BLACK FRIDAY – WHAT NONSENSE!!!!

In the United States – BLACK FRIDAY was associated with the financial crisis of 1869.  Today it is to signify the start of the Christmas holiday shopping season and for most businesses, this translates to the most profitable time of year for them. 

BLACK FRIDAY – in my opinion, is when people become the most selfish and ungrateful (especially right after a holiday where we are to give thanks and appreciation for what we have).  Most people follow whatever trend is happening around them.  Television, radio, newspapers, magazines and flyers advertise all their sales and how they will open early (usually the night before) in order for the consumers to take advantage of these sales.  How much can people consume?  Do you really need all that these stores advertise and is facing potential violence and death even worth it?

I really don’t understand our society – in a world were millions of children are dying of hunger, so many American’s are homeless and in need, we have soldiers fighting wars that have no real significance, universal health care isn’t becoming the reality that President Obama wanted and the education system seems to be serving only those who have money.  But what is more important than all these things?  Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season.  It seems to me Canada and The United States of America have their priorities backwards.  People will not be able to go shopping without a planet to shop on.  Our environment is at a critical stage – worse than ever before and anticipated.  Many people are without stable jobs – and yet, people go out blindly and selfishly to shop and increase their debt level to appease BIG CORPORATIONS and BIG BANKS. 

Here are some videos of how carried away people become to shop for things they don’t really need – things that will eventually end up in a landfill or polluting our planet:

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!!!

Do you really want to be a part of the zombie nation above that is catering to corporations who pay their employees minimum wage, break human rights laws, allow child labour and horrible working conditions.  Do you want to make the shareholders and company CEO’s richer while their employee’s struggle?  Think about what you are supporting.  Support something that is meaningful and will make you feel good about yourself and promote positive energy into the world.  Issues such as these:

It’s time that we think about our priorities and help our brothers and sisters instead of being brainwashed and told that you need to buy this, you need to watch this, you need to do this…..when all we need to do is open our eyes to compassion and love and spread positive energy into the world.  What will you do?

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

HOW ABOUT SAYING ‘I CAN’ FOR A CHANGE?

Why is it that so many people in our society have a negative predisposition on many social and environmental issues today? 

• “One person can’t make a difference”
• “There is no way I can do that….”
• “We can’t change our habits”
• “It’s too late for me to change”
• “Why bother, it’s not going to make a difference”
• “We’ve been (fill in behaviour or habit) for years, why change now”

We can’t make positive impacts in the world for ourselves, the environment and the planet.  When did we decide to believe these things?  Has the world been so brainwashed and deflated to believe that humanity is incapable of any positive change.  When did we lose hope?  Have we really succumbed to a life of sitting in front of the television and being bombarded with false promises and dreams?  Are we just living to have ‘bigger and better’ things?  And finally, are we so immersed in our need for the materialistic that we have lost all interest in our own health and well-being?

I am about to turn 44 years old – I hope to live much, much longer.  The question is – will I have that opportunity?  Look at the state of our planet due to our desire to ‘want’ rather than living based on ‘what we need’.  Our need for cars (not only one per family either), bigger houses, more meat, faster planes, bigger boats, larger televisions, etc.  has polluted our planet to the verge of destruction.  You don’t believe it?  Check this out:

WASTE

1. 3 billion tonnes of waste thrown out each year in the European Union (90 billion of it is hazardous)
2. Between 1990 – 1995, amount of waste generated increased by 10%
3. 67% of items thrown out is either burnt in incinerators or dumped in landfills (both are environmentally damaging)
4. Landfills cause water and soil pollution by discharging carbon dioxide (co2) and methane (ch4) into the atmosphere and chemicals and pesticides into the earth and groundwater
5. By 2020 (OECD) – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated that the European Union could be generating 45% more waste than what they did in 1995
6. Environment Canada indicates that driving, yard work, home energy and home water use are major causes of wast and pollution in Canada
7. WWF (World Wildlife Fund) states that ‘electronic waste’ (cell phones, computers, etc) is becoming a big threat to the environment
8. Electronic waste is made up of lead, mercury and plastic which are all toxic, batteries leach acid – these toxins get into our water and soil making them poisonous
9. Between 160 – 295 million pounds of food is thrown out each year in America (equivalent of filling a 90,000 seat football stadium to the brim every day)
10. Since 1974 – Food waste has jumped an astounding 50% in the United States

FACTORY FARMING/LIVESTOCK FARMS  

1. Mostly cruel and inhumane
2. California officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted ground water
3. High levels of nitrates in drinking water also increases the risk of methemoglobinemia, or “blue-baby syndrome”, which can kill infants
4. Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens, such as Salmonella, E-coli, Cryptosporidium, and fecal coliform, which can be 10 to 100 times more concentrated than in human waste
5. More than 40 diseases can be transferred to humans through manure
6. Manure from dairy cows is thought to have contributed to the disastrous Cryptosporidium contamination of Milwaukee’s drinking water in 1993, which killed more than 100 people, made 400,000 sick and resulted in $37 million in lost wages and productivity
7. Large hog farms emit hydrogen sulfide, a gas that most often causes flu-like symptoms in humans, but at high concentration can lead to brain damage
8. In 1998, the National Institute of Health reported that 19 people died as a result of hydrogen sulfide emissions from manure pits
9. In 1995 an eight-acre hog-waste lagoon in North Carolina burst, spilling 25 million gallons of manure in the New River, killing about 10 million fish and closed 364,000 acres of coastal wetlands to shellfishing
10. EWG (Environmental Working Group) estimates that growing livestock feed in the U.S. requires 167 pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer each year across 149 million acres of cropland generating nitrous oxide which is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide
11. Methane from cattle is estimated to generate 20% of over U.S. methane emissions
12. Researchers extrapolate that global meat production will double by 2050 to about 1.2 trillion pounds a year, putting further pressure on the environment and human health
13. 5 trillion gallons of water was used to produce soy in 2009, compared to 235 trillion gallons use to produce meat in the same year
14. 60% of the world’s grain is fed to farmed animals – while 925,000,000 people do not have enough to eat
15. Animals raised for food currently take up 30% of the Earth’s entire land surface

Researches have suggested that we will need the equivalent of 5 earths in order to accommodate the population growth and the human consumption of meat.  5 EARTHS – that is absolutely astounding.    Think about this – the only method of controlling population growth (that we ‘officially’ know of) is war.  Why are we not discussing the issue of population growth control?  How about access to birth control (sorry Catholics or other religious denominations that don’t believe in birth control –  religious view won’t matter if there is no world to live in)?

People are often offended when asked to change their personal lifestyle choices even when so many of those personal choices are so harmful to our health and environment.  When we do face these choices, we often tell ourselves that we can’t for various reasons but don’t even try.  What would happen if we just tried???  Trying a vegetarian/vegan diet won’t kill you, it will only improve your health.  Being more conscious in determining what we need versus what we want will definitely decrease the waste you contribute to landfills.  Most importantly – being aware of what is going on in our world and realizing that you can make a difference in the world.  All you have to say is I CAN be a conduit for change and collectively, with like-minded people – we can create positive change in the world.  What are you waiting for?

Resources:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/index.htm

http://www.ec.gc.ca

http://wwf.panda.org

http://www.etoxics.org

http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp

http://www.scientificamerican.com

http://www.peta.org

Together, we can make the world a more positive one.