BUT, now that I’m happily speedy, I instead would rather offer you a bit of Grist’s Sin Gallery, in which people attempt to feel better by confessing:

“I use toilet paper from old growth forests, because it’s softer than recycled.”

“I dress my passenger seat in a jacket and hat and then use the carpool lane.”

“I take the long way home just to charge up my cell phone”

“I burn styrofoam in my backyard BBQ pit because I’m not sure what else to do with it.”

“I love bacon.”

“I drink a lot of bottled water from France and Fiji.”

“I occasionally eat at restaurants where I don’t know where the food comes from or how it was produced.”

“I refuse to read that new book or watch that new documentary about how jacked up our food supply is because I don’t want to know.”

“We buy Kraft Singles cheese instead of slicing our own.”

“The idea of eating sustainably every single meal tires me.”

“Instead of taking the empty toilet paper roll to the recycling bin, I’ll often just throw it in the trash.”

“I want to clip bike commuters who slow down traffic with my side mirrors.”

“I love horsepower more than I love the environment.”

(Dear Grist and their readers, please forgive this sin of mooching.)
http://www.earthconfessions.com/#gallery
from Grist, a beacon in the smog http://www.grist.org/

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:
http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:
http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

E A R T H M I L L E N I U M

since in this one, we’ll all figure out how to live on it, or not. Whether it simply continues to serve us, or the agreement becomes mutual.

But clearly, human consciousness is changing. We have been such anthropocentric creatures, it’s all been there for our taking: the oceans as fisheries,
forests as timberlands, all of it, as our natural resources. Do other species have any inherent value other than for use by us? Can our population continue to grow
while Earth’s resources do not?

Meanwhile if you want to tip your hat to the earth quietly, here are a few possibilities:
Some day this week have a people powered day – choose not to drive, turn off the electronics and go for a walk, take a bike ride,
plant something or tend a garden. Read some Rachel Carson. Choose not to buy something. Tend a garden, or plant some seeds.
Bring out the nature side of your nature.
This year’s Earth Day theme is a People Powered campaign for a Billion Acts of Green.
Since there are over 6 billion of us, that should be easy.

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:
http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:
http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

According to BP (and likely to their dismay) in 2009:
World primary energy consumption fell by 1.1% in 2009, the first decline since 1982.
Global coal consumption was flat in 2009, the weakest annual change since 1999
Global oil consumption declined by 1.2 million b/d or 1.7%, the largest decline since 1982
World natural gas consumption fell by 2.1%, the largest decline on record.

In the US, solar production has grown nearly 40% since 2007.
Globally, solar installations increased 83% in 2009, and then in 2010, 160%!

Falling costs and rising government incentives have helped to fuel this boom (e.g. US tax rebates of 30%).
In California, there are nearly 80,000 projects generating power, especially at peak use times.

Check out this map of sunny San Diego to get an idea of the number of
its solar installations:
http://sd.solarmap.org/solar/index.php

To see a depiction of the sun’s energy intensity on earth, visit: http://www.ez2c.de/ml/solar_land_area/

http://bnef.com/markets/renewable-energy/solar/
http://www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=6929&contentId=7044622

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:
http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:
http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

China population: 1,341,000,000 percent of the work’s population 19.41%
India 1,210,193,422 17.51%
European Union 501,064,211 7.3%
U.S. 311,075,000 4.5 %

Energy use, per capita in 2008, in kilowatt hours:
China 18,608
India 6,280
EU 40,821
U.S. 87,216

Nuclear reactors operating under construction planned proposed
China 13 27 50 110
India 20 4 20 40
European Union 143 4 18* 26*
U.S. 104 1 9 22
average age of reactors in the world – 23 years, in the U.S. – 30 years.

“No new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission” said in April, 2009.

“According to the most recent issue of the “Monthly Energy Review” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “nuclear electric power accounted for 11% of primary energy production and renewable energy accounted for 11% of primary energy production” (In a later issue, both nuclear and renewables were stated as over 8%.)

*my count, unreliable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=will-the-us-need-new-coal
http://www.tomorrowisgreener.com/renewable-energy-almost-equals-nuclear-energy-in-usa/

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:

http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

From the personal:
If all of your lights aren’t on at home, your house will look less welcoming to the weary stranger walking by.
Your friends might own bigger tvs.
You might find your environment more peaceful when not surrounded by the visuals and audio of an electronic lifestyle,
or by devices that are sucking power, even when not in use (the phantom load phenomenon).
Driving less, you might have more time for connecting with people or your environment.
You might be even more frustrated sitting in stop and go traffic, because you experience it less!
Your electricity and fuel bills will go down.

To the political:
Using less oil, less will need to be imported from politically unstable regions.
Oil companies’ profits might decrease, they might decide to invest more in renewables, sooner.
The need for more mountaintop removal, fracking, deep water drilling, building new nuclear power plants, etc. might level off.

p.s. An actual hazard regarding lighting – CFLs, the squiggly bulbs, contain a bit of mercury and so do need to be disposed of properly.

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:

http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

In 2008, nuclear power generated 13.4 % of the world’s electricity. (The rest came from: coal- 41%; gas – 21%; hydro -16%; oil 5.5% and other renewables < 3%)
Examples of percentages of nuclear generated power of the electricity per country, 30 countries have it:
France 75%; Belgium 52%; Ukraine 49%; Sweden 37%; Japan 25%; USA 20%

However, the amount of nuclear power generated per country is a vastly different picture. The U.S., giant energy consumer that it is, generates twice the amount of nuclear power that France does, three times as much as Japan. The plants in the U.S. are all old, there is only one under construction.

World reactions to this crisis in Japan (e.g. China, Germany, U.S., Australia) are requiring reevaluations of both operating plants and those under construction or in planning. The questions have always been: do the risks outweigh the benefits? What can be done with the waste? Nuclear power is less than 60 years old, and these questions remain unanswered. Whether or not it is a long range energy solution for us is unknown, but it is not going away soon. Perhaps at the very least, a greater measure of safety will come of this.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf01.html
http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/worldstatistics/
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/energy/german-public-reaction-to-japan-nuclear-accident-close-to-panic

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:

http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

Global grain prices have been rising, and supplies dwindling. Droughts in Australia, the Ukraine, Europe and Russia, and flooding in Australia, Brazil and the U.S., resulted in crop losses. But ethanol production is up – this year it is expected that 40% of the U.S. grain crop will be turned into this fuel, to help wean us from our dependence on oil. Kind of a head scratcher, isn’t it?

Two thirds of the world’s ethanol is produced by the U.S. (from corn) and Brazil (from sugarcane). In the U.S. in 2009, enough grain to feed its entire population for one year went into making ethanol.

A bushel of corn – 56 pounds – makes: 2.8 gallons of ethanol; 33 pounds of fructose; 56 pounds of feed for cows that would rather eat grass; hundreds of tortillas; an unimaginable amount of popcorn!

http://farmlandforecast.colvin-co.com/2010/05/20/feeding-distillers-grains-doesnt-replace-corn.aspx
http://www.nextgenpe.com/news/food-into-fuel/
Thanks to Michael Pollan and his “Omnivores Dilemma”

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:

http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

The fertilizer, pesticides, harvesting and transport that went into the feed for the cows, the methane coming out of them, and then the production and transportation of the milk, even though it is American, is much more carbon intensive than the coffee, and also extremely water intensive. About a hundred gallons of water is required to produce one quart of 2% milk. Black coffee anyone? Organic milk or soy latte, anyone?

http://www.foodemissions.com/foodemissions/Calculator.aspx
http://cleanmetrics.typepad.com/green_metrics_clean_metri/2010/10/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-latte.html

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

Santa Barbara County is a truly bountiful place. More than 75 kinds of fruits and vegetables are grown here. It is among the top 1% of farming counties in the country, producing over a billion dollars worth annually. There is also local dairy, beef, pork, fish. We produce plenty of wines. (We don’t grow our grains, which is, granted, a large portion of our diets.) And yet, 99% of our county’s food is being exported, 95% of all that we eat here is imported. A study by David Cleveland at UC Santa Barbara has explored this conundrum as part of its associated greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for localizing our economy. The results point to large scale ag. production, fertilizers, processing and packaging as being far worse than the final transport of the goods.

Surely though, some improvement – low hanging fruit, so to speak – is possible. Some years ago the BBC offered a fun science quiz that included this fact: “The energy used to import a kg. of fresh spinach from California to the UK is equivalent to running a 100 watt light bulb for: 1 month!” – this being about half of my daily use of electricity at home for that month.

http://es.ucsb.edu/faculty/cleveland/CV/Cleveland_SC_lecture.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4038399.stm
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2011/02/the-santa-barbara-syndrome-evidence-of-a-broken-food-system/71244/

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Past ecofacts can be found here:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/wordpress/

You can sign up to receive these weekly ecofacts here:

http://sustainability.ucsb.edu/

Wordpress site by:
www.greenproductsglobal.com

Macerating Time: (45) Days

********************************************************************************************

INGREDIENTS:

#  Quantity:        Amount:         Name:                       Remarks/Instructions:

1)     ½              teaspoon          Ground Ginger        Fresh root

2)    1½             each                 Cloves                         Freshly purchased

3)     ½              teaspoon         Cardamom Seeds    Freshly purchased

4)     ¼              teaspoon         Cinnamon                Freshly Ground

5)     ¾              Cup                  Sugar Syrup             See: Making Sugar Syrup

6)     ¼              teaspoon        Mace                          Freshly purchased

7)    1½             Inch                 Vanilla Bean             Freshly purchased

8)    2½             Tablespoons   Wasabi                     Green Japanese Horse Radish

9)     ½              5^th Vodka                                           80 proof, or higher

10)    1               teaspoon         Glycerin                    Thickener/Sweetener

********************************************************************************************

Step #1: Place everything, except the Sugar Syrup and the Glycerin, in a Sterilized Glass Jar.

Step #2: Put in a cool, dark place, for two (2) weeks. Stir daily.

Step #3: Strain and Filter into a newly Sterilized Glass Jar. Add the Sugar Syrup and the Glycerin.

Step #4: Macerate quietly in a cool, dark place for (45) Days, or more.

Step #5: Taste. Bottle. Serve.  Oh, Berry  Good !!

Note: The longer you Macerate this fine liqueur the better it will finish. 365 days or longer is preferred.

Orgasmic Chef blogs presented by Green Products Global:

http://greenproductsglobal.com/