Happy Earth Day 2024!

The apocalypse is not something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions of the planet and it’s only because we live within a bubble of incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury of anticipating the apocalypse. - Terence McKenna

The current climate change narrative causes climate anxiety in many people, especially among the younger generation. Unusual weather patterns, instant reporting and the 24/7 news cycle are not helping at all. Manufactured fear is counterproductive.

On this Earth Day 2024 I do not want to talk about the climate change preaching hypocrites flying from one conference to another in their private jets. I also do not want to talk about the very profitable carbon emission trading. Instead, I'd like to talk about the destruction of nature and the scandalous abuse of people and resources happening every day behind our backs.

Some of my readers might be aware of child labor in African lithium mines. Some may even know about the child labor in the carpet industry in Nepal or Pakistan, or the children working in the cotton industry in cotton producing countries. Many are aware of the slave labor in China and the human trafficking happening in so many countries. But did you know that children are being sold to farmers in West Africa to work on cacao plantations? Maybe next time you are buying a bar of chocolate you will make sure that the raw materials for the product come from fair trade with no child labor involved. 

To save the planet we are told that the animal farms must go because of the devastating amounts of CO2 and methane they produce, but did anyone tell you how detrimental to nature are the mono-cultures of soy or corn. Or how much water is being used to produce the almonds for your vegan almond milk or the avocados for your avocado toast? How about the tons of pesticides used in conventional farming that are destroying not only the fragile balance of life in the soil but also polluting our groundwater supply? 

Enormous profits are being made by the agribusiness conglomerates. At what coast? And who is actually paying the price? 

How about the fast fashion and the senseless mountains of textile trash and pollution this business model produces? What about the people working in the sweatshops to satisfy the ever growing demand for cheap goods?  

How about the built-in obsolescence that keeps the "engines" of capitalism running? It is actually scandalous that the products we buy "die" on us short after their warranty expires, forcing us to replace them with new ones. In many cases the new product is cheaper than the repair of the broken one. Worse even, in many cases the repair option does not even exist. On the other hand, it would be extremely naive to believe that we could slow, or even stop, the endless production of goods and return to the standards of the pre-industrial era.

I have no answers to these questions. However, I believe that each of us should do some research. We should take responsibility for our own actions, reconsider our choices, and hold the companies responsible for pollution accountable. We probably will never be able to stop the mindless consumerism so prevalent in our societies, but we could at least start in our own backyard and try to educate others. 

 

Burning issues such as the destruction of natural habitats, deforestation, topsoil degradation, environmental pollution, potable water scarcity on our planet, and the mountains of trash that we produce every day - to name only a few - should be our main concern right now. The Earth will survive without us but we will not survive without the Earth. Unless we increase our environmental consciousness, we as a species will not make it.

With this sentiment I wish you all a very happy Earth Day 2024!

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2024

Happy World Bee Day

 

Where there are bees there are flowers, 

and wherever there are flowers 

there is new life and hope. 

- Christy Lefteri in "The Beekeeper of Aleppo"

 

In 2018 the United Nations Organization declared May 20th the World Bee Day to acknowledge the role bees play in our ecosystem, and to raise awareness about the declining pollinating insects populations and the need to support and protect them.

Promote biodiversity. Start a garden. Plant flowers, flowering herbs and shrubs everywhere you can! 

 

Images: Visiting Bees by Dominique Allmon©2023

World Bee Day

Earth Day, Zero Waste And The World Without Us

As millions of people all over the world are preparing for the annual Earth Day celebrations, it is almost impossible not to notice that despite many nature preserving initiatives not much has changed on our planet since last year. The climate change debate goes on, resources are being mindlessly wasted, and the Earth population grows exponentially only to pollute and destroy what is left of natural habitats of so many endangered species.

"Human population growth is probably the single most serious long-term threat to survival. We’re in for a major disaster if it isn’t curbed - not just for the natural world, but for the human world.The more people there are, the more resources they’ll consume, the more pollution they’ll create, the more fighting they will do. We have no option. If it isn’t controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled involuntarily by an increase in disease, starvation and war." - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

There was a poll on Tweeter some time ago: Participants were asked to vote on what was their biggest concern for planet Earth: 

• climate change
• wasteful use of resources 
• environmental pollution. 

This short-lived poll was freshly published when I saw it. Most participants worried about the climate change, naturally, since this is all they hear from the media and public figures. Hardly anybody bothered about the pollution caused by the ever expanding humanity or the wasteful use of resources. In the world that uses the right to pollute as tradable commodity, nothing will ever change for the better. 

We are like the passengers on an overcrowded ship of fools drifting to our own destruction. The unfortunate thing is that at the same time we are taking so many other species down with us.

Environmental pollution, systematic destruction of ecosystems, shrinking habitats of countless species, unsustainable living, mindless ab-use of resources, and uncontrolled population growth, left many parts of the planet in a pitiful shape. In my own lifetime Earth population almost doubled and it is going to double again before this century is over. So, is it a wonder that some people envision Earth without humans?

In the past, wars, natural disasters, famines, genocide, and virulent diseases decimated Earth population over and over again keeping the numbers in check, but thanks to technological advances, people are now healthier and more affluent than ever, and there hasn't been a major war for a long time. Small, local conflicts do not cause enough damage, and most diseases do not kill quickly enough to have any impact on the world's population.  

At some point the Earth will become completely uninhabitable to the ever growing population and we will finally see the Malthusian law in action. Our numbers will decline rapidly and we will eventually vanish leaving this beautiful planet to recover from the devastation caused by us.

“The world today has 6.8 billion people. That's heading up to about nine billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care and reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.” - Bill Gates, in 2010

"The World Without Us" is a title of a highly readable, intelligently written, and well researched book by Alan Weisman. Published in 2017, this books touches many aspects of our existence on Earth and invites readers to a deep reflection.

Mr. Weisman presents a population model where every human female is limited to bearing one child only. In this model, by the year 2100 world's population would drop to the levels of the 19th century or ca. 1, 6 billion. Such drastic reduction in population will allow all the other species still existing on our planet to recover and repopulate the wasteland left by the departed billions of humans. 

In 1960s James Lovelock proposed his now slightly forgotten Gaia hypothesis. He envisioned Earth as a living organism that is currently under assault. If we disappeared, the Earth would recover. Things are not that simple, though, since what we are going to leave behind will take ages to dissipate. 

 

“Without us, Earth will abide and endure; without her, however, we could not even be.” - Alan Weisman, The World Without Us

Alan Weisman presents various scenarios, from the restoration of the changed pH of farmland soil, to the cleanup of water pollution, urban wasteland, and the nuclear waste deposits. Evolution will take its natural turn. The fittest species will survive and adapt to new conditions. New species might evolve and repopulate areas that are today almost devoid of life. Without humans life on earth will go on no matter what damage we have done here. The Chernobyl disaster zone is a clear proof to it: Life has returned and genetically altered or damaged species thrive there now despite all odds. 

Earth without humans may seem like a nightmare to most, but it is most probably an inevitable if not welcome, scenario. And while we are still here, we could start taking better care of the environment we live in. The piles of garbage that we leave behind are more than just embarrassment.

The time before every Earth Day is filled with activity and fills every environmentally conscious  human being with hope. In March thousands of school children all over the world demonstrated against the climate change. This demonstration of environmental awareness was followed by a large scale clean up of beaches, national parks, and other areas where people left trash.

More and more people are embracing an ecologically sustainable lifestyle. Some  propose radical  Zero Waste solutions; many more try to at least recycle and reuse whatever they can. At consumers demand, single use plastic packaging is gradually disappearing from the market, and researchers are coming up with new, biodegradable packaging materials.   

 

Earth Day gatherings and rallies are perfect for the exchange of ideas and implementation of new solutions. Without a doubt, our existence is toxic to the planet and we must clean up our act whether we believe in climate change or not. Mindless consumption and careless use of resources must stop. Instead of trading in carbon credits, we should allow innovation and try to collectively reduce our carbon footprint. And last but not least, we must respect other species and acknowledge their right to existence on this planet.

Happy Earth Day! 

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2019

The Morning After The Earth Day

Each Earth Day celebration fills our hearts with hope as ordinary citizens, nature conservationists, NGOs, and businesses all over the world gather together to clean up the environment and discuss the badly needed change. Every year, countless communities and businesses do their best to implement the environment friendly solutions to minimize pollution and minimize waste of resources.

Much will be done between now and the next time we get together to celebrate the Earth Day, asses the results of our strategies, and admire the changes visible everywhere. But the change has to start with us! Unless we critically review our shopping habits and understand that our behavior has consequences, nothing will change.

The morning after. How many of you forgot to take your reusable travel mug, your reusable aluminum water bottle, or your reusable shopping tote bag with you this morning? Another plastic cup, another plastic bottle, another plastic straw, another plastic bag that could have been avoided. Well, tomorrow is another day and we can certainly do a bit better.

Those who travel learn to see the world with different eyes. Take the coffee habit in Vienna, Austria, for instance. The coffee to go found its way there as well, but the Austrians still love their traditional coffee shops where they can sit quietly, read the morning news, and enjoy every sip of their coffee, served in cups with saucers and spoons, in a less hurried manner; Visit a grocery store in Germany. Many chain supermarkets there do not use plastic bags anymore. You can buy a paper bag at checkout if you did not bring your own and you are expected to reuse and recycle it; You see recycling bins everywhere you go in Europe. In many cities you even find recycling bins in hotel rooms. Most people in most European countries recycle as much as they can and yet, even Europe cannot completely avoid the pollution and waste problem.

Hikers and skiers in the Alps or the High Tatra dump tones of plastic bottles, bags, and containers every year. And every year around the Earth Day or during the so called Plastic Free July, volunteers gather to clean up the mess. Many forests, beaches, and cities all over the world go the same way. It makes you wonder, do tourists even care for the places they visit?

Many communities in the US have implemented ambitious recycling programs. The situation varies from state to state and from community to community. Much has to be done, but there is hope. Yet recycling alone is not enough. The packaging industry will most probably not disappear like the once popular horse and carriage, but it definitely has to change its ways. New bio-degradable packaging materials must replace plastic. But unless consumers demand such change, no much will happen. If customers collectively refused to buy anything packaged in plastic containers, the industry would have no choice but to adapt. Not that long ago milk, for instance, came in glass bottles. Why cannot we go back to bottling milk again?

Old habits die hard, but with a little patience and determination, we can learn new ones and change the ways we live our daily lives. And the best thing is, we will see the change next time we gather to celebrate the Earth Day.

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2018

Naturally Dyed Tiffany Blue Easter Eggs

If you are still looking for an Easter Egg Hunt ideas, this article will inspire you to try something new. All you need is eggs, white vinegar, and purple cabbage. The whole project takes less than 12 hours. The outcome is more than amazing.

I used white free range organic eggs and an organic purple cabbage to minimize exposure to chemicals in our already over polluted world. This is especially important if you want to eat the eggs after the Sunday egg hunt.

For twelve eggs you will need a large head of purple cabbage, large pot, and twelve small Mason jars or small drinking glasses to dye each egg individually. You can dye the eggs in bulk, of course, but if you dye them individually, the eggs will be covered more thoroughly. 

Method:

• Wash and chop up the cabbage. Toss it into a large pot, pour enough water to completely cover the cabbage, and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and boil until cabbage is soft. 
• Once the cabbage is ready, allow it to cool off. Strain the liquid and toss away the cabbage. Add 4 Tbsp of vinegar and mix well.
• Boil the eggs. Put the eggs in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring water to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, remove the pot from heat and cover it with a lid. Leave the eggs in hot water for 12-15 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pot and put them into a bowl of ice cold water. 
• Place each egg in an individual jar or a glass. Pour the purple cabbage juice over the eggs completely covering each one, and allow eggs to take color for at least three hours. The color intensity depends on the time the eggs spend in the purple cabbage dye. To add some variation, let some of the eggs stay in the dye for a bit longer. For a more dramatic effect, leave them in dye overnight.
• Remove the eggs from the dye and place them on a baking cooling rack. Allow the dye to dry out completely. The little flaws in paint are more than welcome. They truly make the eggs prettier.
• Once the dye dried out completely you can place them in an Easter basket, on a decorative platter, or in your backyard. 

 Eggs in purple cabbage juice

This is the first time I used purple cabbage to dye the eggs. They turned out beautifully. No egg looks the same. I used a little 24ct confectioners gold leaf to add a little sparkle to them. You can use edible gold paint if you prefer, or simply leave them the way they are.

I hope this little project woke up your own creativity. You can use different plants to make the most beautiful Easter eggs ever. My mother used onion peel to create various shades of golden yellow and brown color. Purple cabbage gives various shades of aquamarine, Tiffany blue and turquoise. You can use beets to make your eggs pink, turmeric root to make them bright yellow, dried chokeberries (Aronia) to make them pink, or blueberries and blackberries to make them indigo blue. You can mix the plants to create different nuances. Also, using brown eggs instead of white will produce a much different color effect. Experiment! It's fun.

~ Wishing everyone peaceful Easter Holidays and happy Easter Egg Hunt! ~ Dominique 

 

Dominique Allmon©2018

Green Tips And Two Green Earth Day Recipes

As people gather to collectively celebrate the 47th Earth Day in America and elsewhere, many take time to review their own lifestyle strategies. recycling, reusing, reducing household waste and the use of plastic, chemicals, and ecologically unsustainable products. 

Much has to be done to protect the environment, but instead of waiting for the politicians to change things, each of us can start taking steps in his or her own home, office, school, or town. One of the simplest, but maybe not the easiest, thing we can do is to change the way we eat and obtain food:

• buy organic
• buy locally grown or produced
• buy seasonal
• grow your own
• forage
• make your own food

For many people this might be easier said than done, but lack of time or lack of money are not really good excuses. 

Organic food might be expensive at the first sight, but consider the increased nutrition fresh organic food provides. Less chemicals in your food also means less hazard to your health and possible reduced future health care coasts. Local farmer's markets are full of bargains.

Locally grown, seasonal produce helps reduce your carbon foot print, and once again, provides fruits and vegetable at its peak nutritional value. Many local farmers resorted to organic farming at some point in the past, but cannot afford the incredibly expensive organic certification. Visit such local farm to find out how food is grown or produced. Smaller farmers seem to have a very different set of ethical values than the food industry. Profit, while incredibly important, is not necessarily on top of the list. 

Grow your own! In 2017 a perfectly manicured 1950s American Dream style lawn looks a bit outdated to me. Some communities or residents' associations may not permit you to have a vegetable garden on your property, but you can still grow herbs and vegetables in decorative pots on your porch. Big city dwellers can easily create a container garden on their balconies or terraces. Those who only have a windowsill can at least grow fresh kitchen herbs. If you have never done this before you can take gardening courses. Many master gardeners offer gardening classes for beginners. Once you've got your fingers dirty, you will never want to buy another carrot or tomato. There is nothing more comforting than to see your food grow. 

Foraging is becoming more and more popular. If you do not have much experience with wild herbs, berries or mushrooms, you may have to take a class or attend a foraging workshop. The abundance of wild food is unimaginable, but you have to be very careful as there are herbs, berries and mushrooms that look like the good thing, but are often extremely poisonous. 

Last but not least, make your own food! If you are a working adult with kids and family on your head, this can be difficult. You may not be able to do it during the week, but you can certainly make a ritual out of family cooking on weekends. Weekend is also a good time to prepare some healthy food for the coming week:

• salads in jars, that you can make ahead
• smoothies or smoothie combos that can be made ahead - simply chop the ingredients and freeze them in small portions so that they are ready for blending during the week
• soups can be cooked ahead and frozen, or fresh soup ingredients can be chopped, portioned out and frozen for later use
• stews can be made ahead and frozen
• bread baking on weekend can be a real fun

I hope that these few suggestions will help you get better organized. If you have tomatoes, peppers or herbs growing in your backyard you do not even have to drive to a store to get the salad ingredients.

 ~ Green Sauce Recipe ~

This is a variation of the famous Frankfurt Green Sauce. It can be used as a condiment for roasted meats, cold cuts, steamed, stewed or roasted vegetable, baked potatoes, and egg dishes; as a deep or a salad dressing; and in soups. It has a very green, almost grassy taste and may remind you a bit of the Argentinian chimichurri.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of mixed garden and wild herbs, roughly chopped (parsley, chives, arugula, sorrel, dandelion greens, ground elder, chervil, Sanguisorba minor or salad burnet, borage, ramsons)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 medium large purple onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp grated horse radish root (optional)
• 1/2 cup virgin olive oil 
• 1 cup natural probiotic yogurt
• 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method: 

• In a food processor pulse blend herbs, garlic, onion, and lime juice until they turn into a green coarse paste. Do not over process.
• Add all the remaining ingredients and blend until all is well combined. The sauce should not be too thick. Add more lemon juice or a bit more yogurt to achieve a nice consistency. 
• Adjust the taste to your personal liking and serve with your favorite dish. The stores well in the fridge for two to three days, so it it quickly. It can also be frozen and used in soups.

~ Ground Elder Pesto ~

Ground elder, also known as bishop's weed, is a rather underestimated herb. When it shows up in your garden you will treat it as an unwanted weed, but the more you learn about it, the more you will come to love it. It also grows in the wild and can be foraged, but you must be careful as it resembles the highly poisonous hemlock. Both plants look almost the same when flowering. A simple test will help you distinguish ground elder form other plants: simply take a single leaf and rub it between you fingers. The aroma will remind you of carrots. Best time to forage for leaves is from May till July. This herb has many health benefits. It has a very high content of vitamin C and is good for gout, scurvy, digestion, and piles.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground elder leaves, packed
• 1/4 cup pistachio nuts, raw or roasted 
• 2 large garlic cloves
• juice of medium large lemon
• grated peel of 1/2 organic, untreated lemon
• 1/4 cup virgin olive oil
• Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method:

• In a food processor pulse blend ground elder, garlic, pistachios, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Do not over process. The mixture should be nicely coarse.
• Add olive oil, salt and pepper and whiz again. Serve with pasta dishes, as a dip, soup or salad garnish. If you like cheese you can add crumbled Pecorino  or Parmigiano reggiano cheese, as you normally would if you made a classic basil pesto. 

Both recipes may sound slightly unusual, but if you can get the ingredients, give them a try.

This year Earth Day falls on weekend. Take advantage of it and go on a hiking trip, ride your bike, start a garden, or meet friends and family over a healthy, home made meal. Reach out to your community and see if there is anything you could do collectively to reduce your carbon foot print. The climate change may be real or perceived, but the environmental pollution is not. Many things must be done so that the generations to come can enjoy the beauty of our planet.

~ Happy Earth Day 2017 ~

By Dominique Allmon

 
Dominique Allmon©2017

The Pale Blue Dot

 Happy Earth Day!

By Carl Sagan

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Remember, everyday is an Earth day! - Dominique

Image: This is a section of the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. (08.22.2010). Source: Incredible Photos from Space, NASA, Astronaut Wheelock

Text: From: "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space" by Carl Sagan

Climate Change

First it was global cooling (1970s), then global warming (mid-1990sand on), now, probably out of pure embarrassment, it is simply the climate change. The heated debate brings protestors, skeptics, climate change deniers, fanatics, and the hypocrites to, or near, each climate conference. And while the skeptics and the deniers are being ridiculed, the fanatics are ready to damp their cars and ride on bikes in cold and snow. The hypocrites, on the other hand, are not in the slightest ashamed to travel in private jets from one corner of the Earth to another. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is chilling indeed. 

The current conference is under way in Paris where delegates of 195 countries responsible for negotiating a climate agreement are working together to pass a binding document that will put an end to, or at least slow down, the change of climate on planet Earth. The treaty may, or may not, include a plan to extinguish the Sun whose activity is in great part responsible for the irregular weather patterns and climate formation on Earth.

Forgive me my sarcasm, but climate change is a big and very lucrative business, and much of what is going on, is happening in the "dark," behind closed doors. One can only speculate on who is really involved here and who will profit the most.

The climate is visibly changing and the powers to be decided that we will have to pay for it. Emphasis on "we" not them. I wish that someone told me why the same group of actors suppresses the research on free energy that was originally initiated by Nicola Tesla.

The climate change dogma does not tolerate dissent of any kind. It preaches that climate change is anthropogenic or man-made. It also preaches that the changes are irreversible, but can be slowed down by restricting human activities that caused them. No matter that climate changes are cyclical. No matter that some serious causes of climate change come from nature.

The natural causes of climate change include changes in Earth's orbit and in the amount of energy emitted by the Sun. Furthermore volcanic eruptions are also considered to cause variations in climate. The eco-fascists, however, do not even bother to take these factors into consideration. The wild nature only spoils the rigid models developed in laboratory setting. Such narrative supports a sinister political agenda of a certain group of people and cannot be changed.  

 

Scientists who propagate the "global cooling, global warming, climate change" theory want us to believe that recent changes in climate cannot be explained by nature alone. They claim that most of the warming since the mid-1900s is caused by human activity, most notably by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. This human activity contributes to the greenhouse effect whereas heat is "trapped" by gases such as carbon dioxide. A drastic reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels would consequently lead to cooling and stabilization of the climate. At least in theory, as postulated by these same scientists. 

That plants need carbon dioxide for their growth and development is not often considered in these equations. The systematic destruction of the tropical jungles in Indonesia and Brazil, and the deforestation of other regions, is a factor often overlooked in the debates as if the one thing had nothing to do with the other.

We've been duped before. Do you remember the Climategate? Certain scientists had to admit in the past that they falsified data in their climate models to prove that there was global warming, and yet, their theories were sold to us as the only truth that there was. Can we trust them again? Why should we?

Individually, for each of us, the changing weather patterns are only a fraction of what we have been able to observe and understand in our relatively short lives. I was born in July many years ago, and my mother told me that it was so cold back then that people actually thought it would snow. I have never ever experienced such a cold summer again. I would be lying if I told you that things right now are just the way they were five, ten, or fifteen years ago. Something is definitely going on. The summers are definitely getting hotter, the winters longer and colder. But this, of course, depends on where you live. 

In 1800s people in Northern Europe had a mini ice age to cope with. Charles Dickens witnessed a frozen Thames. In February 1814 London experienced the coldest frost it had known in many centuries. Reportedly, an elephant was led under the Blackfriars Bridge during annual frost fair. After that year Thames never froze again. From the perspective of Charles Dickens and his contemporaries this unprecedented climate warming might have felt like a disaster of sorts. And if it did not, it was only because people were so ignorant and unenlightened in the past. Right? I cannot help think that people in England actually welcomed that change and no one was thrown to Tower for causing the warm weather. There is also no record of whether the elephant was beheaded or not.

No one wants the planet to go under, but have you ever been near an oil field? The gas is often burned off, a wasteful practice that makes one wonder what is actually going on. And while the oil companies can do this without punishment, you might be fined in the future for having a barbecue party in your yard. Oil flaring seems to be an accepted practice, but a grill in the backyard might cause irreparable damage to the climate and perpetrators must be stopped by all means necessary. If this does not make you speechless, I don't know what would.

Not many people are aware of the fact that weather can indeed be manipulated and changed. The chemtrails and HAARP are not necessarily subjects of casual conversation. That this human activity may in fact be responsible for extreme weather and changes in climate does not even occur to those who decide to ride a bike to work in a snow blizzard with the hope that their humble contribution may save the Earth. There are too many unanswered questions, but when in doubt, follow the money.

Something must be done and everyone should care, but how much can you as an individual do to reverse the damage caused by the extravaganza of others?

Dominique Teng 

 
Dominique Teng©2015


Images source here

Happy Earth Day!

Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
Rachel Carson

Wishing everyone a very happy 45th Earth Day! ~ Dominique 

Image source here

Spring Cleaning or How Toxic is Your Home?

How toxic is your home?

Spotless, fresh-smelling home has been a dream of every housewife since the introduction of television set into ordinary households. The trend intensified in the 1950s and 1960s and continues to this day. Clever marketing strategies were perfected over decades to sell ever growing number of products promising to make your laundry whiter, your floor cleaner, and your sink shiner than ever. The commercial ads are omnipresent and the promise very tempting.

Unfortunately both, the desire for cleanliness and the promise of thereof, carry unexpected dangers to health. On the one hand, sterilized environment prevents our immune systems from developing natural resistance to common germs. On the other, many products contain chemicals that may be harmful or even toxic to our health.

The fear of germs and frequent use of germicides created a paradox with very sad consequences, especially for young children. In 1989 a so called "hygiene hypothesis" was first presented by D.P. Strachan who postulated that reduced early childhood exposure to germs resulted in increased occurrence of hay fever and allergies. Microbial diversity is necessary for the immune system to develop immune tolerance. Immune system learns to identify pathogens and to fight them off. Lack of exposure to microbes is believed to lead to a faulty immune system that expresses itself in increased susceptibility to disease.

The use of harmful or even toxic chemicals to keep our homes clean not only increases occurrence of asthma and allergies, but it may lead to the so called environmental illness where the immune system is unable to deal with every day toxins and simply collapses. Even the smallest amount of chemicals can trigger immune system reactions. Autoimmune diseases are often the consequence of malfunctioning, oversensitive immune system.

The natural way

With a growing environmental consciousness consumers also opt for products that do not harm or unnecessarily pollute our already fragile environment. This trend created a paradigm change for manufacturers as well. This change comes with a price. The "cleaner" cleaning products are often more expensive and not every household can afford to buy them. This is really a pity because, on the long run, a small investment could mean a much healthier home and much smaller medical bills in the future.

To prevent allergies and other diseases, including cancer, many households, especially those with young children and pets, are turning to natural products. More and more people resolve to traditional home-made recipes that utilize common household goods such as alcohol, vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, salt and lemon juice. We do not have to be poisoned simply because we want to stay clean. Our grandmothers managed their households with a few time-proven recipes and made sure that our parents grew up healthy. Such recipes were passed from one generation to another and the time is ripe for their renaissance.

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2015

Wolves - The Endangered Species

A letter to the editor of the Idaho Mountain Express

Humans have damaged wildlife more than wolves! 

Wolves are effective predators, but I am not sure why people insist on calling them “vicious.” With only teeth and fast strong bodies they hunt to live - that’s their role. 

They do not extirpate their prey. When researchers follow wolves, they find their success rate is usually less than 20 percent. That means the prey are not at all defenseless: their fast, strong bodies save them more than 80 percent of the time. Given the opportunity, wolves will surplus kill, but research shows us that they will go back to the site of surplus kills for months and feed. Assuming, of course, that people don’t lay in wait, to shoot, trap or poison at these sites. 

What puzzles me most of all is why we condemn the behavior in wolves that we, ourselves, engage in. We are outraged when a wolf “tears apart” a mother elk, but in a few months it is fine for us to go shoot the mother. Is it the “neatness” that makes it OK? We object to the “violence” of wolves against our livestock, but send the same livestock to premature violent and untimely deaths. To ask wolves to have a conscience is silly. They are wild animals. They are not supposed to have a conscience. That is a human trait. We humans are by far the worse in comparison: we do have a conscience, yet revel in the (often cruel) splintering and annihilation of wolf families. 

We nearly extirpated both elk and bison. We dare to think we are the only capable wildlife managers, refusing to admit that nature, before we came, was doing just fine. Once there were teeming herds of elk, bison and other game, living just fine with an estimated two million wolves. Why do you think it’s the wolves causing the problem?

 

By Chris Albert 

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"The wolf is one of the wildest and shyest of all the animals in the northern wilderness." - after David Mech
 

Wolves are amazing creatures. They form social structures that could make any modern family blush. The Alpha male enters a lifelong, monogamous bond with the Alpha female of the pack. Wolves love wolf babies. The Beta male is responsible for the welfare of the little ones, but the whole pack plays with them and is very protective. There are friendships and there are fights within a pack, but even the weakest of all, the Omega wolf, is taken care of if he is in need. 

Wolves are very territorial species and they will protect their territory from other wolf packs. They are predators. They kill big game and sometimes cattle, but seldom attack people. However, they kill to survive and not, as it is wrongly believed, out of pleasure of killing.

In 2013 grey wolves were taken off the list of protected species in the USA. Hunters can now organize barbaric hunting rallies. They are permitted to use tracking dogs and kill wolves from helicopters. They have the permit to kill not only the magnificent grey wolves, but also the endangered and extremely rare Mexican red wolves. The plea of the conservationists and the nature lovers is ignored by the authorities in most States where wolf hunting is allowed. 

The subject is quite delicate. It is believed that hunters play important role in nature and I can understand hunting for food, but the "recreational" killing of animals is bare of any ethics. 

The argument that wolves decimate herds is a very weak one. In Poland, where wolves are protected species, the government reimburses farmers for their losses. Why this could not be done in one of the richest countries in the world is puzzling to me. 

By Dominique Allmon

For centuries wolves have been characterized as bloodthirsty beasts and the bane of helpless livestock. Determined to overcome this misconception, film makers Jamie and Jim Dutcher, the creators of the Emmy Award Winning "Wolves at Our Door" documentary spent six years in a tented camp in the wilderness of Idaho living with a pack of wolves. Please watch and share this amazing documentary. It is quite eye-opening.

Also of interest: The Wolf Man -The Diary of Paul Balenovic and A Man Among Wolves

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Eco Snobbery

"For as long as only the affluent can afford organic food on daily basis, many people will have to maneuver between the supermarket aisles trying to find food that is relatively safe." - Dominique Allmon

I heard it more than once: Organic food is too expensive; Only idiots and snobs spend money on organic products; There is hardly any difference between organic and conventional produce; etc, etc.

So why buy organic? Why bother? 

Organic products are made from natural materials that help us minimize the exposure to toxins and carcinogens, be it in personal care products, household cleaners, wall paint, carpets, furniture, or garments.

Organic foods are produced with traditional organic farming that relies on ancient farming techniques such as crop rotation, natural pest control, compost, and green manure.

Ideally, everything we buy should be chemical free. No one consciously decides to buy produce laced with cancer-causing chemicals, but if produce is so expensive that only very few can afford it, is "conscious" living only for the rich? Is "organic" the new label for social distinction? 

Many people who have never been to stores like the Whole Foods Market would be surprised to find there aisles filled with junk food. Yes, junk food. But it is organic! Organic potato chips made with organic potato. Only for the "enlightened" ones while the ignorant crowd shops at Walmart or some other conventional store.  

The original organic movement was not a fad. It has its roots in an almost mystical reverence for Nature. It began in early 1900s as a response to emerging industrial agriculture and ever growing use of chemicals that resulted in increased occurrence of cancer and other diseases.

Today we somehow assume that organic companies are more ethical than the conventional ones. We want to believe that business decisions are motivated by reverence for nature and not by greed. This may not always be true. Sometimes it looks as if the "organic"  companies venerated the green buck more than anything else. The products are overpriced and the organic certification may seem dubious. Who cares? The snobs would always buy the stuff no matter how expensive it is. They will buy it. If not from a genuine concern for the planet than at least to prove that they are better than anyone else. 

We are living in strange times. We worry about the climate change, we worry about the melting ice caps, we drive electric cars, but we still waste our resources and produce enormous piles of garbage. Our toxic waste ends up in the third world countries where it is conveniently out of sight. 

We may have reached the turning point, but for as long as there is a choice between conventional and organic we will be tapping in the dark. There should be no question of whether the thousands of chemicals we are exposed to daily cause cancer or not; or how much money could be made or saved if the shelf life of a produce was increased to months, years or decades. Things would only change if the right to clean food, clean air and clean water was as important as the right to vote.

Wishing everyone a consciously peaceful and happy Earth Day - Dominique 

 

By Dominique Allmon

Post Scriptum

I buy organic products whenever I can. I recycle. I try to minimize my ecological footprint. And I do it out of respect for myself and out of respect for the Nature. 

I still remember the time when you could go to a store where everything was safe to eat. I remember the time when you could turn the tap and drink a glass of water without fear that you would get poisoned with countless chemicals. I remember the time when we recycled paper, glass and metal. I remember the time when everyone had a shopping net or a basket and plastic bags were a rarity. I remember the time when milk and mineral water were sold in glass bottles. I remember all that as if it was only yesterday...

I decided long ago that I will support honest business practices and a hard work of people who dedicate their lives to organic farming and the manufacture of products that last for more than one generation. I hope you would, too.

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The Problem

Human population growth is probably the single most serious long-term threat to survival. We’re in for a major disaster if it isn’t curbed - not just for the natural world, but for the human world.The more people there are, the more resources they’ll consume, the more pollution they’ll create, the more fighting they will do. We have no option. If it isn’t controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled involuntarily by an increase in disease, starvation and war. - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Also of interest: The latest book by Jim Marrs - "Population Control"

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Healthy Life on a Budget?

There is hardly a week without some shocking discovery. Food scandals and food safety hazards; cancer causing chemicals in food or personal hygiene products; drugs that kill; new reports telling us not to eat a particular thing and a while later another report urging us to embrace the very thing for our own sake. This is confusing to most consumers and many turn to alternative sources and organic produce. Those who can, grow their own food, but many are completely at a loss. 

Last month I had a chat with my Facebook friends. Confusion is one thing, wish for clarity and safety another, but many people simply cannot afford "safe" food. The question is why harmful chemicals end up in food in the first place? And why on earth do we have to be affluent to be able to get what a decent human being deserves? Is clean and safe food only for those who can afford it?

I often look back in time when parents did not have to worry that much. Food was simply honest and safe. Food scandals did not exist. Some foods may have been bad for you because they had too much sugar or too much fat, but people, in general, ate well and did not worry about harmful ingredients. There were less food allergies and not many people were obese back then.

But something happened in the last few decades. People started consuming less food and replaced it with "food products" that were made in factories out of ingredients that had nothing to do with food. 

Many housewives embraced quick and easy ready meals and few people questioned the necessity of food preservation. Who would object to food that does not spoil? But did anyone really ask what ingredients extended the shelf life of a product to ten or twenty years. Could such thing be safe for humans? 

 

One does not have to be a conspiracy theory nut to deduce that the legislators are in cahoots with the food and drugs making industry. These people move through the revolving door - they either manage big food and pharmaceutical companies and get appointed to run federal agencies or move to politics later, or the other way around. At the same time consumers are getting sick from the junk they eat and the pharmaceutical industry is making exorbitant profits in attempt to cure them. 

This really is horrible. But are we all helpless victims of some obscure machinations? If we collectively refused to buy the crap that is being sold to us maybe something would change. Yet for as long as only the affluent people can afford safe, organic produce on daily basis, many of us have to maneuver between the aisles and buy only what still resembles real food. 

To everyone struggling to stay healthy on a budget I can only suggest a serious reconsideration of the choices they make. Investment in real, organically and humanely produced food will pay off. It will not only minimize health care bills in the future, but most importantly, extend the lifespan and improve quality of life in old age.

Remember that every time you reach for a product on a supermarket shelf you are balancing your life against someone's profits. Does this work out for you? Are you on the right side of the equation? 

Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2013

Honeybees

I’ve felt myself changed simply walking 

into shade along a street; I’ve come suddenly 

upon the scent of snapdragon or heard 

a distant car crash and found my every thought 

stalled at the gate.  And when I read 

that honeybees are dying in thousands, 

an epidemic no one can explain, I wondered, 

Have I forgotten something?  Who am I now? 

There are theories, there are whole histories passing away, 

but I can’t describe them.  So, from the next table, 

bits of conversation break into my soliloquy 

or my neighbor’s phone rings through the walls 

and I join a dialogue with a stranger.  To call any of it 

a change of scenery or costume is to misunderstand. 

The world is not a stage and the honeybee 

is not the soul it once symbolized.  This is why 

I’m fascinated by bricked-in windows, 

old tenement buildings throughout Jersey City 

with their view closed up, so I daydream 

about who, on a hot summer day, leaned on that sill 

breathing in the confusion of car fumes and flowers, 

himself daydreaming until his elbows ached 

and he remembered there was a clogged drain 

in the bathroom and he turned back, 

pausing for his eyes to adjust to the dark room.

By Michael T. Young 

First published in The Louisville Review, No. 68

To visit Mr. Young's website please click here
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