intellectual properties

generally regarded as safe

i was at the Target human ant farm (TM) the other day and walking by the laundry soap/fabric softener aisle the smell was overwhelming.

how many chemicals do we cover ourselves in every day?

those automatic plug-in air fresheners are completely horrendous to me. constantly spraying chemicals into your breathing air? are you insane?

this would be funny except the scary thing is that acid from strangers is probably more reliable and less toxic than millions of things you might buy boxed, shelved, or frozen and sold as food or found in the cosmetics/bath/cleaning product aisles that you cover yourself, your home and your family with every day (at least 515?!).

who is more ridiculous? the hippie girl above, or the parents dosing their kids’ baths, food and clothing with unknown GMOs, chemicals, and petroleum byproducts?

Queen of the Sun Screenings in Berkeley

i have followed the news reports on the recent widespread disappearance of feral honey bees as much as i have followed any of the other strange/foreboding yet somehow under-discussed environmental indicators of the past decade. that is to say: i am not one of the people who has been FREAKING OUT about the bees, but i have been concerned.

i am recruiting people to see a screening of this new documentary film The Queen of the Sun, partly because i do have interest in the subject of the bees, but mostly because i so enjoyed the director’s previous film, “The Real Dirt on Farmer John” (netflix/youtube trailer), which i will once again maintain is one of the best documentaries i’ve ever seen whether you care about organic farming or not, and so i believe that this film will be interesting and engaging whether or not you have an interest about the bee situation.

the movie is playing (screening list) at the Roxie in SF March 30 and March 31 (tonight/tomorrow), and will be at the Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley April 8-14. I will be going to one of the Berkeley screenings, probably the weekend of the 8-10th. hit me up if you want to join.

Plastic State of Mind (funny!!)

if you’ve been reading long enough you know that i have a huge pet peeve about plastic, particularly plastic that is used once and then thrown away.  EVEN IF “recycled” it’s still a bane on our planet. i have supported the movement to ban plastic shopping bags everywhere, and KUDOS to Los Angeles for passing one this week!

so, this video parody of the Jay-Z song “Empire State of Mind” is one of the most awesomest things i’ve seen in a long while and totally made my day. and so catchy!!

~via

don’t think plastic bags are a problem and the government is micromanaging? LOOK AT THIS PHOTO:

(#11 from the Big Picture/National Geographic Best of 2010 Photo contest).

i don’t think that dolphin is going out for groceries.

AB1998: ban plastic bags, save the world!

if you are reading this, please do me a favor and sign this petition supporting California Assembly Bill AB1998.

http://action.savesfbay.org/savesfbay/issues/alert/?alertid=16092916

The average Californian uses an estimated 400 plastic bags per year for a total of 19 billion plastic bags per year statewide. The production of these single-use petroleum-based bags consumes millions of barrels of oil and the average use time of a plastic bag is a mere 12 minutes. After which, most are sent to the landfill. However, thousands of plastic bags find their way to our creeks, Bay and ocean where they entangle, suffocate and kill seals, birds, sea turtles and other marine life.

please click here to urge your rep to vote YES on AB1998 to protect our creeks, waterways, the beautiful California Coast and the world’s oceans. (yes, if you put in your real email, this may result in other emails in your inbox from Save the Bay. but don’t you want to save the bay??)

click here to do even more!

do you know what oil tastes like?

this pelican does.

this just breaks my heart.

QOTD: Earth Day, 2010

“Mother Nature bats last.”

help save 300 acres of rainforest @300acres.com

My friend Natalia is spearheading the 300 Acres project, an effort to raise funds for an Ecuadorian community to buy back their ancestral rainforest lands, which will otherwise be sold to developers.  If you have an extra $5+ dollars, this is a specific project with a direct impact you can donate toward (tax deductible!). Time is running out – they only have a week left to raise funds. Thanks!

Not only will your tax deductible donation help save the endangered rainforest where the Amazanga people reside, but it will also aid in the on-going construction of their school of natural medicine – The School of Guayusa.

The Amazanga are now working toward recuperating 300+ acres of pristine jungle that is under severe threat of destruction. Blessed with waterfalls and dense jungle growth, this forest will serve as a base for the Amazanga’s international natural medicine school, the School of Guayusa.

This sacred, ancestral land was seized by the Ecuadorian government and military in 1940. The indigenous people that inhabited this area were forced to leave their home, the source of so much abundance. Now, however, we have the opportunity to reclaim this land for its rightful protectors.

The Amazanga are a group of indigenous healers and conservationists of Quichua and Shuar descent who are dedicated to the protection of nature and the preservation of natural wisdom and indigenous traditions. They are true forest protectors who have resisted the destruction of the Amazon jungle by oil and mining threats since the inception of those influences.

For almost a century the Amazanga have organized grassroots campaigns to protect the forest from oil companies such as Shell, Arco and Tripetrol, mining companies such as Nambija, and logging companies such as Plevol.

With the help of U.S. based foundations such as Tropical Rainforest Coalition, the Amazanga have helped to recuperate over 5,000 acres of ancestral land that is now protected as a natural reserve and being guided toward becoming a World Heritage Site. Read more about the Llushin Rainforest Reserve.

Donate now to help them save the next 300 acres.

all for nothing.

the yes men: how to fix the world

if you haven’t yet seen the footage of the Yes Men’s (who?) most recent stunt with the Chamber of Commerce, it’s here and worth 10 minutes of your time.

some articles and a little about the context:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2009/10/19/091019ta_talk_surowiecki

Resigning in protest is not in the American grain. Robert McNamara stuck around as Secretary of Defense even after he decided that the Vietnam War was a disaster; Colin Powell did the same during the Bush Administration’s push for war with Iraq; and in the lead-up to the financial crisis, few high-profile executives stepped down over disagreements in philosophy or tactics. But resigning in protest has gained popularity of late among an unlikely group: big corporations. Last Monday, Apple announced that it would be quitting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber’s opposition to global-warming legislation. And that was just the latest in a series of defections: in the past few weeks, the public-utility companies Pacific Gas & Electric, PNM Resources, and Exelon all announced that they’d be leaving the Chamber, while Nike quit the organization’s board of directors…

…But it may reflect a calculation that global warming is simply too big an issue to get wrong, both economically—few companies are really going to benefit from the melting of the polar ice caps—and from a public-relations point of view. It’s also probably no coincidence that these resignations have come at a time when the Chamber’s anti-regulatory zeal looks not just outmoded but self-defeating. Had the Chamber supported tougher regulation of financial and housing markets, after all, the myriad small businesses it represents would undoubtedly be better off today. And it’s far from clear that across-the-board hostility to regulation is really in the best interests of the free-enterprise system. We assume that lobbies always recognize what’s best for their members. But they don’t, and, in the case of climate change, they may very well be missing what the companies that have resigned in protest have seen: global warming isn’t just bad for the planet; it’s bad for business.

follow-up

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/jamessurowiecki/2009/10/the-us-chamber-of-commerce-now-90-smaller.html

for privacy reasons, i can’t say too much about my professional experience working with the Chamber of Commerce on environmental issues, but i can say that this made me very happy.

their current movie “The Yes Men Fix The World” is out now.

fashion designers, istas, consumers and fans: watch this

“we are not “eco” brand, and i don’t think any “eco” brand exists…how can it possibly be good for the environment? you produce things. you make them.”

~via

lika volkova is my new hero.