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Action
Inspiration
Information
Action
Inspiration
Information
Action
Inspiration
Information
Action
Inspiration
Information
Action
Inspiration
Information
Information | Inspiration | Action
Like you and everyone else who even sort-of gives a damn, I try doing my part in small increments. I've put up these links as part of that incremental attempt to do more.
|
Stop whispering. Start shouting. |
Information
Action is best fueled by information. One of my favorite information sources is AlterNet -- excellent, ecclectic, independent news and commentary. Common Dreams is another good place to start.
Grist Magazine: "gloom and doom with a sense of humor"
One of the obvious questions is just how much I'm doing
personally, and how much more I should be doing. I took the
Ecological Footprint quiz, and found that my "footprint"
is about 12 acres.
That's less than half the US average, but is still so much that it's estimated
that we would need 2.7 times as much biologically productive land as we
now have if everyone adopted my lifestyle. And everyone thinks I'm overconcerned
about stuff. Heck, I thought I was doing pretty good. The quiz certainly
oversimplifies, and I'd like to think my footprint is a bit smaller than
that, but it's an interesting starting point. What's
your footprint?
Another way to look at your impact on the climate: http://www.carboncounter.org
| Common sense requires constant reappraisal. ~ Albert Einstein |
Global Warming Evidence (are we awake yet?)
|
The idea that growth is always good makes tumors the ideal toward which we all strive. Time to rethink. See Redefining Progress.
Gaia's Forest Conservation Archives and Portal
MoJoWire Mother Jones Interactive Magazine: great investigative journalism, plus a wealth of information on political campaigns and an awesome index of activist links. |
They hang the man and flog the woman The law demands that we atone |
Earthday Resources for Living Green has good information on making greener choices. Of particular use are their Don't Be Fooled Reports and Greenwasher of the Month articles.
More on corporate greenwashing and globalization issues at http://www.corpwatch.org/
| My opinion about people who drive
Hummers is that they're clueless and they have the money to advertise
it. ~Peter Camejo |
For more on greenwashing and other sorts of corporate spin, have a look at PR Watch. Learn a little more about cars and how they might be made less evil at the Clean Car Campaign. |
EIA - The Environmental Investigation Agency "In the 21st century all pressure groups will be like the EIA - lean, smart and media-savvy. They are eco-spies bringing the fight against animal injustice to global attention..." The Face http://www.eia-international.org/
|
The most remarkable feature of this historical
moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying our
world - we've actually been on the way for quite a while. It is
that we are beginning to wake up... to a whole new relationship
to our world, to ourselves, and to each other.
~ Joanna Macy |
Inspiration
Bioneers: http://www.bioneers.org We're meeting for conversations here in Santa Cruz - please join us.
They must put something in the eco-friendly water at their annual conference. For three days you believe wholeheartedly that the people there (you included) can change the world, and soon. The effect is so potent that it takes months to wear off.
You remember that Gary Larson cartoon, where the kid raises his hand and asks the teacher if he can be excused because his brain is full. That was me, kinda by Friday afternoon, and definitely by Sunday. Zowie.
| We humans are smart enough to have
created complex systems and amazing productivity; surely we are also
smart enough to make sure that everyone shares our bounty, and surely
we are smart enough to sustainably steward the natural world upon
which we all depend. ~ Donella Meadows |
Sustainability Institute http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.orgCenter for Ecoliteracy: http://www.ecoliteracy.orgCircle of Life Foundation: http://www.circleoflifefoundation.org |
You should read the excellent books Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, and Biomimicry by Janine Benyus.
If you're more adventurous, you should read Mark Morford.
The UNESCO 2000 Manifesto for a culture of Peace and Non-violence -- read it, sign it, live by it.
Religions of the World and EcologyNew Stories: http://www.newstories.org/The Global Ideas Bank -- somewhere in here may be the idea that will save the world. |
The Great Work before us, the task
of moving modern industrial civilization from its present devastating
influence on the earth to a more benign mode of presence, is not a
role that we have chosen. It is a role given to us, beyond any consultations
with ourselves…The nobility of our lives, however, depends upon the
manner in which we come to understand and fulfill our assigned role.
~ Thomas Berry |
If you're so inclined, have a look at the ideas simmering in my blog, and my idea for a Missionaria Protectiva to improve literacy, democracy and environmental awareness in the countries with the most biodiversity.
| By 'everything is wrong,' I mean EVERYTHING... I'm typing on
a plastic and metal and glass computer perched on a desk made from
cut-down trees and toxic paint. I sit in a building made of wood and
bricks that were taken from the earth on a street made of poisonous
asphalt that was laid over an ecosystem that had thrived for hundreds
of thousands of years. ~ Moby |
Action
Ready to act? The Ruckus
Society provides people with the tools for nonviolent, media-savvy,
direct action.
Check out their War
Profiteers playing cards - a clever fundraiser and consciousness-raiser.
The Union of Concerned
Scientists: 
Citizens
and Scientists for Environmental Solutions - they have a standard membership
and an online activist
newsletter. Imagine if all that intellectual power were always put to
such good use.
Proposed
Road Network Threatens Leuser Ecosystem -- 
I'm
also trying to help with the crisis following the flood
at Bohorok on Sumatra. You can also more about Illegal
Logging at Suaq Balimbing, trying to deal with the problems of illegal
logging at one research site.
The Bonobo Initiative -- somebody finally realized that we need to support peace and stability in the Congo if we have any hope of saving the bonobos.
Help save rainforests with just a daily click on the
Race for the Rainforest
- it's easy, even if it isn't the most impactful thing you could do. Care2
also now hosts the Race for the Primates
to support 
the
Jane Goodall
Institute. 
Similar
click-a-day options are available at the Rainforest
Site, EcologyFund
and Wildglobe.com.
Greenpeace
has a campaign against this
Exxon/Mobil subsidiary in response to Esso's
efforts to kill the Kyoto protocol on climate change, and to stifle Internet
speech in France. And for a laugh, check out their "404
- Page Not Found" page.
Friends
of the Earth is another great organization comitted to
environmental activism. They promoted this document
-- Foreign
Aid and Conservation of Tropical Forests: An Action Plan for Change,
with a checklist
for international researchers.
Few things in life are finer than activist culture-jamming!
Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars:
Support the Detroit Project's ad campaign highlighting the foreign policy
effects of our gratuitous overconsumption of oil. There is a link between
international terrorism and SUVs. See also What
Would Jesus Drive?, a campaign by the Evangelical Environmental Network.
The
Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom is
engaged in important work opposing war and injustice worldwide, and challenging
corporate power/asserting the people's rights.
Can you reduce the harm that corporations do, and make money at the same time? Paul Gilding's Ecos Corporation has been trying, and there's even more information at SustainableBuisness.com.
|
Of course, the best way to change corporate behavior might be to starve out the corporations who are doing the most harm. Don't give money to evil-doers for doing evil! IdealsWork.com had the idea that you can choose categories of concern, then get ratings for companies before deciding what to buy. If you've money to invest, it might help you make decisions there as well. Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy It's high time to seriously question the prevailing legal approach to give human rights to artificial "persons" in the form of corporations. For true democracy to prevail, we must curb corporate abuses of power. Another good resource on this issue is the Yes! magazine article "12 Things to do Now about Corporations." |
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it
is the merger of state and corporate power.
We must crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations,
which dare already to challenge our government, and bid defiance
to the laws of our country. |
Save the Redwoods League
See
the Green Party's slideshow on
exposing the WMD lies. Put a flier in your front window -- here's
mine from before the invasion (click for printable PDF).
~Molly Ivins
Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth) I'm child-free by choice. Help make sure that everyone has a choice, and that we bring the human population down to a sustainable carrying capacity. I urge you to to read "Remembering Malthus: a preliminary argument for a significant reduction in global human numbers" by J. Kenneth Smail, American Journal of Physical Anthropology Volume: 118, Issue: 3, Date: July 2002, Pages: 292-297 -- it's available online at www3.interscience.wiley.com if you have an account/subscription, or look for it at a college or university library. The US Census Bureau's Population Clock gives you an idea of where we stand.
| Never doubt that a small
group of thoughtful, comitted individuals can change the world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead |
Doesn't seem like those little lifestyle changes are having much impact? They do add up. One group that's tracking the effects of individual changes is Turn the Tide. |
last updated 22-Jun-2004
first posted 15 May 2002
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