7-8-2020 Hopeful Wednesday

July 8, 2020

I ran to my spot this morning. It was after July 4th, and everyone was still asleep.

July 8, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I skipped last week and was sad about skipping last week’s Hopeful Wednesday post. I forgot what was actually going on that day, but there were more pressing things and it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. But today I am happy, because I had been preparing to write this post since last week and have been savings bits and pieces of good environmental news to share with you. It is the hump day of the week and we are in the middle of the the rising COVID-19 pandemic, but I wanted to give you glimmers of hope of a liveable future if we are able to imagine it.

Perspective is so important these days. I went out litter picking three times yesterday. The last litter pick was last night and I was a bit irate at Mr. Plastic Picker. He went out the front door with the puppy and I left out through the back door as I needed to get my metal grabber. We were supposed to meet at the corner, but I didn’t see him. Instead of being irate as was my initial reaction (does he love the puppy more than me?), I saw 3 monarch butterflies in the high tree top of our neighbors gorgeous front yard tree. I just stood there watching the butterflies for a moment. Then I spotted a green vaping pen across the street, and safely jogged across the street to retrieve it as I need another one for my next vaping trash art piece. I finished filling my one shopping bag and found 2 aluminum cans and headed home. Mr. Plastic Picker was actually the irate one when I got back to the house. The puppy had refused to go for her walk as she is still traumatized by the July 4th fireworks, but my dear husband went out looking for me and could not find me. I looked at his handsome Vulcan-like face and said, “but I saw 3 butterflies and a vaping pen for my trash art piece?”

Five Reasons to Be Hopeful This Wednesday

Environmental Defense Fund: I have signed multiple petitions from their group. They seek to work with current businesses and have had many big wins like getting China to commit to bold climate action plans. They partner with farmers and Fortune 500 companies to move the climate agenda forward, and have 100% rating on Charity Navigator. When we select who to donate monthly, I usually like to think of things as number of trees saved or acres saved which is why we usually donate to Rainforest Trust. But I know climate work is more complicated than that. This month they had a triple matching option for EDF, so our $50 donation actually became $150. https://www.edf.org/ We will decide where the rest of our monthly donation will go to at dinner tonight, probably to the Eden Reforestation Projects. But EDF’s work and their matching program this month makes me hopeful.
Judge Revokes Key Permit for Keystone XL, So for Now We are Safe. “In a legal challenge brought by a coalition of environmental groups, a federal judge in Montana ordered the army corps to suspend all filling and dredging activities until it conducts formal consultations compliant with the Endangered Species Act . . . The ruling revokes the water-crossing permit needed to complete construction of the pipeline, and is expected to cause major delays to the divisive project.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/15/keystone-xl-pipeline-montana-judge-environment
High Levels of Arsenic Found in US Whole Food’s bottled Water Brand. Now why in the world would Dr. Plastic Picker place this in a Hopeful Wednesday post? Any carcinogens and poisons in water is bad. But those substances were there already. The reason to be hopeful is that it is getting some publicity. There is really no reason to drink bottled water. When one buys bottled water, you are not buying anything different than tap water wrapped in plastic. In fact, one is probably buying water that is less safe than tap water. Hopefully some of this news will continue to sink the the polluting ship which is the industry that steals water and encases it in plastic. Still too many of these darn things around!
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy Cancel Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project: This was to be a natural gas pipeline that stretched for miles through West Virginia, Virgina and North Carolina. CNN reports that the companies say the project no longer makes sense economically. https://www.news10.com/news/energy-companies-cancel-atlantic-coast-pipeline-construction/
Beavers have been born in Essex UK for the first time since the Middle Ages. I saw this is Bright Vibes Feed, which is fantastic and a happy environmental news feed. Beavers became extinct in the 16th century due to hunting for their meat, fur, and “castoreum” a secretion that had been used in perfumes. Beavers are a keystone species and their return has had an outsized effect on the local ecosystems.

I hope this Hopeful Wednesday post brought you some relief and happiness. It is important to have those moments to give us motivation for the next day. It’s Plastic Free July, and I’ve been amazed already at the changes we were able to make. We made vegan black bean burgers, homemade french fries and I did my first Cold Brew coffee to bring into work so I stop using those instant packets. I used the coffee grounds yesterday for a facial and body scrub, cleaned the bathroom sinks! And our dear friend Dr. Jill Gustafson dropped off 2 beautiful bars of homemade soap and I gave her in return 7 used paperbags that she will upcycle into art projects and a bag of my mother-in-laws tomatoes. I have promised one bar of soap to my mom and one bar of soap to my mother-in-law. And that is what a beautiful world it can be if we imagine it.