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@attainablesustainable-blog
WE ARE MOVING!!!
Dear Loyal Followers,
We are moving to a new site!
It turns out there is a site run by a woman in Hawaii called Attainable Sustainable. She is doing a far better job than I ever could with the website and I urge you to check our her stuff.
Our new site is called Biodiversity Neutrality! We will be migrating the content from this site over to that site, and also adding new content in the coming weeks.
Thanks for your support!
Wild-caught fish deemed unsustainable by Blue Ocean Institute and no longer for sale at Whole Foods
Now that we’ve phased out seafood from red-rated fisheries, we no longer sell the following:
Atlantic Halibut
Grey Sole (Atlantic)
Octopus (all)
Skate Wing
Sturgeon
Swordfish (from specific areas and catch methods rated "red" by our partners)
Tautog
Trawl-caught Atlantic Cod
Tuna (from specific areas and catch methods rated “red” by our partners)
Turbot (specific regions only — see local store for details)
Imported wild shrimp
Rockfish (only certain species)
Link is here.
Bottled water is not a sustainable solution to the water crisis... Bottled water is not necessarily any safer than the U.S. public water supply, it costs on average about 700 times more than U.S. tap water, and every year it uses approximately 200 billion plastic and glass bottles that have a relatively low rate of recycling. Compared to tap water, it uses much more energy, mainly in bottle manufacturing and long-distance transportation. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water, then please use a water filter instead of bottled water!
source: Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation a free online text available from the University of Illinois
Disappearance of three large inland lakes due to water diversion for human activities.
Top: Aral Sea- water was completely diverted from tributary rivers for agriculture.
Middle: Lake Chad in Africa- combination of persistent droughts and water extraction has led to shrinking of Lake Chad.
Bottom: Dead Sea between Israel and Jordan- Dead Sea has shrunk due to diversion of Jordan River.
TOP: Trends in water usage in the US from 1950-2005. Groundwater = water below ground (e.g. wells); surface water = water above ground (e.g. lakes, rivers, streams, ponds). Source: USGS
BOTTOM: Trends in water use according to category. Thermoelectric power use refers to water taken up by electricity power plants (e.g. nuclear power plant) and used for cooling. It is not electricity generated by hydropower. Source: USGS Estimated water use in the US 2005 report
The Swiss cover their glaciers with blankets to protect them from melting. They've been doing this since 2005, so it's not new news, but it's still happening. Source.
Global aquatic dead zones of known (red) and unknown (black) size. Dead zones result from overly fertile water, too much nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) as the result of run-off from fertilizer intensive agriculture, or areas of high population density with poorly treated waste water. The largest dead zone is in the Baltic Sea (northern Europe). Second largest is the Gulf of Mexico (southeastern US) which is the result of dumping all of the fertilizer from the farmlands of the midwest into the Mississippi River.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory, Wikimedia Commons
Soil. It's the skin of the earth.
From global food security, to a source of medicines, to even the oxygen in our air, we are dependent on biodiversity and the sustained integrity of ecological systems…. Given this dependence, it is astounding that many are unaware or—even worse—apathetic about what is occurring and what will likely happen in the near future to our biological resources… Ecological theory posits thresholds of species loss beyond which the integrity of ecosystems is threatened; unexpected and possibly permanent new "states" may result. Once a community or ecosystem reaches an alternative state, there may be little that can be done to restore or remediate the system.
Source: a free online textbook--> Sustainability: a comprehensive foundation
So basically, we're destroying nature which means we may run out of food or clean air or a suitable climate, and people are apathetic about this.
Awareness is crucial, but awareness without an obvious solution leads to apathy. What is the solution?
Use vinegar! It kills bad things and tastes good too!
Best support for influence of human activities on climate change
Every time I think this political debate has been put to rest, I hear it resurrected. Are humans contributing to climate change? Yes. Is it because of carbon dioxide emissions? Yes. Period.
This is one of the most compelling figures that summarizes this phenomenon. Climate scientists used climate models to try and predict observed climate over the past century (1900-2000). The black line shows exactly what the climate did during that time frame. Climate in this case is temperature. The blue shows a climate model that included only natural factors. The pink shows a model that includes natural factors plus human factors (e.g. carbon emissions). As you can see, the pink and the black line overlap exactly, while the blue fails to match what actually happened. Conclusion: humans have influenced the climate over the past century. Period.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this is that the blue and black line actually do overlap for the beginning of the century, but then begin to diverge in the second part of the century. This is consistent with increases in CO2 emissions.
Source: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, FAQ 9.2, figure 1, page 121
Source of complied maps is Sustainability: A comprehensive approach; a text free from the University of Illinois.
Maps courtesty of worldmapper.
"...social capital otherwise defined as the “connectedness” of a group built through behaviors such as social networking and civic engagement, along with attitudes such as trust and reciprocity. Greater social capital has been associated with healthier behaviors, better self-rated health, and less negative results such as heart disease."
Source: Sustainability: a comprehensive foundation. Available to download for free here.
Sprouts!
Number 2: Sprouting
I am a fan of sprouts. They are incredibly nutritious and easy to make. Plus they are so satisfying. Nothing makes you feel more like a rock star than sprouting some chickpeas in an old peanut butter jar on your kitchen counter. I have been sprouting beans for well over a year now. Mostly chickpeas, lentils, adzuki beans, mung beans, and black beans. I sprout them until they’re crunchy, but I usually eat them before they have roots coming out of them. I put them in salads and morning smoothies and I’ve recently begun to mash them into a paste in my food processor and make them into burgers. Once I have a decent recipe I will post. Sprouted chickpea hummus is also on the list.
I’m also delving into the world of sprouted grains and seeds. Specifically sprouted quinoa, millet, buckwheat, arugula seeds and radish seeds. Basically my limiting step has been the size of my strainer. I can’t really strain anything smaller than a lentil. But I recently purchased a fine mesh strainer, so grains and seeds are within my reach! I will report on my progress periodically.
If you’re interested in sprouting, it is really easy. Basically you put the beans in a jar, cover them with clean, filtered water for about 8h. After 8h rinse them, then let them dry. Then rinse about 3 times a day, until they grow to the level that you want. I just use store-bought beans from the bulk section of my organic grocery store. Nothing special. There are many great sprouting resources online that explain things much better than I did. Sprout people are a great one, but there are lots of others.
Here is my sprouting set up. I just sprout beans in an open-mouthed peanut butter jar. When it’s time to rinse, I just turn them upside-down and drain in my little colander. These are chickpeas I soaked over night. They’re already crunchy and ready to eat today (although they don’t have any roots or sprouts coming out of them yet).
In the mean time a recipe for making your own neti pot salt solution
I am working on a mega post likely divided up into several sub-posts about defining sustainability. I'm not sure how it will be packaged yet. In the mean time, I am going to post some sustainable practices I have adopted around the house.
Number 1: Making my own neti pot salt solutions. I love my neti pot and I use it every morning. It clears out my nose and sinuses and is a great way to start the day. My allergies are virtually non-existant and I feel like i have greatly reduced the number of colds I get. At least I've changed the type of colds I get- I no longer get runny nosed, sneazy colds, I now get just a few days of vague acheyness and tiredness, which is weird, but I think is a cold. Anywho.... I always have bought the pre-mixed packets to put in my neti pot like this
They're great, they make my nose feel great and they're easy. But they're not terribly sustainable because I throw away one of these little packs every day. So I learned how to make it myself. Turns out it's also easy. Here is what you need:
1. Empty glass jar with lid. Make sure both are clean.
2. Good quality baking soda that you're happy putting up your nose. I used Bob's Red Mill. Note: baking powder and baking soda are not the same thing. You want baking soda.
3. Good quality sea salt without iodine. Go for the fine grain (not coarse grain).
Mix equal parts baking soda and salt in your jar. Mix well. When it's time to add to the neti pot, put in about a 1/2 a teaspoon to 8 oz of water. Depending on your nose and desires, you can add a little more salt than baking soda, but don't go over 2 parts salt to one part baking soda. Enjoy!
Welcome to Attainable Sustainable!
I am starting this blog because I would like to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the sustainability of our future. I am interested in investigating solutions to the myriad environmental, social and economic problems we face. Do simple solutions exist or do we need complex solutions for complex problems? Are we too far gone? What is the attainability of sustainability? You know easy questions like that.