More on Ron

I am an environmentalist. I am one who continually seeks new ways to improve his lifestyle with respect to Mother Earth. Why would one be so surprised that I will continue to support a presidential candidate who carries an extremely conservative viewpoint on everything including global warming? Why, would one ask? Because he does not and would not use big government tactics (EPA, USDA, etc) to hinder state and local governments in protecting the environment by adjusting policy.

Ron Paul is clearly conservative in respect to global warming, and denounces republican candidates who give support to Al Gore and his attempt to raise awareness to the public. I do too, in fact, since they are merely doing it to gain popularity. I didn't even see that bloody movie. You want real awareness? read a book. In fact, read Cradle to Cradle by McDonough and Braungart. It is wickedly real and explains how the industrial revolution (the past 100 years) clearly and plainly screwed the entire natural cycle of the earth. For DECADES politicians have been sitting on top in their fat-ass suits, looking at the facts and TALKING about what should be done about this. I want someone who will get out of the way and let the people choose what should be done. Freaking GOOGLE is putting millions into research for renewable energy because the government won't (which by the way is going to be the topic of my next post... there are many interesting articles on this).

Anyway, this turned into a rant and all I wanted to do was prove a point. The point can't be seen on this video, but it should be watched anyway. The point is that I don't care what the opinion of a president is, just so long as he respects the constitution and me. Let the markets determine the prices of goods and let the people choose policy and politicians based on facts. Peace.

Ecuador

Many of who know us (myself, Christina, Emily), know we were planning a trip to Colombia for this summer to volunteer with a local community. As of now that trip has changed. We will still be embarking on a journey this summer, only not to Colombia, but to Ecuador. We want to go to South America for many reasons, some of those having a lot to do with our own culture and the impact we are having on Latin American. However, we did not research Colombia extensively enough. Par many friend's advice and with the additional research we did, we decided Colombia would be too dangerous for US travelers, especially inexperienced ones.

Speaking of experience, we have brought another friend on board for the journey. My friend and colleague Adam Lynch will be joining us for our volunteer trip to Ecuador. Adam is an experienced traveler and brings the passion for service we want to the table. I was happy to hear Adam was interested in going from Emily, and I think we are all looking forward to this a little bit more.

The whole process hit a stand-still because of how busy we all are, but now that we have officially decided on a country and an organization we will be able to hit the ground running. The organization is called Fundecoipa. They coordinate programs in three different tightly knit communities around Ecuador. This is the direct link to where we will be going and information on what we will be doing: http://www.fundecoipa.com/volunteer_arutam.html.

We decided to join the community in the Arutam Forest reserve. Arutam is located near Puyo, south east of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We will be mainly working with children in the elementary school teaching English and also working on a nearby organic farm. An interesting fact is that the community is actually a Shuar community. Interesting facts about Shuar people can be found on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuar).

Now that we have finally come to this decision, we will be going full out on our fund raising efforts, so as said before, any contributions are welcome! Our first step (and most expensive step) is getting plane tickets. We will be taking the necessary steps to apply for the program shortly. I already have my passport and the others have theirs on the way. We will also be paying for shots.

If anyone wants any more information, possibly on our intention and motivation, I can be reached best by email at lucashine1984@gmail.com. Peace.

Current Thoughts

It seems I always have to put real negative depressing stuff here. Think about this article next time you plan a vacation, think about whose pocket you are putting your money into and at what cost is it taking to make these people a profit...


Mangroves are Losing Ground to Coastal Development
http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=120&articleID=1559

"THREE YEARS AGO, Nita and Gerry Nettleton left Anchorage, Alaska, in search of a warm, sunny spot to spend their retirement. And in Hopkins, a quaint fishing village on the southern coast of Belize, they thought they’d found it: a blue wooden house surrounded by coconut palms with a spectacular view of the Caribbean from its veranda. When the Nettletons bought the property, it bordered a dense forest of mangroves."

More On Plastic

I made a decision, more or less a resolution at the turn of the new year, to give up any beverage contained in a plastic bottle. The constant argument that recycling does more harm than good upsets me. Although slightly off topic, even if a recycling plant's carbon footprint was more detrimental than the chopping down of hundreds of acres of ancient forest, the electricity used to power one does not need to come from coal fire. There are so many ways to conduct a megawatt of electricity.... anyway, way off topic.

Christina made an inquiry to me the other day, as to what I would do about other plastic products, or how I would ultimately avoid the bottled beverage industry altogether. First off, I do not drink that much, so anytime I have a beer or drink at the bar, it would probably be in a glass bottle or from tap. Overall I am not too worried about it on that end. Secondly, plastic is not all bad, especially in fields like the medical field. It has done a TON for modern civilization when it comes to sanitation and medical practices. My B is that it is so widely abused. I see it everyday; someone buys a coke and does not see the impact of his action, especially when I see that plastic coke bottle carelessly thrown into the trash.

This is why the production of it sucks...




This is why throwing it all away sucks...




My friend Tommy, one of the biggest ball-busters I know, asked me if I wanted lumber jacks to lose their jobs. I told him no. Traditionally there has always been jobs for lumber jacks, however the capacity of the modern lumber industry causes too much damage to the earth. It would be different if it were just a couple of guys chopping down trees with axes to warm their houses, but that isn't how it is. There are huge machines chopping down acres of ancient forest for the benefit of the paper and plastic industry. What I want is for the natural pattern of all economies to take place and new jobs to become important. When one industry fails, another becomes abundant. This is a very basic principle of macro economics. What I am hoping to see over the next 10 years or so is a huge increase in the green job market. Schools, corporations and governments need to take steps and initiatives to create a new market of jobs to help the environment, not kill it. Anyway, it seems that I have gone off on another tangent.

To make my resolution more clear, I have given up plastic containers completely as I can help it. As stated before, plastic can do amazing things, even simple things like keeping our left-overs fresh. However it cannot be abused. It has been a VERY long time since I have used a plastic grocery bag. In fact, just recently I read that in Europe they launched a 33 cent tax on all plastic grocery bags, and the result was a 94% decline in its usage. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin)
Seriously, Wegmans reusable bags are a dollar. Five of them can be used for life. Anyway, I believe my point has been illustrated rather clearly.