Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Very recently, someone in my life got a new used car.  An older car.  It doesn’t have any bells and whistles; there is no A/C, it has hand-cranked windows, it is loud, it bounces around in every bump in the road and I love it.  You should know that he got the car because his personal belief is that too many people get into their cars and they forget that it is a machine.  They stop connecting to the fact that they are doing something unnatural.  They get into these boxes, drive 80mph, with heated seats, DVD’s playing, listening to their choice of radio station pumped in via satellite.  They have lost sense of reality.

He got the car so that he could remember that he is in a machine.  A machine that could kill him or another person, so it forces you to obey the speed limit.  A machine where you are present to the weather, either because you are cold or hot, so you understand what is happening on this planet.  A machine that, by the nature of the type of machine it is, is not always the convenient choice, so it often times is not used and instead walking or biking is.  Every time we talked about it, even if I have no inclination of changing my car for something more.. rustic… I completely understand his position and agree with it.

The reason why is because I participate in my version of the same discussion.

I live in a townhouse.  My building contains six units and each of us has two stories.  The neighbors on one side also have six two story units and the other side is also a two story building with 12 units.  There are houses behind me.  There is a 24 unit apartment complex directly across the street.  I live on a very busy street which I just learned is zoned as a “secondary highway”.

I live with the windows and doors open as often as possible.

This is my version on the new used car.  Although, to be fair, I didn’t set out to live this way as a test.  I grew up in a house built in 1926.  We did not have air conditioning my entire childhood (my family did install it within the last year).  Whether it was where or when I grew up, the house was wide open all the time.  In the summer, we had nights where we were hiding from dive bombing june bugs while trying to sleep.  If a skunk sprayed it was swelter in the house without any draft or suck it up and learn to live with the smell.  This also allows you to wake up to the sound of birds greeting the day and hear the crickets sing you a lullaby to sleep.

So when it came to living on my own, before I would turn on the AC, I open every window and door in my house.

What this has done is similar to my friend with the car.  I hear everything.  I hear my neighbors incessant dog barking the night away.  I hear the kids behind me having tantrums.  Not to mention, the house that I suspect is occupied by drug dealers.  One neighbor does not turn his morning alarm off for no less than 45 minutes.  Beep, beep, beep for 45 minutes at 630am!  Another neighbor BBQ’s no matter what time of year.. and I am vegan so this presents its own problems.

But if I am really honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why?

Because each and everyday, I am reminded that I am part of a community.  This is a neighborhood.  There are people who live around me.  Neighbors that I have to make compromises with and ask them to do the same.

This is what it takes to be a human being living in a metropolis.

This is very different than most of the others who live around me.  Those who hermetically seal themselves in their homes behind locked doors and windows for all intents and purposes, preserving themselves in unnatural frigid temperatures.

These are the people that end up being extremely entitled at the Starbucks yelling at the barrista for not giving them the right amount of cinnamon on their latte.  These are the people that speed down a street that is posted at 25mph but they can’t be late so they go 70mph.  To put it simply these are the people that forgot how to negotiate with the others around them thereby creating a harmonious place to live instead of one where we are all out for ourselves.

I know this may seem ridiculous to some of you.  How could keeping your window do all this?  But, I truly think that it does.  I think that when you shut yourself off from your community by the physical act of shutting a window, you are that much more willing to do it psychologically.

So thank you to the man who got a used car so you could remember what it is like to be in a machine.  That simple act helped me remember that I live in a neighborhood.. with a lot of people…and I like it!

One Possible Answer

Why is there a disconnect to the meat people eat?

For the last two years, I have gradually given up meat, fish, and dairy and for the last few months have transitioned to a full vegan diet.  I had chosen this path initially because as an environmentalist, I felt it was the best thing to do for the planet.  The fact is that animal agriculture is the greatest contributor to greenhouse gases, primarily methane, and therefore environmental destabilization and planet warming.

I had initially given up red meat, but that was easy, as I never really had a craving for it.  As I read more and more about animal welfare and the treatment in the facilities, it became very simple for me to give up other animal products.  Additionally, learning that there is an allowable level of pus in my dairy products does not make me feel that great about putting it into my body.

Fish was the last thing I gave up.  I had an excuse and it went something like this:  “I have sensitivity to gluten and there are times that the only vegetarian meal on a restaurant menu is the pasta, which I can’t have.  So, on those occasions, I allow myself to eat fish.”  Before you judge, because trust me I do enough of it to myself for the both of us, everyone has their process of getting to where they need or should be.  This was mine.  I was informed enough to know at the time that over-fishing and farm fishing were a reality and a conflict with all the other ethical lines I drew for myself.

I don’t think it truly sank in until I read Foer’s “Eating Animals”.  Like for many people, this book changed my life.  He discussed the reality of the fishing industry in terms that truly affected me and I knew from that point on, fish was gone, too.  I told myself I might give myself one last sushi night.  That night never arrived and I don’t regret it one bit.

But, as most vegans do, I always wonder why do others not change after learning about factory farming?  Why does Meatless Monday seem to be a rational end for most people, instead of a small beginning?  Why do some people not give up meat?

I don’t have all the answers and I hope that I will never pretend to, but I think I have an idea about one of the answers.

I think it is as simple as this.  People don’t equate millions of animals being killed when they have simply ordered a hamburger, grilled chicken breast or wild salmon.  They see it as a one to one ratio.  I ordered a hamburger, therefore, one cow has died.  I simply think that people don’t make the connection that in order to have hamburger on the menu, hundreds, if not thousands, of animals have had to die.  And if they had to kill that many animals, what could the system be like that had to raise those animals…?  I think our brains simply don’t make that connection.  Similarly, when I knew that over fishing was a serious issue, I don’t think I made the connection to the fish that was on my plate was one of many that were caught that day.

But today I saw this photo:

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn15018-pick-of-the-pictures

With this photo, what I have learned and what had gotten me to quit my last vestige to the animal eating world, was put into a perspective and confirmed what all the scientists have been telling us.

This photo is 75 tons of sharks that are being killed only for their fins.  Just one simple body part and this is what it takes.  But what is more shocking is last year they killed 35,000 tons… that is 470 times more than what you see in this photo.

Yes.  I know that we Americans don’t eat shark fin soup.  And, I am sure some of you will use that reason to negate my point of writing this essay.  But I want you to really look for a moment at how many fucking animals are dead in this picture.  That many animals used to be in the ocean and there are 470 times more that will be killed and pulled out of their home for us to eat ONE BODY PART.  If you have an ounce of compassion, the magnitude of this will hit you.

It is simple math.  There are six billion people on this planet.  That means we have to raise/catch/slaughter almost equal amounts of animals to feed those who still eat meat. For those that we raise, their living conditions are horrendous and their treatment is akin to the treatment of people killed in genocides of the past.  For those that we catch, we are forcing species to go extinct at rates that are not normal per typical evolutionary response.

This planet is not ours.  The animals are not ours.  We have no right to do what we are doing.  It is up to you to make it stop.

Belated Happy New Year!!

Hello all…

I know I haven’t written anything here in a very long time.  I am sorry for my absence.

At some point in the last few months, I got uninspired.  Everyday I would search for articles that were worth re-printing, linking to, and discussing.  At some point, all the stories became the same and I wasn’t finding anything original.

Journalists and scientist weren’t reporting on anything positive.  Not to say, that there isn’t a necessity in saying what is truth about climate change.  And the truth about climate change is it takes a keen eye to find the glimmer of hope. We have a serious problem on this planet.

The powers that be have relegated that to CO2 levels.  But what I have learned since starting the site is that it is so much more than that.  “CO2” is not just something that you address by changing your car, or a lightbulb, or solar paneling.  Changing this planet has to be a complete shift in lifestyle.  This planet needs a reset button.  But, people don’t want to hear that because they are comfortable in being able to get a hamburger and fries.  They want to go to the mall and get the latest fashion.  They want the privacy of their cars, instead of the invasion of actually interacting with another human being.

In other words, when it comes to climate change, global warming, global destabilization or any other phrase you associate with what is going on, I have become negative, as well.  And, it isn’t fun to live in a space and energy that is negative.

So, I had a lot of thinking to do.  I had to look into figuring out what made me excited, passionate about something again, the thing that had the hope of the positive, and if I were lucky… that could also maybe help people start caring, or doing something, to help the planet.

I have found it.  But, I’m not going to share with you what it is until, hopefully, this weekend.

This site still gets a lot of activity and comments.  I will always maintain it.  If I feel so inspired an article or two or three may be posted.  We’ll see.  I will for sure be maintaining my twitter account, so please keep following me (or start, hee hee).  When there are interesting things out there, I will be sure to let you all know!

Thank you for your support over the last year.  I look forward to your readership in the future… either in the new endeavor or with Golden Spiral.

No Animal Too Small

Everyday, I go for a morning walk. I always cross over this one particular bridge. Actually, I cross over this bridge a lot, independent of my walk. This bridge is the connection from my neighborhood over to Ventura Blvd.

The story, however, starts on my morning walk. Monday Oct 5th, to be exact.

Just to give you a little peak into my brain… I enjoy walking over this bridge. It crosses the LA “River”. This particular section has a lot of birds; ducks, egrets, small birds (the type unidentifiable to me), and the occasional hawk. I think it is because this section has a patch of “land” (the cement on one side is exposed). I sometimes stop to look at the birds. I always look down to see what’s around. It makes me happy.

This particular Monday morning, I looked down and I spotted something that wasn’t supposed to be there. A squirrel.

After walking over the bridge a few times that day, doing normal errands, and noticing he was still there… I realized he was trapped. I watched him to try get out by climbing the wall, to no avail.

Hesitantly, I called animal services. For one, because I am sensitive to that fact that our public services are crunched due to budget constraints and secondly, because it seemed a bit ridiculous to call over a squirrel. An animal, I was reminded, was no different than a rat… just a bushier tail.

Everyone I talked to at animal services was amazing and assured me that it was good that I had called. Monday was a “closed because of budget issues day”, except for large animals. The officer asked me to “see if he is still there in the morning and if so, call us back. We’ll go get him.”

Lo and behold, he was there. I called.

After an exchange of calls, I was informed that this happens all the time and an officer will go out to inspect. If they felt that the squirrel could safely get out, they would leave it be, otherwise, they would send out SmART… the Small Animal Rescue Team.

I never heard back from Animal Services. Fretted for a while. But then I decided, the officers knew their job and could assess the situation and determine what needed to be done.

Then on Thursday, I was on my walk again. I looked over the bridge. And, yep…. there he was. Again, I didn’t want to think about it, because I knew the officers knew what was best for how to handle it. But, that afternoon I got a call.

A different officer was calling to see if I had noticed if the squirrel were still there, to which I said “yes”. He informed me that he was with the SmART and that they would go by the next morning and get him out.

So, now we are at Friday. The squirrel is still trapped in the river. I am on my morning walk and as I approach the bridge, I see the team is setting up the “rescue”.

After introducing myself, I learn that they are going to repel into the river from the bridge, trap the squirrel, determine if he is healthy to be released and if not rehabilitate and treat before releasing.

I also learned the most important thing: they do all of this on their own dime. They pay for all of their equipment, supplies and training out of their pocket. Because of the river and the ocean, they have all taken swift water rescue training, which came in handy when they had to rescue a deer from the ocean! Can you imagine!

These are a great group of men and women who kept assuring me that THERE IS NO ANIMAL TOO SMALL.

The whole thing gathered a crowd. I have to say, I was so disappointed in talking to the people that came by. Each and every one of them lived in our neighborhood and had seen him since Monday. Not one person called. One woman threw him granola. But that was it. It left me sad. It’s funny to think about how ridiculous I felt having called animal services, but in my book it was the only option. I couldn’t walk by everyday looking at him, doing nothing, and essentially waiting for him to die. Maybe it is an overreaction, but it seems if you chose to do nothing and let him die, that is animal cruelty. Even if it is just a squirrel.

Unfortunately, on this Friday, the squirrel got away.

They don’t know how he got down, but he indeed did not have a way out. All of the storm drains were clogged. However, one was clogged in such place that he could hide up there, out of reach of the rescuers. After a while, they had to give up.

I had left before all of this had happened. In fact, I was going to call on Monday to find out how the story ended. But, I didn’t need to… I walked by the bridge on my way to the Farmer’s Market on Sunday… almost a week later… and the team was there, getting ready to repel and save him again.

I really wish I had thought of taking pictures sooner…. using a rope, they sent down what looked like a trap to block the storm drain that he hid in the last time. We could all see him in another storm drain, poking his head out looking at us. They went into the river and blocked that storm drain he was in with a net. Through the net, they poked at him with a rod of sorts and that got him to run out, into the net, and they GOT HIM!

He was healthy! According to the law he had to be released within a mile of where he was rescued because of territory and displacement of other squirrels. (I will admit, I offered my yard.)

One reason I am sharing this with you is because it was a week long experience that made an impact on me. Most notably because of the three volunteers who go out and rescue these animals, of all sizes: cats, dogs, deer, raccoons, and even squirrels… paying for all of their equipment and training by themselves. This group needs to continue.

I would like to ask of all you to help me in sending a donation to this group. For one thing, they have a hard time getting donations.. when someone makes a donation to Animal Services, who gets the money is determined by the administration. The team doesn’t need cash… they need gift cards to Home Depot, Sports Chalet, OSH.. those kinds of places.

I was thinking if I could get people to contribute a little, we could get a gift card for a nice large amount and help them out.

I will collect the donations through my paypal account… log onto paypal just send to my email address listed which is cshells@sbcglobal.net. If you want to contribute, but don’t want to use paypal, please contact me and we can arrange something.

Thanks for reading this story. Thank you even more if you choose to contribute a donation!

Earth Gay

by Matt DeNoto

That what Gerod Rody’s gay/green organization, OUT for Sustainability, named its Earth Day events, when it built a garden and did some habitat restoration in Seattle, where the organization is located.

Gerod Rody was looking for a way to combine what he sees as the two defining facets of his life; trying to maintain an environmentally-aware, sustainable existence, and being gay. He did some research trying to find a group that filled that niche and when he couldn’t find one, he started one.

Judging by the website, the group’s focus tends more towards being green. It simply advertises itself to the LGBTQ community as a way of getting people to pay attention and giving them a reason to come out and join the group. It’s great if you can change the world, but if you can change the world while finding a date, even better!

Similarly, there’s been press over the past few months about different churches beginning to preach the benefits of a green lifestyle. They argue that God gave the Earth to humans so we could watch over it, not so we could exploit it into oblivion. There’s a Bill Moyer’s PBS Special called ‘Is God Green?’ that examines the subject.

In a previous article, I wrote about another PBS show, Building Green, which chronicled one man’s journey to build the most environmentally-friendly house he can. The website for that show, buildinggreentv.com, has grown into a community of members sharing information about sustainable building practices.

The point is that there are a number of ways to approach bringing the Green Revolution to your community. Part one is, naturally, finding out what ‘your’ community is. Outside of work, where do you spend the majority of your time?

If we each do our part to raise the consciousness of those around us, pretty soon all of us will be thinking a little more about these issues. Then they might not seem so intimidating to those unfamiliar with what the Green Revolution means. It might also help us convince those in power that we, their constituents, are ready to see them make the laws that lead to real change.

And if you can do all that while finding a date, even better.

Location, Location, Location

by Matt DeNoto

Today I have a couple of humble suggestions for relatively simple ways to make a couple of changes we might all like to see.

My first suggestion relates to guns.  There seems to be an ever-raging debate between those who believe people have an inalienable right to own guns and those who feel that guns are made only to kill and should therefore be taken out of people’s hands.  While it may be true that people kill people, they often use guns to do it.  And while we can’t get rid of the people, we can in theory get rid of the guns.

But there are plenty of enthusiasts out there who are very respectful of their guns, who just want to use them to hunt or, in an emergency, for self defense.  They practice strict gun safety and would never consider using their weapons for any illegal actions.

There may be no easy way to reconcile the two camps.  As long as the NRA has some lobbying power and the Constitution is interpreted as it has been for decades, people who want guns will be able to buy and keep them.  But many guns find their way into the hands of criminals.  Accidents kill children and gang violence affects innocent bystanders.

While the debate may not be new, perhaps some new technology can help ease the tension.  These days GPS chips are finding their way into many different forms of consumer electroni cs.  Mobile phones, cars and even laptops are being fitted with the location devices.  Why don’t we use this same technology in something a little more old school?

Putting GPS chips in guns would mean that those who simply wish to own their guns in peace could do so, because at any time it could be confirmed that those guns were where they are supposed to be.  But those who use guns to commit crimes would find that they are suddenly unable to hide.  The gun might be thrown away, but it couldn’t disappear.

I imagine there would still be an uproar from those who wish not only to own their guns, but to own them in secret, stockpiling and getting concealed weapons permits.  But they’ll have a hard time garnering sympathy when this change could have a major impact on gun use in violent crimes.

So anyway, that’s one suggestion.

The other one is a little more dear to the Green Revolution.  It relates to oil.  Besides its harmful environmental effects, there is also the oft-referenced political problem associated with our dependence on foreign oil.  Importing so much oil requires us to do business with dangerous regimes and governments that don’t much care for us.

But we love our oil.  We love it so much we don’t care who we get it from.  Right?  Perhaps that’s not fair.  Perhaps the true issue is that we don’t think about it much.  We don’t have to.  It’s not as though w e as consumers are ever given the choice between buying gasoline made from foreign or domestic sources.

What if that were not the case?  What if gas stations had to label their sources?

When you walk into a Target or a Wal-Mart and pick up a product, almost always there will be a label indicating from whence the product came.  For many products, that label says, ‘Made In China.’

What if, when you pulled up to a gas station, there was a big label on the pump that said, ‘Made In Iran?’  Would you feel so comfortable shelling out your money if you knew where it was going?

I imagine that there has already been a debate about this, that it took place a long time ago and the powerful oil lobby was able to quash the issue.  But perhaps the time is right, now that we have admitted more than once that we are addicted to oil.  Maybe now we are ready to start giving people reasons to acknowledge the consequences of paying for foreign oil, when we could be using plug-in hybrids, natural gas, or maybe even plain old domestic oil.

Just something to think about.  Enjoy your day.

Bringing Up the Rear

by Matt DeNoto

Fair warning, this is a bit of a rant.  Apologies.

One of the major arguments politicians have been making regarding the recently passed (by the House) American Clean Energy and Security Act is that the steps that it takes to try and cut America’s CO2 output are practically useless, because countries like China and India also produce a lot of CO2.

These politicians have been saying this quite a bit lately.  So much so that I feel the need to point out something that seems to me to be pretty obvious.

We can’t make laws for China and India.  They have their own governments.  If you would like to make laws for China and/or India, you probably have to move there first.

The argument also seems to imply that if we can’t make laws for China and India’s CO2 output, we just shouldn’t make any CO2 laws at all.  Which means we’ll just be sitting on the sidelines while the rest of the world innovates and reinvests and cleans up.  South Korea just dedicated 2% of its GDP over the next 5 years develop environmentally-friendly industries.  There’s a small town called Guessing, Austria that already produces more electricity than it consumes using natural biofuels.  The rest of the country also hopes to be energy self-sufficient by the end of 2010.

What will America look like then, if we still haven’t addressed our own environmental concerns?

We will look obsolete.  Antiquated.  Desperately clinging on to outdated, dirty methods, blindly insisting that we are keeping prices low for taxpayers, and profits high for companies.

And what happens when China and India’s lawmakers DO decide to pass regulations in those countries?  Will those who complained so loudly here be proud that America held out the longest?  That America dug in its heels and refused to do what reason and responsibility required?  That America, known and respected for so long for its progress and leadership, continued to wallow in its own crapulence even after it knew better?

It’s fascinating how much of the anti-environmental movement seems to be driven out of nothing but spite.  There’s a Volkswagen commercial being played now that mocks the sound hybrids make.  As if to suggest that what’s really important is having a car that makes the right engine noises.  Loud ones.  Ones that you can only get from combusting gasoline.

It’s a distraction, and in the coming years when people see the real benefits of living more while taking less, those spiteful whimperings will grow fainter and fainter.

Now let’s hope the Senate doesn’t give in.

the news item you are not being told about

For once, I am not going to fill space talking about climate change or food or chemicals.  This is going to be a blurb about media literacy.

I posted earlier about what the media isn’t telling you about swine flu.  But, there is something else the major media conglomerates have decided to not tell you about either: a pulitzer prize winner.

From Salon.com:

The New York Times‘ David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record, were completely suppressed by virtually every network and cable news show, which to this day have never informed their viewers about what Barstow uncovered.

What did he uncover?  That retired generals, that were working with major news outlets, were co-opted by the Pentagon to make the case for the Iraq war.  In fact, this is what was written about what Brian Williams of NBC had to say on that evening’s broadcast:

No mention that among the five NYT prizes was one for investigative reporting.  Williams did manage to promote the fact that one of the award winners was an MSNBC contributor, but sadly did not find the time to inform his viewers that NBC News’ war reporting and one of Williams’ still-featured premiere “independent analysts,” Gen. Barry McCaffrey, was and continues to be at the heart of the scandal for which Barstow won the Pulitzer.  Williams’ refusal to inform his readers about this now-Pulitzer-winning story is particularly notable given his direct personal involvement in the secret, joint attempts by NBC and McCaffrey to contain P.R. damage to NBC from Barstow’s story, compounded by the fact that NBC was on notice of these multiple conflicts as early as April, 2003, when The Nation first reported on them.

So why should you care?  Because the media is supressing a story.  A benign story at that.  So, it makes you wonder… what more to it is there?  And if they are withholding information on this, possibily because of corporate obligation, don’t you wonder what else they are withholding for those same reasons?

This was a prize won by a journalist who discovered that generals were being paid by the White House and the Pentagon to sell us the Iraq War through the use of mainstream media.  If you were a true journalist, like Couric, Williams, Brokaw, and all claim to be, wouldn’t you be mad that you had been lied to?  So why is it they are not mad and not telling you what happened?

swine flu: the mis-information

As we have all heard, there are great concerns over a possible pandemic of swine flu.

While I do not think this should be taken lightly, I do think the media is not providing the entire truth to this story.  Whether this becomes serious or not, only time will tell.  But the one fact that is not being told is that we (the public and consumer) have in our power the possibility of this absolutely NOT getting worse in the future.  But, they don’t want you to know this.

You may find in the various reports that the great omission is how this all happened.  So, I am going to tell you:

This all happened because of our insatiable desire for meat, and our unethical treatment of animals.

There.  Done.  You are not in the dark anymore.  Don’t you feel better.

In order to have enough meat to provide for U.S. consumption, corporations create Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO’s), or factory farms.  These are farms where large volumes of animals are raised and slaughtered to produce as much food, as quickly as possible. They have developed ways to grow these animals to as large as they can in the shortest of times.  Most of this is because they fill them with growth hormones.

Because of the confined nature of the farm, along with the use of hormones, they have to do disastrous things to these animals.  For example, pigs don’t like to be contained.  It naturally makes them nervous, and with the addition of hormones, that behavior can get worse.  As a result, many pigs have taken up the habit of gnawing on things.. any things.  There is a tendency for the animals to gnaw off another animals tail.  To prevent this, instead of changing the way they raise these animals, because that would affect the bottom line, they simply cut off each pigs tail.  This is one resaon, all the animals have to be on a cocktail of antibiotics to prevent infection and disease.

The combination of the hormones and the antibiotics has led to an ever increasing resistant strain of bacterium and viri.  Which in turn leads to an ever-increasing dose of antibiotics, and the circle continues.  So, we are now in a situation where we have extremely resistant strains of this virus migrating whereever the pork is being delivered.

Hence… swine flu outbreak.

And before you jump on the anti-mexican, anti-immigration ship… aside from the fact it is racist, it is also ill-informed:

In the last several years, U.S. hog conglomerates have opened giant swine CAFOs south of the border, including dozens around Mexico City in the neighboring states of Mexico and Puebla. Smithfield Foods also reportedly operates a huge swine facility in the State of Veracruz. Many of these CAFOs raise tens of thousands of pigs at a time. Cheaper labor costs and a desire to enter the Latin American market are drawing more industrialized agriculture to Mexico all the time, wiping out smaller, traditional farms, which now account for only a small portion of swine production in Mexico.

This is not a fault of Mexico or Mexicans.  This is UNITED STATES corporations using international policy to grow swine in such a way that is leading to the death of these people.  THIS country is the sole holder of the blame.

The only way we can fight this current outbreak is through the localized treatment of individuals with the hope that we have an antibiotic strong enough to counter the swine flu.

The only way we can prevent this in the future is stop our current practices of how we raise animals for consumption.  The only way that can stop is when we, the consumer, demand better food and eat less meat.

well, could it?

Could your trash can solve the energy crisis? is the question asked by the latest issue of the New Scientist.

The article highlights one of many companies looking to convert your trash into clean, green energy.

IST is not alone in this revolution. It is one of a growing number of companies and research groups around the world working on gasification – a process that zaps household waste into energy and which, its advocates say, produces few or no harmful emissions. Yet as pilot gasification plants begin to spring up around the world, this apparent environmentalist’s dream is not being universally welcomed. Opponents argue that the process is far from clean and that its track record in terms of energy efficiency and emissions can hardly be considered green. Not to mention the fact that it encourages the throwaway society that the environmental movement has been trying so hard to get rid of. So what is the real story? Is vaporising trash the answer to our energy and waste-disposal woes, or an environmental wolf in sheep’s clothing?

It involves a process called plasma gasification, which is something I won’t go into, since the article is very informative about the process.  

I am directing you to this article a.) because it is interesting, but more importantly, b.) continuing proof that people are innovative and working hard to come up with alternatives to how we view waste and energy.  I think it is also important to look at criticism of these new process by looking at who is the critic.  Many large, established, politically active corporations are looking at these innovations as a threat.  They have the time and money for extensive ad campaigns to confuse the consumer with what is good and bad about emerging technologies.

I do think the article is well written and deserves attention so that you have this in your mind.  Especially, if we start seeing the attacks by other “scientists” challenging or refuting these processes as a possibility.

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