The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment

Nature Conservancy Event

Books @ Butler Showcases
The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
6:00 - 8:00pm
The Cosmopolitan Club, NYC

Overview:

Paul Ehrlich helped ignite the modern environmental movement with The Population Bomb in 1968. Now, four decades after he first ignited debate and action around the globe, author and scientist Paul R. Ehrlich is back with a new book, The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment.

In The Dominant Animal, Paul along with his wife, Anne H. Ehrlich, a prize-winning scientist herself, take a new look at our future on the planet as evidence mounts that the population bomb may have gone off. It is a powerful examination of how the humans today are creating the world of humans of tomorrow—and what it will take for our civilization to survive.

The lecture is free, but donations are suggested. Reservations are recommended. More details here.

action, action, we want action!

Election

• Tell the presidential candidates, there's no such thing as clean coal
• Find out where your local candidates stand on environmental issues
• Support a green energy agenda
  
• Last chance to register to vote and submit absentee ballots!

Conservation

• Take the Watch Out for Wildlife pledge
• Help save Alaska's beluga whales
• Thank Indonesian officials for protecting Sumatran Forests

Climate Change

• Download the Fight Global Warming toolbar (for Firefox)

Agriculture

• Tell the USDA how you feel about genetically engineered crops

save on eco-fashion at the greenloop

Save up to 60% on great sustainable threads at Greenloop -- eco-friendly clothing for men and women from big name designers like Edun, Linda Loudermilk, Loomstate, and Stewart+Brown. The sale starts today and ends Sunday 10/12.

economic downturn? yoga can help

What does yoga have to do with money? Two ethical precepts of yoga are do no harm and tell the truth. Both of these come in handy when considering our relationship with money and a consumer-based economy. There's a highly insightful article from Yoga Journal that teaches us how we can apply these and other yogic principles to our financial habits.

A little taste:

Few Americans celebrate the devastation of individual lives, families, and local communities that occurs every time a corporation orders a mass layoff to bump up its stock price. But that didn't stop us from cheering as our 401Ks swelled fabulously in the late 1990s—helped in part, yes, by layoffs. Given a simple choice on a ballot, most people would vote against polluted water, sweatshop labor, and global warming. But all three problems enjoy landslide victories every day at the checkout stand in the form of non-organic food, cheap clothing, leaf blowers, and other ethically questionable but popular products.

Almost everyone, it seems, gets a little crazy about money. Even the wealthy sweat about having enough, notes Brent Kessel, a certified financial planner and president of Abacus Wealth Management, Inc., in Pacific Palisades, California. For instance, some of his richest clients worry that the next market plunge will take their pricey lifestyle down with it, he says. And that's exactly why Kessel, a longtime student of Ashtanga Yoga whose financial counseling is influenced by the Yoga Sutra, thinks money is an underrated spiritual tool. "It can become a bell of awakening in your spiritual practice just by watching how you react to it," he says. "Where am I holding tension in my body as I do this transaction, pay bills, watch my portfolio increasing or decreasing? All of these are just opportunities to be conscious. I think that's my primary passion in my work—to use it that way."

"...We can never be perfect. I'll never know exactly how everything I'm consuming affects everyone along the chain, but I'll do the best I can, without becoming neurotic, to decrease the impact I have on others through consumption."

Topics covered:

• Earning ethically
• Living lightly
• Voting with your dollars
• Investing from the heart
• Giving effectively
• Living in balance

Read the rest.

Read the Yoga Sutras.

carl pope and t. boone

Sierra Club Executive Director, Carl Pope, is urging you to join him tonight after the debate for an energy independence e-rally in support of the Pickens Plan. While we all might not agree with Mr. Pickens' politics and past tactics, his progressive energy plan does deserve some attention.

Join the rally here.

On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office. We’re organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration. Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America’s energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.

You can start changing America's future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Join now.

happy re-birthday prospect park zoo!

Prospect Park Zoo is celebrating its 15th birthday this year, but its history is pretty rich. It started as a menagerie in the late 1800s, housing various animals, probably not in the most humane way.


[Image: Prospect Park, Menagerie c.1900]

In 1935, following the Central Park Zoo's example, it reopened as a zoo.

Sadly, the Prospect Park Zoo closed in 1987 after a tragic incident.

The zoo reopened in 1993 under the management of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and has been thriving ever since. I'm lucky enough to have the zoo right in my backyard (well, close enough).

So the zoo is celebrating their birthday in some unique ways. Like giving presents to baboons. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous to give baboons gifts, but they seem mildly entertained. (This video is from last year, but the same shenanigans went on this year for the zoo's birthday.)



Read more about the 15th birthday here.


Visit the Prospect Park Zoo.

Become a member of the WCS and enjoy access to all of the city's zoos and aquarium, and more!

silly fun: are you id, ego, or superego?

I'm getting distracted by silly things online. I just found this quiz and thought it would be amusing. Surprise, surprise, I'm superego.

You Are the Superego

While some people may think first and act later... you often don't act at all. You rather be safe than sorry, and you take ethics pretty seriously. Like everyone, you have some pretty crazy desires. But unlike everyone, you restrain yourself. You have high standards for your own behavior. And you happily exceed them.

Are You Id, Ego, or Superego?

plastic chicken inspiration

It resembles one of those cheap plastic Hawaiian leis that are handed out by DJs at Bar Mitzvahs and children's birthday parties. But really, what inspired designer Ryan Frank to make this recycled plastic chair was "Inkuku" here:



Read more at Gizmodo.

bloggers, participate!

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

mind your beeswax!

Most candles on the market are made from a non-renewable resource: paraffin wax, a petroleum by-product. Traditional paraffin candles may also burn off unhealthy fumes, especially if they are scented with synthetic fragrances or have a lead-containing wick (scary stuff!).

The good news is, there are plenty of clean-burning alternatives to paraffin candles. I recently picked up this 100% beeswax candle from Big Dipper Wax Works ($18 at 3R Living in Brooklyn). It was well worth the price, as it burns for 60 hours -- much longer than a hot-burning paraffin candle.


Beeswax candles have a delicately sweet scent, and naturally clean the air by emitting purifying negative ions.

Beeswax is the purest material for candle making. It's a renewable resource and its production requires no chemicals and very little energy (except for that of the bees!).

You can get Big Dipper candles at their site or at 3R Living.

Other beeswax candles are available at Amazon.

Read more about the dangers of air fresheners, including paraffin wax candles, at The Green Guide.

frugal = green

I just read a post from Treehugger that compliments one I wrote about how green living means more green in your pocket. They estimate that you can save $1000 over the next year if you follow 6 simple tips.

Read my post: you don't need green to be green.

an eco-friendly halloween

It's October, which means one of my favorite holidays is almost here. While Halloween is by tradition a day of spooky festivities, one of the scariest things about it is the amount of resources spent on cheap plastic costumes and decorations. So instead of being freaked out over all the petroleum-laden junk associated with the holiday, I've rounded up a few tips for having a more green Halloween.



Costumes

Instead of breathing in toxic fumes from that George W. mask you were thinking of wearing, try one of these thrifty and eco-friendly costume ideas (adapted from Halloween on the Web):

• Pair o' dice lost: This one requires a partner. Each of you wear a cubical cardboard box painted white with black dots to match a pair of dice. Carry a road map and look confused
• A work of art: Recreate a famous painting on a big piece of cardboard (such as Munch's The Scream, the Mona Lisa, or American Gothic). Cut out a hole where the face would be, then put your face through it
  
• Two heads are better than one: Get an XXXL sweatshirt and a friend. Get inside -- et voila! -- you're conjoined twins
• Hari, Hari: Cover your hair with pantyhose (yeah, this is usually petroleum based) and cut a hole in the top. Bring your hair out of the hole (this even works with short -- but not buzzed -- hair). Wear a toga and carry a tambourine
• Cartoon flashback: Get a bunch of friends together and go as characters from your favorite cartoon. Scooby Doo is a good example... some of my friends did this last year. You can probably find all the clothes you'll need at the local consignment shop or on eBay
  

More crafty costume ideas from iVillage.

For thrift stores in your area, check here.

If you're not feeling creative, you can also get used costumes on eBay.


DIY Makeup

• General face paint: 1 tsp corn starch, 1/2 tsp water, 1/2 tsp cold cream, 2 drops food coloring. Mix well
• Blood: Combine red food coloring and corn syrup. Drip the blood where you'd like, but don't let the edges smear and give it plenty of time to dry
• Blood and gore: Use red food coloring, corn syrup, and chunky peanut butter

[via Halloween on the Web]

(Side note: I'm normally not an advocate of corn syrup, but well, it's Halloween, it may be the least toxic makeup option, and you're not ingesting it!)

Find more DIY Halloween makeup tips here.

Want to do it like a pro? According to Make mag's blog, Etsy will be giving a Halloween makeup how-to in Brooklyn, 10/27 and 10/28 (a testament to the level of professionalism at right)

Decorations

Please, I beg you, don't buy one of those giant blow-up lawn ornaments made from PVC. Try one of these ideas instead:

• Jack o' Lantern (no kidding!). But how 'bout a solar powered one?
  
• Make a scarecrow from old jeans, flannel shirt, t-shirt, and pillowcase (another version here)
• Cut a piece of cardboard into a tombstone, paint it grey and decorate as you wish
• Cut shapes of bats, spiders, or cats from cardboard and black paint. Set up lights behind them to cast creepy shadows
• Use an old sheet as a backdrop. Paint a scary scene or cut and sew felt or other scrap fabric onto it to create a unique Halloween scene
• If you want to get fancy, rent a fog machine which uses non-toxic, water-based fog fluid. OR make one yourself! (If you end up buying one, and don't think you'll use it again, donate it to a school or local theater when you're done).
  

For the serious DIY'er, more decor ideas from Instructables.

And for the kids...
Discover Halloween tricks and treats for kids at NatureMoms.

One last note. Be sure to recycle all the elements of your costume and decor. Compost your pumpkin guts and toast the seeds. Have fun and Happy Halloween!

kaight loves fall -- sale!

Save on some great eco-friendly fashion for Fall.

Visit www.kaightshop.com and enter coupon code "fall" at checkout to receive 25% off your purchase. Valid through Oct. 15.