Festive 12 Days List of what to Ditch/ No Impact Project

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you are about to start hearing a lot of Christmas carols on the radio!! Regardless of your faith or ideas, the commercial aspect of the holidays touches all of us. Let's forget about 5 golden rings this year... what about 12 things to give up? Or give back to Planet Earth? Or what about the more than 12 gifts from nature that we always receive? Sustenance, Beauty, Life...

I've been inspired by 'No Impact Man, Woman, and Girl' of New York! In solidarity with them, I thought I should also mention the other things I have been living without. And they have inspired me to try for more!! Here's their website: http://noimpactproject.org/ It's a really wonderful project, check it out!

Here is my Festive 12 Days Recommended list on what to Ditch from personal experience. By the end of the holiday season, we'll have something real to give to our children. Here's the list.
1.) Used Clothes, Shoes, Computers, and Furniture - they don't make em like they used too! Besides, if you are like me you already have too many of at least the shoes!!

2.) No Television - do your brain a favor! try to consolidate to just a computer, where you can still find entertainment. I recommend less TV programs however also!! I watch none save at the odd party with friends, and have been doing so for 15 years. It has given thousands of hours of more time to practice guitar, hike, and talk with friends... discover...
3.) No Car - good for the back, pocket book, planet, neck, reduces rage and anxiety, and also for your safety. There's one good thing about cars - singing to your favorite cds! So, we are just going to have to get less shy!! Another great way to use our voice: getting active with politics to help expand bus and rail lines in our area.
4.) No Fridge - need I say more? Okay this one doesn't count, we already know that... how about No War? War is the largest contributor to Global Warming in the world. Oppose war by writing congress. Here's a link for more info: http://www.rabble.ca/news/2009/10/fight-climate-change-ending-war
5.) Used or No Cell Phone or Blackberry - get one used if necessary. Our demand for the materials that go into these machines are causing wars in places like the Congo. Let the birds tweet more. We'll be okay...
6.) No Makeup, toxic creams, and shampoos - the junk from makeup and most commercial shampoos and moisturizers leeches into water and is even altering the sex of certain fish, and interfering with the development of the fertility of human beings. Also, many additives like parabems are suspected to cause breast cancer. I felt shy when I stopped wearing makeup, but hardly anyone else even noticed and it saved me so much time and helped me become more confident. You look better without it all anyway, take it from me! Or if you need more, then in the words of Andy Warhol: "People look more kissable when they are not wearing makeup." But there are also great natural, local products, and you can even make some things yourself. Check out this fantastic song by Ani: "Don't let the sellers of stuff power enough to rob you of your grace. Love is all over the place, there's nothing wrong with your face..."

7.) No Dryer, or Hairdryer: What the air provides us for free, humans shall not payeth away...

8.) Bring back the Silent Night! No electric light or no electric light after 10pm, safely contained candles preferred. The darkness causes your melatonin to produce which helps you sleep, and prevents terrible stuff like breast cancer. If you need more tips on this, consult: The Healthy Breast Program and Workbook by Sat Dharam Kuar.

9.) No meat, then local and fresh veggies as I've mentioned. The benefits of this one are so immense that I cannot begin to describe here... try reading Diet for a New America and the 100 Mile Diet.

10.) No flying in planes whenever possible. They have the worst impact on the planet of all. For more information, read Heat by George Monbiot. Make closer places a source of rest and vacation.

11.) No isolation: get to know your neighbors and share stuff! You'll be happier and so will the planet. Why do we all need our own washing machine again??? Time to share the precious resources of the earth which really belong to us all.

12.) No Daily or weekly bath: Try sponge bathing on days between showers. Do you really need to thoroughly wash your elbow every day? Sometimes a spot check is fine... I mean, did Jesus need to be put in a tub by John the Baptist? Nope, he went the simple way... and this was a on a particularly big day...

Besides... Isn't this the way bathing should be? I mean, when did we start asking the river to come to us...?

So, here is my list thus far. As the holiday jingles begin to drone, let's create our own song, with our own voices.

I want to go find some real, living mistletoe before its too late! Can't wait to give it a kiss...xoxo

Andrea Peloso: Fight Climate Change by Ending War

Given the immensity of pollution caused by war, peace may be the only solution to global warming.

Few ecologists appear to acknowledge the impact of war on our ecological crisis, and few peace activists discuss the ecological consequences of war. However, Barry Saunders, in his book The Green Zone, states his view that as the crisis of imperialist war continues to threaten the people of Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond it is in fact turning every being in the world into collateral damage by the sheer scope of the environmental impact it is having. Never have the peace and ecology movements had so much in common.

War devastates ecosystems with radiation, wasteful burning of oil and destructive use of resources that are needed for positive social purposes. Saunders explains:

“Here’s the awful truth: even if every person, every automobile, and every factory suddenly emitted zero emissions, the Earth would still be headed head first and full speed towards total disaster for one major reason. The military…produces enough greenhouse gases, by itself, to place the entire globe, with all of it’s inhabitants large and small, in the most imminent danger of extinction.”

Does this mean that what ecologists and environmental activists are currently focusing on is meaningless? Not if we consider that our current system of consumption and economy is also related to war. The choices of North American citizens and governments affect the entire world.

Peace activists and ecologists have both known since the inception of the Iraq War that it is a war about oil, a war to continue the North American consumption and economic model as is -- an impossible illusion as oil is non-renewable and running out. Rex Weyler, founding Greenpeace member and ecologist, says, “Global warming is a symptom of human overshoot: the consumption and waste that exceeds the biophysical capacity of the Earth. If we attempt to reduce the fever, but ignore the disease, we will, at best, extend the suffering.”

The same thing could be said about war: war is a symptom of the consumption and waste that exceeds the biophysical capacity of the earth, and its people. War is a tool to maintain the current economic model of consumption for the powers that be for as long as possible.When considering the facts about oil consumption, and carbon emissions, Saunders notes:

“The United States leads the world in oil consumption, using approximately 20.6 million barrels of oil daily…(“Americans use more oil for their motor vehicles than the total combined amounts used by Russia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France.”)…while the United States represents about five percent of the world population -- about 330 million people -- it consumes a quarter of the world’s oil…If the military used fuel in the same proportion as the entire civilian population in the United States, then we could expect it to consume about 100, 000 barrels of oil per day. We know it consumes at least something in the order of ten times that figure.”

The sooner that wars in Afghanistan and Iraq end, the less global warming will impact on future generations. Our media and politicians treat the consequences of war as localized, affecting perhaps the troops and civilians in the general area. But the devastation of war remains global. The land of Iraq and Afghanistan are increasingly polluted and all people, worldwide, will pay for the consequences of the emissions expended in war.

As peace activists, we must educate ourselves about ecology. Ecologists need to learn about the impact of war. Together, only together, we can face the sheer immensity of the challenges before us. We have the opportunity to double our effectiveness by supporting one another in solidarity. Any movement sincerely concerned with solving the challenges of war and ecological destruction must merge the two challenges of peace and ecology.