5.4 Earths...

We need 5.4 Earths to sustain us. What? Huh? What do you mean?

I mean, we need 5.4 Earths to sustain us. We are using 5.4 Earths resources to sustain us...hard to imagine right? Sounds weird right? We only have one earth right?? Oh yeah...that IS right. We DO only have one Earth. Have I mentioned that we need 5.4 Earths to sustain us? Are you getting it yet?

However, this year as of September 23rd we used all the resources that the Earth can produce this year. That means we are already using next years resources...and you think we aren't borrowing from our children?

From Green Blog...

Earth Overshoot Day Happens Earlier Every Year



As of September 23 we humans have used all the resources our earth can produce this year. That means we are borrowing resources from 2009 and that we are literally consuming our children’s resources.

And as each year passes Earth Overshoot Day happens earlier and earlier. Last year Earth Overshoot Day happened on October 6. Then we consumed 30% more natural resources than what the earth can reproduce under a whole year. Now in 2008 that number has increased with 10% as the Global Footprint Network expects us to use 140% of the Earths resources.

“Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources — like trees and fish — continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.”

Some countries contribute more to these numbers than others do. If everyone lived like a resident of the following countries we would need this many earths:

* United States 5.4 Earths
* Canada 4.2 Earths
* United Kingdom 3.1 Earths
* Germany 2.5 Earths
* Italy 2.2 Earths
* South Africa 1.4 Earths
* Argentina 1.2 Earths
* Costa Rica 1.1 Earths
* India 0.4 Earths

What do you think? How can we manage to overcome our increasing consumption rate and overpopulation? And how can one personally contribute to ending the Overshoot Day?

So what are those other countries doing? Or what are they NOT doing? What are YOU doing? Think about it.

Please.

Foreign Policy...

I've decided that since I grew up in Maine, and I went to Quebec w/ my French Class freshman year, and I was president of my freshman class and vice president of National Honor society and I lived near Bangor International Airport (do you know how many world leaders have been through the airspace over my head growing up?!) - I therefore have foreign policy experience. Period.



Does anyone think this is in our future at this point?



Hmmm...look it's the VP candidate for 2024!

For Kara - Picture of Bread from Bread Machine

 

Different breads come out differently - so I'd experiment with your recipe if you do not like how it comes out in your machine.

From left to right I have a Rye Bread, Parmesean Pepper Bread and Gluten Free Flax bread.

The Rye Bread and the Parm. Pepper bread were made in the same breadmaker and are actually the exact same 'size' loaf - 1.5 lbs. They were made in a breadmaker that has a sideways pan. Rye was made on Sunday and Parm. Pepper was made on Moday. Obviously they look VERY different and well, they should - they are different types of bread.

The GF bread was made in the breadmaker shown previously (a standup pan) - also made on Sunday (had dueling breadmakers going). It's an extremely heavy bread (you would be too if you had all those ingredients) and it was very very humid here after the whole hurricane storms we were getting...so it's kinda sad looking...hehe...tastes the same and well the kids don't care anyway.

Hope that helps Kara! If you need some recipes, let me know - as you can see I make non GF bread too! :)

Making Bread...

I have had a few people ask about the process of making bread here at the Mahoney's. For those who don't know...we are a Gluten Free Household (except hubby). With two young boys, bread is something we go through quickly...so I make my own. Store bought stuff tastes rather horrific and store bought mixes grow $$ fast (that means expensive, they don't grow money - unfortunately). So here is the process...



I use a breadmaker and have a container where I keep the majority of my bread supplies, so I can just pull it down when it's time to make it (I also keep the recipe in there).

Here are the cast of characters (yes there is a lot).


I mix the dry ingredients in a bowl first, then add it to the breadmaker after I have put in my wet ingredients. Since I've pulled out all those crazy ingredients anyway, I also do up two batches of dry ingredients only (no yeast) in zip locks so that in a few days I don't have to bring out all those ingredients again...this way I only have to pull out all the ingredients about once a week.

Here is the recipe:

Put wet ingredients in the breadmaker first:
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons corn oil
1 teaspoon vinegar

In separate bowl - the dry ingredients:
1/4 cup brown or white rice flour (I use brown)
1 cup tapioca flour (I buy it by the case from Amazon)
1 1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup flaxseed flour (or meal I use meal - keep it in the fridge to keep it fresh)
1/2 cup skim milk powder
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum (this stuff is pretty $$ but you don't use a lot and it's a necessity for most gluten free recipes so make the investment! You can't skip out on this!)



Add dry contents to wet and mix (I don't mix because my breadmaker does it for me). With your finger make a depression and add 2 1/2 teaspoons gf yeast. Set breadmaker on whole wheat, light crust and press go.



If you use your breadmaker every three days like I do, it will start to look like mine. It's okay...it's not dirty, it's just bread (and burnt remnants of crazy bread that took over the breadmaker once...we scratched that recipe)...Don't waste your time trying to get it to look like new again, it's not going to happen.

Be sure to drink copious amounts of coffee

Just an update...

I've only been doing this a few days...cloth diapering sucks. But not giving it up just yet, because I need to give it a few weeks to get the hang of it (and get more supplies...I've started making my own diapers actually and the one I made last night worked quiet well).

Not using the dishwasher is okay but there are times I'd rather just pop stuff in it than stand at the sink scrubbing.

There are items that have been invented by society to make things 'easier', but also to convince us that these things (household'chores') are an inconvenience, we can do better things with our time...like...watch TV for example and see all those commercials for those disposable items that have been invented by society to make things 'easier'. Do you see where I'm going with this? Whatever happened to the time that one took pride in the care of their home, feeding their family, etc, isn't that as important or even more important than the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the title of our job? Is it such a 'chore' to show that your home, your belongings you work so hard to obtain, the place where your children play, crawl, sleep - is it a chore to show that that is a place that is filled with love and deserves as much attention and MORE so actually, then television??

Just curious.

Holy crap I did it.

I bought cloth diapers. I had some anyhow, but bought those G diapers and stuck an old cloth one in it instead of the disposable ones they come with (yeah ten disposables and two covers for $25 eek) but I think the cover will work with cloth diapers, well we'll find out huh since boy is in bed for the night with one on...he was rather giddy about it...or about the fact that he was finally going to bed after his mom schlepped him all over the place tonight (not so good w/ the no driving thing but hey, I actually never said I wouldn't drive), I'm not really sure which. However he was quite happy.I feel kinda weird about it, like I'm breaking some sort of law/rule or something...how totally twisted is that?

So I want you to read this (forcing you since if you are reading my blog you have to, right?):

The No Impact Philosophy
None of the practical questions about no impact living would be relevant if my wife Michelle, my daughter Isabella, our dog Frankie and I intended to approach the challenge by becoming ascetics. Until now, we have been your typical convenience-addicted, New York City take-out slaves. Asceticism is not a realistic way forward, not for my family and not for the world.

Saving this planet depends on finding a middle path that is neither unconsciously consumerist nor self-consciously anti-materialist. The idea for No Impact Man is not to be anorexic but to be abundant, not to be eco-efficient but “eco-effective,” in the words of the environmental scientists William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

In their book Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart discuss the Menominee tribe of Wisconsin, who have harvested wood for sale from their forested land for many generations. In 1870, the Menominee inventoried 1.3 billion standing board feet of timber on their 235,000 acres. Since then, they have harvested nearly twice that amount—2.25 billion board feet. Considering the “clear-cutting” methods of the corporate lumber merchants you hear about, which completely strips land of its trees, you’d expect that the Menominee would have barely a single tree left, not to mention any forest wildlife. In fact, they have 1.7 billion board feet left, more than they had in 1870, and a thriving forest ecosystem.

That’s because the Menominee tend to cut only the weaker trees, leaving behind the strong mother trees and enough of the upper canopy for the arboreal animals to continue to inhabit. They have figured out what the forest can productively offer them instead of considering only what they want to take from it.

This is largely how every other species on earth lives—in harmony with the environment. Lions neither starve themselves nor gorge to the point of wiping out the gazelle population. Instead, they promote the health of the gazelle herd by culling its weaker members and preventing herd overgrowth which in turn prevents overgrazing of the savannah. Animal waste does not poison the ground but fertilizes the soil so that it can produce more vegetation for the animals to eat. Bees feed on the pollen of flowers but far from damaging them they provide the crucial service of pollinating them.

This is what I mean by “eco-effective.” The philosophy is based not only on restricting consumption but on changing what is consumed so that it actually helps or at least does not hinder the world. If bees had the idea that they wanted to save the planet, they would not go on crash diets and start eating less pollen. They would continue to live their lives abundantly, because their lives are already eco-effective.

That is the philosophy Michelle and I hope to realize during our no impact experiment. The emphasis will ultimately not be on tightening our belts so that our consumption does not poison the earth—although there will certainly be an element of that—but on trying to change our consumption patterns so that our abundance helps or at least does not harm the planet in the first place. We will, like the Menominee, figure out what our world can productively offer us rather than considering only what we want.

My new hero...that was taken from No Impact Man

See, you want to go buy cloth diapers now too don't you? Even if you are a little frightened....

Oh and don't tell my hubby, he was totally a No on the whole cloth diaper thing...hmmm guess someone has a surprise in store...

Oh and another 'oh'...um yeah, I'm grounded for buying the cloth diapers new (12 diapers and two covers) but shoot me. I'll get some more covers second hand...it's not that gross...you think those from a diaper service are all new? No. Thank you very much.

The Mahoney's are turning GREEN

I have been trying to be earth conscious for some time now...recycling, changing the lightbulbs, no papertowels, etc...but now I'm pretty sure I may drive us all crazy. But, we'll see. It's worth a shot and I'm happy to try anything once to see if it's doable, even if we have to alter our 'convenient' ways...just to make this world a better place for my boys, and their children in return.

Yesterday I put myself and hubby on the Opt Out list and took our name off lists for distributions of Catalogues...so hopefully within a few months our junk mail accumulation will be far less...We get so much! No joke! And most goes into the trash (shred first) or burned because our recycling doesn't take paper...crazy right? So, I'm working on making a shift and figuring out where I can take our paper because we accumulate a lot of it.

I'm challenging myself to not use the dishwasher for a week. GASP!

I will not buy anything new, only second hand as far as clothes, toys, etc. go (except for underwear and socks...blech).

AND I'm even going to give cloth diapers a whirl...yup! Just have to work on how to get them, where to get them, what I need, etc.

Oh and we've started switching off surge protectors...what doest that take an extra five seconds? So as of right now the downstairs is all off, the playroom is off and the living room...sweet right? Because, here's another new thing...NO MORE TV (during the day to start, I'm not sure I can give it up Cold Turkey)but typically I used to have it on for background noise, one on in the playroom, one on in the living room and sometimes...one on in the bedroom...ALL AT THE SAME TIME! I know, horrible!

So...here you go...here's a new fun thing to watch and snicker at...I may just drive us all crazy...but hey, saving the Earth is a Team Sport ya know?