In the past I have always stayed away from Exxon Mobil, I don’t think I need to explain why no one should like them. (Except their shareholders … remember their billion dollar profits while people couldn’t afford to buy gas??) Even though it’s been a silent protest of mine for years now, I’ve always thought that it was sort of silly. I mean, sure, you can single out an oil company for having a bad track record, but really, aren’t they all bad? Is there a such thing as a “good” oil company?

Exxon Mobil was responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in history, so even before they started raping the public they had a target on their back (yet still managed to bring in record profits). And in the past few years, with all this noise from Chavez in Venezuela, these silly emails have been going around calling for boycotts of Citgo. And now of course British Petroleum has eclipsed Exxon in the disaster category, becoming the new bad guy.

There are so many bad things about oil companies, if there is a need to be protesting one or the other all the time, isn’t that a pretty good indicator that things need to change? And not to mention the Middle East and all of our problems there. (I’ll just leave that one at that, without getting political.) At the end of the day, all oil is evil and should be boycotted if we truly cared. When it comes down to it, there is no good solution, and unfortunately all that is happening is our thirst for oil continues to increase.

Rather than these temporary boycotts of where we buy gas, we should focus on reducing the need in the first place. Before getting in the car and then wondering where we should fill up, we should think about whether we need to get in the car in the first place. We need to start walking more, riding our bikes, and taking public transportation.

Don’t think I am immune to this, it’s something that bothers me deeply, the fact that I have to get in my car more often than I would like. Which is why I am posting this in the first place. (Side note: Reducing meat consumption can keep more greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere than giving up your car.) Driving a car is so easy, we get in and go and it’s just a fleeting afterthought when it comes time to fill up. Which is cheapest, should I pass the Mobil station? What about Arco? Citgo?

Unfortunately, we don’t always have these choices, which is why I’m even wondering, will it do any good to boycott a “bad” oil company. Oil is such a big part of our life, we often have no choice in the matter. So until we all work to reduce our need for oil, this will continue to be a cycle where there are no winners, and the oil companies can have their way.

On a positive note, it does seem like the public awareness of such issues is raising. People are becoming more concerned about the environment. They are paying attention to where the products they consume come from, and how they are produced. So maybe the tide is turning. Maybe people will begin making lifestyle changes, and maybe we will begin demanding these changes of our elected leaders.

I want to know what you think? Will temporary boycotts of these oil companies make a difference? Will it just be like a slap on their wrists before another quarter of record profits? Will people begin change their habits?

No related posts.

Photo credit: makelessnoise

The other day I saw an article about big city water ratings in the United States, and it really got me thinking how sad it is that clean, fresh water is so hard to find. The article was brought to my attention at a good time, as just the other day I watched a program on the History Channel (I think) that spoke of the deterioration of the public infrastructure here in this country. This show was more broad in its content than just public water, but in addition to describing how the public water infrastructure is badly in need of repair, it also described roads, bridges and highway systems that are also in need of repair and in some cases close to failing.

In the article, San Diego -my current city of residence- was ranked 91 out of 100 in terms of water quality. There were 31 different pollutants found in the water since 2004, and 17 chemicals which exceeded health guidelines. This story is not new, as there are always cases of poor water quality surfacing around the country, as well as around the world.

But the thing that strikes me is just how apathetic people are about this. Good, clean water is the one thing that every single person absolutely needs for survival, and it seems that there is barely a place on Earth where the water has not yet somehow been tainted. People look around and see that two thirds of the planet is made up of water, so they see that there is no problem. And if you tell them that it is mostly all polluted, they just assume that modern technology can solve the problems. But it doesn’t seem to strike them as outrageous that in just a few hundred years of industry, we have managed to create a problem of epic proportion.

Sure, here in the US we are lucky that we get moderately clean water that comes out of our tap, and yes, there are some remote places in the country left where the water is clean and potable. But those places are getting more and more scarce. And when we have to start questioning the safety of our public water infrastructure as well, it certainly doesn’t paint a pleasant picture.

I mentioned that people think modern technology can solve these problems of deteriorating water quality, and to some extent it can. We can take toilet water and turn it to tap water, we can desalinate the ocean and make it fresh, but let me say, as someone who grew up drinking well water from 400 feet beneath my house, there is nothing like a fresh glass of real water that is clean, pure, and tasteless.

Another article I saw the other day described a scenario where there at one time was a small country stream and ecosystem which has subsequently filled in and paved over to build a housing complex. To me, hearing about and seeing these things is sickening. People need to learn before it’s too late to they can’t just keep destroying these natural systems, and more to the point, we need to start protecting our water sources before it is too late.

Related posts:

1. City of San Diego tells us to conservere water, then they waste it
2. Water Conservation – A letter to the city
3. Plastic water filters and BPA

For my part, I always bring my reusable bags when I go shopping, and I even go so far as to use an empty bread loaf bag to pick up dog poop rather than throw it out unused. These days when I make my lunch I reuse one ziplock bag for several weeks, rather than dispose of it daily, and I also use a tupperware to pack my sandwich and vegetables. Right there, assuming that I make lunch 3 days (and eat out 2) per week, multiplied over 49 weeks (52 minus a measly 3 for vacation), that would ordinarily be 294 bags if I used one for chips or snack, and one for sandwich. But typically I reuse one bag for three or four weeks in a row before it becomes too nasty, and my use of a tupperware removes the need for half of them right away. So that puts me down to only 37 per year for 147 days of lunch. Not great, but a significant reduction from average.

But we all know that you can be the most efficient person in the world, and it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the waste of a business. So I now have a way to save another 245 plastic bags per year by doing nothing. How do I do this? I realized a year or so ago that the cleaning people swap out the bag in the trashcan at my desk if there is anything it.

So the solution? It’s simple. I bring my trash to the office kitchen to dispose of it. And just like that, I don’t use my trash can and they don’t change the bag. (I’ve experimented to ensure that this is the case.) Just like that 245 bags removed from the landfill.

So above and beyond the hundreds (likely thousands) of plastic bags I save per year by carrying my reusable shopping bags and implementing these simple strategies, I now can include another 500 bags (a low estimate combining lunch and work strategy) that I am saving from our landfills.

If every person made these three simple adjustments, we could save hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of plastic bags from the landfills. Even at a small company of 20 people, these three virtually unnoticeable lifestyle changes would save 10,000 bags from our landfills over one year.

As you can see, making a difference is not that hard.

Related posts:

1. Biodegradable and Eco Friendly Trash Bags
2. People generate too much garbage and waste
3. Quick Green Office Tip — eliminate cubicle and desk trash

But the other morning I had quite a surprise. Every single jalapeno on my jalapeno plant had disappeared. There were probably 10 or more that were an inch or two long last time I looked. This was definitely not the work of ants, nor was it due to the cat or dogs. Is it possible that the birds at all of them?

I did do a google search and saw that birds can eat hot peppers no problem as the heat of it does not affect them. But wow, has this happened to anyone else before?

Additionally, now a small cucumber has gone missing, as have the buds on my pea plants. I can only guess that this is the birds. Is there a way to keep them out of the garden without having to cover it with chicken wire or something like that? Do scarecrows really work?

Related posts:

1. Easy Organic Garden

In our house, there is one cat and two dogs. We are in San Diego where the weather is usually great year round. Unfortunately this means that all of our favorite pests also can live year round, and they are especially persistent in the summer. So I send this plea out to my reader(s), if you have pets have you been able to control fleas in your houses without using all the usual nasty chemicals?

As much as I hate to do it, I do use Advantage or Frontline on my cat, and my girlfriend uses it on her dogs. But to be honest, I’ve never seen much change in the fleas on the animals after administering it. The last two times we gave Advantage to one of our dogs, within a few days time I spotted large fleas on him. And same thing on my cat. Though I do notice that when I find the fleas on my cat after giving the Advantage, they seem sluggish and are easy to catch, no doubt due to the effects of the chemicals. But the thing is, if I’m putting this poison onto my pet’s skin, it should work perfectly. And at $10 a dose, I’m not going to poison my cat and keep having fleas. I know how terrible this stuff is and I cringe when I give it, and I always do so reluctantly hoping all the flea problems will go away, but they never seem to. And yes, I’ve read all about how pests are becoming resistant to these pesticides, ironically because we use them too frequently. In our overzealous attempts to kill them we are actually giving them so much exposure that they are becoming immune to the chemicals.

I’ve also tried diatomaceous earth, both on the pets and on the beds and the carpet, but again, I haven’t seen a big change, and if there is one, it’s never more than a few days relief before the fleas show up again.

Now I’m reading about these non-toxic flea traps, has anyone used those? Do they work?

For the past two year I’ve been looking for safe non-toxic solutions, and try to avoid the nasty chemicals, and the truth is I haven’t had anything work for me. Next option is to “flea bomb” the house, which I hate hate HATE to do, but my girlfriend and I can’t take the flea issue. I find them on my feet when I do yoga in the living room. I find them on the bed sheets after my cat has her nap. And I find them on the dogs the day after their Advantage dose.

Update 9/9/09: I have used this Victor Ultimate Flea Trap for the past month or two, and it does actually work. I wouldn’t count on it to handle a full infestation, but it does definitely catch fleas.

Related posts:

1. The birds ate my jalapenos … I think

The reason this area has attracted the seals is that a big sea wall was built many years ago to shelter this part of the beach, which is what makes it desirable for the seals. Well, the problem is that this sea wall was initially built and funded by Ellen Browning Scripps in the early 30s to create a protected place for children to play in the area, since a large part of this area is rocky and has strong currents. Thus the name Children’s Pool.

So the problem now is that a Superior Court judge has ruled that this should be given back to the children, for it’s original purpose. So now the seals have to go. This has been an issue for many years and has worked its way through the court system, only to have this ruling just the other day.

See this article here http://www.10news.com/news/19581131/detail.html.

My problem with all this is that humans have everything, we have swimming pools and the majority of the rest of the coast. Not to mention how many other cases there are everywhere every day of animals getting screwed by human development. Why are we wasting our time kicking seals off of our beaches? Sure, the “pool” was created with other intentions, but it is one of the few places in a city this size that people, both tourists and locals, young and old, can come see a bit of nature. I say let the seals stay.

No related posts.

Hello Mayor Sanders,

I have read in the past months of your efforts at promoting water conservation in the city. Also, I had seen that you declared a water shortage emergency this past summer which called for residents to voluntarily cut back there usage or face mandatory cutbacks later on.

I am writing because I would like to see the city take further initiative not only to make more positive changes, but to also use itself as an example. One of the basic water saving tips that most anyone is aware of is to water lawns and plants early morning or late evening, however I often see sprinklers on city property running all hours of the day. Not only in parks but also on the sides of the freeway. This morning (Dec 15, 2008) I was on my way into work, and it was raining heavily, and I was appalled to see the sprinklers along the side of the 163 freeway running. To me this seems absurd, especially given the nature of the water issues in San Diego, and even more so considering the city and the mayor’s office are attempting to promote water conservation. Changing the sprinkler schedules and disabling them during rain is a simple way to make a real difference.

On another note, I work near Petco Park and often see the park workers watering the grass all day long, to the point of over saturation on a daily basis. I am pretty certain this is not city property however, and understand that any water usage enforcement in this case would be impossible.

Soon after writing this letter, I did read something that says that these sprinklers along the freeway are not managed by the city, but by CalTrans instead. Of course this does not make it forgivable, but it does take this out of hte city’s hands. Though I also saw an article that says CalTrans is the 4th largest water user in the city. Though if you look at that article, the biggest water user is the city itself.

References and recommended reading:
Another Wayward CalTrans Sprinkler
With Water Cuts Near, Freeways Still Get Showered
Who uses the most water?
A letter to the city of San Diego

Related posts:

1. City of San Diego tells us to conservere water, then they waste it
2. Clean water should be taken more seriously
3. A letter to the City of San Diego