Hi, all. Special edition of the newsletter today. I decided to take my “I want to do more on climate!” resource doc and send it out as a Substack in case that was easier to share. So here you go! Hope I’m not killing your in-box! I want to do more on CLIMATE! 🌎
You are amazing, Jessica! After yesterday’s posting was included in Robert Hubbells substack, I copied it and sent it to my physical therapist who spoke of feeling hopeless. I just forwarded today’s post from you which is much easier to read and has direct links to the organizations. You rock and a loving bow 🙇🏽♀️!
Jun 10, 2023·edited Jun 10, 2023Liked by Jessica Craven
This is all great. One thing I often don't see mentioned when the "stop eating beef" conversation comes up... Suggest a local, sustainable, organic meat processor. I know I'm fortunate, but one of the (few) perks of living in Indiana is that three miles away from my house is just such a place. I don't feel bad about eating beef from them, because I actually know the name of the farmer who bred my beef, and I know it's guaranteed to be grass-fed organic.
ETA: That said, I don't eat a lot of beef from them, either, because you do pay for that guarantee!
Same here in semi-rural Virginia, Stephanie. We have purchased 1/4 cow from our local farmers who render, cut, and deliver to our door. It lasts a long time in the freezer. There is also a town close by that has a meat processor who sells individual cuts of meat. Thanks for sharing your experience.
There are more of those around than people think, and many of them sell through the few remaining local grocers around. When I worked in Indiana, we blind tasted our local purveyor's beef against a national brand of American Wagyu and the Indiana beef won.
It isn't beef, but how it is raised. Industrial beef rearing including CAFO's are indeed terrible for the environment, for carbon emissions and for human health.
Grazing animals co-evolved with grasslands. Grasslands that are grazed and healthy have vast carbon stores. If you can find responsibly raised 100% grass-fed beef, it has a climate impact that is positive in terms of carbon storage as well as grassland regeneration.
Here is a start on coming closer to understanding this. We must stop raising animals in industrial farms, That is the problem, not the animals themselves.
Thanks so much, Jessica. We've had a compost heap for over 30 yrs and I was amazed at first that there was no smell (as long as you don't put proteins in it.) We've also been recycling for longer than that. But having the information you shared about paper products is awesome! I could never have pulled that together on my own. Arming people with the knowledge and resources as you have will encourage many more people to participate. I'm sending the "issue with tissue" to my family. Who knows, hopefully they'll get the bug too.
Jun 10, 2023·edited Aug 12, 2023Liked by Jessica Craven
Become aware of the suffering of intelligent, loving animals subjected to factory farming: cows, pigs and chickens. It's easy to give up meat when you think about this. Do the research. Look at Instagram posts of interactions between these animals and other species, including ourselves. They absolutely have physical and emotional feelings that humans conveniently ignore when these animals have become wrapped up cuts of meat at the store. We can do better.
Senator Cory Booker, a vegan, is working on bills to change these horrifying conditions. We don't have the right to exploit these beings who share the planet with us.
This. There are people, even on this thread, defending meat consumption if it’s done “the right way.” The life and dignity of animals is just not a concern to some environmentally minded people and that makes me profoundly sad.
Yes, profoundly sad indeed. People don't want to think about it and the sellers don't want you to either. I'm surprised and disappointed by the paucity of responses to my comments. I don't miss eating meat at all. I do eat fish, but only wild. It's the factory farming that is most cruel, as well as harmful to the environment.
We can never have enough of a good thing, Jess! Let's make these resources and ideas easily available to everyone! We can all share on our other social media accounts to reach more people. Also, check out Citizens Climate Lobby!
A friend & I did extensive research. Most of the people with whom we came into contact were not informed at all as to what was in their product. Polyvinyl alcohol IS a micro plastic. It is the thing that adheres the soap to the paper. So far, all of companies that produce laundry sheets use it!😩 Some of them say that it’s not plastic!! Haha
Downloaded the Climate Action Now app, and created subscriptions for Who Gives a Crap and Dropps (and cancelled my Amazon subscriptions for those products!). We're a big household, so it's a good stress test for the cleaning products! I'll keep you updated. Thanks for the push in the right direction!
I will forward this to everyone I can! My wife and I are 80 and 78, respectively. We do just about everything recommended here and have been activating for actions by citizens, big business and politicicans to wake up since at least 2006, thanks to Al Gore's efforts to wake up the world. I love being WOKE up.
Who cares about climate change? The answer is: almost nobody. Very few people are willing (or open-minded enough) to adopt the greatest opportunity to sequester carbon. Animal farming is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases and has the largest impact on reducing carbon sequestration. If everyone would stop supporting animal farming today, nothing else is needed to REVERSE climate change. It's all about carbon sequestration. Glen Merzer’s book, FOOD IS CLIMATE (https://www.glenmerzer.com/), makes this very clear (Watch his interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckMvxXF20FI.)
That's right. #3 on your list far outweighs all the other ideas combined. (Really. Read the book.)
We have solar panels, 2 EVs, we recycle and compost. We have no lawn. But all that just SLOWS DOWN climate change. It doesn't reverse it.
If you don’t want to give up the taste of meat, eating plant-based meat alternatives is a significant step. Even if it doesn’t taste exactly the same, it’s the ONLY way to do your part to save the planet.
A friend introduced me to some chicken cutlets made by Gardein a few days ago. He was frying them up on the tailgate of his truck at our local park. I could not tell either by texture or taste that they were not chicken! He told me about another product called Beyond Beef that he says is also very good.
I’m going to try them on the next store run. I’m also going to try them on my dogs. They are already eating V-Dog for their kibble and like it. Next step is a meat substitute. For them and for me. I’m almost there.
For your Substack readers regarding dog food: I fed my dogs two of Jiminy’s (sustainable and humane) kibble. One was called Good Grub, the other is Craven Cricket. Both my dogs like the Good Grub and neither of them likes the Cravin’ Cricket.
There are many brands of these alternative products. I've been to Wal-mart, Target, and Publix. They each have a separate section in the frozen foods area called Plant-based. Try some of them and find the ones you like the best.
Then tell your friends. Let's all do our part to save the planet.
This is right up your alley - completely unrelated to your post but a source of joy. Hot off the press from Scientific American.
Find The Mine
Researchers are developing a drone-based machine-learning technology to make identifying land mines safer and faster than with traditional methods. A drone flies over an area thought to be mined, collecting a large volume of images. An algorithm, trained on the visual characteristics of 70 types of land mines, cluster munitions, and other unexploded ordnance, processes the images into a map, with resolution down to a fraction of an inch. The model can then recognize and map explosives more quickly and accurately than a human reviewing the same images. The system has a reported detection rate of about 90 percent.
Why this matters: Land mine detection technology has not advanced much since World War II. The majority of demining is done by hand, with human deminers scouring contaminated ground inch by inch with handheld metal detectors. The researchers hope their tech might speed up the process in places like Ukraine; by some estimates the country has about 67,000 square miles that could harbor mines and other explosives.
What the experts say: With the new system, “you can scan wide areas of land and try to figure out where the highest density of contamination is,” before sending in humans to defuse the mines, says Jasper Baur, a Ph.D. student in volcanology and remote sensing at Columbia University who is co-developing the new technique with colleagues.
You are amazing, Jessica! After yesterday’s posting was included in Robert Hubbells substack, I copied it and sent it to my physical therapist who spoke of feeling hopeless. I just forwarded today’s post from you which is much easier to read and has direct links to the organizations. You rock and a loving bow 🙇🏽♀️!
I’m so glad! Silly me I should have done it that way from the get go.
Agree, Martha!
This is all great. One thing I often don't see mentioned when the "stop eating beef" conversation comes up... Suggest a local, sustainable, organic meat processor. I know I'm fortunate, but one of the (few) perks of living in Indiana is that three miles away from my house is just such a place. I don't feel bad about eating beef from them, because I actually know the name of the farmer who bred my beef, and I know it's guaranteed to be grass-fed organic.
ETA: That said, I don't eat a lot of beef from them, either, because you do pay for that guarantee!
Same here in semi-rural Virginia, Stephanie. We have purchased 1/4 cow from our local farmers who render, cut, and deliver to our door. It lasts a long time in the freezer. There is also a town close by that has a meat processor who sells individual cuts of meat. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I do think this is the way to go if you’re going to eat beef. Thanks, all!
There are more of those around than people think, and many of them sell through the few remaining local grocers around. When I worked in Indiana, we blind tasted our local purveyor's beef against a national brand of American Wagyu and the Indiana beef won.
Yeah I can add that in. But I do think for most people that’s not an option, whether for availability reasons, or financial ones.
Yes, for sure, it's not an option for a lot of people because of that!
It isn't beef, but how it is raised. Industrial beef rearing including CAFO's are indeed terrible for the environment, for carbon emissions and for human health.
Grazing animals co-evolved with grasslands. Grasslands that are grazed and healthy have vast carbon stores. If you can find responsibly raised 100% grass-fed beef, it has a climate impact that is positive in terms of carbon storage as well as grassland regeneration.
Here is a start on coming closer to understanding this. We must stop raising animals in industrial farms, That is the problem, not the animals themselves.
https://daveasprey.com/environmental-impact-grass-fed-meat/#:~:text=When%20animals%20have%20room%20to,nutrient%2Ddense%20than%20industrial%20meat.
Climate Action Now app is simple and direct. Tell your friends. It’s the least they can do after ignoring this crisis!
I agree. It’s a no-brainer.
Thanks so much, Jessica. We've had a compost heap for over 30 yrs and I was amazed at first that there was no smell (as long as you don't put proteins in it.) We've also been recycling for longer than that. But having the information you shared about paper products is awesome! I could never have pulled that together on my own. Arming people with the knowledge and resources as you have will encourage many more people to participate. I'm sending the "issue with tissue" to my family. Who knows, hopefully they'll get the bug too.
Jessica Craven, the coolest gal in town!
❤️
Nifty. Add fascist flames, destroying democracy. Add water, which will be more valuable than gold, soon.
Become aware of the suffering of intelligent, loving animals subjected to factory farming: cows, pigs and chickens. It's easy to give up meat when you think about this. Do the research. Look at Instagram posts of interactions between these animals and other species, including ourselves. They absolutely have physical and emotional feelings that humans conveniently ignore when these animals have become wrapped up cuts of meat at the store. We can do better.
Senator Cory Booker, a vegan, is working on bills to change these horrifying conditions. We don't have the right to exploit these beings who share the planet with us.
This. There are people, even on this thread, defending meat consumption if it’s done “the right way.” The life and dignity of animals is just not a concern to some environmentally minded people and that makes me profoundly sad.
Yes, profoundly sad indeed. People don't want to think about it and the sellers don't want you to either. I'm surprised and disappointed by the paucity of responses to my comments. I don't miss eating meat at all. I do eat fish, but only wild. It's the factory farming that is most cruel, as well as harmful to the environment.
All so true and so sad….🙏 I am a vegan now. Glad to hear of Cory Booker’s bills! Shall contact his office.
We can never have enough of a good thing, Jess! Let's make these resources and ideas easily available to everyone! We can all share on our other social media accounts to reach more people. Also, check out Citizens Climate Lobby!
Yes! They are great, although their big legislative goal gets mixed reviews from climate people so I’m never sure whether to advocate for them.
A friend & I did extensive research. Most of the people with whom we came into contact were not informed at all as to what was in their product. Polyvinyl alcohol IS a micro plastic. It is the thing that adheres the soap to the paper. So far, all of companies that produce laundry sheets use it!😩 Some of them say that it’s not plastic!! Haha
Ack booooo!
Downloaded the Climate Action Now app, and created subscriptions for Who Gives a Crap and Dropps (and cancelled my Amazon subscriptions for those products!). We're a big household, so it's a good stress test for the cleaning products! I'll keep you updated. Thanks for the push in the right direction!
You won't look back! They're all great! Thank you!
I hung up a clothesline a month ago, and I couldn't be happier. And we're changing TP! Gaaa! Virgin forests?!?
I know, right? Proctor and Gamble are the worst offenders!
I use toilet paper made from bamboo.
This is great. 🙏
I will forward this to everyone I can! My wife and I are 80 and 78, respectively. We do just about everything recommended here and have been activating for actions by citizens, big business and politicicans to wake up since at least 2006, thanks to Al Gore's efforts to wake up the world. I love being WOKE up.
Who cares about climate change? The answer is: almost nobody. Very few people are willing (or open-minded enough) to adopt the greatest opportunity to sequester carbon. Animal farming is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases and has the largest impact on reducing carbon sequestration. If everyone would stop supporting animal farming today, nothing else is needed to REVERSE climate change. It's all about carbon sequestration. Glen Merzer’s book, FOOD IS CLIMATE (https://www.glenmerzer.com/), makes this very clear (Watch his interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckMvxXF20FI.)
That's right. #3 on your list far outweighs all the other ideas combined. (Really. Read the book.)
We have solar panels, 2 EVs, we recycle and compost. We have no lawn. But all that just SLOWS DOWN climate change. It doesn't reverse it.
If you don’t want to give up the taste of meat, eating plant-based meat alternatives is a significant step. Even if it doesn’t taste exactly the same, it’s the ONLY way to do your part to save the planet.
A friend introduced me to some chicken cutlets made by Gardein a few days ago. He was frying them up on the tailgate of his truck at our local park. I could not tell either by texture or taste that they were not chicken! He told me about another product called Beyond Beef that he says is also very good.
Beyond beef is yummy. So are impossible burgers.
I’m going to try them on the next store run. I’m also going to try them on my dogs. They are already eating V-Dog for their kibble and like it. Next step is a meat substitute. For them and for me. I’m almost there.
If you can afford it cricket food is supposed to be the most sustainable for dogs.
For your Substack readers regarding dog food: I fed my dogs two of Jiminy’s (sustainable and humane) kibble. One was called Good Grub, the other is Craven Cricket. Both my dogs like the Good Grub and neither of them likes the Cravin’ Cricket.
This is good to know! Is it more expensive than regular dog food? I'd imagine so.
GLAD TO KNOW. Thanks so much. I’m going to get some immediately.
There are many brands of these alternative products. I've been to Wal-mart, Target, and Publix. They each have a separate section in the frozen foods area called Plant-based. Try some of them and find the ones you like the best.
Then tell your friends. Let's all do our part to save the planet.
100%!
Sharing this in Substack format was a brilliant idea. It's easier to read and access. I've added it to my Facebook page.
I’m so glad. Yeah Notions is a bit unwieldy to share. Glad this format worked for you!
This is right up your alley - completely unrelated to your post but a source of joy. Hot off the press from Scientific American.
Find The Mine
Researchers are developing a drone-based machine-learning technology to make identifying land mines safer and faster than with traditional methods. A drone flies over an area thought to be mined, collecting a large volume of images. An algorithm, trained on the visual characteristics of 70 types of land mines, cluster munitions, and other unexploded ordnance, processes the images into a map, with resolution down to a fraction of an inch. The model can then recognize and map explosives more quickly and accurately than a human reviewing the same images. The system has a reported detection rate of about 90 percent.
Why this matters: Land mine detection technology has not advanced much since World War II. The majority of demining is done by hand, with human deminers scouring contaminated ground inch by inch with handheld metal detectors. The researchers hope their tech might speed up the process in places like Ukraine; by some estimates the country has about 67,000 square miles that could harbor mines and other explosives.
What the experts say: With the new system, “you can scan wide areas of land and try to figure out where the highest density of contamination is,” before sending in humans to defuse the mines, says Jasper Baur, a Ph.D. student in volcanology and remote sensing at Columbia University who is co-developing the new technique with colleagues.