The task @ hand...

i.e. WHAT WE GOTTA DO (me 'n' you...) YA YOU TOO!
(from my CaRe2):
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/3511663

(Illustration by me, Saz C)

Vote to STOP THE SEAL HUNT

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ELECTION 2011 (Canada-wide)
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The Green Party is the only political party with a full and comprehensive vision for Canada's future, and the ONLY political entity opposing Canada's sadistic commercial Seal 'Hunt' - in which seal nurseries are invaded by hakapik-wielding half-humans called sealers, who turn the ice floes into an unforgiveable, bloody carnage by bashing baby seals to death in front of their frantic mothers...

This makes voting easy – for me AND for the seals.  Because Canada needs to stop the seal hunt: NOW



This shameful, UNSUSTAINABLE slaughter is not only barbarically cruel but a gross violation of our constitutional duties as wildlife stewards – supported by our federal government's DFO via false claims that seals need "culling" because they "destroy" juvenile cod populations thus "jeopardizing" Canada's fishing industry. YET SEALS EAT MAINLY HALIBUT, MACKEREL AND OTHER PREDATORS OF JUVENILE COD (i.e. FEWER SEALS = FEWER COD)!!  In other words, "sealing" is a senseless violent crime committed against a harmless wildlife species.

The plain facts expose our government's ignorance, lies and willingness to deceive the people of Canada - FOR WHAT? THE SEALING INDUSTRY - WHICH YIELDS LESS THAN 0.1% OF SEALERS' INCOMES - SERVES ONE PURPOSE:  PROVIDING PELTS FOR MANUFACTURE OF FASHION APPAREL (which is why, horrrendously, up to 42% of the baby seals targeted are STRIPPED OF THEIR PELTS WHILE STILL CONSCIOUS, their carcasses discarded onto the ice floes to rot).

Increasingly and repeatedly, most Canadians have denounced this disgrace in countless petitions, polls and protests. The United States outlawed all trade in seal products years ago, and recently the European Union caught up with a Europe-wide ban on all seal-pelt trade. Other countries, eg. New Zealand and Scotland, have legislated protection of their seals (see http://www.seashepherd.org/get-involved/rewards.html).

So why is Gail Shea, Canada's DFO Minister, appealing the European ban AT A COST OF $10 MILLION taxpayers' dollars??  And why does our government NOT support non-lethal harvest of seal hair, a viable new industry initiated by SeaShepherd's Paul Watson (which got declarations of support from Canadian fishing industry groups, conservation, animal rights and academic organizations, and the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 1998)? Scroll to March 1994:  http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/our-history.html.

WELL:  May 2nd is the day to ask for change – by doing the right thing:  VOTING GREEN!! (see http://www.greenparty.ca/)


REMEMBER:  Not voting = denying yourself a democratic voice; Voting AGAINST a candidate/party in some odds-based strategy = denying your true values representation. The REAL YOU needs to be heard!

Eco-friendly Woodworking

[From Hat Factory Furniture, NY]
Expert cabinet builders, skilled at their craft and anxious to please customers, can miss opportunities to execute the same projects in much more environmentally friendly ways. Custom Cabinetry is frequently built of quality hard-wood materials that can last for generations. Of course for the environment, long lasting products are good – they don’t have to be replaced by other manufactured products. Custom cabinet builders at Hat Factory's New York Custom Furniture center use several tactics to stay ‘green.’
Fortunately, the drive for more environmentally-friendly carpentry practices really isn’t that challenging. While lumber is a renewable resource, most carpenters respect forestry and would certainly oppose wood harvesting practices that didn’t allow for rapid regeneration. Additionally, using good quality hardwoods such as cherry or walnut instead of other, less-durable material would ensure many more years of service life for the finished product. Most customers and homeowners very much enjoy the look and beauty of these woods.
Manufacturing industries have been given a ‘black eye’ recently for failing to produce more green or environmentally friendly products. This has changed for cabinetry and woodworkers. There are several effective and easy ways to improve processes to deliver quality work while reducing negative impact to the environment. These ways fall into three main categories: purchasing responsibly grown and harvested wood, using recycled core materials and avoiding materials manufactured with formaldehyde.
Responsibly Farmed Hardwoods – Harvesting good quality hardwoods involves careful selection and manufacturing processes. These processes do not damage surrounding trees or impact forests in such a fashion as to hinder future growth. In fact, selective harvesting can actually increase production over time. Unfortunately, good hardwood trees take a great deal of time to grow into usable size. This partially accounts for their expense relative to other materials. Other woods such as bamboo can offer interesting construction options. When used by skilled craftsmen, these other woods can provide the long life customers seek.
Recycled Core Materials – Manufacturers have developed many different types of composite building materials – some of which contain recycled or reclaimed materials from other processes. Use of these materials reduces waste and improves the production yield for the volume of wood and by products produced. Improving efficiencies is good business practice as well. Including recycled matter in composite materials works for all involved in the manufacture and delivery of quality woodwork.
Formaldehyde-Free Core Materials – Composite materials are widely used in construction of good quality cabinetry. These materials usually consist of resins and composite materials that, when combined with heat and pressure during manufacturing, produce quality stable formaldehyde-free material. These are suitable for all manner of custom woodwork and are widely found in many good quality products.
These three simple practices can make a big environmental difference when applied industry-wide. Fortunately, these are not huge changes to most purchasing or delivery processes – they just require a little deliberation prior to purchasing input materials. In the end, decisions made at every stage can make a big difference...

[Ultimately, choices made by end-user consumers can make the biggest difference of all!  To ensure industry-wide adoption of 'green' practices always find out what went into what you buy, before you buy.  And when results of your research come up short – i.e. show eco-unfriendly practices, at any stage – always voice the reasons for your choices, pro and con:  businesses listen, and word travels fast!]

LINK TO A DECENT BASIC LOWDOWN ON WHICH TYPES OF WOOD TO CHOOSE:
http://www.rosslaird.com/blog/a-guide-to-ethical-wood-use/

iT's MY pLaneT Too!

... so OF COURSE i care about global warming - & any oTHeR human activity contributing to its abuse! As i used to say when i was little, 'They're wrecking my fun!'

Here's my response to Douglas Todd's Vancouver Sun article "Who Cares Less About Global Warming?" at this link: http://goo.gl/jnA2

Forget conspiracy theories, fears, 'hoaxes' ET AL + pare down to the facts: Global warming or not, human activity has done needless damage to our planet Earth - mostly by rampant consumerism and resulting greed (eg. unethical corporations/humans doing whatever it takes to meet those demands, for selfish gains). Spilling gallons of oil into oceans; clearcutting whole chunks of forest without considering the powerfully regenerative, restorative benefits of trees and replanting accordingly; appropriating whole mountaintops in unsuspecting third-world regions to decimate all vegetation and wildlife for mlies around; further destabling those lands by grinding out endless chunks of rock for tiny bits of gold then chucking the resulting poisonous waste directly into freshwater systems (thus killing whole fish habitats and all other other life forms along the way)... Those are just a few of the countless wake-up calls to which people are responding with more than mere desire to restore nature's balance and establish less harmful ways of doing things.

Some European countries have already implemented changes to become 100% sustainable. Canada needs to step up and protect its Arctic from further development which – conspiracy theorists or not – WILL affect its complex ecosystems, as it has done to so many lush, thriving wilderness regions around the world which have been exploited by humans (many Canadian). That's fact - not theory - based on actual consequences of dangerous, risky activities... such as offshore oil drilling! (Does anyone around here read, or travel, or have a clue what's going on in the world?? Yikes..)

Scientists DO agree that Arctic polar ice (which influences and helps regulate global weather systems) is melting more quickly than expected/predicted, and that even boat travel thru newly-melted Arctic waters - which has picked up as a result - affects the area's ecological quality. People who care want to do something about it, starting with implementing - eg. legislating - positive changes in how we operate vis-a-vis how we treat our environment. Is that so wrong? Only to those who stand to make obscene amounts of $$ gauging out Earth's surface (i.e. those who probably already have)...

Wildlife (ya, those polar bears) are our best friends AND educators when it comes to our surroundings.  The less we interfere with their habitats and instincts (eg. by 'culling', mass slaughter and other gross indecencies inflicted on them - to our own detriment) the better their ability to inform us of atmospheric/ environmental/ terrestrial changes, impending disasters etc.

Poisoning our lands and waters, killling off other life forms to satisfy our immediate 'needs' (= greeds), dumping mine waste down rivers into once-pristine nature parks, ETC... the iDiOCY of these destructive human activities is obvious. AWARENESS of its rampancy in industry is what's making people speak out and take action, because governments are not.  'Ordinary' people wanting to help:  THIS is the humanity that fills me with hope and inspires me to act.  Those who simply knock down others or procrastinate with mindless "Lord and Saviour" phrases repeated randomly throughout bible-quoting irrelevancies have no (actual, apparent or intended) benefit or healing/selfless purpose.

Meanwhile, back on Earth - in the here and now, REALIZING THE DAMAGING CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS - WANTING TO RIGHT THOSE WRONGS FOR EVERYONE'S BENEFIT is an obviously worthy mission.  Anyone who wants to argue with its basic moral principles, let alone its scientific basis, is surely out of touch with what matters - i.e. life itself...