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These special yearly events have been gaining momentum across the globe. Buy Nothing Day was started by the AdBusters anti-consumerist magazine based out of Vancouver. Buy Nothing Day is slated for Black Friday (November 25th) in the U.S. and aims to reduce consumerism that leads to depletion of the planet’s resources, corporatism and pollution.
Buy Local Week coincides with Buy Nothing Day (starting on the 25th of November in the U.S. and continuing for a week). Buy Local Week differs from Buy Nothing Day in that it does not discourage consumerism, but encourages keeping purchases local (in-turn promoting growth within our own communities and small businesses).
Is Buying Nothing a Good Thing?
Questions have arisen about the positive and negative effects of Buy Nothing Day, raising concerns that buying nothing will adversely impact the growth of local communities. Though it seems unlikely that communities will suffer from a single day of lesser purchases, (particularly on a day when purchases are largely made at malls and corporate stores anyway) the potential down-sides to complete anti-consumerism are worth paying attention too.
Buy Local Week seems to earn more support from the general population, but does not fully address concerns such as resources and environmental impact.
The Consensus?
People are more aware of the impact their purchases make than ever before, and problems associated with globalization, environmental degradation and corporatism have all played a part in awakening the broader population. Both of these events appear to have their purpose in helping raise awareness about these problems.
We think that a careful balance of less-waste, avoiding unnecessary purchases, buying used items and buying locally whenever possible is the answer, and we will be participating in both events! But, it doesn’t end here. These are actions we can all take on a daily basis to help improve the quality of life for everyone!
Though late-in-coming, secret U.S. government STD tests (which were performed on thousands of Guatemalan psychiatric patients, prisoners and sex workers) have finally been publicly exposed, and are being investigated by the U.S. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Though the United States currently admits to infecting at least 1,300 prisoners with STDs (including “syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid,”) Guatemala’s own studies say the numbers may exceed 2,500.
This is hardly the first time secret government tests have been exposed (for instance, the 1977 senate hearings confirmed 239 populated areas in the U.S. had been contaminated with secret chemical and biological tests from 1949 to 1969), but this may be one of the most appalling cases thus far.
The Washington Post published the following, “In one case described during Monday’s two-hour hearing, a woman who was infected with syphilis was clearly dying from the disease. Instead of treating her, the researchers poured gonorrhea-infected pus into her eyes and other orifices and infected her again with syphilis. She died six months later.”
The sole purpose of these tests was to research the effectiveness of penicillin in preventing STDs. This research was performed directly for the pharmaceutical industry who wanted to label Penicillin “scientifically and clinically tested to prevent the contraction of STDs.” These experiments were not limited to Guatemalan’s either: Researchers also conducted experiments on residents at the National Mental Health Hospital and on army soldiers.
These horrific experiments were recently exposed by historian Susan M. Reverby, who stumbled across papers written by John C. Cutler (the Public Health Service doctor in charge of this research). Cutler also led the Tuskegee experiment (between 1932 and 1972), where hundreds of African-American men were purposely left untreated with severe syphilis so the disease could be further studied.
D. Landreth to Go Out of Business if Funds are Not Raised in 30 Days
Barb Melera describes the company’s situation on Facebook:
“We set about to restore this Company because it is the most historically important American small business in existence. It is the only American company, still operating daily, that existed when this country became a nation. Its founders were honorable men who helped establish and guide the agricultural and horticultural industries of this country in the 1700s, the 1800s and the 1900s. Landreth exemplifies American business and the ethics and integrity that built this nation.
On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, the Company’s accounts were frozen by a garnishment order initiated by a Baltimore law firm. If this garnishment order is not satisfied within the next 30 days, Landreth will cease to exist and a part of America’s history will be lost forever. I need to sell 1 million 2012 catalogs to satisfy this garnishment and the cascade of other indebtedness which this order has now initiated.”
The catalog is $5.00 (which is their usual price because the company has their catalogs printed locally at higher costs than outsourcing it overseas). From their website:
“We could have this catalogue printed overseas, and the printing costs would be 1/4th the costs of printing the catalogue in the United States, but we are not going to take American business overseas. The catalogue is designed by a small, Baltimore-based and family-owned business, Victor DiPace Associates and it is printed by a family-owned local printing company. Producing this catalogue is far more expensive than it is for most companies who are outsourcing their printing requirements overseas. We charge for our catalogue to help with some, but not all, of the costs to produce and mail. Each catalogue that you purchase from Landreth is helping to keep an American employed and therefore making this country stronger.”
Though Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) has been around since 1947, the largest natural gas campaign in history started with the privatized company Halliburton. The company (once headed by Dick Cheney) was at the center of numerous scandals during the Iraq war for unrealistic profits and smudged contracts.
Dick Cheney, along with President Bush formed the energy task force in 2001 (shortly after Cheney left Halliburton to become vice president of the United States). Most of the activities performed by the Energy Task Force remain a secret despite numerous attempts by the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to the information.
Together, Cheney, Bush and representatives from Shell, PFC, BP, API, Enron and numerous energy corporations, formed the exemption that would allow fracking to proceed uninhibited by environmental laws (such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Act) or any further environmental research. This exemption specifically allows fracking to be performed in close proximity to underground water supplies.
What is Fracking?
Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) is performed by drilling a deep well (usually around 8,000 feet into the ground) and blasting a mixture of sand, water and chemicals to create fractures in the rock. These fractures release natural gas that is then collected and further refined. Fracking fluid contains hundreds of chemicals: Over 500 of these have been identified by independent researchers, but many continue to remain a secret because companies are not required to release information about the mixture (thanks to the exemption formed by the Energy Task Force).
It takes over 1 million gallons of water and chemicals to frack a well just one time. The “produced” water (or waste water) is often stored in open-ground pools, or dumped into rivers and tributaries. Baltimore’s Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is currently suing Chesapeake Energy Corp. for allowing tens of thousands of gallons of fracking fluid to enter the Susquehanna River at their wells in Northern, Leroy PA (the Susquehanna provides drinking water to over 6.2 million people and has been named one of America’s most endangered rivers).
Is Fracking Safe?
Though fracking has prompted thousands of complaints and hundreds of lawsuits, those who were rewarded compensation by companies performing fracking were required to sign non-disclosure agreements. Many are at odds about the benefits of fracking because drilling has offered jobs in these communities, and those who are willing to lease their land are offered approx. $4,000 to $5,000 an acre. Unfortunately, most who receive these offers are not aware of the potential hazards to their family and communities.
Reader’s Digest recently published an article covering the experiences of families in Dimock, PA after drilling started in their community. The stories of residents being able to light their water on fire, animals and people becoming seriously ill, and private wells being irreversibly damaged (and even exploding) are not limited to northern PA. The same stories are mimicked throughout the western and southern U.S. in areas subject to the hundreds-of-thousands of fracking wells being drilled (over 50,000 of these wells are proposed for northern PA alone).
In 2004, the EPA rejected evidence that water was being contaminated by fracking, saying a review of the problem was not necessary. Weston Wilson (a 20-year employee of the EPA) wrote a letter to congress objecting, but noted that the EPA could not act without being instructed to do so, and the exemptions created by the Bush administration prevent an official investigation into the potential hazards of fracking.
Josh Fox traveled around the United States and met with families who have been impacted by fracking in their areas. In his film GasLand, Josh presents a strong case for opposition to current fracking procedures.
How Productive is Fracking?
In and article titled “‘Enron moment’: Insiders sound alarm amid a natural gas rush,” MSNBC reported “As investment floods into shale wells, concerns about their productivity are spurring talk of a bubble.” The text in this article has since been removed by MSNBC, leaving only the title and comments visible (View the Article). Many of you have probably seen the advertisements promoting natural gas (or fracking) on MSNBC’s own website.
Because the costs of fracking average more per gallon than the current price of gas in the U.S., the productivity of fracking is in question. The EIA even seems to be in conflict with itself about the actual sustainability of fracking. The industry’s hopes that fracking will make-up for declining oil production may also be hindered as the estimates for the number of wells that would need to be drilled continues to increase (over 30,000 per year).
It’s a trend that is gaining popularity – building furniture out of old hardcover books. These unwanted books are in surplus and cant always be recycled because of the glues used to assemble them. It shouldn’t be difficult to track down lots of old books for just pennies each. Once you’ve collected enough books you can start imagining your own creative ways to make them into unique and functional furniture!
Some of Our Favorites
The Floating, Invisible Book-Shelf
Photo Courtesy: http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com
This is truly a clever way to organize your books, cds and movies, or you can just use it as decorative shelving!
The Full Book-Shelf
Photo Courtesy: http://www.murketing.com
Books can be stacked and fixed together in multiple different ways. Here, they are vertically braced (see below) to create a bookshelf.
Book Tables & Chairs
Photo Courtesy: http://roellekids.blogspot.com
We love this idea, where books are being stacked to create spiral shapes. I’m sure you can imagine some other ways to use this!
Book Anything!
The possibilities are endless! Furniture such as tables, desks, shelves, chairs, stools, play-hutches for children, you name it! Whatever you can imagine can probably be constructed with old books by themselves, or in combination with other materials.
Some Tips to Get You Started
Most book furniture is sturdy enough using just glue alone. When a book’s pages have been completely glued together, it becomes very solid – a great building block!
Stacking
The easiest way to use books is by simply gluing their pages together and stacking them short-ways to make legs or vertical structures. Stacking books this way will require a lot of books but little effort beyond gluing. You can also get creative and turn the books to make spiral shapes as you stack them!
End-to-End
Standing books upright will require a bit more work, but less books. You can fix books together by placing a small brace of wood or cardboard that goes through the center of each book before gluing the books together (IE: Glue the brace right between the center pages of each book). Remember, you can use a cutting knife to cut out a ‘space’ in the inner pages of each book, for the brace to slide into (so the books will still close completely flat).
Alternated Layering
You can also assemble books into a solid unit by layering them (inserting one book into the other by cutting out pages to allow them to close tightly and still interconnect). Again, glue will usually suffice to hold books together, but if you’re questioning the structural integrity, you can drill holes and screw the entire book (or books) together (just be sure to hold the pages down tightly as you screw, because they will try to pull up).
Sawing
Books can be sawed into shapes too! Try gluing a book together and cutting it into a triangular shape to create a bracket for horizontal support.
Other Ideas
Some books have really fun titles. You might create a conversation piece just by choosing books with strange or unique text on the spine or cover.
For a modern twist, try painting all of the books a solid color (white, red, black…) Or, you could try alternating colors!
“Baking soda kills bacteria that cause odors. It is excellent for cleaning, toothpaste, mouthwashes, deodorants, cat litter and a wide variety of other applications. It is also much safer than store products that use harsh chemicals and perfumes.”
These special yearly events have been gaining momentum across the globe. Buy Nothing Day was started by the AdBusters anti-consumerist magazine based out of Vancouver. Buy Nothing Day is slated for Black Friday (November 25th) in the U.S. and aims to reduce consumerism that leads to depletion of the planet’s resources, corporatism and pollution.
