National Oceans Day

National Oceans Day

http://www.commerce.gov/blog/2013/06/07/june-8-marks-world-ocean-day-noaa%E2%80%99s-national-ocean-service-concludes-30-days-oceans

Welcome, almighty human, to this day of salvation, memory and adventure.  Who are we, but the builder of ships, the sailor of the mighty seas, the adventurer of the ocean. To set sail, has been the adventure of our lives for thousands of years.  To set forth, to discover, to fish, to explore, to enjoy.  The oceans have always been a place for us and have always provided for us.

The vast seas with their immense variety of life forms, so many that we are still discovering them to this day.  The oceans, to their dark depths and to their far off horizon.  They compel mankind to discover.  They entice us.  What lies beneath the surface of these great waters.  Through our thousands of years of human history, the answer has always been, food!  Food for the hungry.  The oceans are plundered world wide for food.

The oceans give us plenty.  The fisherman casts his nets to save the starving world populace.  Food.

The ocean also gives us a play land of fun.  Large waves to surf in, warm beaches to lay upon, soft sand with interesting shells, warm water and curious creatures to watch.  The oceans, with their tides, the sunset, their beauty are another call to adventure for us.  Even if we are small, we still love the ocean.

There is another call to action, that the ocean brings to us.  The waste, the garbage, the  toxins, the pollution.

http://www.good.is/posts/end-plastic-pollution-pick-it-up-bin-it-take-three-for-the-sea

The garbage that ends up in the ocean, kills sealife world.  The oceans are becoming a dump of waste.  Plastics, which are recyclable and other waste are building up in the oceans and destroying water, the plant life, the reefs, the coral, the animal, the fish and the bird life.  The pristine beauty of the world, that we covet so much is vanishing to a view of discarded waste.   Plastic, paper, cans, bottles all being tossed into the water causes pollution that even this almighty planet Earth cannot control.

The awesome planet, with so much healing and creative power, can’t keep  up with the plunder, the reckless destruction, the habitat loss, the pollution, the oil spills.

Hail mankind!  As mighty as we are, we still turn to the planet to save us.  To save us from starvation, from cold, from poverty, even from despair.  We expect the awesome planet to regenerate itself, to heal and to cure itself, to replenish what we take and to repair the damage.  We assume that the awesome planet can recover and give it all back.

Not so.

The mighty planet needs help.  The mighty oceans can’t keep up with the fishing industry.  They can’t keep up with the discarded waste, they can’t keep up with the environmental damage.  They can’t keep up with the plunder.

Today is only one day.  World Oceans Day.  One day for environmental day, but this day, this one day, must last for the rest of our lives.  To  change the world takes one day and one day to last for all time.  The oceans and all of its creatures are needed for the survival of this planet.

http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/

Rejoice!  Today is the day for the Oceans.  Rejoice.  It is an awesome day.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 8, 2013

Recycling

English: A picture of compost soil

English: A picture of compost soil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Feel the earth under your feet.  The life producing quality of the soil.  Rich in nutrients for our harvest, the soil is key to our survival.  Healthy soil, healthy food.  No pollution or contaminants for the earth

Our land fills are overflowing with recyclable debris.  Recycling reduces waste and increases our productivity.  It increases our ability to make use of used products and to turn discards into useful products.  It helps us to use our imaginations in discovering a purpose for items that would otherwise have been discarded to the landfill.

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/recycling/?gclid=CIDhn_3Yz7cCFYo-Mgod32sAJw

The landfill is a nasty brew of toxins.  Although it may be possible to the cover mess with soil, burying toxins contaminates the soil and makes it dangerous for plantings.

http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/garbage_recycling/what-can-i-recycle.aspx

http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-recycling

Some of your recyclables are very good for the soil.  A composting bin where you can recycle vegetable food scraps, leaves, lawn cuttings and egg shells reduces itself to a highly nutricious black soil.  This soil is very beneficial to your garden and to the earth.  Even a small composter will help to reduce the amount of food waste that is dumped unnecessarily into our landfills.  Black earth is an expensive product to purchase.  That nutricious soil comes to you via your own discarded vegetable waste.

Since it is environment week, please consider the beneficial effects of recycling for yourselves and for the earth.  There are many products that can be recycled and reused.  A healthy, productive garden is only one of the many benefits of recycled materials.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 7, 2013

Commuter Challenge

Commuter Challenge

And God created the Earth.

The vast heavens, the bountiful  oceans, the abundant life on the planet.  And He also created us, the human.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFq42IibUeY earth song meditation

It’s environment week and there are many ways to enjoy this national celebration of preservation and environmental protection.  We all need clean air, clean water, sunshine and healthy living.  We all need to stretch our legs and join the crusade to walk, run, hike, bicycle and to be the champion.  The more often we leave our vehicles at home and use other methods of transportation to reach our goals, for example, public transportation, car pools, bicycling or walking, the fewer emisions we put into the atmosphere.  With less emmisions the air is cleaner and clean air is better for us and better for the planet.

http://www.environment.gov.ab.ca/edu/eweek/

Yes, the trees and plants are capable of cleaning the air, but they can’t do it all.  Pollution is a cause of decreasing life expectancy and disease.

To take to the trails or the streets for running, walking and cycling is a pursuit of the joy of living.  The increased fitness level powers you on and the earth sighs with gratitude.  Only footsteps, only the power of the muscles.  Each step increases lung capacity and cardiovascular strength.  Each step promotes healthy living and promotes the health of the planet.

Each breath that you take, fills your lungs with oxygen for the health of your blood and your cells.  The increased oxygen feeds your cells and helps them to fight off disease.

Feel the cool of the forest as you pass under the canopy of the trees.  There is life in the foliage and oxygen productivity in the leaves.  The cool shade is a welcome retreat from the scorching sun.  The busy birds and insects hurry onward with their own day.  The plantings save the water shed and the rushing sound of water fills our ears.  Clean water!  Water for our bodies, we can’t live without it.  Clean water with no pollution,  no water born disease.

The busy sidewalks turn into a carpet of grass.  Soft, green, fresh grass.  The life under your feet saves the soil, with all of it’s life supporting nutrients.  Under your feet is the domain of the soil and all of the tiny micro organisms and earth life.  The soil, the building block of plant growth.

Feel the earth under your feet.  The life producing quality of the soil.  Rich in nutrients for our harvest, the soil is key to our survival.  Healthy soil, healthy food.  No pollution or contaminants of the earth

As we prepare ourselves for another day of healthy living, for us, for the environment, for the earth, remember to give thanks for life itself, all life.

The commuter challenge promotes healthy bodies, healthy lives, healthy living.  Brilliant mankind, the choice has always been yours, choose health.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 6, 2013

Clean Air Day

Clean Air Day

Before the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, ...

Before the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, air pollution was not considered a national environmental problem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Save the forest!  Save the trees!  Plant a tree a shrub a bush a flower.  These plants are our salvation, they are our clean air.

Save me, sighs the great planet, I need the forest for my lungs.  I need that immense diversity of plant life so that I can breathe.  It’s not enough to clean the air with anti-pollution devices. Cleaning the air doesn’t create oxygen.  I need the mighty forest, the green earth to breathe.

Breathe mankind.  The clean air keeps you healthy.  No airborne diseases and pollution ridden skies.  The clean air is your health and your life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCy7FYwN6E

Almighty human, with your immense mind, your brilliant aptitude, your compassion and nurturing.  Save us, calls the Earths creatures.  This is our home!

http://www.sustainability.ualberta.ca/Events/EnvironmentWeek.aspx

One more tree to plant, one more life to save.  There are 7 billion people on the planet and those people need air to breathe.  Clean air.  No pollution, no war, no more deforestration.  The deserts are increasing and the sand gives us nothing.  Nothing to eat, no shelter, no life forms, no oxygen to breathe, no plants to create oxygen.  The increasing desert brings death to the planet.  This fabulous oasis in the universe can’t sustain itself without the forest.

http://www.edmonton.ca/environmental/programs/air-quality.aspx

A small oasis in the desert, is like the Earth in the universe.  All of that vast, uninhabitable space, with a minute amount of life giving force.  That is the Earth in this solar system.  A small planet of life amongst a void of rock and gases.

We are alone in the solar system.

The life giving forces of the planet are strong.  The creative force that creates life is still giving. Human babies are being born every second.  The human population of the earth is constantly increasing and there is less oxygen in the air.  More lungs demanding air to breathe and less oxygen to fill them.  More bellies demanding food and less aerable land to produce it.  More bodies needing fresh drinking water and a water table diminishing.

The Earth still provides at the maximum capacity that it can, but it can’t create oxygen without it’s plant life.  Plants and trees are essential to the survival of the planet and to the survival of all animal life forms on the planet.

It is not enough to say, plant a tree, but it’s a start.  We need to start.  Planting a tree provides shelter for animals and birds, shade for your grass and for your comfort, sometimes food and healing products for your bodies.  Trees help to take pollutants out of the air, they provide oxygen to clean the air and oxygen for our lungs to breathe with.  The mighty planet provides all, but sustainability is not enough.  We are producing humans at an alarming rate and these people need to survive.

More lungs needing oxygen, more bellies needing food.  How will you save yourselves, almighty human.  The earth is stretched and provides what it can, but you, almighty mankind, must save yourselves.  A tree for the Earth is a tree for yourselves.  A forest to save the planet is a forest to save ourselves.  We need clean air to breathe.

Save our forests, plant more trees.  Even your shrubs and bushes will help.

Your call to action:  share this post.  Participate in Environment week.  It’s only one short week to remind us of the dying planet and the need to save it.  One ecosystem, one forest, one week of salvation.  Heed the call, your garden is needed.  One more tree, one more chance.

http://cleanairmakemore.com/make-the-commitment/commit-to-one-day/

Written by: Dr Louise Hayes

June 5, 2013