Archive for the ‘Eye Want to be Green’ Category

Happy Earth Day!

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Earth Day is Today! The Earth Day Network was founded 41 year ago. This year’s theme is A Billion Acts of Green. Cofounder Jim has created an Act and invites you to commit to his pledge!

Styrofoam By Any Other Name is a Carcinogen!

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Just say, No styrofoam please.Benzene, a known carcinogen, is converted to styrene and then injected with gases that make it a “foam” product. Don’t be fooled by the name, there is nothing foam-like about it, which makes it sound like it will just melt away. Quite the opposite is true of Styrofoam – it is completely non-biodegradable. Five hundred years from now the Styrofoam coffee cup that you had your daily coffee in will still be here.

Styrofoam is deadly to marine life – it floats on the top of water and sea turtles, mistaking it for food, consume the pieces. The buoyancy of the Styrofoam keeps the turtles from diving for food and they end up starving to death.

When you get take out or coffee or other food items from restaurants, ask for paper cups or plates. Let the restaurant know about the dangers of Styrofoam to our planet.

No More Balloon Releases

Monday, June 7th, 2010

We’ve all been to grand openings of a business or other event where one of the common ways that they celebrate is by releasing hundreds of balloons into the air. But what we don’t know is where those balloons may end up.

In 1985, a female sperm whale died because she had eaten a balloon with 3 feet of ribbon attached to it that was blocking the whale’s stomach to its intestines. It was unable to digest food and ended up starving to death.

That is only one story of a sea animal who died as a result of eating a balloon. When balloons end up in the ocean, they look like jellyfish to a turtle. When large mammals like whales swallow schools of squid or other fish, balloons may be included in what they mistake as food.

Find a more creative way of celebrating events that don’t involve releasing balloons into the air that can end up in the ocean.

Eye Want to be Green

Friday, May 28th, 2010

I was recently looking through some old (1980’s) books I have on saving the planet and decided that would be a great new column to have on our home page and in our blog. The name for the column, like so many other names that we’ve come up with for Eye Help Animals, came to me in a flash. So many people, as well as businesses, are talking about things they can do to save our planet, mostly by going “green”. I’ve also written about being green in our business as well as in our lives at home in past Eyes Alive newsletters.

The difference between this column and past articles I’ve written will be more focused on the impact we have on the animal kingdom. Everyone must know that the things we are doing, like cutting down the rainforest, ultimately affects us as well as many species of animals. But I think when people know about the little things they do everyday and how changing a simple act, especially one that we often do unconsciously, can have a great impact on the environment and the lives of many animals.

So that is what this column is about, making little changes. Becoming more conscious and more aware of how changing one behavior can save so many lives. And I’m not talking about just wildlife here, although that is always my concern. So many things that we do that hurts wildlife, that hurts the environment, in the long run, also hurts us. Consider making these changes for wildlife, for the planet, for your children. Most of them are simple and very easy to do. Most of them only take a conscious moment. And then once you’ve thought about it, about how easy it is to do, and how good it feels to be a part of the solution, from that moment on it becomes unconscious. But this time your unconscious thought is for the good of wildlife, the planet, for you and your family.