I have decided to finally bring my work on this blog to a close so that I can work on my writing skills, and work on becoming a published author. Thanks to everyone that supported this blog and be sure to look out for my work on my Facebook page and to follow me on instagram!
'Til next time!
Louise Williams
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Local Living, Global Awareness: Plastic Bags
While doing some chores earlier today I happened to notice that my recycle bin explicitly stated not to add plastic bags to the bin. This was a bit weird to me considering that every other plastic item could be thrown in, especially bottles and heavier packaging material. So I thought it fitting that plastic bags be the subject of this week's 'Local Living' post!
Plastic bags (like the kind your groceries are often packed into) are generally made of high-density polyethylene, a type of plastic that can take decades to breakdown and that is unfortunately but not suprprisingly still very toxic after its breakdown. Little red flags went off in my head when I saw that they shouldn't be put in the recycling, in part because of how toxic the plastic - broken down or otherwise - is to the environment.
Just to put this in perspective, in every square mile of the ocean, there are over 40,000 plastic bags to be found. Plastic bags also come in at the second-highest volume of litter in the ocean (right behind cigarette butts, which - random fact - some birds have now begun using in their nests to keep away pests!).
This is especially worrisome considering how quickly we go through plastic bags, and how quickly I go through them in my own life after repurposing them as lunch bags, or for scooping cat litter. Ecosystems all over the world have suffered from this; plant life, from the toxins seeping into soil and countless animals, due suffocation and poisoning as well.
So if we don't recycle plastic bags, what do we do with them?
According to this source, and many others that I've seen, the answer is to reuse and reuse as much as possible in order to keep the bags out of the trash all together. Because once they are there it is straight to the landfills they go.
And that's especially important to know. Because it seems to me then, that the best way to deal with the problem is to not accept "disposable" grocery bags at all. Next time I go shopping, my old tote bag will be coming with me.
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All the world is made up of local communities. One small community now has the capability to affect or to be affected by those thousands of miles away. This immense influence comes with this responsibility: to know those we affect and to do what we can to do right by them.
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| Source: greenville.com |
Just to put this in perspective, in every square mile of the ocean, there are over 40,000 plastic bags to be found. Plastic bags also come in at the second-highest volume of litter in the ocean (right behind cigarette butts, which - random fact - some birds have now begun using in their nests to keep away pests!).
This is especially worrisome considering how quickly we go through plastic bags, and how quickly I go through them in my own life after repurposing them as lunch bags, or for scooping cat litter. Ecosystems all over the world have suffered from this; plant life, from the toxins seeping into soil and countless animals, due suffocation and poisoning as well.
So if we don't recycle plastic bags, what do we do with them?
According to this source, and many others that I've seen, the answer is to reuse and reuse as much as possible in order to keep the bags out of the trash all together. Because once they are there it is straight to the landfills they go.
And that's especially important to know. Because it seems to me then, that the best way to deal with the problem is to not accept "disposable" grocery bags at all. Next time I go shopping, my old tote bag will be coming with me.
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All the world is made up of local communities. One small community now has the capability to affect or to be affected by those thousands of miles away. This immense influence comes with this responsibility: to know those we affect and to do what we can to do right by them.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Activism Spotlight: Performing Against Animal Cosmetics Testing
I have great respect for performance artists. A kind of bemused respect - given some of the things they will do to make their points - but great respect nonetheless.
And it is precisely because of artists like Jacqueline Traide, a student from Oxford Brookes University, who allowed herself to be "restrained, force-fed, and injected with" various cosmetics in a window in plain sight of the many passersby who were aghast at what they saw.
The astounding, 10-hour performance was clearly an effort to raise awareness for the animal cosmetics testing which the performance had paralleled. The stark dehumanization of the student - which, it would seem, culminated in the shaving of part of her head during the process - was surely a shock to many who had witnessed it. Of course, it wasn't shock alone that gave the performance its power.
As they say, "Location, location, location!"
This all took place in a shop window on Lush's Regent Street, one of the UK's busiest shopping avenues. It was very likely that many of those shoppers taken aback by Jacqueline's performance had very recently purchased - or were en route to purchase - the makeup whose origins the performance protested vehemently.
The performance caught my eye for obvious reasons: it was disturbing, enlightening (I had no clue about the process used to test cosmetics on animals before), and also far reaching. Though the performance was only geared toward animal cosmetics testing, it most assuredly raised other questions as well.
For me, the question was this: Why are farm animals not given the same love and respect in American culture as is given to those we keep as pets?
Why are we willing to turn a blind eye - and an unmoved heart - to the horrifying cruelty that delivers us our cheaper meats?
These questions appeared in my mind as I watched Jacqueline Traide submit to what - if done to a human - would undoubtedly be called torture, and I realized that her performance had done her job. It had begun a conversation, even if it was only happening in my own mind, on yet another pitfall of our enabled craving for cheaper products.
Now, I wonder, if we might be moved to do something about it.
And it is precisely because of artists like Jacqueline Traide, a student from Oxford Brookes University, who allowed herself to be "restrained, force-fed, and injected with" various cosmetics in a window in plain sight of the many passersby who were aghast at what they saw.
The astounding, 10-hour performance was clearly an effort to raise awareness for the animal cosmetics testing which the performance had paralleled. The stark dehumanization of the student - which, it would seem, culminated in the shaving of part of her head during the process - was surely a shock to many who had witnessed it. Of course, it wasn't shock alone that gave the performance its power.
As they say, "Location, location, location!"
This all took place in a shop window on Lush's Regent Street, one of the UK's busiest shopping avenues. It was very likely that many of those shoppers taken aback by Jacqueline's performance had very recently purchased - or were en route to purchase - the makeup whose origins the performance protested vehemently.
The performance caught my eye for obvious reasons: it was disturbing, enlightening (I had no clue about the process used to test cosmetics on animals before), and also far reaching. Though the performance was only geared toward animal cosmetics testing, it most assuredly raised other questions as well.
For me, the question was this: Why are farm animals not given the same love and respect in American culture as is given to those we keep as pets?
Why are we willing to turn a blind eye - and an unmoved heart - to the horrifying cruelty that delivers us our cheaper meats?
These questions appeared in my mind as I watched Jacqueline Traide submit to what - if done to a human - would undoubtedly be called torture, and I realized that her performance had done her job. It had begun a conversation, even if it was only happening in my own mind, on yet another pitfall of our enabled craving for cheaper products.
Now, I wonder, if we might be moved to do something about it.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Local Living, Global Awareness - Wondering About Water
| Photo credit: Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images |
A couple of days ago I was taking an exceptionally long and hot shower, when it hit me. I had absolutely no idea where my water came from! I didn't know whether it was from some underground cave that was on the verge of collapse, a river diverted from another state, a lake, a stream, some kind of science-fiction machine that distills water from the air?
So I started doing some searching.
It was relatively easy to find: the Inland Empire in Southern California receives most of its water from three main sources. The first source is a 444-mile-long aqueduct that consists of 22 dams and reservoirs, and a pumping plant that brings water from the Oroville Dam up in Oroville, CA, all the way down to Lake Perris in Riverside, CA. This huge aqueduct brings water to millions in Southern California and traverses mountains and large swaths of land in order to do so. As I understand it, the bulk of water delivered to Southern California residents comes from this State Water Project.
The state of California also generally receives around 30% of its water from Groundwater sources, though due to the recent severe droughts experienced by the state that number has nearly doubled. These groundwater sources are found at the water table, and coalesce into aquifers underground.
The final major source of water for where I live is, of course, local water sources like streams and reservoirs. I found this one out first hand after an algae bloom in Silverwood Lake changed the taste and odor of our water supply to an earthy, dirty flavor (yuck!) very recently, alerting many including myself to wonder what was going on with the water and whether it was safe to drink.
Our local Cucamonga Valley Water District officials assured us, however, that despite the rather unsettling aroma, the water was perfectly fine.
Given that globally - as our species continues to propagate - resources have been increasingly stretched thin and disputes over water rights are already an issue regionally, and that at the local level for us Californians water is already a grave concern as our rainy season (and possibly our future status as a major source of agricultural products) is drying up, it is more important than ever to be aware of our resources, where they are coming from and to whom they are going.
I for one will be doing what I can to conserve. To learn more about water recycling and grey water (waste water). To be aware of how much water I use vs. how much water I actually need to use. To sum up in a rather corny way, they say "if you don't use it, you lose it," which may be true.
But it is also very important to remember that we "never miss a good thing 'til it's gone."
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Click here for more info on the California Drought! :)
All the world is made up of local communities. One small community now has the capability to affect or to be affected by those thousands of miles away. This immense influence comes with this responsibility: to know those we affect and to do what we can to do right by them.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Compassionate Communication Breeds Change
To Change A Society, Change How It Communicates!
In the United States' political sphere, everyone seems to be so preoccupied with being right. Granted, this is probably nothing new, as humans can be so extraordinarily stubborn and prideful (and defensive) about whether they are right or wrong (whether they are actually right or wrong).
While I think it's understandable and at times necessary for conversations to gravitate toward this focus, I think it is also extremely important that it not be the main focus; case in point: the politically polarized climate in the United States. Extremely vocal left, extremely vocal right.
Not much going on with the moderates.
People have raised their voices loudly for their own values, but have in all honesty tended toward a 'preaching to the choir' mode of communication that does little to positively impact the opponents of their values. Pro-Choice/Pro-Abortion vs. Pro-Life/Anti-Abortion; Evolution vs. "Intelligent" Design; Gay Marriage vs. "Traditional" Marriage... the list obviously goes on, and I could rattle on many more clearly polarizing social issues, but clearly in all of these arguments one finds that there is no clear conversation on what is to be gained from these conversations. What is the problem we are trying to seek a resolution to? What are the fears and desires behind the stances each speaker has taken? How are we to address them and move forward?
Simply put, I do not believe these conversations are productive at all. How could they be though, when it devolves into which Libtard/Rethuglican said what, and who is a baby killer, and who is a backward blah blah blah...
Our society has forgotten the art of productive communication, and it is something I lament.
I believe that if we were all to learn the art of debate as part of our Language Arts curriculum in school, to spot logical fallacies, insufficient evidence, and the like, and if we were to allow ourselves to debate EVERYTHING, the truth - that is, those arguments which are solid and well-supported - will be revealed. Of course.. this would only work if people were more interested in solving problems than stroking their own egos while sitting atop their high, beautifully maned horses, whilst riding off into the sunset, spurred on by all the people they left coughing in the dust behind them..
I digress.
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| Source: loving-community.com/tag/compassionate-listening |
What is needed is a society that respects facts, respects questioning, and respects that those in power or those arguments which - if implemented in reality - would have great influence over the lives of others should be questioned. What is needed is a culture which supports those who are willing to lay aside their own egos and admit when they are wrong, or to admit that - in the case of religion or other faith-based ideologies especially - that while a lack of evidence is not an impediment to their own beliefs, faith should not be expected to hold merit to others as worthy support for an argument. What is needed is a society of individuals who are willing to look beyond their own limited grasp of reality in order to see the faults in the system they live within, in order to see who is negatively impacted by that system and to ameliorate the society's institutions to correct for those negative externalities.
Self-reflection, compassion, critical thinking, curiosity, and action. If we are to end this polarization, this dry spell of thoughtful communication. These are the tools we need to implement, and sooner than later please.
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Changing the world one thought at a time...
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