Category: Solutions

Happy Belated Earth Day. How we doing?

April 24, 2024Bad Guys, Climate Change, General, Good Guys, Politics, Science, Solutions, , , , , , , Leave a comment

Listen above, or read below…

Pretty sure we’re the ball.

As is my habit, I left this til the last minute, and now I’m late. So . . . Happy Day-After-Earth-Day!!

Yesterday’s theme was “Planet vs. Plastics.” If you missed the celebrations like I did (my day included running some errands, playing ball with my neighbor’s doggo in the backyard, reading a few pages of Silent Spring “for fun” — oh, and getting Wordle in two), here’s a spoiler alert: We’re losing the above match-up.

Lately I’ve also been trying to finish Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but I keep lagging . . . because I know it doesn’t end well. But now that I think of it, a dawning-Industrial-Era novel about man battling his own creation is so freaking appropriate to what’s happening with our climate that I should’ve treated myself to reading that yesterday. I mean, a dark story of life, death, man versus nature? Come on.

A basket of poisons randomly sitting in an aisle at CVS on Earth Day. I guess they’re stocking up for the summer season…?

That said, my brother texted me a link to an article last night from USA Today titled “Why You Should Celebrate Climate Change Optimism.” Neither of us are USA Today people, but it was nice to see a little good news collected into one story. I just wish it wasn’t “news” like, “Hey, remember 35 years ago when we banned chlorofluorocarbons to repair a big hole in the ozone layer, saving our population of 5 billion (at the time) from a dire future? Maybe we could do something like that now, for climate change. Anyone . . . ?”

The phasing out of those CFCs was thanks to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, signed on behalf the U.S. by Ronald Reagan, back when Republican politicians got that we need to take that stuff seriously.

(Take my fun quiz on which environmental rules the MAGA party rolled back during the Trump Presidency.)

More recently than 1987 — like January 2024 — the state of Hawaii, after declaring itself “Coal-Free by ’23” and legally committing to 100% clean energy within 21 years, put a ginormous battery near Honolulu into full operation. The “battery,” sitting pretty on industrial land, stores clean energy, and looks a bit like 157 clean white shipping containers. Aloha!

The guy on the left became our President. We’re weird here.

And this very month, the EPA set “unprecedented” limits on the toxic “forever chemicals” (aka PFAS) in Americans’ drinking water. What do these chemicals do to the human body? Oh, ya know, cardiovascular disease, bladder cancer (which took my dad out), strokes, heart attacks, preeclampsia and low birth weights, to name a few. Of course, 3M and DuPont hid the health harms of PFAS for decades.

(And FYI, one group of these toxins is known as GenX chemicals, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Apparently, when GenX contacts water, it becomes a strong acid that deprotonates into its conjugate base, which can then be detected in the water.)

Lemme say that again: GenX deprotonates into its conjugate base. Take that, Gen Y. Of course, now the actual phasing out begins.

It’s hard to believe that the first time I wrote about Earth Day on this blog (“It’s Earth Day, Bitches“), Greta Thunberg was just a kid. We still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully the climate will get some cool, legally enforceable rules in the other 49 U.S. states soon.

Unlike the story of Frankenstein, we have a chance to change the ending to this story.

xo,
Deb

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Citizen Deb’s Year-End Recap: The State of the Planet (and My Heart)

January 20, 2023Bad Guys, Climate Change, Good Guys, Politics, Solutions 9 Comments
New! LISTEN to this blog here. Or just read on . . .
Over and out.

Have I ever mentioned that, a few years ago, as part of a workshop, I created a “possibility” for who I am in the world?

After playing around with various options, I announced to the room:

“I am the possibility of contribution wrapped in fun.”

I often forget that. Or wonder if “contribution” was something I felt I should say. I do like fun, though, and think I’m pretty good at it. And come to think of it, I’m not bad at contributing, either. Some might say that’s an understatement, given my bossy-pants/know-it-all tendencies. At least I can say both come naturally.

I’d already created this blog, as an easily digestable way to help people get their heads around environmental issues, and what to do about them . . . between jobs, dentist appointments, $1 oyster nights at the pub, and so forth. And then I decided to create the book I’m now working on. Which is similar to the blog . . . but longer.

News flash: “Longer” takes longer. But you can read the latest excerpt HERE.

Oh, well, I guess the planet’s not going anywhere. And a new year always feels like a good time to regroup. Especially when December saw your full-time gig end, and your love life go up in flames. (I’ll cover the latter down at the end of this post, if you’re interested. Look for the gas can.)

Meanwhile I’ll take this opportunity to quickly get us all up to speed on the progress, setbacks, and downright insanity of our society’s planetary stewardship (and/or lack thereof), so you don’t have to.

Read More…

Saving the planet…with a carnival?

July 3, 2022Climate Change, Good Guys, Solutions 1 Comment

My tiny attempts at trying to save the planet are still ongoing, but lately, rather than working on my book pitch for my agent, or writing droll blog posts for you all to commiserate with (*see p.s. below), I’ve switched gears a bit. I’ve been writing press releases. And social media content. And emails back and forth with a graphic designer, and a printer, and a committee of fellow environerds as we plan . . .

[drum roll, please]

A carnival.

A climate carnival, to be exact.

What is a “climate carnival”? Well, in my world, it starts with a crap website housed on a low-tech county Google site. And an acquaintance sending it to me along with the note, “Hey, Deb, you might be interested in this event in July.” Followed by my saying, “Please let me help you.” And their saying, “Okay.”

Which leads to my spending many, many more hours than I intended helping a very grateful committee get this thing on the map. I gotta say, it’s pretty gratifying seeing our press coverage grow, and people following the social media accounts I set up, and more people wanting to participate in the carnival itself as that all happens. I mean, we’ve now booked a juggler. A juggler, people.

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