Gulf Oil Spill

I try to avoid reposting others, but this is one of those times when it is needed. Many of us do not live on the Gulf coast, and aren't seeing the devastation. Today, I'm sharing a post with you from Washington's Blog. The photos are striking. Please consider what you can do to help with the clean up, and prevent more disasters like this in the future.

SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2010

You Are Not Authorized to See These Pictures of the Oil Spill, Citizen ... Do Not Look!

Preface: The title is a parody of the fact that the government has effectively made it a felony to take pictures of oiled wildlife.
While most of these pictures have previously been published by the mainstream media - and presumably will remain publicly available - that assumption is not 100% certain. By way of analogy, the government sometimes reclassifies as top secret information which was previously declassified.

More importantly, while some of these photos have been widely seen, most have not, and I have never seen them rounded up in a single page before.
Jonathan Elinoff has rounded up rarely-seen videos and pictures of the gulf oil spill:

A pod of Bottlenose dolphins swim under the oily water Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, Thursday, May 6, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This is a photo of a dolphin pulled from the gulf....

Below you will find a picture of millions of dead fish. These are small fish, possible baby fish. They are slowly washing ashore and towards the ports. Over 9,000 species of animals will be under threat of extinction in this region, we might not ever see again on the planet. Click the image to enlarge it.

A Greenpeace activist steps through oil on a beach along the Gulf of Mexico on May 20, 2010 near Venice, Louisiana. (John Moore/Getty Images)

A Brown Pelican sits in heavy oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A pair of Brown Pelicans, covered in oil, sit on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast, Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana Monday, June, 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A sea bird soaked in oil sits in the surf at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A Brown Pelican is seen on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A bird covered in oil flails in the surf at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A Brown Pelican is mired in heavy oil on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A Brown Pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A ship's wake cuts through a pattern of oil near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, May 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill pools against the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay Tuesday, June 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #

APTN photographer Rich Matthews dives into the water to take a closer look at oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill on June 7, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A dead Northern Gannet covered in oil lies along Grand Isle Beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana May 21, 2010. A member of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research tagged the spot of the location of the incident. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner)

Collected oil burns on the water in this aerial view seven miles northeast of the Deepwater Horizon site over the Gulf of Mexico, May 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace)

Oil is seen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico about six miles southeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana May 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner)

A sea turtle is mired in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Grand Terre Island, Louisiana June 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Lee Celano)

Oil floats around booms and through marshlands of the Mississippi Delta on May 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace)

Maura Wood, Senior Program Manager of Coastal Louisiana Restoration for the National Wildlife Federation takes a sample of water in a heavily oiled marsh near Pass a Loutre, Louisiana on May 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Lee Celano)

A suction hose is used to remove oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill, Wednesday, June 9, 2010, in Belle Terre, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) #

An oil-soaked pelican takes flight after Louisiana Fish and Wildlife employees tried to corral him on an island in Barataria Bay on Sunday, May 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Oil is scooped out of a marsh impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in Redfish Bay along the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, May 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A sheen of oil sits on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico close to the site of the BP oil spill as a boat uses a containment boom to gather the oil to be burned off approximately 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana May 18, 2010 (REUTERS/Hans Deryk)

Crews try to clean an island covered in oil on the south part of East Bay May 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace)

A ship maneuvers and sprays water near a rig in heavy surface oil in this aerial view over the Gulf of Mexico May 18, 2010, as oil continues to leak from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace)

An outboard boat motor breaks up a thick layer of oil as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser toured the oil-impacted marsh of Pass a Loutre on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill coats marsh grass at the Louisiana coast along Barataria Bay Tuesday, June 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A brown pelican coated in heavy oil wallows in the surf June 4, 2010 on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A shrimp boat is used to collect oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana on May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A helicopter flies over surface oil in this aerial view over the Gulf of Mexico, May 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace)

A young heron sits dying amidst oil splattering underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, along the the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Seawater covered with thick black oil splashes up in brown-stained whitecaps off the side of the supply vessel Joe Griffin at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana Sunday, May 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A tugboat moves through the oil slick on May 6, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. (Michael B. Watkins/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

Oil burns during a controlled fire May 6, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Coast Guard is overseeing oil burns after the sinking, and subsequent massive oil leak, from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform off the coast of Louisiana. (Justin E. Stumberg/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

Dark clouds of smoke and fire emerge as oil burns during a controlled fire in the Gulf of Mexico, May 6, 2010. The U.S. Coast Guard working in partnership with BP PLC, local residents, and other federal agencies conducted the "in situ burn" to aid in preventing the spread of oil. (REUTERS/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg-US Navy)

The crew of a Basler BT-67 fixed wing aircraft releases oil dispersant over parts of the oil spill off the shore of Louisiana in this May 5, 2010 photograph. (REUTERS/Stephen Lehmann/U.S. Coast Guard)

A man holds a plastic bag with seawater and oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill south of Freemason Island, Louisiana May 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

Oily water is seen off the side of the Joe Griffin supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, May 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

One of the New harbor Islands is protected by two oil booms against the oil slick that has passed inside of the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands, as cleanup operations continue for the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster off Louisiana, on May 10, 2010. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Blobs of oil from the massive spill float on the surface of the water on May 5, 2010 in Breton and Chandeleur sounds off the coast of Louisiana. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Mississippi River water (left) meets sea water and an oil slick that has passed inside of the protective barrier formed by the Chandeleur Islands, off the coast of Louisiana, on May 7, 2010. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill makes its way to shore on Chandeleur Islands in Louisiana on May 7, 2010. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Vernon Bryant)

This image provided by NASA shows the Mississippi Delta (top right) and the growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on May 5, 2010. Photo was taken by International Space Station Expedition 23 flight engineer Soichi Noguchi. (AP Photo/NASA - Soichi Noguchi)

Oil and oil sheen are seen moving past an oil rig, top right, in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, Wednesday, May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

An oil soaked bird struggles against the oil slicked side of the HOS Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana Sunday, May 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

An aerial view of the oil leaked from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, May 6, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Beltra)

Dark clouds of smoke and fire emerge as oil burns during a controlled fire in the Gulf of Mexico May 7, 2010. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg/Released)

Bruce Padilla, left, and Adam Shaw, Louisiana oilfield divers, return through blackened seawater from watching a controlled oil burn in the Gulf of Mexico May 7, 2010. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg/Released)

Oil, scooped up with a bucket from the Gulf of Mexico off the side of the supply vessel Joe Griffin, coats the hands of an AP reporter at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, May 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Shrimp boats are used to collect oil with booms in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, Wednesday, May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Note: The descriptions are Elinoff's and/or of the sources from which he obtained them. However, I have edited to remove many of Elinoff's editorial comments and arguments regarding BP's wrongful actions or potential future scenarios, to focus on the present effects of the oil spill itself.

All photographs and text are copyright of their respective owners. They are being reproduced under the Fair Use exception to copyright law, 17 U.S.C. § 107, as it is for educational purposes and is intended as political commentary on important social events of the day.

In addition, use of such images is also protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, reproduction is protected under the "Mai Lai/Zapruder line of cases", since:

(1) The images are of historical significance;

(2) They show facts which cannot be conveyed effectively in any other manner, and

(3) Therefore the Constitution trumps copyright law.

Living your Values

Its important that what we do matches our values. Many people work at jobs that do not match their values and live unhappy lives. I want to encourage people to truly live their ideals. There are many places that can help you learn how to do this.

The Northwest Earth Institute offers a variety of wonderful classes that can help you focus on what matters to you. I took part in one of their Voluntary Simplicity classes several years ago, and still benefit from it! I kept the workbook and often re-read it for inspiration. I also recommend the book with a similar name, Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. Another great book is Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence.

Some career choices that I strongly encourage people to investigate are naturopathic medicine and renewable energy related. Those of you who are drawn to healing know who you are. I encourage you to learn about naturopathic medical programs.

Image via Wikipedia

For those of you who want more physical labor I encourage you to research training in renewable energy technology. One of my readers recommends the Wind Energy Technology program at Redstone College in Denver. I would also like to put in a word for the Renewable Energy Technology program at Columbia Gorge Community College, in my hometown of The Dalles, Oregon.

There are several other careers that I can think of that can help you live your values, for instance organic farmer and politician. What do you do? What is your dream job? Are you living your dream, if not what can you do to make it a reality?

NRDC: Bug Spray -- DEET vs. Newer and Natural Repellents

Image by Zac Declerck via Flickr

The recently published NRDC: Bug Spray -- DEET vs. Newer and Natural Repellents is a great addition to my previous article/post Take Precautions Against Mosquitoes.  As we enter the summer months, I encourage you to review the information presented in these posts.

What do you do to avoid mosquito bites?

Oil

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As I see oil pouring into the Gulf, I can't help but think of ways to reduce my reliance on petroleum. I already have taken a major step by not owning a car. I still however buy things with plastics, but have been trying to avoid them. What are some ways that you are trying to break your dependence on oil? How has the current spill in the Golf effected your life?

Staying Cool This Summer

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As summer approaches my mind turns to ways to keep cool. Humans are ingenious creatures and have come up with a variety of ways to stay cool. Of course, some of these are better for ourselves and the planet than others.

"Air conditioning takes indoor heat and pushes it outdoors. To do this, it uses energy, which increases production of greenhouse gases, which warm the atmosphere. From a cooling standpoint, the first transaction is a wash, and the second is a loss. We're cooking our planet to refrigerate the diminishing part that's still habitable."

So, how do you stay cool without A/C? Here's a list of my favorites:

• Drink plenty of cool water
• Wear light weight light colored natural fabrics (or nothing at all when possible)
• Keep your hair off your neck
• Get a hair cut
• Wear a wide brimmed hat when in the sun
• Soak a bandana in cool water then place around your neck or head
• Play in water
• Plant deciduous tress around your house. The leaves will keep it cool in summer, while in winter the bare branches will allow the sun to warm your home.
• Air-dry your dishes
• Avoid using your oven
• Keep your windows open to the cool air at night and close them during the heat of the day
• Relax in the shade of a tree at a park
• Hang out in your basement
• Use ceiling fans. Please note that they don't actually cool the room, so please turn them off if no one is around to enjoy the breeze.

Related articles

• Keeping a Home Cool Without Paying for Air Conditioning (personalbudgeting.suite101.com)
• How to Stay Cool Without Air Conditioning (real-estate.in-kw.com)
• How to Cover in Summer and Still Keep Cool (coveryourhair.com)
• Frugal Green Living: More Cheap Ways to Stay Cool this Summer (planetgreen.com)

Dirty Hairbrush? A Step-by-Step Cleaning Guide

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How often do you buy a new hairbrush? Why do you get a new one? If you're buying new brushes because of lint build-up, stop! There's no need to create more trash simply because your brush is dirty. Cleaning a hairbrush is a rather simple process that doesn't take much time.

I've had the same hairbrush since at least 2000. I remove loose hair from it, when it builds up, probably every 1-2 weeks. I know other people who clean out the hair after every use, but you don't have to. Many people recommend thoroughly cleaning your brush every 1-2 weeks, but I didn't do it until this week after a decade of use.

1. Remove all the loose hair from the brush. A wide tooth comb is useful for this step, but not necessary.
2. Fill your bathroom sink with hot water and add a squeeze of your shampoo to it.
3. Place your hairbrush, bristles down, into the sudsy water.
4. Sleep! :)
5. In the morning drain the water and remove build-up from the brush with a wide-tooth comb, nail brush, or fingers.
6. If there's still build up, repeat the next night.

What clothes should we buy?

Almost all of us wear clothing at some point in the day. For most people its a lifelong expense that can have a huge impact on our health and the environment. What are the best clothing choices that we can make?

I was raised on second hand clothing. Panties, bras, and socks were the only things that were purchased new. My parents did this because they couldn't afford to buy me new clothes, however I feel it was the best thing they could have done. Very little waste was generated in me getting the clothing.

By the time something is ready to be given away, most of the chemical burden is removed from the fabric making it healthier for the wearer. Of course, this system does rely on someone getting new clothing, but several people can wear clothes before they become scraps. One of my favorite examples of clothing reuse is Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback. I highly recommend this children's book to everyone!

What are the best choices when buying new clothes? There are so many choices now. Should we buy conventional clothing from small independent stores, or organic fair-trade clothes from a website? What materials should we buy? Organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, etc? I debate these decisions every time I buy something new. 

The newest material that has come to my attention is made from beech trees. Ellen at Thrifty and Chic Mom is currently running a Body Bark Ecofriendly Style Giveaway. Body Bark seems like an interesting company, but I always wonder about greenwashing.

Body Bark claim that wearing  their products under dry clean only clothing will allow you to go longer between visits to the dry cleaners, thus saving you money and helping the environment. Nice idea, but how many of us dry clean our clothes? I haven't been to a dry cleaners in over 8 years, and the only things I've ever had dry cleaned were second hand gowns.

I also wonder how sustainable is it to grow beech trees? I'm sure they're being grown on monocultured tree farms. How much water do they require? Fertilizer? I love the idea of the material, but must question what the true impact is.

I would love to hear your opinions on what types of clothes to buy. If you have experience with any of the eco-friendly materials out there, please share it with us!

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