#Environmental Safety

[agaselectronicmaterials]

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[ourenvironment-12]

5 Ways You Can Help the Environment Every Day

We all want to be good stewards of the planet we call home, but sometimes it can feel like there’s just not enough time in the day to do all the things we want to do to help the environment. In reality, there are plenty of small ways you can help every day that can collectively make a big difference over time. Here are five simple ways you can help the environment every day, which you can start doing today!

1) Recycle Everything

It’s easy to recycle everything these days. Most communities have recycling centers where you can take all of your recyclables. You can also recycle at home by using a recycling bin for all of your recyclables. By recycling, you are helping to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfills.

2) Buy Organic

When you buy organic, you are helping to keep harmful pesticides and chemicals out of the environment. Organic farming also uses less water, which is good for drought-prone areas. Furthermore, it supports local farmers and can help boost the economy.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (six sentences): One of the easiest ways to help the environment is to reduce your waste. Try to reuse items instead of throwing them away, and recycle whatever you can. You can also compost food scraps to reduce methane emissions from landfills.

3) Bring your own shopping bags

We all know that plastic shopping bags are bad for the environment. They take centuries to decompose and often end up in our oceans, harming marine life. But did you know that the average American family takes home 1,500 plastic shopping bags each year? That’s a lot of damage!

4) Use Less Plastic Water Bottles

We all know we should be using less plastic water bottles, but sometimes it's hard to remember to bring our reusable ones with us everywhere we go. Here are a few ways to make it easier:

1. Keep a reusable water bottle in your car so you always have it with you when you're on the go.

2. Invest in a good quality reusable water bottle that you really like so you'll be more likely to use it.

3. If you work out, keep a reusable water bottle at your gym so you can fill it up after your workout.

4. Keep a couple of reusable water bottles in your fridge so they're always cold and ready to drink.

5) Buy Efficient Appliances

When you’re in the market for new appliances, do your research to find the most energy-efficient models. Not only will this help you save money on your energy bills, but it will also reduce your carbon footprint.

Let all help to protect our environment.

[lilithism1848]

[frameacloud]

"[Another type of red flags to avoid in the alterhuman/nonhuman communities are] Patterns of promoting having a poor relationship with humanity and/or nonhumanity to an unhealthy degree or insisting one must have a certain attitude towards humanity/nonhumanity to be alterhuman. [For example:]

"Frequent posting that humans as a whole are irredeemable, inherently evil, or unnatural. Especially misanthropy posting that has an ecofascist angle to it or seems like they may genuinely commit a crime due to their hatred of humanity.

"Insistence that one must hate or pity humans to be alterhuman.

"Insistence that one ‘must accept their humanity’ to a level dictated by that person, and that there is something inherently wrong with choosing not to identify as a human at all.

"Encouraging others to ignore consensus reality regarding the base needs and limits of a recognized human body. (ex- Claiming that eating a fully meat diet with no supplements won’t give you scurvy because you are a Physically Identified Nonhuman)

"Encouraging hatred of having a human body in people who otherwise tolerate it.

"Claiming that their alterhuman identity makes them inherently better than others."

- Excerpt from "Safety in Alterhuman Spaces," a document by the Dragonheart Collective, page 16. You can read the whole document here (PDF).

[communistkenobi]

man they used to just blow shit up in movies

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Alberta's decision to cancel funding for an elite wildfire-fighting crew in 2019 came despite pleas to keep the Rapattack program from at least three municipalities, including one that has since been evacuated during this spring's blazes.

"Rapattack is a pivotal program in the fight against wildfire and without them communities will be losing a valuable resource," wrote Jim Hailes, then mayor of Fox Creek, to Devin Dreeshen, then the United Conservative forestry minister.

Fox Creek's 1,700 residents are expected to be out of their homes until at least Wednesday.

Rapattack firefighters are rappelled from helicopters to douse wildfires while they still only covered a few hectares. They can extinguish small fires before they merge and clear landing spaces for other helicopters to bring in crews and gear. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @abpoli

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Norfolk Southern has agreed to a $600 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.

The settlement still needs to be approved by a judge.

"If approved by the court, the agreement will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment," Norfolk Southern said in a statement.

The spill forced hundreds of nearby residents out of their homes and sparked fears, as five tankers carried vinyl chloride, which posed serious health risks, burned, sending a massive plume of black smoke into the sky. Burning vinyl chloride can create dioxins, which are carcinogenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Two days after the crash, residents were evacuated over fears the tankers could explode. The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 9, with the EPA saying the air had returned to normal levels.

Norfolk Southern outlined how the settlement will be split up: $104 million for community assistance, including $25 million for a regional safety center, $21 million for a park, $21 million in direct payments to residents and $9 million to first responders; $4.3 million to improve water infrastructure; $2 million for "community-directed projects"; and a $500,000 grant for economic development.

"The agreement is designed to provide finality and flexibility for settlement class members," the company wrote. "Individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any manner they see fit to address potential adverse impacts from the derailment. This could include healthcare needs and medical monitoring, property restoration and diminution, and compensation for any net business loss."

No one was injured in the derailment itself, but residents of the area have complained about a variety of nagging health issues in the months after the crash.

Ashley McCollum, a resident of East Palestine who lived in a hotel for a year after the derailment and chemical leak, told ABC News earlier this year that her family has experienced issues including "rashing, numbness and tingling in your mouth, ear pain, blood in your ears, hair loss."

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report from its ongoing investigation into the derailment two weeks after the crash, saying surveillance video showed "what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment." NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called the derailment "100% preventable," and said it was "no accident."

The plaintiffs in the case released a joint statement saying the settlement "will provide substantial compensation to all affected residents, property owners, employees and businesses residing, owning or otherwise having a legal interest in property, working, owning or operating a business for damages resulting from the derailment and release of chemicals."

"We believe this is a fair, reasonable and adequate result for the community on a number of levels, not the least of which is the speed of the resolution, and the overall amount of the awards residents can expect, which will be significant for those most impacted by the derailment," said Seth A. Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, M. Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer, Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy, and T. Michael Morgan of Morgan & Morgan.

[pugsandfrenchbulldogs]

IMPORTANT- If you live in Britain in an area where hedgehogs are present, PLEASE leave a shallow bowl of water out for them. The excessive heat and drought is causing many of these fragile precious creatures to die of dehydration. 

[jumping-jackalope]

honestly i need to start growling at people who don't leash their dogs on public trails.... see how they like it.

[henrikvanderhussy]

oh my god you can't restrict operation of shutdown machinery with just a flimsy little tag that anyone can remove and use to request to turn on the power. why are you not using actual Lock Out Tag Out procedures. even without the sabotage, this whole amusement park is an accident waiting to happen.

[fenrislorsrai]

The Biden administration has previously said it wants all of the nation’s roughly 9 million lead pipes to be removed, and rapidly. Lead pipes connect water mains in the street to homes and are typically the biggest source of lead in drinking water. They are most common in older, industrial parts of the country. Lead crises have hit poorer, majority-Black cities like Flint especially hard, propelling the risks of lead in drinking water into the national consciousness. Their impact reaches beyond public health. After the crises, tap water use declined nationally, especially among Black and Hispanic people. The Biden administration says investment is vital to fix this injustice and ensure everyone has safe, lead-free drinking water. “We’re trying to right a longstanding wrong here,” said Radhika Fox, head of the EPA Office of Water. “We’re bending the arc towards equity and justice on this legacy issue.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., representing states that have faced lead crises, agreed in a joint statement, citing both the new rule and the Biden administration’s infrastructure investments. “We can make a lead-free future a reality for all, no matter the color or their skin or their zip code,” it said. The proposal, called the lead and copper rule improvements, would for the first time require utilities to replace lead pipes even if their lead levels aren’t too high. Most cities have not been forced to replace their lead pipes and many don’t even know where they are. There are some exceptions to the 10 year lead pipe replacement deadline. A few cities like Chicago with lots of lead pipes may get longer. Water utilities with dense networks of lead pipes — as many as 2,000 of them — could also get more than 10 years, the proposal says. The push to reduce lead in tap water is part of a broader federal effort to combat lead exposure that includes proposed stricter limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities and a goal to eliminate lead in aviation fuel. The EPA enacted the first comprehensive lead in drinking water regulations in 1991. Those have significantly helped reduce lead levels, but experts have said they left loopholes that keep lead levels too high and lax enforcement allows cities to ignore the problem.

overall estimate is $30B over ten years. that's nothing. I expect this was also fall under Justice 40 rules via HUD's Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Grants. So that means 40% of the program money should go towards the most disadvantaged census tracts. and this should speed up the timeline AND put more money into it.

[ecozoic-futuresaur]

It’s not “if” a car will crash, it’s “when” a car will crash.

[angrylesbianstereotype]

Okay I am going to try and word this very carefully for the benefit of the internet strawman that lives in my head that is already playing telephone with what I’m trying to say butttt as an animal caretaker I’m not loving the way y’all talk about animal welfare. Don’t get me wrong (please) drawing comparisons between how white people treat people of color and how they treat animals is a totally valid way to illustrate how white people often view and treat people of color as subhuman, but lately I kind of feel like this sentiment is being reiterated over and over again without being expanded on in terms of either human rights or animal welfare. I think it’s valuable and even critical to examine the historical context behind white supremacy’s investment in animal welfare, but that it’s a mistake to view the two as inextricably linked. White supremacists will also claim to have a vested interest in children’s rights, which couldn’t be further from the truth if you take even a cursory look at their policies and practices, but the reason they pretend to give a shit about children and animals without bothering to extend this same courtesy to people of color, queer people, etc is because children and animals cannot advocate for themselves, which leaves room for racists to hawk their own agenda under the guise of charity. They are not interested in advocating on behalf of anyone they cannot completely control. Animals aren’t treated well, which I believe was the initial reasoning behind the comparison to racism; that white people abuse people of color even more fervently than they do animals. But that’s a call to end systemic injustice towards people of color, not to forego animal advocacy altogether. We should all care about animals! We should all be working toward educating ourselves about the literal millions of other living beings we share a planet with, whose habitats we are destroying without impunity, who are entirely at our mercy, who are disposed of and exploited and treated more as objects to facilitate human existence than living creatures in their own right, even when they fall into the very exclusive category of beloved. It’s imperative for safety reasons to educate ourselves about animal behavior, not to mention fundamental to indigenous activism to work toward the preservation of their habitats and continued existence on this planet. Also, I fully reject the fundamentally Christian idea that animals don’t have souls, that they don’t have feelings, that they were put on this earth to prop up humanity, that their behaviors and physiologies are all virtually the same because they all fall into the very broad category of Not Human. I agree that saying their mistreatment is somehow worse than racism is misleading, wildly ignorant and offensive, not because animals don’t deserve our protection, but because it demonstrates such little understanding of and willingness to understand the consequences of racism, and because these are really different issues altogether. Animals don’t want or need human rights; they’re not human. They prioritize differently, even the expectation of being eaten is just a normative experience for them, as ghoulish as that sounds. But not being human, or anything akin to human, doesn’t make them automatons, doesn’t mean they can’t feel pain or should be treated unfairly. They are an integral part of all of our lives even if you don’t consider yourself an animal person, and we should try and extend understanding and empathy towards them for no other reason than that they are alive.

[mossiestpiglet]

Desperately need a 200k Roland Tembo/Nick Van Owen pretentiously philosophical angsty slow burn where they’re stuck on one of the islands, alone together, for several weeks, and surviving the dinosaurs is the least of their problems.

[queerbrownvegan]

Uvalde, TX reminds me that our leaders have failed.

I'm heartbroken by the recent news in Texas. As an educator, I can't imagine the amount of trauma that so many young people are experiencing at school. To all the teachers and students who are going through so much with the economic crisis, pandemic, and other series of injustices, I'm sorry. We have to fight together to dismantle white supremacy and the colonial settler empire we live within and advocate for policy that is good for people. Every day BIPOC and economically exploited peoples are existing in and resisting the most destructive culture to ever exist on Earth. So many children in the US have died because the Western arms industry has no interest other than itself and it has captured the US's "democratic" process. These violent outcomes are an inevitable product of our violent culture. There will be lots of racism and Xenophobic language being thrown out by Conservatives and lots of empty promises thrown out by Democratic leadership. Let's work together to dismantle these systems that are erasing cultures and murdering people around the world and in our communities.