Climate Camp Australia
A couple of weeks ago an organization called Climate Camp Australia organized a march protesting Coal Power. This march was held in a town called Newcastle which is supposed to be a top coal exporter in Australia and the march essentially held up coal trains for about six hours.
I commend the efforts of the organizers for putting up such a worthy event, however, I have mixed feelings about the actions of a few of the protesters who got into the train lines and began dumping some of the coal off the trains.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the erradication of coal power all together and I agree we must do everything we can to solve the current problems of our time, but any time you begin acting against the law and public order you come close to crossing that line between civil disobedience and “terrorism” (although I hate that word as it is the war cry of the same people who want to keep the status quo and use it to further grasp control of the masses). My view is that if we are to win this cause, we must do it in a way that will win people to our side, not oust the law abiders. It is very easy for the other side to use these quasi-anarchist actions against this movement to sway public opinion to their side.
Now, having said that, I am a full supporter of civil disobedience, and we all have a duty to enforce it when we feel there is injustice and unfairness. Any progress we have made as a global civilization has been done with the use of civil disobedience, and done properly it can change the course of human evolution… as it has in the past.
I do think that Climate Camp Australia is a great organiztion as far as I can tell, and I encourage us Americans, as well as all peoples in the world to join in this cause and create our own Climate Camps.
I have included the video from the demonstration of Climate Camp Australia 2008:
Recycling Aluminum Foil - Part 2
Hello again!
After some further research and a very insightful comment on my last post about recycling aluminum foil, I was able to dig up a little more information on this matter. Unfortunately, here in Seattle, aluminum foil is not accepted by the city’s recycling service. However, if you really want to be green there is a way to do it without a lot of headache. This is what you do:
1- After using aluminum foil, you need to make sure it is rinsed and free of any left overs.
2- After it is cleaned, begin building up a little aluminum foil “ball” until you have a few pounds saved up (more than 5 pounds will probably take up a lot of room, but if you have the storage keep building).
3- Find where your local scrap metal shop is and take it to them as they will be able to recycle it for you, and some places will even give you money for it.
I actually know someone who does this for a living and you can probably ask him more about it. Here is his Biznik profile:
http://biznik.com/members/robert-collier/
Anyways, I know this may be more trouble than most people would like to go through, but you know what they say: no pain, no gain. You could actually make this a fun thing by doing a little “aluminum foil desing competition.” Ultimately, recycling aluminum foil can add even more momentum to the sustainability movement and we might eventually be able to get control of this thing once and for all. In any case, there is no excuse not to recycle those cans… put them in the recycle bin! 
What You Can Do About Climate Change
As I’ve been writing more and more about climate change I have noticed myself getting more frustrated. Frustrated because I can’t seem to put together a solid action plan of things I can do right away to alleviate the situation. So I decided to do a little research on what practical steps normal, average people can start doing right away in order help solve this global warming problem we have at hand. The following are 4 easy things you can implement right away:
1) Drive Less - If you drive to work every day, make it a point to take the bus or carpool once or twice a week. I started doing this a while back and one of the things I noticed was that I got to work faster in the bus because of the bus lane. And if you want to be even more adventurous, ride your bike to work.
2) Turn It Off - If you’re like most people, you probably have an extra lightbulb on you’re not using. Go ahead and turn it off. The aggregate effects of this are considerable.
3) Use Energy Efficient Bulbs and Appliances - Replace those old incandescent light bulbs with new LED bulbs. Again, the aggregate long term effects add up.
4) Recycle As Much As Possible - Recycling something usually takes a lot less energy than producing something from raw materials. A lot of energy can be saved recycling and thus contributing less pollution.
These four things may sound too simplistic, but you would be amazed at how many people overlook these. People can start implementing these right away without much difficulty or shock to the way they live. It may not be much, but we are looking for the aggregate effect.
Of course, for the hardcore environmentalist who wants to seriously lead by example, check out some of my other posts.
Welcome to Seattle Green Observer
Seattle is at the forefront in sustainable living and Green practices among US cities, and even the world. This is my humble attempt to keep track of what is going on in this beautiful city - from solar power to compost bins - in the hopes of educating and increasing awareness of what we can do to live more sustainably and in balance, and decreasing our footprint on the planet. Please join me in this journey of Green discovery.
