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10 Reasons We (and the Earth) Are Thankful This Thanksgiving
When you sit down to give thanks for family and friends (not to mention that delicious, organic farm-fresh meal on the table), think about why the planet should be grateful this year. Here are ten reasons to consider.
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1. We Reused (and Recycled) More Than Ever
Like so many eco-fashionable Americans, we actually backed up our good intentions (while looking stylish at the same time) by using all those cloth grocery bags we bought in 2008. From Westport, CT, to San Francisco, many cities banned disposable plastic bags, and New York's own Mayor Bloomberg recently proposed taxing city dwellers 6-cents per plastic bag. Paper recycling also reached a record high at about 360 pounds of paper for each American, and some cities are attempting to limit unnecessary bottled water use. What's next? Here's looking at getting rid of that throw-away Tupperware so many Americans keep around for leftovers.
2. Washington Got a Wake-up Call
Getty Images - Scott Olson
President-Elect Obama, a friend of the environment.
The environment often takes a backseat to other concerns during elections, but 2008 pushed global warming and alternative energy to the forefront of political chatter. Though both candidates supported offshore drilling, Obama opposes drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Considering campaign promises, the environment, in theory, fared well this election. Earlier, the League of Conservation Voters named its 12 most eco-unfriendly lawmakers. Voters ousted 7 of these "Dirty Dozen" from their jobs (another Alaskan, Senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens, may make 8). Perhaps the others could find work from the 5 million green jobs Obama hopes to create through renewable energy programs.
3. Pass the Turkey, Hold the Flu
Since its first outbreak in China in 1997, 'bird flu' (avian influenza H5N1) has appeared throughout Asia and in parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, killing 245 people and 300 million birds. So far, increased surveillance of the health of domestic and wild birds—and luck of the biological draw—has kept this flu from entering North America. Still, the U.S. Geological Service announced recently that waterfowl in Alaska harbored viral genes closely related to Asian influenza, reigniting worries of the virus spreading through migratory birds. Thankfully for all the world's citizens, the strain has not mutated into one that can pass from human to human. Should this occur (as in the 1916 flu epidemic), the disease could infect and kill millions of people.
4. This Land Is Our Land…But Once, It Was Theirs
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This timber forest will benefit from conservation initiatives.
Reminiscent of the sense of community the pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe reportedly experienced on Thanksgiving 1621, Ontario has given First Nation groups more say over how the mining and logging industries use their traditional territories. This is part of The Far North Planning Process, the largest conservation initiative ever in North America. The Canadian province promised to protect 87,000 square miles of boreal forest, half of which will be dedicated to traditional aboriginal activities and eco-tourism. Government, environmental, aboriginal and industrial representatives will work together to determine land-use plans. Meanwhile, the homes of woodland caribou, wolverines, loons and freshwater fish remain intact.
