Earth Day

In 1978, I was an assistant lab tech in a pollution research project for Professor Morrison, of Kean College in NJ.


We went out to the Arthur Kill, which had been a former Esso plant. Took sediment sample of the stream beds.

He found the highest levels of mercury ever recorded on the planet, up until that time (70 ppm).

Core sample went pretty deep, absolutely nothing living for the first full six feet down.


We have to be careful. We see the vast sky, vast ocean, huge mountains and think there is no way we mere humans can make an impact on that. But, it's just not true. Chemicals can be poisons and if not properly managed, can powerfully impact our lives.

It is absolutely not necessary to give up on modern progress, in order to have a safe balance between industry and the environment.
 

Earth Day website ....

Here are some quizzes to tackle .... https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-quizzes/


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Oh no, I was not aware of that and I don't know what to wear. I must find something that acknowledges today is Earth Day. Would hippie clothes do?

Hippie will have to do. I am wearing my psychedelic pants, beads, a vest made in India, and a bird in my hair. My client today wears hippie clothes so I think she will approve.
 
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I'll be mowing my lawn this afternoon with an electric lawnmower and string trimmer, so I guess I'm doing my part. I bought them so I can listen to audiobooks while mowing, so it's actually not an environmental action, but it is less destructive to the environment.
 
I love Google's contribution.

Who noticed Google's picture from space showing glaciers and snow pack Dec. 2000 vs Dec. 2020 ? It is in place of the name Google which usually appears when app is first opened,
 
helenbacque said:
I love Google's contribution.

Who noticed Google's picture from space showing glaciers and snow pack Dec. 2000 vs Dec. 2020 ? It is in place of the name Google which usually appears when app is first opened,
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Ah, don't believe it. Global warming is nothing but hype, because "they" want to control us. 🤪 Humans are too insignificant to destroy the only planet they have.
 
Chet said:
Earth Day is Friday, April 22. What will you do or have done for the earth?
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In 1990, the Navy sent me to a five-day course titled "Environmental Law for Non-Lawyers." The Admiral I worked for had over 30 sites under him and we had environmental issues at about ten of them. I had already taken Environmental Chemistry courses on my own.

I was assigned to accompany the EPA when they made their periodic visits so see what progress had been made in cleaning up some of these messes. My role as a senior Naval Officer was to ensure that the sites cooperated with the EPA.

We had LUST (Leaking underground storage tanks), oil releases/overflows into wetlands from a few of our larger power plants, and places where toxic chemicals had simply been dumped on the ground instead of being properly disposed of. The level of denial at some of these sites was unbelievable:

- A clear trail of oil/fuel leakage from one of our larger power plants directly into an adjacent wetland was adamantly denied despite the clear evidence. Furthermore, that same site had done it again because the EPA had documented the first time. (I had many nasty conversations at this site and was despised by the time I left, and yes heads did roll, but not as many as should have.)

- One site was too lazy to properly dispose of toxic chemicals and they just dumped them on the ground fairly close to an on-base elementary school. The EPA found it in an earlier visit and forced the site to build a chain link fence around the area. On our visit, the EPA thought that they would only have to test for the breakdown of one toxic chemical, but what they found was that the site, still being lazy, concluded that since the site was already polluted, they would just dump different toxic chemicals there on top of what already existed. So now, the EPA had to check for multiple toxic wastes in addition to the original one. (More very, very nasty conversations, heads rolled again. I was getting to be a very unpopular person on the Admiral's staff.)

- One site had polluted toxic chemicals running into a small stream that ran across the corner of one of our bases from a poorly designed and managed civilian dump. The EPA people went bonkers over this one and I witnessed an astonishing level of denial.

My hopes that we would wise up and learn have been smashed again and again. Greed and laziness are major factors.

Here it is over thirty years, and I am sitting here getting very angry again just thinking about our stupidity and arrogance.
 
I grow bee, humming bird, and butterfly friendly plants in my little balcony garden, use organic fertilser, no pesticides. Feed my humming bird who lives here all year round. She has come to my garden for at least three years now, guards her territory ferociously. Lol.

She recognizes my face, and will hover within a foot of me, staring at me intently, I have named her Thunder Heart because she is so fearless. I also put out high quality bird food and suet when required. This year will build a heated hummingbird platform for Thunder

Heart. Of course, recycling, no plastic straws, downsizing carbon footprint where possible. No longer own a car. Use green cleaning products whenever possible. Definitely no bleach, ammonia, aerosals. My heat is electric.
 
I also mowed the lawn (well, more just an area of grass) and strimmed round the edges. However, I've got a petrol mower and strimmer. I've had to repair my friend's electric strimmer and hedge clipper. They were poorly engineered and simply weren't up to the job.

Electricity is obscenely expensive in the UK and anyway, is only as 'Green' as the power station that generates it.
 
~We are required to recycle here but I also minimize my use of plastic bottles. I have reusable plastic bottles.
~I use washable, cloth grocery bags.
~I try to remember to unplug certain appliances (when feasible) and my devices when not in use.
~I opted to stop driving when my car was totaled in 2005 or 2006, so no emissions on my part.
 

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