Recently in Environment Category

I grew up knowing my country was drowning. My childhood memories are full of flashing images of annual monsoon rains making rivers out of our roads, lakes out of our rice paddy fields, washing away farmers' harvests, pushing the rural population into our already overpopulated capital city. Of course the yearly floods alternated with even greater natural disasters- cyclones, tornadoes, you name it growing up I saw it. The rumor in the playground was that in twenty years Bangladesh would be completely underwater.

Today that statement is no longer a rumor, but very much a reality. According to the UK 's Guardian publication, Bangladesh makes up not even 10% of the land mass of South Asia , but over 90% of the region's water passes through it. Experts state that Bangladesh 's shifting and intensifying weather patterns are making a bad situation worse. The case of Bangladesh shows us that climate change is real, and is already impacting populations and ecosystems around the world.

But the case of Bangladesh shows us something more: That it's the world's poor who will feel the impact of this change the hardest. And who exactly are the poor? Women, who make up approximately 65% of the world's poorest populations.

Cross-post from The F-Wave

Bicycling goes hand in hand with empowerment in my life. Whether I'm coming home alone, late after a night out with friends, commuting or heading somewhere I have never been before, my mode of transportation---my blue Cannondale roadbike <i>Baby</i> affords me a sense of safety and freedom that I have been taking for granted the past two years.

In response to a recent community post about PETA and their new ad campaign (which I am sure most regular readers encountered), penned by Josh T., there sprung a heated debate about ecofeminism, vegetarianism and veganism, and the similarities and differences between the animal rights movement and feminism.

In an attempt to both explore this topic in a designated space and to destigmatise what can be a disliked arena of feminism, I have come to this community post to explain my viewpoint and invite debate on ecofeminism and its benefits and drawbacks.

Two entreprenuerial sisters have fused their love of art and environmental activism to help Mama Earth! Their small, green business, Green Eyed Monster , tackles the BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) movement from a fresh, artistic angle.  In response to the world's growing water crisis, the sisters have created a limited edition designer tote bag that raises awareness about critical water issues. 40% of the sales from this reusable bag will be donated to TreePeople . The bags are made under sustainable conditions in the U.S.A. by an all-woman owned manufacturing company. The material is 100% post-consumer recycled cotton. Purchase yours here .

And if you've got an artistic edge, submit to their current design competition focused on the ECOnomy . The ladies want to bring awareness to how living green can SAVE green! And if you win the competition, you'll win some green in the form of $500!

Keep living ENVIably.

From Choice Words

Eco-minded individuals face similar conundrums on a daily basis: when it seems that all available options impact the planet in a negative way, how does one choose what to do? Recently Slate tackled that dilemma regarding contraception. When condoms wind up in landfills but traces of oral contraception are found in water (are are feminizing male fish as a result), what is a sexually active, environmentally conscious individual to do?

In the end, condoms won:

Given that the condoms represent only about 0.001 percent of the 152 million tons of trash American households produce annually—and that we still need a lot of research into the precise effects that pharmaceuticals are having on our water supply—condoms seem to be the greener choice. This is especially true when you factor in all the packaging that typically comes with American pharmaceuticals—the plastic dispensers, the printed instruction leaflets, and so on.

As this article pointed out, any form of birth control is going to have less of a negative impact on the environment than an additional human being, which is precisely why I always use two forms of contraception (condoms and the ring, since you were wondering. I like to think that Nuva Ring results in less estrogen being released into water, since the hormones are so handily centralized, but I haven’t conducted any research to back that up). Anyway, the important thing to keep in mind is that family planning is in itself a green act.

I don't see many eco-feminist topics much on this site, so maybe this will even make the front page. My idea is concerning a cultural link between patriarchy and an ecological concept called the keystone species. For those who aren't as involved in the ecology field (I'm a bio/e-science major and botanist by training) a keystone species is one in which if removed from an environment it would cause upheavals in the food web of the system and cause die off's of other species down the line, basically the ecosystem would fall apart. It's termed from the keystone in architecture of the center stone in an arch.

The problem is not only is the referred idea garbage, you remove any piece from an arch the whole thing will collapse, but the keystone species is questionable. For any given area let's say there are fifty species. If any one of them is removed the entire system will change and adjust, not necessarily in predictable ways. This is added to the fact that no set definition for keystone species exists. There's no percent threshold of environmental change that would occur if species x were no longer present, thereby defining species x as a keystone.

What might you ask does this have to do with feminism or patriarchy? The current patriarchy culture defines the male as the keystone to society. This group of people is more important than other groups, and if removed all the normality of society would fall apart and civilization could end. That poem by Kipling, what was its name?
So why is this a problem in ecology, placing added value in other beings is good.

Let's go back to the ecosystem with fifty species. Let's say keystone species do exist, and there are four in this area. Well if I configure my hotel to fit on the land in this way, only non-keystone species will be adversely affected. So the keystones stay in place, environmental harm be damned. Can't build a better shampoo from Otay Mesa Mint.
If my social program is configured so only non-keystone peoples and cultures are adversely affected, I mean what did the Apache ever invent that's important, then the harm it causes is irrelevant correct?

My definition of feminism in a broad sense is increasing the concept that all groups of people have inherit value and something to contribute.

My definition of environmentalism is one who views all of nature having inherit value contributing to the whole.

Seems to fit to me.

The Prada Pope sez: Insatiable consumption scarring planet

It would be far more beneficial for the Catholic Church to reverse its stance on birth control.

Looking around the world today, there is a lot that needs improvement, especially here in the States.  My dream comprises a liberal president and congress willing to swing the pendulum wildly in the other direction to set our country to rights again.

First of all, the experts say that we are headed for a depression.  I have seen more and more people with signs saying they will work for food, as well as more hitchhikers who looked like an updated version of the Depression-era hoboes.  These are ill omens.  In order to work, most of us have to drive.  I’m as sick of hearing about the rising gas prices as the next person, but as I spend $40 to fill my tank I am even more sick of the lack of alternatives.

Don’t despair, I have a solution.  We need a new New Deal.  People are unemployed and yearn for work, while much of our work is outsourced.  We spend billions a week on a fruitless and geopolitically damaging war most of us never wanted in the first place.  Meanwhile, prices continue to rise, and people continue to have little in the way of choices.  You know – you live here.