Randomn3ss

One laptop per child.
One laptop per child?
One laptop per child!
Huh…

How about one bottle of water per child.
How about one bottle of water per child per day.
How about eight bottles of water per child per day!

I look in all the corner delis across NYC overflowing with Evian, Desani, Poland Spring, Aquafina. You mean to tell me that these cats in Africa cant have some clean water? So instead you gonna give them a computer?

What THE hell!

You gotta be kidding me.

Kids murdering each other in the streets of America for the top jordans, whats gonna happen with a child of war and a computer in his lap? Sitting there tapping Google for the hottest news on Paris and Nicole? Looking for Kardiashians sex tape talking about this rich ass white girl in America who like to fuck brothers who look like me?

Look, we go to America and even the white girls will fuck us… no more AIDS, no more AIDS…
How about a cure?

No more diarrhea
No more malaria
No more infectious disease

Nah b, give em a lap top so they can look up their symptoms on Web MD as UN aid workers sip on Desani brought to them by some rich white dood at Coca Cola in his air conditioned office in Atlanta.

One laptop per child.
One laptop per child?
One laptop per child!

Yippee yay, it’s earth day!

Earth day was created in 1970 as a global environmental awareness initiative. It is now observed in 175 countries and supported by progressive action organizations such as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the Earth Day Network. (Thank you Wikipedia.)

Some great, green + fun websites for earth day and beyond:

1. Buy local foods, support local farms. Visit Local Harvest to find local farms and farmers markets. Go out and pet a goat.
2. Carpool. Check out eRideShare to find local peeps that are looking to share rides. You can even search for someone to carpool across the country with.
3. Remove yourself from junk mail lists. Check out GreenDimes, sign up to be removed from junk mailings and in turn they’ll send you a dollar, plant a tree on your behalf, or send you a free green ‘zine. Everybody wins! (FYI: When you sign up for this they will ask for credit card information to verify your identity. Sort of like what paypal does. It’s been a few months since I signed up and so far no funny business.)
4. Once you go black, you never go back… take a walk on the dark side: Blackle is Google powered and eco-friendly.
5. Recycle your goods and get new ones at freecycle. This site will hook you up with a local group that supports the reuse of anything and everything. Although the site is a little difficult to navigate, once you’re in there seems to be a lot of activity going on in each of the different areas. There’s a slightly loved television stand in York, PA with your name on it.
6. Go zero! The Conservation Fund will help you measure your very own carbon emissions and tell you how many trees you need to plant to offset your consumption. I’ve got 16 trees to plant this year to outweigh my emission consumptions. Damn. I had better get started. You can do it yourself or they allow you to make a donation for whatever the cost comes out to be to plant your trees.
7. Get free stuff (by paying for it) at the Sierra Club. Right now, $15 will get you a membership (usually around $35), and a handy backpack for a thank you gift.
8. Be a green person/dog/baby. I bought my dog these organic treats in the shape of little cupcakes that he refuses to eat from a store I found on Green People. They also have eco friendly and holistic business listings for people too. And their travel section has some really neat stuff.
9. Save on gas. With gas prices expected to hit $4 this summer, be sure to get your daily feul economy tips for some serious advice on saving money at the gas tank and saving the environment.
10. Read up. Eco Chick’s blog is as sassy as it is green. And I don’t use the word *sassy* often. Starre Vartan’s website is funny, smart and earth friendly. And how could a girl named Starre not be cool? Be sure to read her list of what not to do for Earth Day. As she says, because mother earth is a woman. Yeah!

It is true, we all need to be a little greener. Without the earth we won’t be here.

April 22 also happens to be the democratic primary in PA, so get out and vote all you registered Pennsylvanians. Polls are open 7am – 8pm, your local polling place is usually within walking distance to your house. Brody and I will be on our way to our designated voting center bright and early wearing our Obama buttons. See you there.

Being that yesterday was Earth Hour Day 2008, it inspired me to reflect on what I’ve read recently about climate change and going greener, to look at how I’m doing with going greener, and it made me wonder how others are evolving (or not) into a greener lifestyle.

This is the third article I’ve done on going greener, and another thing that inspired me to write again were a few recent magazine articles. In one, a national magazine who shall remain nameless but that regularly has a lot of articles on going greener and living more naturally, showed a photo of their whole staff and listed what each of them did to to live sustainably every day. I don’t think some understood what that meant really, and some seemed 25 years behind the times. “I turn the heat down when I leave the house.” Wah? Wow. Baffling, but then they’re in the business of making a magazine, not living the magazine every minute, I suppose. Another person listed “returning hangers to the dry cleaners”. Wow. Hmmm. Do we want to burst her bubble about the damage dry cleaners do to the environment and their employees’ health? You don’t need dry cleaners to clean most items that says “dry clean only”. Yes, she could have thrown the hangers away, which isn’t good, but the bigger help to the environment clearly is not to go to dry cleaners. All you have to do is smell the air at the dry cleaners to know it’s not good for anyone’s lungs. Thank goodness there is change happening in the industry and there are green dry cleaners springing up. And, thankfully several of the staff did more significant things like switch to a vegetarian diet, consciously choose a tiny apartment over a McMansion, and bike to work every day.

The other couple articles I read were about scientists who challenged my thinking and green way of living by asserting that the only way to really help the environment is to be politically active constantly, to push for change with manufacturers and politicians. That recycling and buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and using cloth napkins and composting and everything else is pretty “useless” compared to changing policies, industries and government nationally and globally.

Gulp. Blink. Blink blink. Crap.

And I immediately agreed, and disagreed. Yes, we need that kind of massive change, now - just look at recent articles about the massive ice shelf in the Antarctic breaking off - without a doubt. And, we need huge systemic change in every facet of life and industry if we’re going to really affect climate change. But to tell people what they’re doing doesn’t help, misses the point and hurts the progress being made all over the world - everyone has to start with what they can touch and do and know in their daily lives. It makes them CARE. Which then will make them want to do more, which then will hopefully make them see the crucial need for political action. If it’s not personal for them, they won’t do it. The more green you go, the inevitable step after doing all the daily living green things is political action.

Lots of people don’t care, or God forbid, can be inconvenienced with going green, I have learned. If I ask them about it, they usually get a glassy-eyed look and offer a non-explanation for why they don’t make the effort to fill in the blank (recycle, conserve, whatever). I get all kinds of people just shaking their heads at my commitment to it and writing me off, figuratively patting me on the head and saying “that’s nice”, mumbling something about a tree hugger, and then moving on quickly to something that doesn’t make them uncomfortable. I am always saddened, maddened, perplexed or a combination of the three by this. I can even say at times it challenges why I’m friends with some people. That is the hardest part about going green.

I don’t care about their opinion of me ultimately, whether it’s about going green, being vegan, not letting them put down my Midwestern home state with their uninformed assumptions about it, or whatever it may be - you can see I have an opinion about them as well (which I’m not exactly thrilled about; I strive to be non-judgmental and compassionate, but it doesn’t work all the time). We are all entitled to our beliefs. And I understand people have their priorities, difficulties, time and/or money constraints, or whatever it may be in their lives… but it’s the Earth, the air, the water, what allows us to live and breathe and have problems and joys and grief and love that we’re talking about here.

It all serves to inspire me to do more. I have joined more environmental groups, contributed more money, written to the president and senators about national green issues and continued to find more ways to go green on a personal level. I think if I counted my green activities, it would easily number a few dozen. Want to hear a few more? (Read other common, not always easy, and creative green choices in my other articles on Randomn3ss.)

1. I keep empty one-gallon water jugs in the kitchen to fill up with the cold water that comes out of the tap while waiting for the hot water to make it upstairs (second floor) from the basement. I use it to water my plants.

2. I make sure at least one and usually two meals a day are eaten without heating them up.

3. In my city the government doesn’t provide garbage service, so we haul our garbage to the places we go anyway to dump it - at the grocery store, gas station, wherever, saving a private truck from coming to our house and idling while the guy parks, takes his time to pick up the bag and throw it in, and head on to his next stop. (See # 8 below.) We have very little garbage, because…

4. We recycle greeting cards, tissue paper, wrapping paper, magazines and shiny paper like ads and junk mail, newspapers, cardboard, #1-7 plastics, aluminum, glass, office paper, tin and other scrap metal, phone books, and I take a bag of clothes, shoes and other household stuff to a charity thrift store every time I buy new things, to have less stuff for me to manage, and less stuff in the garbage. I also choose items with the least amount of packaging, and even don’t buy some things (gasp!) if the package can’t be recycled.

5. I park my car so that I can drive straight out instead of having to back up to get out. Studies say it saves on gas. It’s certainly easier, and saves time. I also get more exercise because often the only way to do that is park farther away from the entrance of where I’m going.

6. I now shop closer to home to save on gas consumption. It has been easier than I thought it would be, and saves me a lot of time and gas money.

7. I was given over 100 votive candles, so I’m using less electricity for lights.

8. I turn my car off if I’m going to idle for more than 10 seconds after reading that it takes less gas to restart the car, contrary to most people’s belief.

9. I keep glass jars to use for food storage rather than buying those disposable (or not) plastic food containers. Glass can be used for years, and won’t stain and get stinky and sticky like the plastics do - they break down, which means chemicals being released into the food.

10. I never buy note pads. I cut up paper to reuse for a variety of purposes.

11. This year I’m planning to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which is a great way to support local farmers, have great produce, and save money and time: From Local Harvest, “CSA is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become “members” (or “shareholders,” or “subscribers”) of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments… The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 1000.”

12. I have a system for washing and rinsing dishes that uses very little water, including, obviously, not letting the water run unnecessarily. We use a natural dish soap, too.

13. We keep a big bucket in the bathroom and when we turn on the shower, we let the bucket fill up with the cold water while waiting for the hot water (see #1 above), and when the bucket is full, use that water to flush the toilet.

I’m going to stop listing things now. When I wrote “want to hear a few more?” above, I didn’t know it would go to thirteen. But I’m not actually surprised: In going through my activities, it’s clear to me it is a real lifestyle. I look for the green opportunity and choice in everything I do, at work, home, traveling and play. When I add the thirteen to those listed in other things I’ve written, it makes me smile, and feel like and know I’m making a difference, even if others continue to believe otherwise. I disagree: It makes a difference to me and to everything I touch.

There is no way to be perfectly 100% green 100% of the time. It’s not possible, though I’ve read about some people in Japan and other places where they have to go to crazy lengths to conserve in ways people in the U.S could never even fathom. But going greener is a great process, and even though you’re never done, you never get to the end, it’s a great journey worth deciding to take for life. I have learned a lot (and, some day I’ll learn to write down my sources every time and add them to the bottom of the articles), about the world, and myself - a double green gift.

I now have to return to compassion and take back my put-down of the person whose green glory is ‘only’ turning down her thermostat when they leave the house. They are on a green journey, too, thankfully. Good luck on yours - don’t stop at Earth Hour, or Earth Day (April 22nd). Commit to “Earth Life”, for the good of the planet, and for your personal world.

Today, in a city striped with American History and very close to my heart, a monumental speech was made by a historically influential presidential candidate. Barack Obama’s speech in Philadelphia speaks volumes to the people of America regardless of their color, political ideals or gender. It vocalizes the beliefs of a nation, addressing our weaknesses and attempts to construct a foundation based upon the unity and strength that Americans embrace today and always with great pride.

Amidst a political campaign marked with vicious battles waged on intolerance and prejudice, fighting on all fronts and against all odds, this speech articulates that we must refute the disparagement of this country and overcome the political bickering that distracts from the concerns of the United States and this world. Personally, I really don’t give a shit what color you are, nor your gender if you are making a genuine attempt to make this planet a better place for my children and grandchildren. We as Americans need to be unified against injustice and issues such as the climate crisis and global poverty, which otherwise are not going away. How do we stop the spread of infectious disease without sufficient and efficient medical care for even the most deprived populations? Who will fight these wars when there is no ground to be fought on? Where will we be when global warming takes away our shorelines and our homes? These issues are not only prevalent in the distant places that we see on our big screen TVs, they are in our backyards and will be in our own living rooms sooner than anyone realizes.

Our nation is closer to the worst financial crisis than we’ve ever been since World War II, and its only getting worse. Both the Democrats and Republicans will need to tax us out the ass in repentance for the economic disaster that we have landed in. I want my tax money to support universal crises, our own underprivileged and poor, as well as other national calamaties such as reversing the disastrous state of social security and our unfortunate healthcare system. I do not want to support the corporations that have landed us in these places by doing things such as sending jobs overseas, nor do I want to fund a war that builds contempt for our country by the hour and further fuels such hatred that brought us to war in the first place. We the people can only compel change in our own homeland through unity and education.

Alas… I’m going on a tangent based on my own self interest and political values and this is not originally what I had hoped to promote (I get my digs in when I can). Please read Barack’s speech, watch the video, and pass it along. It is my own little optimistic wish that his words will affect and influence your own thoughts and ideas based on whatever or whoever you may believe in. Be enlightened.

I could go on for days about my issues with “conservatives” - namely, those of a Republican, Christian, and homophobic variety (see “Congress”). However, I came across one (of many of course, let’s be real - fanatics are usually assholes) example of a liberal being a complete shithead.

Yeah - shithead. That’s the technical term for the person I’m about to describe.

Actually, I don’t even know who I’m talking about. Why is that? Because all I know is that this asshat drives a crappy silver Saturn wagon with the bumper sticker reading… wait for it… Read more »

Starting June 1st, 2008 China will ban plastic shopping bags in all grocery stores, department stores and shops that are 0.00098 inches thick.  They have also banned them from even being produced.  The ban takes affect two months prior to the 2008 Olympic games, proof that China Is really trying to clean up their act.

Stores will be offering cotton and canvas bags like they have been for centuries and from all accounts, most Chinese seem unfazed by the new law.  Several other countries have made similar laws while some shops have started to charge between 7 and 74 cents per plastic bag when a customer requests them.

Now if only us bloated Americans can reduce using them or, at the very least, return them to the grocery store you got them from and put them in the happy little recycling bin that is at the entrance we too could go a little greener.  My local stores sell high quality canvas bags for $1.00 that hold double the amount of food that a single thin plastic bag can and will last for years.

Source: BusinessWeek

Here is an interesting project to send a message to a loved one, a friend, or just because you can and want to. For 30 euros (about $60 usd) your short message will be sprayed on a wall in Palestine that is currently separating people and families. Info on the wall can be found here, most of the money will be going to Palestinian NGO’s (independent foundations) doing the work. They will fund small social, cultural and educational projects with the money earned (from buying bicycles to fixing the roof).

I’ve seen this same concept from people who live near a beach who will write a message in the sand and take a photo for you of it, but this project carries a bit more meaning to it. I’m also thinking you could use this to help promote websites, companies, bands, etc.

Create your unique mark with send.a.message

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) campaign aims to give a laptop to every school-aged child in a developing country. After more than a year of talking, they are finally getting shipped. When the idea was launched and prototypes were made, they were going to be powered by a hand crank and cost $100 to produce. Today they have a swivel screen, powered by AC and cost $200 to produce.

To help fund this cause, they are giving everyone a laptop that they themselves give to a developing country,

Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. This is the first time the revolutionary XO laptop has been made available to the general public. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

For all U.S. donors who participate in the Give One Get One program, T-Mobile is offering one year of complimentary HotSpot access.

Now, you could donate the laptop you yourself receive to charity and write-off all $399, or you could use it as a teaching aide to your own children. There was a lot of hype when these were first announced at $100 that everyone would want them, not just those in third world countries. This is your chance to not only own one, but help someone else out as well.

Give one get one program details
OLPC official site

I found a site the other day totally by accident that has such a simple and great concept, it’s amazing that no one told me about it before. FreeRice.com asks you simple questions, for each question you answer correctly they will donate 10 grains of rice. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but there is no catch! No junk mail showing up at your house, nothing to buy, simply answer some questions and help feed some hungry people. Since the site launched on October 7th, 2007, more than 1.7 billion grains of rice have been allocated for the hungry. The running totals are really amazing. FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

So put on your thinking cap, answer some questions, help feed some hungry people. Please use whatever social bookmarking site you are a part of (StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, etc.) to help move this site forward and get some more traffic to it.

Just over 10 months ago there were rumors of the $100 hand-crank laptops coming to the westernized world, now the price has doubled and there is no hand crank.

The One Laptop per Child Foundation was created to give computers at a very low cost to third world countries, to boost learning levels and help further develop these countries. As mentioned in my previous article, I think sending food and / or sending aid that will teach them skills is a bit more important, but this cause has a value, and is continuing to make headlines. Sadly, they are making headlines for the wrong reasons, the price has soared from $100 per laptop to $200, and there are rumors it may go has high as $250 or $300 over the next 6-8 months.

Source: Reuters via Gizmodo

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