Garbage Warrior - Sustainable Housing That Will Change the World

"Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, and grows its own food. Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, that it recycles its own waste, that it has its own power source.

And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things society throws away. Thirty years ago, architect Michael Reynolds imagined just such a home – then set out to build it."

An earthship in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Michael's designs are changing the lives of victims or natural disasters. 

Garbage Warrior is a must see for anyone interested in humanity, the environment, or just plain incredible ideas. Architect Michael Reynolds has been building sustainable housing from 'garbage' for over 30 years. He creates beautiful homes that are self-sufficient: they produce their own food, catch their own water, and even heat themselves. How? You'll have to watch the documentary to find out, but among his methods are building south-facing structures to fully utilize the sun's power, water catchment systems that negate the need for wells, and greenhouses that grown an abundance of delicious homegrown nutrition.

The full value that these "earthships", as they are called, can provide the world is astounding. The documentary shows Michael traveling to third-world countries to implement these building techniques; in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, for instance, much of South-East Asia was devastated. Michael and his crew travel to these destroyed areas to show those affected how to rebuild their own housing out of trash that, this time, can stand up to earthquakes and tsunamis.

Watch the full length documentary below. Enjoy, and let this be a reminder to keep thinking outside of the box!

Zainab's Story - Realities from Pakistan

Pakistan is no doubt a country riddled with troubles, from the flooding that affected 22 million of their citizens last year, to the ongoing Taliban presence. Honour killings are still common in the country, as is rape and domestic abuse.

Many people know about these issues, however it is rare to hear first-hand accounts of the hardships of living in Pakistan. And so I introduce you to Zainab, a beautiful young Pakistani woman who completely embodies the notion of courage. She survived two acid attacks, and I highly recommend watching her story below, for a dose of both reality and inspiration.

Against All Odds: Zainab's story.

If you're interested in hearing more about Pakistan and it's people, I would highly recommend checking out gawaahi.com, which presents "stories of abuse and survival, the testimonies of the survivors of the worst floods in Pakistan’s history, and the narratives of Pakistanis celebrating their individual identities".

Water, Wind, Earth, Fire

Sardinia

Via Flickr - kaneda99

Stanton in Peak, England

Via Flickr - Alex is late

Saintes Maries de la Mer, France

Via Flickr - kaneda99

Male, Maldives

Via Flickr - Hani Amir

Hurricane winds from the Atlantic at Jupiter Inlet Beach

Via Flickr - Captain Kimo

The 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia

Via Flickr - mtchm

Kilcunda, Victoria, Australia

Via Flickr - Steve Lacy

West Beach, Sanibel, Florida

Via Flickr - Today is a Good Day

Via Flickr - astrocruzan

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California

Via Flickr - Justin Kern

Via Appia Antica, Rome

Via Flickr - Giampaolo Macorig

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Via Flickr - shchukin

Via Flickr -  | HD |

New South Wales, Australia

Via Flickr - Alex Kess

Banish Doubt

"What we need to do to allow magic to get hold of us is to banish doubt from our minds ... Once doubts are banished, anything is possible."

- Carlos Castaneda / The Power of Silence

Via Flickr - Phil Gibbs

Factory Farms Want to Make Helping Animals Illegal

I have started this post out with about 5 different sentences and deleted them all. Why? Because I'm so frustrated with the topic I want to introduce and am trying to frame this situation so that everyone will see how utterly ridiculous it is.

What is getting me so worked up?

That Iowa wants to pass a law which states that "undercover investigators who take agricultural jobs to gain access to animals and record their mistreatment, will face penalties, up to a $7500 fine, and five years in prison."

This is in the wake of animal-rights activists gaining employment at a factory farm, and filming horrific abuses, such as:

• Cows on their knees being shocked and beaten 
• Pigs hit and dragged across the floor
• Chicks ground up alive or left to suffocate in a disposal bin.

Via Farm Sactuary

Basically, the agricultural industry, in plain language, is saying "if you try to protect the animals we are abusing and exploiting, we will put you in jail".

Ok, since when did "recording mistreatment" for those who don't have a voice become illegal? Would these same lawmakers have a problem if I were to record and publicize the mistreatment of child slaves in Bangladesh? Probably not. Actually, I would probably receive a pat on the back if I fought for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

So what makes this any different?

Maybe the fact that the agricultural industry is responsible for $24.7 billion in sales. Yet again, money trumps morals, but is that really the kind of society we want to live in?

You decide.

We may not all be high powered lawyers, but we can still contribute positively to this issue.
I offer the same advice I did for stopping dead zones: (weird how everything is connected, isn't it!)

Buy local and organic, and eat less meat.

{Update: The bill was passed Thursday morning. } 

Life is Now

Animal Testing at the University of Texas

Last month, I posted about animal testing and the despicable practices the industry employs. This month, the University of Texas has shown itself to be a part of that inhumane industry.

A whistleblower recently called PETA to share some rather disturbing methods the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) has been using. The insider reported that dogs, cats, monkeys, sheep, goats, ferrets and mice are all being used in painful experiments. These animals have been burned, mutilated, and cut open, while at the same time are surrounded by untrained staff, careless handling and severe neglect.

Experimenter Daniel Traber has allegedly subjected these animals to third degree burns on 40% of their bodies, while forcing them to inhale smoke.

"Scientists" and experimenters also intentionally:

• Caused spinal cord injuries in sheep.
• Operated painful surgical procedures on animals and offered no anesthetic either during or after the surgery.
• Imprisoned highly social animals to tiny stainless steel cages.

And more!

Click here for more information, and to send a letter to the UTMB President urging him to take action.

A Wowwww of a Documentary That Must Be Shared!

Last night I was browsing through the looooong list of documentaries on Top Documentary Films and was just about to watch one on the fascinating world of plastic (I even had it loaded!), when as fate would have it, I stumbled upon the most epic of epic documentaries. It's called Home, and have I mentioned it is EPIC?

It chronicles the earth's journey over the last millennia, and focuses on the last 200 000 years that humans have been on earth. The movie is filmed entirely from the air, and the shots are INCREDIBLE. It has been called visually stunning and I have to agree; kinda like Planet Earth on steroids.

Embedding for this video is disabled, but here's the link for all of you beauties. Enjoy!

Watch Home

And if I haven't convinced you juuuuust yet, check out the trailer:

You're Great

(I love the merge of linear and abstract thinking, and think both put together will lead to happier individuals, and as a byproduct: a changed world)

The more in alignment with yourself you make everything in your life, the happier you will be. By this I mean - follow your passions, any and all of them. Work with them to create a living, a lifestyle, your truest self.

Do what makes you come alive, what makes you feel you have purpose, what you are truly happy doing.

& Believe you are good enough to experience that feeling 24/7.

“If you don’t know what your passion is, realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it”  

 -Oprah Winfrey, Queen of the World

Dead Zones - Oceanic Graveyards

WHAT are they?

Dead zones are areas in the ocean that can no longer support life- life that once flourished there. To put it bluntly - virtually everything in that area of the ocean is dead or has fled. (Little rhymes amid research are always fun)

A 2008 study counted 405 dead zones in the world. (A 2004 report counted only 150) Many are still small, but will undoubtably increase in size unless something is done.

One of the most concerning dead zones is in the Gulf of Mexico. It is over 22 000 square kilometers - the size of New Jersey. A main cause of this particular dead zone is the massive amount of agriculture that exists in the midwest, near the Mississippi river.

This satellite image shows the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as two in Asia

Source

WHY does it happen?

Dead zones are oxygen depleted areas in the ocean that can no longer support the marine life that usually lives there. The water there can also be toxic to animal and human swimmers.

What's to blame?

• Human Activity, especially the agricultural industry. Excess chemicals like nitrogen and phosphorous that runoff from sewage, cars, factories and industrial farming operations either dumping or letting their waste seep into the water.

• Chemical fertilizers are considered to be the main cause of dead zones. There is simply too much toxic runoff for natural filters, like soil, to purify. Once the chemicals enter the water untreated, they eventually run into the ocean and cause an algal bloom; the bloom causes the oxygen-deprived dead zones. Plants and animals that are not able to escape usually die in the toxic environment, those that can flee go elsewhere.

Can this CHANGE?

Dead zones are reversible when the pesticides, manure, and other toxic chemicals that caused them are greatly reduced or eliminated. We just have to DO something about it! The Black Sea dead zone, which was once the largest dead zone in the world, mostly disappeared between 1991 and 2001 when fertilizers became too costly for farmers to use.

Moral of the story: Stop using pesticides, stop supporting the agricultural industry - go organic and local, eat less meat.

India - aka Land of My Dreams

Via Flickr - Stuck in Customs

Darjeeling, West Bengal

Via Flickr - Daniel Peckham

The Bassein Fort near Vasai

Via Flickr - calamur

Andaman Islands

Via Flickr - Matthieu Aubry

Via Flickr - ewanr

Ama Masjid mosque in New Delhi

Via Flickr - jrodmanjr

A woman goes to fetch water in the Dharavi slum

Via Flickr - Meanest Indian

Mobile yarn-seller near Haus Khaz village

Via Flickr - Meanest Indian

Tomb of Humayun in Delhi

Trey Ratcliff

Akbar's Royal Bathing Chamber in Agra

Trey Ratcliff

A poor family in New Delhi

Trey Ratcliff

Thikse Gompa

Via Flickr - ~FreeBird~

Holy Waters of the Gurudwara Bangla Sahi

Via Flickr - ~FreeBird~

A view from Nandi Hills, Bangalor, Karnataka

Via Raj Hanchanahal Photography

Too Late for the Planet?

I get comments from people all the time that basically imply that any education/activism Im doing is fruitless as it is too late. Too late for the planet, too late for our society, and too late in inspiring action.

Although I admit no one really knows what the impacts of our actions will be in the future (even those scientists that tell you they do - they're making educated guesses), I am convinced that we should at the very least try.

Let's put it this way - you put a scrumptious pizza outside to cool down. You get distracted and end up leaving it out there for an hour. Do you sit inside eating rice crackers because you figure it's too late (an animal might have eaten it) or do you take the initiative to go outside and check?

Personally I would check on my pizza, rice crackers are not that tasty. It sucks that I got distracted but maybe I can still enjoy that cheesy, veggie, doughy goodness. (Pizza = planet, I love metaphors, what can I say)

Much Love!

Resources

I added a new page to the right called resources; it has a ton of links that some of you might find interesting, helpful, educational, empowering, etc etc etc. Check it out :)

Food for Thought

"I can’t understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants." 

- Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore

Via Flickr - 4BlueEyes Pete WIlliamson

Fun Facts about Food

• Americans waste 40 PERCENT of the food they produce for consumption; this amounts to a cost of over $100 billion a year. - Picture 40% of your grocery store being dumped into the garbage. Daily.
• The average grocery store item travels 2400 kilometers to get to your plate. Or your garbage apparently.