47 Comments
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Martha Dewing, NY's avatar

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 🙇🏽‍♀️!

Jess Craven's avatar

I’m so glad! Silly me I should have done it that way from the get go.

Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Agree, Martha!

Stephanie A. Cain's avatar

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!

Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

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.

Jess Craven's avatar

I do think this is the way to go if you’re going to eat beef. Thanks, all!

Dave Conant - MO's avatar

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.

Jess Craven's avatar

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.

Stephanie A. Cain's avatar

Yes, for sure, it's not an option for a lot of people because of that!

Mcnamara Buck's avatar

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.

Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Jessica Craven, the coolest gal in town!

S B  Lewis's avatar

Nifty. Add fascist flames, destroying democracy. Add water, which will be more valuable than gold, soon.

Mu's avatar

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.

Dee's avatar

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.

Mu's avatar

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.

Lee Mitchell's avatar

All so true and so sad….🙏 I am a vegan now. Glad to hear of Cory Booker’s bills! Shall contact his office.

Suzanne Carter's avatar

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!

Jess Craven's avatar

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.

Andrea's avatar

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

Jessica Melhado's avatar

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!

Jess Craven's avatar

You won't look back! They're all great! Thank you!

Diana Dyer's avatar

Jess I have appreciated that you turned me on to the Climate Action app sometime last year. Thank you.

Lyn Newton's avatar

I hung up a clothesline a month ago, and I couldn't be happier. And we're changing TP! Gaaa! Virgin forests?!?

Jess Craven's avatar

I know, right? Proctor and Gamble are the worst offenders!

Lee Mitchell's avatar

I use toilet paper made from bamboo.

Susan Troy's avatar

This is great. 🙏

Richard C Silvestri's avatar

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.

MICHAEL BARTH's avatar

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.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 12, 2023
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Jess Craven's avatar

Beyond beef is yummy. So are impossible burgers.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 13, 2023
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Jess Craven's avatar

If you can afford it cricket food is supposed to be the most sustainable for dogs.

User's avatar
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Aug 18, 2023
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Jess Craven's avatar

This is good to know! Is it more expensive than regular dog food? I'd imagine so.

MICHAEL BARTH's avatar

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.

Mim Eisenberg (NYer now in GA)'s avatar

Sharing this in Substack format was a brilliant idea. It's easier to read and access. I've added it to my Facebook page.

Jess Craven's avatar

I’m so glad. Yeah Notions is a bit unwieldy to share. Glad this format worked for you!

Pediatrics On The Front Line's avatar

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.

Andrea's avatar

Love your work! AND DROPPS laundry pods or strips are made with MICROPLASTICS!!!!!!! ALL PODS & STRIPS ARE THE SAME!!! Hope you read this! Blueland makes tablets that are just soap

Jess Craven's avatar

Ugh I just investigated and you're right!! NOOOOOO! They told me that it wasn't but I see that they were being deceptive. I will cancel my order with them. And take them off of this doc. Thank you.

Jess Craven's avatar

Where did you hear that? I asked Dropps and they denied it.

Judy Pratt's avatar

My suggestion:

LIVE IN A CONDO!! (The Best-Kept Climate Secret, unfortunately).

Start pushing the idea that BIG HOUSES (TO HUMAN INHABITANTS RATIO) ARE IMMORAL (for many reasons). No one ever says this. Never. Ever.

1. Someone lives above me, someone behind me and someone on each side; I'm well-insulated.

2. My condo faces north so I never get direct sunlight.

3. My windows are triple-pane.

4. Square footage is low (but I absolutely have everything I need.)

5. I live in Phoenix, AZ and my energy bill for January, the coldest month was:

Recipient: APS - ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE

Account: xxxxx41000

Amount: $62.18

Deliver By Date: 01/24/2023

And for July, the hottest month:

This bill has been scheduled to be paid automatically on August 21, 2023.

eBill

Account Number: ******1000

Due Date: 08/22/2023

Amount Due: $ 80.46