Serendipity guides my life...

While at the Library last week a book was left behind on a table I was walking by. The title read "Our Living Earth: A Story of People, Ecology, and Preservation."  With Malachi yanking on my arm and Kelob calling across the hushed library I just grabbed the book and checked out. It was an incredible find! This visual marvel lays out in 8 chapters a cross section of environmental and social issues from around the globe. This is not your average dry textbook - this is a colourful piece of literature that uses the perfect combination of images and facts (displayed in point form or short sentence format). Each page is laid out with an eye catching photograph and a few nuggets of information, just enough for readers to grasp the impact of a particular issue. The best part is the author has created a section at the end of each chapter to provide suggestions on how you can make positive changes to rectify these problems. NOthing is hopeless, no mater how dire it may appear. we all have the power within us to change all of the problems listed in the book... with just one change from each of us.

Here is a sample of the information provided.... (at the end I have posted ways you can help by make the change, so hang in there...)
Part 1: Water
"1.2 Billion people do not have access to drinking water"
"132 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of wheat. 2,642 gallons of water to build a car. 5 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of paper. 0.66 gallons of water to produce 0.264 liters of Coca-cola."
"More than 5 Million people die each year from illness linked to unsafe drinking water or inadequate sanitation."
"Fresh water plant and animal populations are half the size they were 30 years ago."

Part 2:  Biodiversity
"Each year 32 million acres of primary forests are burned or bulldozed... are victims of the relentless cultivation of palm trees, whose oils is used to produce cookies, chips, and prepared foods, as well as soaps and shampoos"
"Bees are dying throughout the world. 80 percent of crops cannot grow without the help of pollinating bees... victims of pesticides and a growing lack of diversity among flowers..."
Albert Einstein was quoted saying "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live."
"Antarctica, the biggest desert on the planet, contains 70% of the world fresh water supply."
"Deserts are expanding all over the planet. In some areas... advancing more than several miles per year."
"1 out of 4 mammals, 1 out of 3 fish, and 1 out of 8 birds are at risk of going extinct."

Part 3: Oceans
"More than 75% of the fish supply either has been wiped out or is on it's way to being so."
"90% of large fish, such as, cod, halibut, and tuna, have disappeared."
"It takes 7-9 lbs of wild fish to produce 2lbs of farmed salmon."
"Water has a natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The colder the water, the better it is at dissolving significant quantities of CO2. If the ocean keeps getting warmer, it can no longer perform this function."

Part 4: Land
"In industrialized countries the volume of trash has tripled in the last 20 years."
"A computer generates a total of 3,307 lbs of waste."
"It takes 20 times less energy to recycle aluminum cans than to produce them. Only half the cans in Europe are recycled. It takes 10,000 years [for aluminum cans] to decompose in nature."
"We consume 2-3 times more oil than we discover."

Part 5: Cities
"If everyone on Earth lived like Americans we'd need 6 planets to support them all."
"More than 1 million people leave the countryside each week. More than 1 out of 2 people live in cities."
"More than 1 out of 7 people live in a shantytown."
"Since 2001 eco-communities have been flourishing around the wold."
"In Bedzen, London's first eco-community, heating has been reduced by 90%, total energy consumption by 70%, and volume of waste by 75%."

Part 6: People
"Born in Europe, these children can expect to live until the age of 75-80. The same goes for many developed countries. But it is different for children born, for example in Swaziland, in Southern Africa: their life expectancy is only 30 years."
"80% of the worlds wealth is held by 15% of the planet's inhabitants."
"Women perform two/thirds of the work in the world, but they only earn a tenth of the revenue."
"In rich countries, women's salaries are, on average, 15 - 20 % lower than those of men."
"In 2006, global military expenditures reached $1.2 trillion, whereas developmental aid amounted to $107 billion." 
"There are around 250,000 child soldiers in the world. Since 2001 more than 15,000 child soldiers have been saved from war."
"2 billion people around the world earn less than $3 a day."
"Around the world 218 million children and adolescents ages 5- 17 are put to work."

 Part 7: Food
"850 million people throughout the world suffer from hunger. Two thirds of them come from farming families."
"Pesticides kill nearly 20,000 farm workers each year."
"Nearly 2000 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 lb of beef."
"40% of commercial grains in the world are used to feed animals. Meanwhile, 850 million people on the planet are starving."
"Soybean crops used for meat production are the primary cause of forestation in the Amazon."

Part 8: Climate Change
"The number of climate-related disasters, has quadrupled in 20 years. Floods, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts - these natural disasters linked to climate change, haven't stopped increasing. No continent is spared, but the number of victims is higher in poor countries that are less equipped to help and treat affected areas."
"Transportation, which uses petroleum as a fuel,  accounts for 17% of greenhouse gas emissions in the world."
"Deforestation is responsible for 22% of greenhouse gas emissions in the world."
"Energy production is responsible for 27% of the worlds emissions.
"To prevent the increase in the greenhouse effect, every inhabitant of the planet should emit no more than 1,014 pounds of carbon per year. An American emits an average of 10-12 times more than that figure. European emits 3-6 times more. A Chinese person emits 2 times more." 

Making the Change...
Here it is the list of things you can do right now to affect enormous impact on the world: Choose one - or two... this is a long list so people can select what is an appropriate and a feasible change for them right now.

"There are more than 37,000 NGO's around the world." Support one.
Buy locally grown certified organic produce.
Buy paper products that show the certification FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) - this ensure deforestation practices were not employed.
Plant a tree (sounds simple - but it does the job)
Turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms.
Put electronic devices on a powerbar and turn the powerbar off when you are not using those devices (sleeping at night, at work during the day)
Purchase electricity from renewables (eg. Bullfrog Electric Company)
Reduce the amount of products you purchase, try renting, borrowing or... acquiring from a freecycle store
Recycle everything - cans, paper, containers, clothes, cars, electronics, phones.... (recycling includes donating, passing on to a friends...)
Stop purchasing bottled water, buy a filter for your home and use a refillable water bottle
Stop using plastic and paper bags, use cloth bags for ALL your shopping even clothes shopping.
When traveling by plane purchase carbon credits to offset your carbon emissions (most airlines offer this option when purchasing tickets)
STOP eating Tuna, Halibut, Cod and "farmed" Salmon
Buy certified Fair Trade products
Do not overheat - or over cool your house (check with your local electric company for appropriate furnace, hot water heater and air conditioner settings)
Reduce your meat consumption
When you run out of a cleaning product replace it with an eco-friendly alternative available at many grocery chains.
Was you car at the carwash to protect the water system (which collects runoff from street sewers)
Avoid products with Palm Oil
*Pick a cause and devote a little time to it, either by writing a letter to the government, MP, MPP, Member of Congress... or by physically volunteering or by donating money for other people to continue to work on solutions

Our Living Eath: A Story of People, Ecology and Preservation" by  Yann Arthus-Bertrand ISBN 978-0-8109-7132-5