So in continuation with my total disgust with the oil spill situation, I have to comment on a show I watched over the weekend. Need to know, which is a news program on PBS, did a very moving story on a little town in Louisiana. They are a beach community like Fernandina, where I live, and they have literally shut down. They make there money off tourism which is plentiful when you live near the ocean. Unless you have oil in your water! Peoples' lively hoods are at stake! BP is not going to pay out enough to keep any of these people from losing their homes and business'. So it seems to me the odds of our beach community feeling the effects of the oil spill will be just as severe. The story just really hit home with me and made me very emotional. I just really felt for these people whose lives are being destroyed by things that are out of their control. Not only are they having to pick up the pieces STILL after hurricane Katrina, but now for the "love of oil" they will have to do it again. I think this may be more catastrophic than Katrina, because I think we will feel the after effects for a long time to come. Enjoy local seafood while you can, you may not have that option soon. I hate to be a pessimist but I feel we won't recover from this any time soon. I heard it is 1.2 million gallons of oil a day that are pouring into our oceans! Didn't anyone plan ahead for something like this? Didn't anyone care enough to? Do we think this won't have long time effects? We can't even imagine yet the destruction of ocean life and the messed up generations of ocean life to come. The effects are bound to devastate us unimaginably! So now the fishing industry is shut down, the beach communities business is shut down, and they are all losing money by the day! By the gallon! Will BP rise to the occasion and help the people that will be in need? My hopes are not that high unfortunately! But file the claim and they will pay all legitimate claims! What they need to do is quit spending all that money on new commercials and new programs! Shouldn't you be paying the light bills and mortgage payments of those that because of you are out of work now!

Latest news:

BP to Donate Net Revenue from MC252 Well Leak to Protect and Rehabilitate Wildlife in Gulf States. As part of its commitment to restore the environment and habitats in the Gulf Coast region, BP today announced that it will donate the net revenue from oil recovered from the MC252 spill to create a new wildlife fund to create, restore, improve and protect wildlife habitat along the coastline of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The creation of this fund is over and above BP's obligations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

So this is a headline on BP's website. It really just saddens me that it is still about the money. They say the will donate over and beyond what they are obligated to do! What? There is no way any amount of money will replace all that has been lost. The human lives, as well as sea life and after effects on our waters. This is not about money! But when is money NOT an issue? It should have been about taking care of our oceans before anything else. There should have been a better plan for something like this, and I think there are ways of fixing WEEKS ago, but no one wants to mess up their precious oil supply! The things BP keeps saying is astonishing, who the hell do they think they are? I hope these dear BP executives get their lives back soon! So they can go back to making more money than needed and screwing up anything in their path to getting the cash!!!! I want to take them all out there and let them swim around in it for a while! Make them TRY to clean it up, after all it's their mess!

So I have been gardening for about 3 years now. My husband is an avid grower and has been since he was about 3. (That's when he started his own strawberry patch) He loves it way more than most! I have learned it is way harder than I might have first anticipated. I think I let him do most of the work in the beginning, but I have come around to putting my share of elbow grease into it. I have found the beauty in it, and it has become very rewarding.

The best part is I get fresh veggies, and I know where they came from! Not shipped across seas! Flown in planes! Handled by who knows who! Just pure deliciousness. With prices the way they are for fruit and vegetables it is beneficial to have at least a little something growing that you can eat! We have broccoli, squash, corn, onions, okra, and lots of different tomatoes. I think that's all! :) We also have just started a blueberry patch, but are having some issues with that. We had issues with the tomatoes too but we keep on trying! I have to say I gotta give it up for the farmers! I don't think people truly appreciate where their food comes from.

I think maybe our kids will learn a thing or two from it as well. At least that's what we are hoping. Our 3 year old helps pull weeds and knows what the veggies are and that he's having them for dinner! It's nice to see him excited about it. It's fun for him, and hopefully it will stay that way!

The garden can be pretty amazing first thing in the morning. I had to pollinate squash, because we have a shortage of bees, and it's neat to see the flowers throughout the day as they open up and stuff. Gardening is a wonderful thing that I think everyone should experience. I really puts things in perspective, as far as our earth is concerned. I feel that much more compelled to take care of it and appreciate it. So if you've thought about gardening, you should try it. It's hard work, but anything worth having is hard work!

I read an article in hippiemagazine.com about research that is being done on gecko's feet. Obviously the gecko has been running up & down vertical surfaces, and holding onto things with one toe for a while. And I learned we have been doing some research on it for a while now too! It's coming more to light now at Berkeley where they are using the concept called biomimicry. This is where we look at nature's solutions and apply them to more complex design issues. Like our adhesives we use. Why can't we use the same tools that the gecko's use?

So now after putting the foot under the microscope, literally, we realize that they have hairs that independently adhere to surfaces. They work on hard or soft, dry or wet, underwater, even in a vacuum! How amazing is that!

It just really keeps my hopes up for a better world for our kids. Everyday we are making new discoveries that can make our world a better place to live in, and trying not to waste our resources. There are some people out there that the all-mighty dollar isn't in charge of how they think and it really is about the over-all good! It makes me optimistic of what we can do and what we can change if we put our minds to it. I mean, to get a SUPER STICKY, all natural glue from learning about mother nature! Right On!

Reduce, Recycle, and Replant -

Data Highlights on Restoring the World's Forests.

by Earth Policy Institute on April 29, 2010

in Science

The world's forests, which cover a third of Earth's land area, provide us with many essential services. They absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and give us oxygen, limit soil erosion, aid in flood control and aquifer recharge, and host a wealth of biodiversity. But as human populations have grown, so, too, have the demands placed on these natural systems. As vast swaths of forests have been cleared for agriculture and development, the use of forest products has also climbed, further increasing pressures on the world's trees.

In 2008, some 3.4 billion cubic meters of wood were removed from the world's forests, enough to cover Manhattan nearly 60 meters (200 feet) deep in lumber.....

Across Asia, 76 percent of wood cut down is used as fuel. In Africa fuelwood accounts for 90 percent....while the rest is used for industrial purposes (construction or paper prod.)...

....South Korea recycles 85% of its paper....US (the #1 paper consumer) recycles 1/2 of its paper....China recycles only 35%....if every country recycled as much of its paper as South Korea....the amount we use would decrease by a third.

.....widespread tree planting efforts are also needed to restore forests.....The United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign....since 2006...governments and individuals have planted over 10 billion trees.

So in an effort to find something to blog about I found this picture on sustainablog.org

I just hurt to see such a neat tree cut down. This is in Guatemala. It was an article about Deforestation. So I figured I would write about the problems we are having with our precious planet now-a-days and how I came to think more about it.

Now I have never been a big tree hugger. Granted I come from hippies, but tend to use a razor and ENJOY indoor plumbing, running water, electricity...way too much!!! I love nature and all the beauty in Mother Earth, but never thought I would be one to recycle or grow my own veggies (which I do now), or worry about the crap in the food I eat. Until I had my son.

I pay more attention to news reports about the food we eat. The pesticides & preservatives they are putting on out food scare the hell out of me. I don't want to feed those things to ANYONE! I have a garden now, and it keeps getting bigger. I recycle all I can. And am trying to go organic as much as possible. Staying away from crap that we KNOW is not good for us! And trying to instill that in my family.

I think a lot differently about the way I take care of my family. I want them to eat good foods. And know how to grow their own. I try to teach them to conserve and recycle and take care of this beautiful earth. It's so important! And I wish I would have started sooner, but better late than never.