October 21, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I was feeling pretty good last night as I was going to bed. I even started this Hopeful Wednesday post early. I wasn’t sure if I would need the Hope. But I got up this morning and checked CNN, and there are historic floods in the country of my ancestors. People have died. Crops have been submerged and ruined. There will be hunger. The village where my mother’s family has lived at least dating back to the 1400s if not longer, will be submerged with sea level rise. Our village is vulnerable to climate change. Further thousands of miles upstream, China threatens to damn a mighty river, and that will result in catastrophic environmental disaster as fish will die and the river will begin dying. This river is as mightly as the Mississippi. And multinational corporations are dredging already the river banks for the high quality sand that they use to make concrete.

There is no place to run from climate change. No place is safe. The land of my ancestors is flooding and the fish will die. The land that I was born, this wonderful state of California, where our family achieved the American Dream is literally burning down. And Mr. Plastic Picker’s hometown where his family still has their family home is within missle range of the madman North Korean dictator. We have resources and skills that could be used in any country, and my daughter is amazing and will probably speak the same if not more languages than I do and better (which is saying a lot) – but there is no place that is safe for her. That is why we made a stand now. We all do. That is why I pick up trash. It’s the big picture. We have to stop climate change now.

So this morning I need hope! Plus I have long meetings today and have to give a short presentation of HPV vaccines, and as to why we are not doing better. We are improving, but not as quickly as I would like. I’m going to call a spade a spade at today’s meeting, and ask the question as to why these teenagers aren’t being given access to vaccines? I’d like to ask, why are multi-national corporations dreding the Mekong for sand. I won’t say that, but I will be thinking this during the vaccine meeting.

But let’s look at my iPhone screen shots for Five Reasons to be Hopeful This Wednesday. Wallowing in doom and gloom never helped anyone. I need to be happy and have some real hope to move forward. Here are some wonderful reasons to hold onto hope!

1. AOC Livestreams on Twitch, Playing Among Us for over 400,000 Youth. This hardly made the news, but I knew about it because I have a tween and teen. AOC was livestreaming on Twitch, and playing a popular game Among Us with famous YouTubers and Streamers. Over 400,000 people including my children were watching. They had links to voting registration sites and it was a Get Out the Vote effort. This is powerful. and this gave me hope. Can you believe its 11-12 days until the election? The election may be decided on slim margins, and the youth vote will mae a difference. I’m pretty sure Michigan, Florida and all the swing states have plenty of 18-30 year olds playing Among Us and they were watching AOC yesterday! She is so great.
2. IKEA to buy back used furniture in recycling push. “Flat-pack furnishings retailer Ikea said Tuesday that it will offer to buy back thousands of pieces of used Ikea furniture in 27 countries, for resale, recycling or donation to community projects . . . The Swedish giant said Tuesday that its Black Friday event will be “an opportunity to meet customers’ needs in ways that contribute to a circular economy.” It will run from Nov. 24 to Dec. 3.” This is definitely a step in the right direction. I’m still not an IKEA fan and their throw-away furniture designs that are so flimsy. They are complicit is the deforestation of whole swaths of old-growth forest in Romania and Eastern Europe. If you want the name of the documentary, ask me and I’ll look for it. But at least it’s something. Still not going to shop there anymore. We bought a dresser there once and it was one of those flimsy ones that have tipped over and killed toddlers, and our son almost had the same fate befall him. Thank god I caught it in time. This is good news but I still don’t ever go to IKEA. Cheap stuff. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/swedish-giant-ikea-buy-back-furniture-73583103
3. Three Major UK Retailers are Banning Glitter Due to Environmental Concerns. “Three major retailers in the United Kingdom announced they would eliminate glitter from their Christmas merchandise this season. As the movement against glitter brings awareness about microplastics and their impact on the environment and marine life, Morrisons, Waitrose and John Lewis’ store brand holiday products will be glitter-free for 2020.” I don’t think I’ve ever purchased glitter. I’ve been in my heart anti-glitter for decades. It makes no sense. But now I am satisfied that it’s just not me that thinks this is the utmost in wastefulness and environmental destruction. I wonder if I can convince our Girl Scout Troop to have a Anti-Glitter Policy? Almost like a Climate Emergency Declaration, we could make a Plastic Pollution Emergency Declaration? Why not? https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/10/17/uk-retailers-ban-glitter-from-store-brand-products-this-holiday-season/
4. Royal Bank of Canada becomes first Major Canadian bank to refuse to fund oil drilling in Arctic Refuge. “Canada’s largest bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), has quietly become the first major financial institution in the country to refuse to fund any oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. ‘Due to its particular ecological and social significance and vulnerability, RBC will not provide direct financing for any project or transaction that involves exploration or development in the ANWR,’ reads RBC updated policy guidelines posted on Friday.” The article continues, “Dana Tiza-Tramm, Chief of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, said RBC’s commitment marks the first time a Canadian bank has taken meaningful strides to consult with affected First Nations and made a decision based on those deliberations. ‘This is a wonderful acknowledgement and vindication of our Elders, who spoke to the importance of the caribou. We are looking to all major banks in Canada to come into the sunlight with RBC,’ he said, adding that meetings have also occurred with TD Canada Trust, the Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank, among others.” Can I open a bank account there? I worked in my little corner of the world to push Harvard to divest from Fossil Fuels by supporting Harvard Forward. But our own family still has our accounts at fossil fuel supporting banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Still have to figure that one out! Maybe I’ll switch our sons account at least to the local credit union. That would be the first step.  https://albertapressleader.ca/?p=27497
5. Eco-Avatars of the Children’s Art Council. The AAP-CA3 Climate Change and Health Committee Youth Arts Exhibition is continuing along nicely! One of our pediatricians who is a Fine Arts Photographer is starting our website for submissions, and we have our Eco-Avatars which I put into a collage below. I’m going to email the Harvard Club of San Diego later, and see if they can’t co-sponsor the exhibition. I just want them to lend their name. I know the president.

There is hope. Five reasons to hold onto hope today, to help me get through my saddness regarding the floods and to help me get through the vaccine meeting. Thinking about those Five Reasons to Be Hopeful and looking at the collage of avatars makes me smile. I hope this post gives you a reason to smile as well and get through your day. I’m sure you have a challeneing Wednesday ahead of you. Eco-warriors ONWARD!!! Hoping to make the Huckleberry Pie Bars this morning if I can finish this flowchart for a MediCAL Performance Improvement Project done. If not, I can make it tonight.

Click here to get more hope, plus there are cute Sloth-themed wool dryer balls! https://drplasticpicker.com/10-10-2020-hopeful-wednesday-saturday/