child labor and slavery in the apparel industry. Fashion designer, Mahdiyyah breathes new life into discarded clothing, and Nicole Pompei re-purposes old military uniforms into wreaths. Volunteers at VITAS Hospice stitches “memory bears, teddy bears made from deceased person’s clothing. Drew Cameron transforms old military uniforms into paper which is used for binding books and writing. The oldest clothes repurposing undertaking - centuries’ old in fact - is quilt making.
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Fact
21 billion tons of textiles end up in landfills, according to Colorado.edu.
My personal effort in keeping clothes out of landfills causes some pedestrians to look at me with a side eye sometimes. What they're seeing is a woman shaking dirt off and folding clothes, perfectly good clothes, that thoughtless citizens throw in heaps on the ground and in garbage bins. If I have a large enough bag, I take them home, wash them, then donate to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or a local non-profit. I'll never forget, 15 years ago, rescuing a stylish, size 10, maxi, pure wool, black couture, Christian Dior coat someone had thrown into a garbage container. Fortunately, it wasn't badly stained. The cleaners charged $12. I sold it at an upscale second hand boutique for $85.
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The Green Bank offers Green Liberty Bonds and Green Liberty Notes for clean energy projects and provide a way for Connecticut residents, businesses, and institutions to invest in growing a green economy.
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Modou Fall, in Senegal, Africa, is defending the environment and lifting his country from a plastic bags scourge. Source: New York Times: “This ‘Plastic Man’ Has a Cape and a Superhero’s Mission: Cleaning Up Senegal.” Each year, 11 BILLION TONS of plastic, including plastic straws, enter the ocean. A massive, floating soup of plastic in our oceans like The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and bits of plastic (“nurdles”) and toys kill birds, fish and Albatross chicks. Sources: Cnet.net and national geographic.com.
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Everybottleback's states their goal “is for every bottle to become a new bottle, and not end up in oceans, rivers, beaches and landfills," and use "less new plastic.”
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Activists featured in “How the next generation of activists are tackling one of the biggest climate issues” are doing something about the plastic scourge in their communities, countries and oceans worldwide. The U.S. government reported that “A growing plastic smog, now estimated to beover 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world’s oceans…” requiring “Urgent solutions.”
Ø Despite their convenience, plastic water bottles, and again, toys, grocery and shopping bags are a major part of the ubiquitous blight. Plastic production approached 809 BILLION pounds, in 2020. Historically, in 1878, the Celluloid Manufacturing Company claimed that “the advent of its plastic meant that ‘it will no longer be necessary to ransack the earth in pursuit of substances which are constantly growing scarcer.’” Source: Washington Post. Turns out plastic is ransacking the earth, AND our bodies. Microplastics and chemicals from plastics are "in every single organ…," especially in women with breast implants, according to Webmd. Com’s report, AutopsiesShow Microplastics in Major Human Organs. We’re ingesting plastic's chemicals from water bottles and food containers and inhaling the odorless, chemicals plastic emits, especially when exposed to heat, like the sun. Microplastics have been found in “fresh snow in Antarctica.” At the global “United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in Nairobi, Africa” countries forged a legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution by 2024. Source: UNEP.org.
The bottom line? Plastic packaging production needs to be reduced… DRASTICALLY.
We use plastic for five minutes (bottles, utensils, etc.)
and it ends up up in the ocean for 100 years. Maybe more!
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Citizens in The #StopEACOP alliance are doing something to stop greedy government and corporate takers from building a pipeline in East Africa.
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In East Africa, environmentalist Asobo provides a solar energy battery charging service to Kenyan fishermen to reduce fuel emissions.
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Earthship Biotecture builders construct stylish, energy-efficient, eco homes “from upcycled materials (including beer cans and at least 1,000 tires) that provide natural insulation.” Natural light flows through “recycled bottles in the structures, creating a beautiful mosaic of glowing colored glass.” See structures' pros and cons at Parade.com.
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| Picure of an Earthship house. https://parade.com/living/earthship-homes |
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Ryan Thompson, after seeing the horrendous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, founded ORRA to produce environmentally friendly travel bags “Something had to be done,” he said to themanuel. com. Nearly every component of the travel bag is purposeful - from the fabric, made from upcycled water bottles, to buckles.
GREENPAN , a kitchen wares company https://www.greenpan.us/pages/sustainability produces a ceramic non-stick material that’s PTFE and PFOA-free” called Thermolon coating, according to prudentreviews.com. “Thermolon is said to be “a more natural alternative to traditional non-stick.” It doesn’t “release toxic fumes if accidentally overheated….” Conventional nonstick coatings are made with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a family of synthetic chemicals. At least 12,000 different PFAS in existence exist, with more forthcoming, some sources report! Unlike companies that pour materials used to make nonstick products into rivers and streams, carelessly letting Mother Nature deal with the toxic waste, Greenpan says they’ve built wastewater management facilities (in China and Italy) where the water “is treated and reused, creating a sustainable cycle.” Also, their website says they will “safely recycle your old cookware….” (Offices are in New York, NY.)
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Third Act, for seniors 60+, has created a movement against banks that fund pipelines and other nefarious environmental activities. They encourage seniors to close their bank accounts and credit cards with these greedy corporate players, and support and invest in sustainable/non-polluting companies.
- Enjoy lots more people doing OUTSTANDING "save our planet" work around the globe at realgreentv.net.
Innovation!
Louisiana founders of Glasshalffull.org recycles glass from landfills, residences and businesses, then sort, sift and convert it into sand used for disaster relief efforts, eco-construction, new glass products, etc. Mother Nature’s beach sands are depleting globally and rapidly. Ground2Ground in Washington state re-purposes glass into new glass – “over and over.” These folks are doing something!!!
tips & resources for doing something
- TURN
OUT lights you’re not using! You may have heard that a million times.
- CONSERVE WATER! “By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages” according to Worldwildlife.
Ø Turn OFF the faucet when you brush your teeth! Turn ON to rinse! Turn OFF the SHOWER while soaping and scrubbing! Turn ON to rinse!
Ø Wash clothes in cold water. Hot water uses more energy.
Ø Restaurant managers: ASK customers if they want water. Don’t just bring it! (I usually carry my water with me, so for people like me, bringing water without asking is a waste. Also, I conserve water by handwashing my delicates, then using that water to mop my kitchen and bathroom floors, and use the rinse water to rinse the floors.)
- DON’T
WASTE FOOD!!! USE
THE FOOD WE HAVE and COMPOST! Nearly 40%
of food in the United States - alone - is wasted each year. That’s
“108 billion pounds of food, 130 billion meals, and more than $408
billion in food thrown away.”
According to researchers, households of four throw out $120 worth of
food each month. The
Zero Food Waste Act was introduced in Congress in 2023, and President Biden signed the Food
Donation Improvement Act, also called the “GoodSamaritan Act” (, in January 2023, which eliminates “legal roadblocks that discourage food donations by
restaurants, retailers, and others.” New York based Toogoodtogo.com
does something to reduce food waste from restaurants and other food-based businesses.
Ø What
to compost: vegetable leavings (i.e., greens, garlic,
onion, potato peels, watermelon rinds, fruit peelings, cores and pits); egg
shells, bread, cheese, used tea bags and pistachio nut shells (or add them to
the soil in your garden or house plants). A compost list is at epa.gov. Some grocery stores provide compost bins. In Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C,
companies like Compost Crew offer
“clean and convenient composting services”
to businesses, organizations and residences.
Composting is required in California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont,
Massachusetts and Washington. Climate Coach, Michael J.Coren, experimented in climate gardening "...to find out" if his garden, "fed by compost and drip-irrigated, beat America's agricultural behemoths on he climate front." He was pleased with his success.
- DONATE clothes, linens, pots, pans, utensils, rugs, books, toys, furniture to charities like Martha’s Table, Good Will, Salvation Army, etc. Donationtown.org lists charities in each state that pick up donations for FREE. Candice at Theecohub.com offers a plethora of tips for recycling a host of things from shoes to bras. She even recommends how donations to freethegirls.org provides “economic opportunities and reintegration services for sex trafficking survivors.” You can earn some cash for gently worn sneakers at gotsneakers.com. H&M recycles clothes AND you get a coupon for 10% off your next purchase. “The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply,” according to the World EconomicForum.org. PLEASE don’t throw these items in the trash!!!
- DONATE, pawn, sell or gift gold, silver and diamond jewelry. Buy “new” jewelry from pawn shops or high-end second-hand stores. Doing this helps diminish the negative impact on Mother Earth from destructive strip mining and deep sea mining.
- SELL items and earn money on numerous online sites like, offerup.com, poshmart.com, Facebook
Marketplace, gotsneakers.com, etc. Cnet.org shows some of the Best Places to Sell your used electronics.
- JOIN, freecycle.org,
a grassroots nonprofit movement where people can give and get stuff for free
“in their own towns.” Recently I fulfilled a request for a broken umbrella on freecycle.org. The individual wanted to use the water-proof fabric for bicycle seat covers. You can also offer items as well as shop for free stuff on craigslist.
- SUPPORT or start campaigns to STOP corporate and government environmental Greed! STOP fracking! STOP drilling! STOP pipelines! STOP Mountain Top removals! STOP deep sea mining! I know it’s difficult to persuade greedy players to not destroy the planet, but it’s worth doing something. Fossilfree.org offers good tips.
- MOVE checking and savings accounts and credit cards to banks that DON’T
invest in environmental destruction like oil and gas pipelines. Finding socially conscious banks is not easy,
but Mighty deposits.com, lmillionwomen.com.au,
Bloomberg.com and Fossilbanks.org list
banks by environmental rankings. Again, Third Act for seniors 60+ account holders to close their bank accounts and
credit cards at financial institutions that fund nefarious environmental
activities. Their four targets, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo, since 2015, have invested more
than $1 trillion in lending to and underwriting companies building new coal
plants, gas pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, with plans for more destruction in 20 to 30 years. "Big banks in the U.S. are contributing to the No. 1 threat to the future of our planet," Ben Jealous, president of the Sierra Club stated.
- MINIMIZE SMART devices. More SMART stuff, means more energy used and more destructive environmental impact.
- SAVE our Planet and your MONEY and buy refurbished products – from cell phones and computers to air purifying fans. Buying refurbished items saves the planet from more gold and silver mining of Mother Nature’s minerals used in technology and in some clothing. For example, lithium mining (for batteries for cell phones, laptops and other devices) in Chile, Australia and China, “consumes significant amounts of water and energy, and pollutes the air and water with chemicals and heavy metals.” Saving The Planet With Refurbished Electronics is a helpful read.
REDUCE… Reuse/Repurpose… Recycle
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Glass, aluminum, newspapers, magazines, junk mail, office paper, paper plates, plastic bottles (remove the caps) and bags, you know about recycling. Below are some items you may have wondered where and how to recycle.
v greeting cards - send to St. Jude’s Recycled Card Program.
v ink pens, pencils, markers - recyclenation.com provides links and guidance - and https://recyclenation.com/2015/04/how-to-recycle-markers/.
v prescription pill bottles - see Greenmatters.com.
v Styrofoam cups & plates, which does not degrade - recycling tips at hellohomestead.com. Styrofoam containers are outlawed in only 9 U.S. states, as of 2023.
v tooth brushes, tooth paste tubes - TerraCycle® partnered with Colgate® to recycle “all brands of used or empty oral care products and packaging.” Oral-B recycles “toothbrushes, floss containers and toothpaste tubes.”
v aerosol recycling - see TerraCycle®.
v snack bags and candy wrappers - Snack packaging has a mix of unhealthy plastic, aluminum foil and polypropylene materials. Some creatives repurpose snack bags and wrappers into crafts and artwork. See TerraRecycle. com.
v batteries (in a search engine, type “How to Dispose of Alkaline Batteries” and add your state. Mom’s Organic Market, in Maryland, Virginia and DC, recycles batteries.
v light bulbs - Battery Plus in Maryland and Virginia recycles batteries AND light bulbs. Search in your area.
v coat hangers – return to dry cleaners; donate hangers made from plastic and other materials to nonprofits that donate and sell clothes.
v nail polish, lipstick cases,
cosmetic containers - Nordstrom’s appealing video shows where to take your empty beauty products. Folks at Wandsforwildlife.org re-purposes discarded mascara wands to create art and clean animals soaked in
oil from oil spills. I’ve switched to
plant-based nail polish. Hopefully it’s
better for the environment and our nails, as reported. Goingzerowaste.com lists eco-friendly nail polishes at the end of her long post. More tips at Earth911.com,
and Goodonyou.eco. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t throw these
items in the trash!!!
v disposable razors - Gillette partnered with terracycle to recycle razors. Leafsave offers plastic-free razors. Shick’s razors are made with renewable bamboo handles and 75 percent recycled-steel blades.
v broken umbrellas - Conserve-energy-future.com
offers tips. I was able to recycle two of my collection of broken umbrellas to a freecycle.org member who needed the water repellent fabric to cover torn bicycle seats.
v reading and sun glasses - donate/recycle at Livegreenrecycle bank.com; Readers.com or Readingglassesetc.com.
v electronic devices, printers, ink cartridges,
computers, phones, fitness equipment can be recycled at Bestbuy, and reset.com.
“Electronic
scrap components, such as CPUs, contain potentially harmful materials,
including lead, cadmium, beryllium, and brominated flame retardants. If e-waste
is disposed of improperly, the deteriorating components can leak these toxins
and carcinogens into the environment. Informal
processing of e-waste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health
effects and environmental pollution, with significant risks to the health of
workers and their communities,” Reset states on their website. Check your region for other recycling
companies. Check your neighborhood for other recycling companies.
v mattress - recycle at Byebyemattress.com.
v wine bottles and corks - Earth911.com and Nectarofthevine.com; cork recycling guide at Earth911.com; useful information at Corkforest.org. By the way, “Have you noticed wine bottles getting lighter?” That’s the question Washington Post’s wine aficionado, Dave McIntyre asked readers in sharing wineries that are “doing something” by shifting to lighter weight bottles, making it easier to recycle. They dispute the thinking that heavier bottles equal “better wine.”
v left over candles – plenty of DIY candle recycling tips are on the Internet, like thesprucecrafts.com site.
Recycling Predicament
The
Recycling Dilemma: Is My Recycling Really Being Recycled?, ed. For one thing, some
recycling companies are frauds. They dump recycling materials, including
cardboard, paper and newspaper (easiest to recycle) into landfills, bypassing
the designated sorting plant. (I
know. One of the men, working for such a
company with a hefty government contract, told me so.)
The other thing is, recycling companies say they can’t make a profit, especially since China’s recyclable ban. (See “After China’s Recyclable Ban, Municipalities Shift Gears,” governing.com, and "China Quits Recycling U.S. Trash As Sustainable Start-Up Makes Strides," Forbes.com,)
Also, the codes - 1 through 7 - printed inside the recycle symbol on the bottom of each plastic container, indicating its recycling ability, can confuse some people. And some jurisdictions migt not recycle numbers 4 through 7. Hence, good plastic vs. bad plastic. (Check Eartheasy. com for each code’s definition.) Consequently, some people don’t bother to recycle. They do nothing!!! I get it. But, doing nothing has consequences - adds to the trash, hurts the planet, incites A Mother’s Rage!, and threatens the environment for future generations. So, in doing nothing, they actually are doing something.
So........I ask again. What if reincarnation is a real thing and WE are the future generation who will pay the cost of people doing nothing? We must remember.....
It’s Not Good to Mess with
Mother Nature!
💖
She gives PLENTY for our NEEDS, but not enough for our GREED!!!
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| Sankofa - To look back or return |
OTHER RESOURCES
How to (Ethically) Get Rid of Your Unwanted Stuff – Wired.com
9 Totally Surprising Things You Can Recycle – Honest.com
Environmental Jobs and Internships: Citizenclimatelobby.org.
BOOKS
LESSONS FROM PLANTS, by Beronda Montgomery. Experts note that plants definitely respond to vibrations in their environment.
ONE RIVER ~ Exploration and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest, by Wade Davis. The explorers gained awe-inspiring knowledge of the Indigenous peoples, “the visionary realms of the shaman, and the extraordinary plants that sustain all life in a forest that once stood immense and inviolable.”
THE WORTH OF WATER - Our Story of Chasing Solutions to the World's Greatest Challenge, by Gary White and Matt Damon.
SUPER VOLCANOES – What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond, by Robin George Andrews.
Ducks Overboard!: A True Story of Plastic in Our Oceans, by Marcus Motum. A plastic duck narrates this beautifully illustrated true story of thousands of bath toys lost at sea and swept to the four corners of the Pacific.
F**k Plastic: 101 ways to free yourself from plastic and save the world The F Team
Choked - Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution, by Beth Gardiner
Moby-Duck: The True Story
of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers,
Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them
by Donovan Hohn.
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PBS Documentary. Extinction: The Facts
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YA BOOKS (Fiction)
Every Leaf a Hallelujah, by Ben Okri. Mangoshi lives with her mom and dad in a village near the forest. When her mom becomes ill, Mangoshi knows only one thing can help her—a special flower that grows deep in the forest.
Solimar - The Sword of Monarchs, by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Can this Mexican heroine save her family, the kingdom, and the future of the monarch butterflies from a greedy and dangerous king?
The WingBearer, by Marjorie Liu. When a sinister force threatens the life-giving magic of the tree, Zuli, along with her guardian owl, Frowly, must get to the root of it.
Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees
List of Children's Environmental books – at Goodreads. com
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Thanks for reading.
Magic, Miracles & Blessings
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