Do You Know Your Ecological Footprint?

In my Environmental Science Lab today we talked about exponential population growth and our ecological footprint.

Check it out: http://www.myfootprint.org/en/take_action/reduce_your_footprint/
mine is 3.31 worlds



Here are some energy and environment saving ideas from the website:
There are many simple ways to reduce the footprint you leave on the planet. Learn how to reduce your footprint in each consumption category–carbon, food, housing, and goods and services—but don’t stop there. Amplify your impact by encouraging others to follow your lead. Engage your friends and community with local and global movements for social change, or start your own movement!

REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Use cleaner transport

Walk, bike, or take public transit whenever possible.
Avoid allowing your car to idle. If you’ll be waiting for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine (except in traffic). And don’t take the drive-through—park the car and walk inside instead.
Have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep the emission control systems operating at peak efficiency. Check your car's air filter monthly, and keep the tires adequately inflated to maximize gas mileage.
Avoid short airplane trips—take a bus or train instead.
Add energy-saving features to your home

Install compact fluorescent bulbs in all your home light fixtures—but remember, compact fluorescents contain mercury, so look for low-mercury models and be sure to dispose of old bulbs safely through your local hazardous waste program.
Weatherproof your home. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated, and consider double-pane windows. Eliminate drafts with caulking, weather strips, and storm windows and doors.
Insulate your water heater. Even better, switch to a tankless water heater, so your water will be heated only as you use it.
Choose energy efficient appliances.
Adopt energy-saving habits

Keep thermostat relatively low in winter and ease up on the air conditioning in summer. Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended to keep the A/C operating at peak efficiency.
Unplug your electronics when not in use. To make it easier, use a power strip. Even when turned off, items like your television, computer, and cellphone charger still sip power.
Dry your clothes outside whenever possible.
Make minimal use of power equipment when landscaping.
Defrost your refrigerator and freezer regularly.
Choose green electricity. Many utilities give you the option to purchase electricity generated by wind and solar power for a small rate surcharge.
Purchase carbon offsets to make up for the energy use you can’t eliminate.
REDUCE YOUR FOOD FOOTPRINT

Eat more local, organic, in-season foods.
Plant a garden—it doesn’t get more local than that.
Shop at your local farmer’s market or natural foods store. Look for local, in-season foods that haven’t traveled long distances to reach you.
Choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste.
Eat lower on the food chain—going meatless for just one meal a week can make a difference. Globally, it has been estimated that 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with meat consumption.
REDUCE YOUR HOUSING FOOTPRINT

Choose sustainable building materials, furnishings, and cleaning products.

Explore green design features for your building, like passive solar heating, a rainwater catchment or grey water recycling system, and recycled materials.
Choose efficient appliances, including low flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets.
Choose furnishings that are second-hand, recycled, or sustainably produced.
Plant drought tolerant plants in your garden and yard.
Use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products.
Adopt water-saving habits

Take shorter, less frequent showers—this not only saves water, but the energy necessary to heat it.
Don’t use the garbage disposal. Compost instead.
Run the dishwasher and the laundry machine only when full.
Wash cars rarely, or better yet, take them to a carwash. Commercial carwashes use less water per wash than home washers, and they are also required to drain used water into the sewage system, rather than storm drains, which protects aquatic life.
Avoid hosing down or power-washing your deck, walkways, or driveway.
Regularly look for and fix leaks.
REDUCE YOUR GOODS AND SERVICES FOOTPRINT

Buy less! Replace items only when you really need to.
Recycle all your paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic. Don’t forget electronics!
Compost food waste for the garden. Garbage that is not contaminated with degradable (biological) waste can be more easily recycled and sorted, and doesn't produce methane gases (a significant greenhouse gas contributor) when stored in a landfill.
Buy recycled products, particularly those labeled "post-consumer waste."

SAY YES TO GAY MARRIAGE

Check out this video:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce

Hi,

Have you heard that Ken Starr -- and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund -- filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, with a decision expected within 90 days.

The Courage Campaign has created a video called "Fidelity," with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law.

Please watch this heartbreaking video now. If you have the same reaction that I did, please help me spread the word by sharing it with your friends and family ASAP:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce

The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused by Prop 8 and Ken Starr's shameful legal proceeding.

After you watch the video, please join me and over 300,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr's case.

Thanks.

End Human Trafficking Blog

Here is a great article on an anti-human trafficking blog:

http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/is_it_still_hard_out_here_for_a_pimp

Is It Still Hard Out Here for a Pimp?
BY MICHELE CLARK
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 18, 2009 @ 09:22AM PST
The piece below was written by guest blogger Michele Clarke, reflecting on the 2005 Oscars Best Song Winner "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp", in anticipation of the Oscars this Sunday. The companion post to this which ties human trafficking into the Oscar's past present and future is available here.
Sympathy for a pimp? Whatever for?
Maybe the sympathy is because on Oscar night three years ago, the performers in the rap group Three 6 Mafia were asked to change the word b*****s to ‘witches' (it's nice to know that the Academy draws the line somewhere). For a moment, I imagined pimps surrounded by a host of raging furies from hell plucking out their facial hair with long skinny fingers -for them, a mild fate.
When Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard out here for a Pimp" won Best Song of the 2005 Oscar season, I was dumbstruck. So, I buttonholed a few people on the streets and asked them if they knew what a pimp did. One young man answered, "They wear these fancy hats and drive big cars," and began to giggle. "They manage stables of prostitutes," crisply answered a second, obviously a B-school graduate. Others simply rolled their eyes. Pimps are a part of our urban landscape. We might not love them, but they are out there. And hey, they can't be all that bad, can they? Not with colleges sponsoring "Pimp and Ho parties," and Oscar-winning songs written about their lives.
Perception, in this case, is far from reality. Pimps are criminals. They make their living selling girls for money. They beat women, brand them, tattoo their names on arms and legs, spit on them, starve them, whip them and throw them off tall buildings. The only blood, sweat and tears they encounter belong to the girls in their stables. If they treated horses with such cruelty, PETA would be all over them in a heartbeat.
Let's put it another way: Pimps are traffickers. According to U.S. anti-trafficking legislation, pimping of minors in the U.S. is trafficking in human beings. As middle men in the modern slave trade, pimps keep the supply chain going between the buyers and the suppliers.
Want to stop trafficking? Stop glorifying pimping. It SHOULD be hard out there for a pimp, even a pimp with an Oscar.

Over the last two years working with the Not For Sale campaign, this issue is very close to my heart...no one should be enslaved!

Me a Teach...WHAT???

The other day I was on the phone with my Stepmom, MJ and I told her that I applied for Teach for America as an option for after graduation, and she asked Callan, my little 8 year old brother what he though of me being a teacher like his 3th grade teacher, Mrs. Hatfield (who I actually had for 4th grade), and he says "you gotta be kidding me!" While I am on the phone listening saying WHAT!! and he replies, no "its a good idea, but its just wierd." I was laughing so hard...oh kids...

The Foundation for Sustainable Development

Here is a great video about FSD, the organization I worked with last summer in Nicaragua:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f9mUKXQUcI&fmt=18

A Typical Day

Yesterday, Wednesday February 11th, was a great day. I had class in the morning with my good friend Kate, social and political philosophy, had a nice lunch with Kate, then went back to my room to do a little work to prepare for my crazy afternoon. At 2:00 I had a meeting with my supervisor on campus for my Advocate for Community Engagement job at the Office of Service-Learning and Community Action, then I took the 38 on Geary down to the Tenderloin where I did service at my community partner, the Glide Foundation, for my job-- I do something different each week after meeting with my supervisor there, but I spent time with the 3rd to 5th graders after school program and helped with homework. There were the cutest little girls, Ruby, Emily, Katia and then Cordell a little spunky 5th grade boy. After service I took the bus back to school for my meeting with the assistant hall director in my building and my co-RA on my floor to talk about programming, since each RA has to put on five programs for the residents each semester. Then twenty minutes later we had our in hall RA meeting that we have every week from 6-8 and I got to see all my co-workers loverly faces!
It was a good and busy / productive day...oh the joys of being in college!!! only three months left...

MY AUNT STOLE MY DOG!!!

So funny story....

Over break my wonderful Aunt Kit and Uncle Tom took care of our wonderful dog, Bailey, while my parents were in Florida during Christmas. She had him for two weeks and wouldn't give him back! Well, she eventually did but she totally fell in love with him (he is a fabulous dog if I say so my self). He is well trained (thanks to me) and so loving and loyal and loves the park, balls and jumping. After the death of my aunt's dog some time ago, Bailey has become the new Davey Family dog. This has been great, he loves going to my grandparents house in Los Altos HIlls and running around chasing ground squirrels and loves the hikes he goes on with my aunt like 5 TIME A DAY. No busy seriously, my aunt takes him for walks twice a day, sometimes they go hiking, he always plays with other dogs, he get special chicken based dog food (which I can't make) from my uncle, he sits on her lap while she watches TV, she taught him all these tricks, and my aunt even rented the Dog Whisperer and learned Ceasar's secret techniques to communicate better. How can I compete with that? So it gets better...after my aunt brought Bailey home after "dog sitting" (which means dog napping him from us to spend quality time with him) for a few hours, she brings him home and has two surprises for us. My whole family is sitting in our living room and my aunt and uncle just barge in as if it were their house (and since bailey, our guard dog, usually barks when someone comes to the door, we had no clue who was coming into our house) and brings our dog in smelling like SKUNK!! Then after we hear the stories about him getting sprayed in the face, and how she cleaned him with hydrogen peroxide and baking sods (so it looks like he got highlights) she said he came back from playing at the park without his collar, so he had a different collar on with no tags!! What a nightmare....no actually the truth is that it has been great sharing our dog and having our family enjoy such an amazing dog. But how funny is that....I think the next two worst things to happen to a borrowed dog (after it dying or getting hit by a car) is it coming home smelling like skunk and getting its collar lost.

I love you aunt Kit!!!