Happy Ground Hog Day!

Useless and Fun Ground Hog Day Facts you wish you knew!  Hey, we're all about sharing fun!  Our friends at the Huffington Post did all the work for us, so why not share the HogLove?

To put more of an eco-spin on it, Ground Hogs are just another reason to keep our waterways clean and our forests standing.  Humans are not the only living creatures on the planet and didn't our Mommas teach us how to share?!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/groundhog-day-2012-facts_n_1245259.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#s649298&title=Woodchucks_Dont_Chuck

Does Mickey Mouse Hurt Rain Forests?

Photo courtesy of Rainforest Action Network

Disney's irresponsible printing practices

What's our beef with Mickey?  To the majority of Americans, Mickey is a symbol of fun & happiness.  I totally understand this - my family & I have had the fortune of going to Disney a couple of times.

Here is the scoop on the above link as well as what on earth is Mickey doing chained to a gate?
In the shortest form:

• Disney publishes tons of books
• Books are made from paper
• Disney gets its paper from two companies in Asia
• Both of these paper companies cut down rainforests to get their paper
• Disney has continued to buy its paper from these companies despite knowing how much damage is caused by this
• Disney can get their paper from a different, more responsible company

Make sense?  That's the basic deal.  Why do we care?  Because, as B.A.B.Es, we have an obligation to stand up for what's right - not necessarily chaining ourselves to a fence - that's not our thing.  But, we can make a stand with our dollars.  Remember the tuna boycott in the 90's (or maybe 80's!?)?  Dolphins were being slaughtered in the catching of tuna & regular people took notice - and stopped buying tuna.  Ah, the power of the people.  We can do the same thing now.  Consider buying from a different company & check out the website below the picture to sign a petition letting Disney know you do not support their "blind eye" practices.  Hey, we're B.A.B.Es - we lead, not follow.

Pictures: 10 Most Threatened Forest Hot Spots Named

It's always good to know & B.A.B.Es care, so here ya go:

Pictures: 10 Most Threatened Forest Hot Spots Named

Not a Treehugger? What Earth Day Means for You

You don't have to be a Tree hugger to appreciate Earth Day.

Earth Day, started in the '70s, is really just a day to call attention to: "Hey, you, yes, YOU, you can do a little something to be a more responsible human being". Let's not forget, that no matter what side of the aisle you sit on Global Warming, we cannot deny the fact that humans can help or hurt where they live.  Which picture below do you like?

Earth Day is Every Day. Every day we have a choice: do what's best or do what's easiest.  Let's be honest,   humans boil everything down to two things: money & time.   Check out the list below, most things on there do not require much more money, no more time, but there certainly is a better choice:

• letting water run while shaving or brushing teeth : vs : turn off the water til you need it
• Leaving the TV & lights on when you leave the room (for a long time) : vs : turning them off until you return
• tossing everything in the trash : vs : tossing recyclables in a bin (usually close to your trash can)
• idling your car in the bank line : vs : turning it off until you're ready to leave
• buying fancy coffee form standard growers that burn down rain forest to plant coffee plantations : vs : buying shade grown or earth-friendly coffee
• using whatever paper products (25% of trees are cut down for paper) : vs : buying 100% recycled content.  Now this one does cost a little more, but unless you are on a super-tight-uncomfortable budget, trust me, you can afford it.  Just start out with one product : paper towels, and move on from there.  Ever hear of rags?  No need to have Bounty clean up the gallon of milk that spilled; a rag will do it, rinse it & toss it in the dirty laundry,  it will be fine & it works.

I could go on & on with this list, from little money to more costly, but I think you get the picture.  

Earth Day is about every person can do something and each of those somethings will add up to major changes.  Did your Mom ever yell at you for throwing gum out of the car window? "If everyone did that, we would have gum everywhere!"  And you thought, "Holy cow, it was just a piece of gum, what's the big deal?"  Think about that now, as an adult, if that really did happen. That would be gross.  Piles & piles of chewed gum.  Now do you see...that's the power of a little thing, done by lots of people, having a big impact.  We can use those same actions for the powers of good, and not evil, and pick our "one thing" to do good for the earth.  Hey, it's where you live!

Check out this site for some great tips & visit Be A Better Earthling (that's B.A.B.E!) for continual tips!

http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011

Who cares about Global Warming?!

Oooh, to many people, those could be fighting words!  The problem with the fight over global warming right now is the debate itself:  Does the earth have natural heating up/cooling down phases (seems to)?  Is global warming caused by humans?  Did scientists exaggerate the facts?

Unless you are one of the aforementioned scientists on either side of the debate, there are many questions that we as "regular folk" will never be able to authoritatively answer.  But, our perspective here at B.A.B.E is this:  standing around arguing about how or who caused global warming is like arguing about who started the fire as you watch your house burn to the ground.  Clearly there are things we need to know and learn in order to fix them, but there are so many other things awry.  We much prefer the term "Global Quality".  There are a plethora of ways in which our industrialized world harms itself.  How we have "warmed" may be up for debate, but how we "are" is not.  Take a look at the Ganges:  polluted, with pockets of trash all over the place.  Madagascar's rainforest: 90% deforested.  Plastic bags littering the oceans and beaches covered in plastic pebbles.

The above atrocities are preventable and reversible.  There is also a definite cause to all of the above: humans.  Perhaps we should concentrate more on the tangibles that we can see, focus on how to better those, while we debate the other.  Global warming is now so linked with the political machine, that it may be years before we make progress.  But, you can choose to stop using plastic bags today.  We can choose to lessen our dependence on plastics today.  You can donate to an organization that is fighting to save the world's last remaining rain forests today
- and they are making headway in that fight.

B.A.B.Es may not have all the answers, but we know we can chip in, lead the way and make a difference.