Blue Planet Journey

Reusable sign placed on parked bikes in Rock Creek Park, DC.  It looked like cyclists toss the signs to the ground.  They are picked up and used again! The main purpose of signs is to communicate, to send a message.  Here are some recent messages! This sign was at the entrance to one of the Smithsonian's museums.  No guns and knives, no pepper spray, and no pot!  I'm surprised that marijuana got a reference when tobacco did not.   Bison as carbon farmers?  That's a great way to thank them, turning them into expensive jerky. Sign posted in a Georgetown ice cream shop.  Watch for the rabid raccoon! Posters on the wall in the George Washington University Law School's Student Bar Association office. Expectations? Well, it's not a sign, but who doesn't like ice cream? Truth in advertising. Caroline with sign honoring her Auntie BB . Do Tahitians thank us for this import? French...

" Greenwashing " refers to the business practice of promoting, falsely, a positive environmental agenda.  It's a marketing scheme that hints at environmental sustainability and protection without environmental sustainability and protection actually happening. The focus is on capturing a greater market share of the people who want to protect the environment.  In greenwashing, any real environmental gains are minimal because, when you remove the fluff, the commitment is not there.   Selling merchandise on the Solstice to support WWF.  This happens once per cruise.  It is unclear how much money is raised, and where this money goes.  Participants, however, probably believe they are doing something positive for the environment.  I doubt it. Celebrity Cruises regularly promotes its  partnership with WWF, the World Wildlife Fund .  However, this partnership is difficult to see in action.  First, more than half of the crew tha...

Edward Abbey wrote that we live on a "little blue planet."  Both Carl Sagan and I would agree with that, but from a human perspective, there is a lot of space out there.  For example, right now my daughter and son-in-law (number 2 son) live 1833 miles from where I am in Utah.  My number 1 son lives in northern Peru, 3885 miles from me.    Later this week, I'll be in Honolulu, 3008 miles from Logan, and a week after that, I'll be in Sydney, Australia, 8044 miles from Logan (and terribly far from family). Our ability to roam the globe, quickly and efficiently, is both a function of technology and inexpensive energy.  I recognize the carbon footprint associated with my choices.  For example, one calculator estimated that my flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu (via Denver) would have a carbon footprint of 0.44 metric tons of  carbon dioxide equivalent. We've had solar panels since August, 2010, and our panels have produced enough energy to...