Come watch an emotional journey with Green, an orangutan that is affected by deforestation and resource exploitation.  Then take a look at the blog about Green and the efforts to stop deforestation.  Pretty amazing work done by Patrick!  The film has won Best of Festival awards from two Wildlife Film Festivals.  Please take the time to watch and pass on to your friends, who will in turn pass on to their friends.  Start a chain reaction!

When I go to the grocery store I always hit up the bargain aisle, who doesn’t?  This week I was in search of cereal and I came across Cascadian Farm Organic Cinnamon Crunch cereal in the bargain aisle.  I quickly put down my overpriced cereal and figured I’d give this a shot.  I remember those childhood mornings where I’d take a big bite of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, well I guess teenage and adult mornings too, so I hoped it would be the same.  I was surprised at how yummy it was!  Usually when I pick out an organic food I take one bite of it and I vow to never buy anything organic again.  I know I sound like a total idiot being an environmental science graduate student and all, but I love good food.  I’m guilty of wanting a big burger over a fresh salad.  Never said I was perfect.

So besides tasting good, the cereal box is covered with facts about how to keep our waters clean.  They state that ‘turning off the tap while brushing your teeth can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons each month, adding up to 2,880 gallons per year’. Awesome right?!  Way to go Cascadian Farm!  They list their website (hyperlinked above) and also let you know that they support American Rivers, which is a non profit organization aimed at restoring and preserving water sources.  Most cereal boxes have a maze on the back, which gets boring the older you get.

I tip my hat to you Cascadian Farm, a food company doing good things while making great organic food. Follow them on Facebook :)  They have granola bars that I’m going to have to hunt down next grocery shopping trip.

What do you think you could make with all of your recyclables?

Synagro was on Undercover Boss tonight.  I was really excited, although my mother was not because I kept interrupting her show with my knowledge in sludge.

The new CEO, Bill Massa, visited Knoxville, TN and worked at the waste water facilities.  He was actually posing as someone who worked in the chemical polluting industry and was going to see how the other side (the good side) does things.  He told the people he was shadowing that he was part of a reality series.  In Knoxville, the manager made him handle sludge with his bare hands. She “forgot” to give him gloves. This woman did an insane job at doing so many things by herself from driving the mac trucks carrying the sludge to making sure the machines were working together. 

Next he visited Shawnee, KS at the treatment plant.  He was here to clean out the lagoon.  He was going to help remove the solids that have collected (look they got me saying solids).  The lagoon needs to be cleaned out because it can get nasty, so says the guy Massa is working with.  They use the excess sludge as fertilizer for the farmers near by.  He had to use what I like to call the sludge sucker machine, which carries about 4,000 gallons of sludge.  He killed the motor, insert laughs from Mom.  Then the worker drops the big news, GATORS.  They start with the Jaws theme (always funny) as he tells Massa that they sometimes find gators in the sludge.  They then went on to use bulldozers to move the sludge around.  Looks pretty nasty.  ”But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” -Bill Massa. Wise words.  Nothing has been said about the smell, which surprises me.  Maybe it doesn’t smell? These people say otherwise. Here’s the kicker though, the workers have to go a mile away to find a bathroom.  There are no porta potties.  SERIOUSLY?  They work with poop yet have no where to go.

Next is Baltimore, MD to visit the Back River Waste Water Plant.  Here pellets are developed, they are easier to use and easier to send to other places than your every day sludge.  The pellets are small bits of dried sludge, kind of described in the name pellet.  Massa starts to go to work to make sure the machines are kept up to code, meaning clean and ready to work.  OHH and he picked up a tampon applicator.  Massa seems to enjoy going into the nooks and crannies of the machines to find all of these products. Sarcasm people.  The woman who Massa is working with uses the pellets and sludge in her own home gardens.  And again, another shocker.  There is no recycling in these facilities, there are no programs.  Massa seemed peeved about this, maybe the end of the show will tell us if he’s changed this.  

Sparta, Wisconsin is next on the list with another wastewater treatment plant.  Instead of a lagoon, the sludge is kept in a tank.  Here Massa starts cleaning a holding tank.  He’s never been to a biosolids tank (he’s good with never saying sludge).  THERE WE GO, the worker said sludge.  Here’s the first time we’ve heard anything about smell, ammonia.  Mmmm sticky oatmeal.  Big Bertha is a pressure washer used to break the gunk up.  Well I guess this is where the name solids is a reality, they are in 3 feet of water and standing on a foot or so of the solid trying to break it up.  One tank takes several weeks to completely break up.  

Its amazing that these people are so open about their personal lives, and in the end good things come to them which is why this show is such a success. I just hope that the average person can take some information about sludge from this episode along with their tears.

PS Nothing was said about starting a recycling program

Jack Heathcote of Nottingham has a GINORMOUS (thanks Webster for adding this, not so much for adding LOL recently) fish tank in his basement.  He has to dive into it to be able to clean this epic tank.  Can you imagine taking a dip into a tank filled with stingrays, IN YOUR OWN HOME! 

If I had money this would be the first thing on my list. Well maybe to conserve the species I would put into my tank instead of actually putting them into my tank. 

I usually get upset when I see what people with money are using it towards, like the 10 million dollar royal wedding, but I think I could forgive this guy.  Just this once.

@Brogany.. I couldn’t figure out how to add a note to respond to yours, so here it is!

I actually found the letter to send to my senator through NRDC.  It was a letter that was prewritten by the NRDC, making it convenient and helpful for people to get their voices heard when they aren’t sure where to start.  

NRDC has an action center page that helps the every day Joe make a difference.  

Although I didn’t put any of my own flair into the letter (this was the first one I submitted, but I’ve gotten better at adding information), it was still great to know that the Senator cared enough to give a reply.  Even if the reply went to hundreds of people, it still makes you feel like you made a difference and you were heard.

Dear Ms. Clemente,               

Thank you for contacting me regarding efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.  I appreciate hearing from you.     

A 2007 Supreme Court ruling, Massachusetts v. EPA, found that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act. The EPA is therefore legally obligated to take steps to address greenhouse gas emissions if it finds that these emissions endanger public health or welfare.  I believe the EPA does a great service to our country by ensuring that Americans live in a safe and healthy environment, but I have heard from many residents of Connecticut who are concerned that new regulations of greenhouse gases by the EPA may have a negative impact on the economy.  I certainly understand these concerns.     

Protecting the environment has always been one of my top priorities. As Connecticut’s Attorney General, I led the fight against Broadwater when it wanted to build a potentially damaging natural gas plant in the Long Island Sound. Additionally, I led a group of nine state Attorneys General in a lawsuit against the Bush Administration for its attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act.  I think it is important to address greenhouse gas emissions in a comprehensive way that allows our country to create millions of new clean energy jobs, develop cutting-edge technologies that will help our businesses remain competitive, and ensure that we protect the environment for future generations.

 As your Senator, I will continue to fight to ensure that our land, water and air are protected from environmental degredation and to ensure that Connecticut’s businesses are able to operate without excessive and undue regulation.  Rest assured that as I have the opportunity to vote on legislation that affects the E.P.A., I will keep your thoughts in mind.                

Thank you again for your letter. Please contact me in the future with any additional questions or concerns. 

Sincerely, 

Richard Blumenthal 
United States Senator

Amazing ways whales use sound and song to communicate

tumblrbot asked: WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

I’d love to be able to visit Australia, always been a dream of mine!