Calif. to cut water deliveries to cities, farms
By SAMANTHA YOUNG, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California said Thursday that it plans to cut water deliveries to their second-lowest level ever next year, raising the prospect of rationing for cities and less planting by farmers.
The Department of Water Resources projects that it will deliver just 15 percent of the amount that local water agencies throughout California request every year.
Since the first State Water Project deliveries were made in 1962, the only time less water was promised was in 1993, but heavy precipitation that year ultimately allowed agencies to receive their full requests.
The reservoirs that are most crucial to the state's water delivery system are at their lowest levels since 1977, after two years of dry weather and court-ordered restrictions on water pumping out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This year, water agencies received just 35 percent of the water they requested.
It's facts like these that make me angry whenever I see a sprinkler head spouting water all over the sidewalk or on the street instead of on the grass. Californians waste more water than they can afford.
Here are some tips on how you can make a difference by being more water conscious. Access to clean water may not be limited in your state now, so let's keep it that way!! These tips are EASY to follow and make a BIG difference.
HOW YOU CAN HELP SAVE WATER:
1. Turn off the faucet while you are brushing your teeth.
2. Take shorter showers.
3. Don't use the hose to "sweep" your patio... that's what a broom is for.
4. Fix all leaky faucets or fixtures.
5. Soap up your dishes without the water running then rinse them.
6. Put a brick or large stone in the water chamber of your toilet. It'll reduce the amount of water your toilet uses.
7. If you absolutely HAVE to water your grass, do so at night so the water won't evaporate during the day.
8. Collect rain water to water plants.
9. Take showers instead of baths.
10. Educate others on how they can also conserve water. It's simple. The more people who are more water conscious, the more water we save!!
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
YAY, LA... NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS IN 2010!!!!
LOS ANGLES (AFP) - The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.
The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.
After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biodegradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.
The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.
San Francisco, 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of here, also in California, in 2007 became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores.
Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.
Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.
HECK YES. :)
The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.
After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biodegradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.
The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.
San Francisco, 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of here, also in California, in 2007 became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores.
Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.
Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.
HECK YES. :)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Childhood Cancer Most Prominent in Northeast
Here is an abbreviated version of the article posted 2 hours ago by AP Medical Writer Lindsay Tanner:
CHICAGO - Surprising research suggests that childhood cancer is most common in the Northeast, results that even caught experts off guard. But some specialists say it could just reflect differences in reporting.
The study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on data representing 90 percent of the U.S. population. It found that cancer affects about 166 out of every million children, a number that shows just how rare childhood cancers are.
The highest rate was in the Northeast with 179 cases per million children, while the lowest was among children in the South with 159 cases per million. Some experts suggested that could mean cases were under-reported in the South and over-reported elsewhere.
The rates for the Midwest and West were nearly identical, at 166 cases per million and 165 per million, respectively.
A total of 36,446 cases were identified in the study, which analyzed 2001-03 data from state and federal registries. The research appears in the June edition of Pediatrics, released Monday.
Dr. Rafael Ducos, a children's cancer physician at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, said the South's low rates were perplexing and might simply reflect
under-reporting there and over-reporting in other regions.
"I'm at a loss to explain it," he said.
Environmental factors might play a role, including exposure to radiation, said lead author Dr. Jun Li of the CDC. Radiation has been linked with the most common types of childhood cancer — leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancers.
Radiation sources include X-rays, nuclear plant emissions and natural sources such as radon gas. But Li said research is needed to determine if these sources vary enough by region to affect childhood cancer rates.
Dr. Lindsay Frazier, a cancer specialist at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, said pollution and housing stock that's older than anywhere else in the nation might help explain the Northeast's higher rates.
"As a parent raising a family in the Northeast, this does not at all increase my concern for my family or for my neighbors," Levy said, adding, "First and foremost, these are still very rare diseases in children."
Regional differences in rates for some specific cancers have been found in adults, but these are likely due to personal habits and lifestyle factors, Ward said. For example, lung cancer rates are high in the South because smoking is generally more popular there, she said.
But it generally takes years of exposure to lifestyle factors such as smoking before
cancer develops, she said, so this wouldn't explain children's rates.
I don't mean to sound cocky, but it doesn't take a scientist to figure out why there are higher cancer rates in the northeast portion of the United States. It is really alarming that of the scientists involved in these studies, none of them could come to the conclusion I came to immediately after reading this article. Why aren't science geniuses also blessed with the common sense gene???
HERE IS WHY THERE ARE HIGHER RATES OF CANCER IN THE NORTHEAST:
GET A LOAD OF THE PROPAGANDA THE GOVERNMENT WAS FEEDING PEOPLE IN THE 1950s. Just hide in a shelter for two weeks and rinse off fruit before eating it -- BAHAHAHA!! this one is even better:
But I regress...
Back to my point: I hope you noticed the part about the "down winds" when the map was shown in the first video. If not, here it is:
As you can see, all pollution and yes, particles from the HUNDREDS of nuclear bomb tests that have occurred in Nevada since the 1940s... get whisked to the east coast from the west by down winds. So it's no wonder why there are higher cancer rates in the northeast. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that virtually every person who has lived in the United States since 1951 has been exposed to radioactive fallout. And the fallout hovers over the east coast longer than the west coast.
I also have a problem with the author's ending statement: "...lung cancer rates are high in the South because smoking is generally more popular there, she said. But it generally takes years of exposure to lifestyle factors such as smoking before cancer develops, she said, so this wouldn't explain children's rates." ARE YOU SERIOUSLY A MEDICAL WRITER?! AND DID YOU REALLY SPEAK WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL??? Smoking wouldn't explain the children's rates?!? Nobody besides myself factored in second hand smoke (oh, the irony) nor the probability of carcinogens the child faced while in the womb?!!
THIS IS COMMON SENSE. Articles like these make me livid because it proves tax payers are funding USELESS scientific studies run by clueless scientists. Not all scientists are clueless and not all scientific studies are useless, i know, but most scientists and companies are polluting the earth by creating even MORE household chemicals (that ad agencies convince you that you need) which work their way into our water supply and contaminate our drinking water.
CHICAGO - Surprising research suggests that childhood cancer is most common in the Northeast, results that even caught experts off guard. But some specialists say it could just reflect differences in reporting.
The study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on data representing 90 percent of the U.S. population. It found that cancer affects about 166 out of every million children, a number that shows just how rare childhood cancers are.
The highest rate was in the Northeast with 179 cases per million children, while the lowest was among children in the South with 159 cases per million. Some experts suggested that could mean cases were under-reported in the South and over-reported elsewhere.
The rates for the Midwest and West were nearly identical, at 166 cases per million and 165 per million, respectively.
A total of 36,446 cases were identified in the study, which analyzed 2001-03 data from state and federal registries. The research appears in the June edition of Pediatrics, released Monday.
Dr. Rafael Ducos, a children's cancer physician at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, said the South's low rates were perplexing and might simply reflect
under-reporting there and over-reporting in other regions.
"I'm at a loss to explain it," he said.
Environmental factors might play a role, including exposure to radiation, said lead author Dr. Jun Li of the CDC. Radiation has been linked with the most common types of childhood cancer — leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancers.
Radiation sources include X-rays, nuclear plant emissions and natural sources such as radon gas. But Li said research is needed to determine if these sources vary enough by region to affect childhood cancer rates.
Dr. Lindsay Frazier, a cancer specialist at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, said pollution and housing stock that's older than anywhere else in the nation might help explain the Northeast's higher rates.
"As a parent raising a family in the Northeast, this does not at all increase my concern for my family or for my neighbors," Levy said, adding, "First and foremost, these are still very rare diseases in children."
Regional differences in rates for some specific cancers have been found in adults, but these are likely due to personal habits and lifestyle factors, Ward said. For example, lung cancer rates are high in the South because smoking is generally more popular there, she said.
But it generally takes years of exposure to lifestyle factors such as smoking before
cancer develops, she said, so this wouldn't explain children's rates.
I don't mean to sound cocky, but it doesn't take a scientist to figure out why there are higher cancer rates in the northeast portion of the United States. It is really alarming that of the scientists involved in these studies, none of them could come to the conclusion I came to immediately after reading this article. Why aren't science geniuses also blessed with the common sense gene???
HERE IS WHY THERE ARE HIGHER RATES OF CANCER IN THE NORTHEAST:
GET A LOAD OF THE PROPAGANDA THE GOVERNMENT WAS FEEDING PEOPLE IN THE 1950s. Just hide in a shelter for two weeks and rinse off fruit before eating it -- BAHAHAHA!! this one is even better:
But I regress...
Back to my point: I hope you noticed the part about the "down winds" when the map was shown in the first video. If not, here it is:
As you can see, all pollution and yes, particles from the HUNDREDS of nuclear bomb tests that have occurred in Nevada since the 1940s... get whisked to the east coast from the west by down winds. So it's no wonder why there are higher cancer rates in the northeast. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that virtually every person who has lived in the United States since 1951 has been exposed to radioactive fallout. And the fallout hovers over the east coast longer than the west coast.
I also have a problem with the author's ending statement: "...lung cancer rates are high in the South because smoking is generally more popular there, she said. But it generally takes years of exposure to lifestyle factors such as smoking before cancer develops, she said, so this wouldn't explain children's rates." ARE YOU SERIOUSLY A MEDICAL WRITER?! AND DID YOU REALLY SPEAK WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL??? Smoking wouldn't explain the children's rates?!? Nobody besides myself factored in second hand smoke (oh, the irony) nor the probability of carcinogens the child faced while in the womb?!!
THIS IS COMMON SENSE. Articles like these make me livid because it proves tax payers are funding USELESS scientific studies run by clueless scientists. Not all scientists are clueless and not all scientific studies are useless, i know, but most scientists and companies are polluting the earth by creating even MORE household chemicals (that ad agencies convince you that you need) which work their way into our water supply and contaminate our drinking water.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Low Impact Ways to Become Low-Impact.
SIX small actions even the busiest humanoid can do to make a positive impact on the earth.
Consider this your new to-do list...
1. UNPLUG ELECTRONICS AND APPLIANCES: An easy, yet easily forgotten concept. Did you know your tv, radio, computer, VCR/DVD player and cell phone charger continue to draw electricity even when they're turned off?? FACT: The wasted electricity of leaving electronics and appliances plugged in is equivalent to continuously leaving a 100-watt light bulb on. Unplugging these items when not in use will reduce your environmental impact while reducing your electricity bill. Solution: Use power strips. The on/off switch will allow you to unplug your tv, VCR/DVD player, computer and printer at the same time.
2. STOP OD-ING ON NAPKINS: Same concept applies to toilet paper. It's not that difficult to "spare a square". (YES, although highly criticized, Sheryl Crow was on to something!!) My boyfriend and I lay out our wet paper towels on our kitchen counter and by the time we need another, our old paper towels are dry and ready to use again!! (We also use a large bath towel for our "kitchen towel" so we rarely have to rely on paper towels). FACT: If everyone in the US used ONE fewer napkin a day, we could save more than a BILLION pounds of napkins from landfills each year. Imagine the difference you can make if don't use any!!
3. STOP USING PLASTIC CUPS AND PLASTIC PLATES: Not only is plastic the most popular landfill material, but it's also been linked to cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Make a safer switch to reusable glass or ceramic mugs, cups and plates. Concerned with the amount of water and detergent you'll need to use to wash reusable dishware?? Turn off the water while scrubbing and use eco-friendly natural detergents like these.
4. SKIP THE WRAPPING PAPER: It's only on a package for a matter of minutes anyway. FACT: According to hotfact.com, Americans throw away up to 25% more garbage (five million tons more than the daily 3.5 pounds of garbage we usually throw away) between Thanksgiving and the New Year. About four million of those tons are made up of wrapping paper and shopping bags. Instead of wrapping paper, reuse newspapers (the comic section is always a favorite) and don't forget to recycle afterward!!
5. PLAY GAMES: Improve yourself while helping improve the lives of others simply by visiting http://www.freerice.com where you play a game to end world hunger while improving your vocabulary!! The concept: for every correct response, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will distribute 20 grains of rice to countries in need. "In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, the World Food Program buys food locally to support local farmers and the local economy." How it's possible: the money generated by the advertisements on the bottom of your game screen is used to buy the rice. Awesome.
6. CHOOSE CANVAS: The paper vs. plastic dilemma is solved by using reusable canvas bags!! Most grocery stores will offer small refunds if you bring your own bags. FACT: Using reusable bags saves 12 million barrels of oil and 14 million trees each year. If those facts aren't enough incentive, remember that canvas bags are sturdier and you will never have to worry about the handles ripping off while you carry your groceries.
All facts were found in the April 2008 edition of Women's Day. Kudos to them!! Some facts were also originally obtained by Deirdre Dolan at The Daily Green.
Consider this your new to-do list...
1. UNPLUG ELECTRONICS AND APPLIANCES: An easy, yet easily forgotten concept. Did you know your tv, radio, computer, VCR/DVD player and cell phone charger continue to draw electricity even when they're turned off?? FACT: The wasted electricity of leaving electronics and appliances plugged in is equivalent to continuously leaving a 100-watt light bulb on. Unplugging these items when not in use will reduce your environmental impact while reducing your electricity bill. Solution: Use power strips. The on/off switch will allow you to unplug your tv, VCR/DVD player, computer and printer at the same time.
2. STOP OD-ING ON NAPKINS: Same concept applies to toilet paper. It's not that difficult to "spare a square". (YES, although highly criticized, Sheryl Crow was on to something!!) My boyfriend and I lay out our wet paper towels on our kitchen counter and by the time we need another, our old paper towels are dry and ready to use again!! (We also use a large bath towel for our "kitchen towel" so we rarely have to rely on paper towels). FACT: If everyone in the US used ONE fewer napkin a day, we could save more than a BILLION pounds of napkins from landfills each year. Imagine the difference you can make if don't use any!!
3. STOP USING PLASTIC CUPS AND PLASTIC PLATES: Not only is plastic the most popular landfill material, but it's also been linked to cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Make a safer switch to reusable glass or ceramic mugs, cups and plates. Concerned with the amount of water and detergent you'll need to use to wash reusable dishware?? Turn off the water while scrubbing and use eco-friendly natural detergents like these.
4. SKIP THE WRAPPING PAPER: It's only on a package for a matter of minutes anyway. FACT: According to hotfact.com, Americans throw away up to 25% more garbage (five million tons more than the daily 3.5 pounds of garbage we usually throw away) between Thanksgiving and the New Year. About four million of those tons are made up of wrapping paper and shopping bags. Instead of wrapping paper, reuse newspapers (the comic section is always a favorite) and don't forget to recycle afterward!!
5. PLAY GAMES: Improve yourself while helping improve the lives of others simply by visiting http://www.freerice.com where you play a game to end world hunger while improving your vocabulary!! The concept: for every correct response, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will distribute 20 grains of rice to countries in need. "In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, the World Food Program buys food locally to support local farmers and the local economy." How it's possible: the money generated by the advertisements on the bottom of your game screen is used to buy the rice. Awesome.
6. CHOOSE CANVAS: The paper vs. plastic dilemma is solved by using reusable canvas bags!! Most grocery stores will offer small refunds if you bring your own bags. FACT: Using reusable bags saves 12 million barrels of oil and 14 million trees each year. If those facts aren't enough incentive, remember that canvas bags are sturdier and you will never have to worry about the handles ripping off while you carry your groceries.
All facts were found in the April 2008 edition of Women's Day. Kudos to them!! Some facts were also originally obtained by Deirdre Dolan at The Daily Green.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Contrary to popular belief, the beach isn't your ashtray.
As an avid beach goer, you can imagine my disgust when I discovered an AP article titled "Group finds 6 million pounds of trash on world's beaches."
The original article was written by Josef Hebert, but here is my Cliff Notes version:
6 million pounds of GARBAGE was found on 33,000 miles of shoreline worldwide IN ONE DAY, providing a "global snapshot of the ocean trash problem."
On average, the 378,000 volunteers collected 182 pounds of trash for every mile of shoreline in 76 countries, including the U.S. (both ocean coastlines and beaches on inland lakes and streams) and found cigarette butts, food wrappers, abandoned fishing lines and plastic bags... all of which threaten seabirds and marine mammals.
"This is a snapshot of one day, one moment in time, but it serves as a powerful reminder of our carelessness and how our disparate and random actions actually have a collective and global impact," Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy said in an interview.
The most extensive cleanup was in the United States where 190,000 volunteers covered 10,110 miles and picked up 3.9 million pounds of debris on a single Saturday last September, according to the report. That's 390 pounds of trash per mile!!!
"It represents a general carelessness we have. ... We're the bad guys. Trash doesn't fall from the sky. It actually falls from our hands," said Spruill.
A third of the debris found came from smokers.
The volunteers collected and cataloged nearly 2.3 million cigarette butts, filters and cigar tips. And they found 587,827 bags; more than 1.7 million food wrappers, containers, lids, cups, plates and eating utensils; and nearly 1.2 million bottles and beverage cans.
Divers also scoured waters offshore, collecting about 160,000 pounds of debris from cigarette waste and food containers to more threatening items: abandoned fishing lines, plastic bags, rope, fishing nets and abandoned crab and lobster traps.
The International Coastal Cleanup also focused attention on the damage these items can do...
The volunteers came across 81 birds, 63 fish, 49 invertebrates, 30 mammals and 11 reptiles and one amphibian that all had become entangled in various debris including fishing line, rope or plastic bags, balloon ribbons and strings, building material, vehicle tires, wire, and beverage six-pack holders.
What bothers me the most is all out our environmental problems are self-induced. The only reason there was 6 million more pounds of garbage on our world's beaches is because people were TOO LAZY to properly dispose of their trash. This could have EASILY been prevented had those people took the 5 extra steps to the nearest trash can OR carried their garbage home with them.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: BE RESPONSIBLE AND PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF. IF YOU CARRY IN, CARRY OUT... DON'T LEAVE YOUR GARBAGE BEHIND!!!!
This study is further proof that one person does make a difference. Don't ever assume your ONE measely cigarette butt/plastic bag/balloon isn't going to matter if it's left behind. That ignorant train of thought is what contributed to there being over 6 MILLION pounds of trash on our beaches. If you want to reduce pollution, reduce laziness.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
AN INTRODUCTION
ABOUT ME AND MY INTENTIONS: although i love blogging about my work/whereabouts/photography, my main concern and passion has and always will be our environment. i'm creating this blog as an attempt to identify, educate and hopefully help solve ongoing environmental injustices which occur daily on this planet. it's about time we accept responsibility and correct the damage we've done. i hope you join my crusade and help create the social/political/environment changes we so desperately need. we all caused these environmental disasters (or "stresses" if you want to feel less of a villain), therefore we should all make an effort to lessen the harmful impact we place on our earth.
ABOUT THE NAME: i am calling this blog "end second hand smoke" because i view air, water and land pollution as second hand smoke -- harmful vapors and chemicals emitted by polluters, consumers, businesses and the government that we are being forced to ingest. how long are we going to allow them to contaminate us???
HOW YOU CAN HELP: at the end of each article i post that addresses a particular envionmental issue, i will post ways you can make a difference. i am hoping YOU will make an attempt to contribute to the cause because i certainly will be. by posting productive counter-actions, i hope you will realize the vital impact they have on society. if you need further proof that one person can make a difference, go watch Norma Rae. that movie ALWAYS inspires me. :)
WORDS TO LIVE BY:
"This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." ~Chief Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish Indians
ABOUT THE NAME: i am calling this blog "end second hand smoke" because i view air, water and land pollution as second hand smoke -- harmful vapors and chemicals emitted by polluters, consumers, businesses and the government that we are being forced to ingest. how long are we going to allow them to contaminate us???
HOW YOU CAN HELP: at the end of each article i post that addresses a particular envionmental issue, i will post ways you can make a difference. i am hoping YOU will make an attempt to contribute to the cause because i certainly will be. by posting productive counter-actions, i hope you will realize the vital impact they have on society. if you need further proof that one person can make a difference, go watch Norma Rae. that movie ALWAYS inspires me. :)
WORDS TO LIVE BY:
"This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." ~Chief Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish Indians
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