Palm | Kelapa Sawit

New studies are being produced all of the time and some of them are just ridiculous; "British scientists have found that 40% of the 60% of people who eat Cheetohs will also eat Fritos."

While studies like these actually exist somewhere, they don't really tell people anything! They also make it easy for people to just gloss over studies in general because we are inundated by them on a regular basis.

It's because of this over-exposure that, instead of giving you statistics or telling you about a "new study", we will just let you know some of the causes that are impacting food production, clean water sources, and soil erosion.

• Population growth
• Urbanization
• Increasing pollution
• Climate Variations

These are the areas where we can make a difference by reducing our footprint on the earth and by creating more sustainable practices. While you can't just come out and tell people "Don't have kids!" We can inform people on the effects of overpopulation on the environment. We can also make small changes in our daily routine in order to lessen the impact of pollution on the Earth. Maybe it's carpool to work, or ride your bike instead of driving.

While new studies will come out all of the time, we don't need them to tell us that change is needed. It's the little changes in your daily routine that, while it may seem small, will have a major impact if everyone adopts the same attitude.

Who knows, we may even see a study about how changes in your daily life are helping to reduce soil erosion and promote sustainability! Either that or we'll find out that you do in fact "eat Cheetos and Fritos."

I found this article and it was very interesting how the little things can make a big difference when it comes to preventing erosion in waterways.

I thought I would share the information I currently aquired during my "greenwashing" research. On National Geographic site http://www.thegreenguide.com/products/; they have a Green Guide. In the guide they address different categories on how to do and choose things 'green'. The categories are as listed:

Accessories | Apparel | Appliances | Bath | Bedding | Cosmetics | Electronics | Food & Drink | Home Furnishing | Home Improvement | Housekeeping | Kids & Babies | Kitchen | Lawn & Garden | Personal Care | Pest Control | Pet Supplies | School & Office Supplies |

In each category they offer tips, best advice, problems, solutions, products and related articles. I wandered around the site for awhile and found it very educational and helped me understand why some products are not safe for the environment. Take some time and check out the site too! I think you might find it very benefical!

Looking to becoming 'green',
Cynthia Pestner

Visit our website:

http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/

Through various media, such as movies and TV programs, we have become conscious to the fact that our children are being directly marketed to by large corporations with huge budgets. One of the large problems is the pervasiveness of advertising that bombards our children with messages that we do not support or undermines our values. While we are aware of companies like McDonalds and WalMart targeting our kids, we rarely expect to see it in our school systems. However, as any parent can attest, the advertising and the acceptance of advertising by schools, teachers, and parents has become outrageous.

Gone are the days when just local businesses supported a football or basketball team. Now we are bombarded with magazine subscription requests, cookie dough clubs, and other corporately organized fund raising. I, like many others, support the activity of fund raising by kids for a field trip or new band uniforms, however, modern fund raising has taken on a whole new marketing sector by enlisting children to encourage others to buy, buy, buy. Schools hang large banners with logos, distribute logoed collection jars, and host various other forms of subconscious advertising. Children are not just learning in schools, but becoming more accepting of marketing ploys from an early age. According to a recent article on Commercial Alert, the impact of all this marketing has demonstrated that “higher materialistic values are related to factors such as lower self-esteem, chronic physical symptoms, and higher rates of anxiety, depression and psychological distress” (http://www.commercialalert.org/issues/education/k12-schools/school-children-thrown-overboard-into-commercial-sea).

The toll of marketing doesn’t stop there. Kids are encouraged to “go green” and often with products that aren’t living up to the name. Through corporate sponsorships, corporations are gaining access to students, according to The International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics:

The Education is Power campaign is now under way. This first commercial will help raise awareness about the Ecomerge blog and water conservation. Be sure to send the YouTube link onto as many people as possible. Thank you. You can also view the video by clicking HERE.



Visit our site:

http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/