We’re All That Stands Between Us And Annihilation

There is no planet B

[eco-skunk]

Introduction

Hello and welcome to @eco-skunk! This is one of my side blogs, specifically my environmental activism and eco-friendly blog

On here you’ll find:

Eco-friendly living hacks (#ecohacks)

Legal and above board ways to take action (#direct action)

Articles about the environment

Environmental aesthetics that I find ~pretty~

(Anything original is tagged under #ecoskunk)

(Last updated 7/4/23)

[mediasideblog]

[exquisite-peculiarity]

In the last few years, I moved from the southern US to the northern US. People always joke that people in the south can't handle the cold, or that people in the north can't handle the heat, but I would argue that while upbringing affecting preference is a factor, the more important factor is infrastructure. In Texas, we had lighter, draftier houses that breathed. This helps with heat, but in the winter, if it got down around 15⁰ f (like it usually did up to a couple of times a year), the houses couldn't keep up. It was impossible to heat the indoors over 60⁰, even with blasting the heat. Alternatively, buildings up north don't always have air conditioning, so if it gets up over 95⁰ it is really difficult to handle, especially for prolonged stretches. Climate isn't just personal preference. We have architecture from over the past 100 yrs that is adapted to handle the temps it was before global warming. The architecture in Europe is even older. If people say the temp is untenable, believe them.

[ecowastefy]

How to Start Sustainable Living at Home

Starting sustainable living at home does not mean changing your whole life overnight. I started with very small habits, and honestly, that worked much better than trying to become “perfect” immediately.

Here are the things that actually helped me:

I stopped buying things I didn’t truly need. This alone reduced so much waste and saved money.

I switched to reusable items like water bottles, grocery bags, food containers, and cloth towels.

I started turning off lights and unplugging chargers when not using them. My electricity bill became lower after a few months.

Instead of throwing food away, I planned meals better and used leftovers creatively.

I began separating recycling properly. At first I made mistakes because I didn’t know local recycling rules.

I used refillable cleaning products and bought bigger containers instead of many small plastic bottles.

I washed clothes in cold water more often and air-dried them when possible.

One thing that surprised me: buying less fast fashion made a huge difference financially and environmentally.

I also started growing small herbs at home. Even a tiny kitchen plant setup felt rewarding.

Mistakes I Made When Starting

Trying to change everything in one week

Buying “eco” products I didn’t actually need

Thinking sustainable living had to be expensive

Feeling guilty when I forgot or failed sometimes

What Actually Worked For Me

Focusing on one habit at a time

Reusing items before buying new eco-products

Choosing progress over perfection

Creating simple routines I could keep long-term

A small personal observation: once my home became less wasteful, it also became less cluttered and calmer. I noticed I spent more intentionally and appreciated what I already had more.

Sustainable living is really about consistency, not perfection. Even small daily actions at home can make a big difference over time.

[hope-for-the-planet]

70% Drop in Levels of Forever Chemicals Observed in Seabird Eggs Tracks Regulatory Success

These pescatarian birds are directly exposed to PFAS contamination due to the island's position near the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Over fifty years of data show a peak in PFAS (also known as "forever chemicals") content in seabird eggs in the 90s, followed by a decrease as regulations went into effect. The most recent findings show a 70% decrease of most common PFAS.

While continued vigilance a regulation is needed, this data indicates that regulations are working to reduce PFAS concentrations in marine ecosystems.

[goldenrayofsolar]

Summer of Bringing Back Fireflies

Fireflies need cover (mainly leaf litter and tall grasses) during the day and they prefer moist areas.

Avoid chemicals/pesticides and let them live.

Minimize light pollution.

Leave natural, woody debris

Plant native plants

[depsidase]

[punkiefart]

Leaf your leaves on the ground (no, seriously.) They provide so much for bugs, places to lay eggs places to hibernate. This comic does a great job at showing WHY we don't see our little friends as often, because our systems and social expectations are anti-earth and anti-life. Don't eradicate your friends (maybe just that one) let the leaves lay

[radicalgraff]

Ad blocking in Melbourne

[anarchacitizen]

For educational purposes only, obviously.

[corvidcall]

to anyone in the areas impacted by the wildfire smoke, my #1 biggest piece of advice as someone whos been dealing with wildfire smoke in the NW united states for years, is build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal Cube

they perform as well as expensive HEPA air cleaners, and are comparatively VERY inexpensive. all you need is a box fan, 4 air filters, a piece of cardboard, and some duct tape!!!!

i think it took us maybe a half hour to put ours together, if that, and we replace the filters every 3 months. it's really made a HUGE difference, both when the air quality is bad, but also with our allergies

[o0fyuu0o]

Saw these easy to read instructions on Twitter. Stay safe 💚

[tinyyellowflowers-blog]

Great time to start pricing this out by the way, fire season starts… on the summer solstice this year, that’s fun. Signs point to it being a doozy.

[ratbugs]

there isn’t a single living organism i don’t like, don’t think is cute, or don’t love and appreciate.

in fact, even the rocks are beloved critters to me. the sand and the stones. the wind, the water, the chemicals and the clay.

no one aspect of the natural world is worth more than another to me. not to me, and not to nature.

when we learn to love ALL the earth, that is when we learn to protect it.

i love my planet. all of it.

[headspace-hotel]

plant based? as far as I'm concerned, all plants are based

[myfandomrealitea]

People don't want to talk about the fact that the sentiment of individual people being blameless for environmental impact is just propaganda and that "one individual will never do as much damage to the planet as corporations!!" is just feel good manipulation to make you stop caring about things like single use plastics, recycling, underconsumption, ect.

Like yes, individually, you are not and will never achieve the same level of environmental impact as massive corporations, but there are still billions of people in the world. Billions of people constantly producing tons of waste. Billions of people constantly using single-use plastics every single day.

We 1,000% need to go after the companies using plastics instead of natural materials. We 1,000% need to go after companies dumping waste instead of properly recycling or disposing of it. This post is not sympathising or scapegoating.

But individual people also need to take accountability because yes, one single person does not have a massive impact, but billions of people do.

Actually look at the amount of stuff you throw away each week. The amount of plastics and single-use items. How much water you waste by letting the shower run while you realize you forgot your clothes in the dryer. How many shitty cheap plastic toys you buy your kid at the beach just to throw them away or leave them in the sand because you're too lazy to find a trash can.

The sentiment that you are blameless and harmless is rhetoric designed to keep you from pushing back against the companies who refuse to switch from plastics to natural alternatives. If you don't care about the fact that you're using plastic, you're not going to care about them using plastic.

The world is not finite to your existence. It doesn't cease to exist once you're gone. The impact you have during your lifetime continues long after you're gone.

[hope-for-the-planet]

people are saying it's unethical to have dogs or cats bc they contribute to climate change by eating meat. there's even news articles saying that having a dog is one of the worst things you can do for the environment, similar to flying on planes. is this true? my emotional support animal is like the one thing keeping me going so it's scary to be told i'm killing the planet by caring for her :(

Hi Anon!

I totally understand why that would be a big scary thing to have in your head!

So first, if there’s something that you require for your mental or physical health then the math of whether it’s bad for the environment doesn’t really matter. You need it.

Same goes for medical devices that require single use plastic components to remain sterile. It doesn’t matter—the increased environmental impact of folks meeting their healthcare needs is such a tiny percentage of a drop in the bucket that it is not worth considering on an individual level. On a societal and technological level we will eventually get to the point where society is set up to meet those needs more sustainably.

You do not need to feel guilty for meeting your health needs, full stop.

Now I’ll also address the second part of this: Is choosing to have a pet dog or cat bad for the environment?

This is going under the cut because it’s going to be long.

TL;DR: Dogs and cats do contribute carbon emissions mostly through their food, but probably not as much as some popular estimates and the entire dry pet food industry produces only about 1/10th the emissions of the aviation industry. You don't need to feel guilty for feeding your furry family member--it's more constructive to focus on collective action, but if you want research-backed tips on how to feed your pet more sustainably there's a list under the cut!

I’m assuming for the sake of simplicity that this dog or cat is eating a standard commercial pet food. If you’re feeding a fancier pet food made with “human grade ingredients” or a raw/homemade diet, that is going to be worse in terms of environmental impact.

Why? Because a significant portion of the meat in standard commercial pet food is made of byproducts from animals that were already produced for human consumption. Humans mostly just eat the nice-looking cuts of muscle meat rather than the organs and other parts of an animal carcass—but those parts are just fine and even beneficial to be ground up into food for a dog or cat that evolved to eat the entire animal.

Commercial diets are also designed and tested to meet a pet’s nutritional needs as efficiently as possible, so there’s overall less food waste and energy spent on packing and transportation.

Assuming that human society significantly decreases its meat consumption over time due to the environmental impact we could possibly get to a point where a portion of animal agriculture exists just to feed our pets. But that would still be far more efficient than human meat consumption because pet food is so nutritionally dense and can use so much more of the animal.

There’s a figure you’ve probably seen thrown around in the “pets are bad for the climate” debate from a study by Dr. Gregory Okin. However, a fair number of scientists have doubts about how accurate his calculations are because he did not take byproducts into consideration—his paper acted as if the meat used for pet food was human grade meat being produced only to feed pets. This is a shortfall of some other studies on the topic as well.

There’s a study by Dr. Peleter Alexander that does take the byproduct factor into account, which found that a 22 kg dog would account for around 530 kg of carbon emissions a year, which is a bit less than the emissions from one 3 hour flight. The emissions of the entire worldwide dry pet food industry make up only about 1-3% of agriculture emissions, equal to just 1/10th of worldwide flight emissions.

If anyone wants to decrease the environmental impact of their dog or cat, here are some things you can do:

Feed dry food instead of wet food. This study found that a wet food diet produces almost 8x the emissions of a dry food diet

Feed a diet based in more sustainable meat—chicken or fish are best, lamb or especially beef are the worst. Insect protein foods are starting to enter the market and could be better tested and more readily available soon!

Feed a reliable commercial pet food and not one made with “human grade” ingredients. We have decades of long term studies showing dogs and cats on these diets will have their nutritional needs met and live healthy lives to their expected lifespan

And here are some things that I don't think you should do with this information:

Don't feel like you need to feed your dog or cat a meat-free diet and especially please don't try to feed them a vegan diet. As obligate carnivores, cats especially need animal products in their diet to be healthy.

Don't beat yourself up if your pet needs to eat less carbon-efficient foods, especially because of behavioral or health limitations--it is not an efficient use of your energy to focus on individual actions rather than collective change

Now for just my opinion: Is it unethical to have a dog or cat that contributes to carbon emissions?

I think asking whether it’s ethical to have dogs or cats is edging into the territory of, “is it ethical for individuals to do anything that contributes to carbon emissions that isn’t 100% necessary for bare bones human survival?”. And I don’t super think that is a question worth asking.

Not only is that not realistic, but we know what we need to do to address climate change and it does not demand that we throw out pets, travel, music, entertainment, recreation, art, good food, culture, or anything else that is an important part of human life but that we can technically survive without.

Yes, some changes to our way of life and sacrifices of the conveniences we are used to will be required, but it’s much more constructive to ask “how can I make this part of my life more sustainable?” or better yet "how can we collectively work to move society in a more sustainable direction in this area?". That will almost always be a better use of energy than turning inward towards guilt over individual life choices.

Dogs and cats have had a partnership with humans since before we had written language—there were dogs in human family groups when they crossed the land bridge into North and South America for the first time. I don't think we need to feel guilty about feeding our furry family members.

Anon, thank you for the question! It gave me a reason to do a deeper dive on the research on pet food emissions. And I hope you and your pet have a wonderful day! <3

(Note: I'm not interested in getting into debates on the merits of different types of pet foods or vegan/vegetarian pet foods on this blog. I will not respond to tags, asks, or comments about it!)

[glozirina]

[bass-borot]

[officialmacgyver2-deactivated20]

Some ya’ll who are younger need to google Frank Serpico and read about his time in the NYPD and what the cops did to him and attempted to do to him up until the late 90′s. He literally had to go into hiding in Italy and Switzerland and multiple times people tried to kill him. He only came back to America after the mafia (who hated the NYPD a lot, obviously) said “you’re under our protection.”

[seriously-though-wtf]

Damn, NYPD is so bad, Mafia started protecting good cops

[helila]

Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop

I was a police officer for nearly ten years and I was a bastard. We all were.

[anobeko]

👆Really really good article by the way. Feels like a good piece to show to folks you know who are still on the fence about things like police or prison abolition. Plus the pseudonym the author uses is hysterical, and he's really quite a good writer.

[subsequentlysilly]

extremely good article, please read it. at the very least read the "how to be a bastard" section, it outlines a lot of the ways cops will try to trick you

[meglyman]

Oh my god the fucking Onion

[yuriartillery]

breaking down the "gas is a human right" rhetoric even a little is really really frustrating. you can imagine being entitled to extremely subsidized gas but not expanded rail? how dull your ambitions must be

[queer-as-city-folk]

You're such a dumbass. "You're entitled for thinking that the thing you need to be able to get anywhere in the place you live should be available to you affordably." Do you hear how fucking stupid you are? Plot twist, it isn't actually the fault of Americans that we live in a place where we need gas and a car to do literally anything. Genuinely shut the fuck up. God, people like you are so annoying, you constantly blame Americans because you think it's a mortal sin that we had the gall to coincidentally be born in a place that sucks. Damn, sorry, didn't realize I wasn't allowed to have or benefit from progressive beliefs until I single-handedly fix every single flaw with the country I live in.

Ah yes, Americans had the sin of being born in a place that sucks, we live in the wealthiest country in human history, you can advocate for better modes of transportation that don't require the eternal suffering of people in the middle east and Venezuela and aren't literally destroying the planet. I called you a spoiled brats because you care more about things being slightly cheaper for you than the very real lives of people in Iran or Iraq or Venezuela. Oil is a finite resource, it is going to get more expensive as time goes on, and instead of increasing subsidies on what is already the cheapest gas in the world, why not make public transportation and walking actually viable

[soup-mother]

Imperialist yankee oil wars are actually harm reduction because poor people (usa exclusive) need to drive to work.

[soup-mother]

Can the USA just fucking do the world a favour and sink already so no one has to be endlessly fucking lectured about how no one in the world knows just how bad yankees have it? (because suffering and poverty are unique to the Reich)

"gas should be cheap as chips" is a sentence absolutely fucking drenched in blood. trying to posit it as an intermediate process until there's better public transport doesn't make it any less vile.