Small Actions, Big Results

In the spirit of eco-steps, there are many seemingly small, easy things we can all do that can add up to have a collectively large impact on our health, our lives and our environment.  But maybe there aren't enough of us doing them.  And maybe we could all do a little bit more.  I think both statements are true.  With June of 2010 being the hottest on record, and terrible things like the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, flooding in Pakistan, and drought and wild fires in Russia, I think it's time that everyone start paying a little closer attention.

Water, Water...Nowhere? Part II

  As a follow on to my March post entitled Water, Water...Nowhere?, I wanted to share the Yes! Magazine's Summer 2010 Issue that highlights water solutions.  You can check out the latest here:  Water Solutions.  Very thought provoking information!

How Many Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Does It Take to Close 705 Coal Plants?

www.earthpolicy.org/index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch04_ss2 By Lester R. Brown
The lighting sector is on the edge of a spectacular revolution, a shift from the century-old, inefficient incandescent light bulb to far more efficient technologies. Perhaps the quickest, most profitable way to reduce electricity use worldwide—thus cutting carbon emissions—is simply to change light bulbs. The first advance in this field came with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Replacing old-fashioned inefficient incandescent bulbs that are still widely used today with new CFLs can reduce the electricity used for lighting by three fourths. Over its lifetime, each standard (13 watt) CFL will reduce electricity bills by roughly $30. And though a CFL may cost twice as much as an incandescent, it lasts 10 times as long. Each one reduces energy use compared with an incandescent by the equivalent of 200 pounds of coal over its lifetime. For perspective, the energy saved by replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb with an equivalent CFL over its lifetime is sufficient to drive a Toyota Prius hybrid car from New York to San Francisco.

Saving Civilization is not a Spectator Sport - Lester R. Brown

SAVING CIVILIZATION IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT www.earthpolicy.org/index.php?/book_bytes/2010/pb4ch10_ss8 By Lester R. Brown	Earth Policy Release    Book Byte    April 22, 2010
Given the enormous environmental and social challenges faced by our early twenty-first century global civilization, one of the questions I hear most frequently is, What can I do? People often expect me to talk about lifestyle changes, recycling newspapers, or changing light bulbs. These are essential, but they are not nearly enough. We now need to restructure the global economy, and quickly. It means becoming politically active, working for the needed changes. Saving civilization is not a spectator sport. Inform yourself, read about the issues. If you want to know what happened to earlier civilizations that found themselves in environmental trouble, read Collapse by Jared Diamond or A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright or The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph Tainter. My latest book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, can be downloaded free of charge from Earth Policy Institute's (EPI's) Web site, earthpolicy.org, along with complementary data sets and a slide show summary. If you find these materials useful in helping you think about what to do, share them with others.

Water, Water...Nowhere?

Approximately 2/3 of our planet is covered by water.  But how much of it is usable for humans?  The answer: 1%.  That's it. Only 1% of the water on our planet is considered fresh water and usable by humans.  The other 99%, we can't really use. Let that sink in for a few seconds.