Pressing for a Global Response to Climate Change

A recent article in Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/id/208164 had me thinking of the slippery slope of climate change and where we can go from here.

The problem with global warming is that it starts slowly, melting a little more ice over the arctic each year, but the rate of warming actually increases exponentially as the ice melts, melting more and more of it each year. Ice melt is just one example of why climate change is speeding up. The ice reflects much of the heat back out of our atmosphere. The less ice there is the less heat is reflected and the faster the ice melts. The Newsweek article above explains other ways that warming is speeding up.

The longer we wait to take action and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions substantially the more quickly and urgently we will need to act in the future. At GoGreenMug.com we have already discussed numerous ways in which you can make a difference personally. You know that we sell personalized travel mugs at http://www.gogreenmug.com/ so that you never have to waste another paper or polystyrene cup at a coffee shop or in the office again. We also follow many of the other ideas that we have posted previously.

Unfortunately though changes are required on an even bigger scale. We may be able to personally reduce our emissions and waste but without a global consensus from governments, our personal commitments will not be enough to reverse the effects of global warming.

We have already seen President Obama and congress pass an environmental bill, but we all need to keep pressing to ensure steps are taken on a national and global level to reduce the effects of climate change. Here are a few suggestions of where to start.

1. Send letters or emails to your senators or congressman or elected officials wherever you live. Let them know that this problem is one of your major concerns and as your representative you would like them to press for quick and substantial global efforts to reduce global warming.
2. If you are not sure what to write in a letter, then go to online action networks such as the one run by Surfrider Foundation http://actionnetwork.org/surfrider/home.html . All you will need to do is sign up and then use the action network to submit letters that have been specially drafted for specific causes.
3. Support environmental groups on Facebook and Myspace by signing on to their causes. Large action groups can help to effect large changes.
4. Continue to make the small changes you have already committed to, such as driving less, always using a reusable mug and helping at beach clean-ups.
5. Share this information with your friends and family and get them to do the same too.

Every little bit counts, but remember we are under a time constraint, so whatever you decide to do, do it today.

The Algae Environmental Solution

Biofuels were once welcomed as the solution to using fossil fuels such as oil and coal. However it was quickly discovered that the energy cost to grow the corn and soybean used to make the bio fuels is not environmentally or economically sustainable and may in fact increase the amount of carbon dioxide emissions (in growing them).

Producing these crops (soybean and corn) in large enough quantities to supply food demand as well as bio fuels is a real concern. These bio fuels have been blamed for increasing the price of food and also wasting arable land to produce the crop for bio fuels.

Recently though there has been a shift from these first types of bio fuels to new advanced bio fuels that show some great promise. Exxon Mobil has teamed up with a bio tech research company to produce an algae based bio fuel. Algae has been welcomed as an excellent alternative to crop based bio fuels. It only requires water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. It can be grown in large tanks and can double its size through photosynthesis, in about a day.

This sounds like the perfect bio fuel, and while we are excited to learn about Exxon Mobil's investment in cleaner fuels, we also remain weary that this algae based bio fuel will be a viable environmentally friendly fuel alternative. A crop that doubles daily and does not require the burning of fossil fuels to grow, will be a great boost to alternative fuels.

We like to keep things positive at GoGreenMug.com and so we will also believe that Exxon Mobil is investing in this technology because they understand the importance of reducing waste and finding a sustainable fuel source.

All this investment and reports of new technology and environmentally sustainable fuels suggests that we are on the right track to solving our environmental crisis. As investment grows so will the speed at which new discoveries are made. We look forward to reading about more of them and we will let you know if we find any of them interesting.

Respect the Beach

International Surfing Day was held 20th June around the world. We took part by volunteering with Surfrider Foundation at their booth and with a beach clean up at Huntington Beach.

Unfortunately the surf and weather was not the best at Huntington Beach for the festivities. Rain and wind forced us to spend more time under the tent, but we were there to have fun and respect our regular beach and that's just what we did. We hope you too were able to enjoy the beach or the ocean and that you did something to keep that beach clean and a place we will all enjoy visiting.

Here are a few pics from our day out.

Dennis in his International Surfing Day T-Shirt manning the Surfrider Newport Beach Desk.

If you were a surfer there were numerous boards available to test ride, although the conditions probably didn't allow surfers to really push their limits.

Tiki carving, live music, free mini burritos and energy drinks were all part of the action on the beach.

Remember that you can still pick up a personalized Go Green Travel Mug from http://www.gogreenmug.com/ for only $14.99. So visit the site today.

Have a great week and reduce your waste.

Save California's State Parks!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to cut funding to 80% of California's State Parks. We live in Southern California and regularly enjoy the State Parks. We head to them to surf, camp out and go hiking. We plan numerous vacation trips around visiting these State parks and would hate to lose any of them.

California is in a budget crises, a big part of which is because of reduced sales tax revenue. People are buying less, as they try to save more and therefore the state is losing money from sales tax. Most of those people who used to spend their money at the shopping centers are most likely spending more time at the California State Parks. In a study published in 2008, the University of California-Berkeley found that for every $1 in public money spent on state parks, $2.35 is returned to the state in taxes from tourism and other revenue they generate.


It therefore seems to us, that California can only gain tax revenue by keeping the State Parks open and funded. With more Californians taking vacations at home this year and other US State residents also cutting back on their holiday travel, we suspect that the State Parks will be even more popular this year than ever before. Even without funding visitors will come to the parks anyway and enjoy the beaches or redwoods or hiking trails. They will park on the roads outside and walk in. However without funding these parks may need to reduce the number of rangers on duty and these rangers will have a wider area to patrol. This could lead to environmental damage such as fires, vandalism and erosion because of the difficulty the rangers will have in covering a park.

Of course we hope that we can all restrain ourselves from damaging property or causing environmental damage on purpose. But the rangers are there to guide all visitors to the park and are prepared to take the correct action to prevent or reduce problems when they arise.

There must be a better way for California to save money and solve their budget problems. Eliminating funding for the State Parks does not seem to be a good solution and may result in increased spending in the future. You can send a message to the governor and other state legislaters through the Surfrider Action Network at http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/caparks05_09 and tell them not to cut funding to our State Parks.

At http://www.gogreenmug.com/ we are having a huge sale in June. Visit our Go Green Mug website and personalize your travel mug for only $14.99 including shipping. Reduce your waste at coffee shops and keep the paper and polystyrene cups out of our landfills.

The Case for Raising the Fuel Efficiency of Cars

Last week President Obama announced an agreement between the White House, Environmentalists and the auto industry to increase the average fuel efficiency of passenger cars to 39 mpg. Unfortunately this cannot become the standard overnight or within the next year and the car manufacturers will have until 2016 to meet this standard. None the less it is a great achievement and proves that those of us who care about our environment now have a strong supporter in the White House.

There are always those who will find fault with a policy such as raising the fuel efficiency standards. One that particularly concerns us, suggests that consumers will prefer to buy gas guzzling cars as long as the price of fuel remains in the $2 to $3 range. Therefore although the car manufacturers will build fuel efficient hybrids and electric vehicles, the consumer will still want to buy large V8 SUVs.

We believe most people understand the need for increased fuel efficiency vehicles both for the environment and for economic, political and international stability and will buy more fuel efficient cars, when there is a large selection available. For those who do not buy into the reduce waste and save idea, the US government can always increase taxes on fuel (the US driver still pays less for gas than in most other developed nations) and pay off some of the US national debt.
Let's take a step back here though. The reason we want and need fuel efficient and zero emission cars is not only based on the price of gas at the pump. We all know that right now the Hybrid and Electric cars sell at a premium to their all gas counterparts and there are concerns that the car prices will skyrocket with the fuel efficiency standards. But we are already seeing that new hybrids are causing competition and reducing prices and we imagine that with more hybrids and electric vehicles on offer and increased competition from different car manufacturers the price of a fuel efficient vehicle will not be too different from those of a less efficient vehicle today.

At http://www.gogreenmug.com/ we are all about reducing waste. So what is important to us is that all cars will have better fuel efficiency by 2016 and competition will take care of the prices. Remember though that there are already many cars available that get more than the proposed 2016 standard of 39 mpg. So if you plan to buy a new car before then look out for those with the best Environmental Performance ratings (discussed in a previous post http://gogreenmug.blogspot.com/2009/03/buying-environmentally-clean-car.html), there is no need to wait.

Have a great week and reduce your waste.

Earth Day Events and Photos

Today we come to the end of 2 weeks of fun environmental activities that we took part in for Earth Day celebrations. We have put together an assortment of some of the photographs from the events we attended.

We hope you had the chance to do your bit in the last two weeks. Of course you know that these last two weeks should not be the end of your environmental activities. Please join us in the coming weeks for more activities. We will post them in advance on this blog. We will be celebrating earth and the environment every day, so please join us when you can or tell us about what you are doing and how we can join you.

Go Green Mug have decided to extend our Earth Day discount of 20% off, until the end of April. So if you do not use a travel mug at coffee shops to cut down on your paper and polystyrene cup waste, then go to http://www.gogreenmug.com and personalize a travel mug with names and quotes and anything else you want. Add a photograph too. Use the coupon code: svplntmg at checkout to get your 20% off.

OK, we promised some photographs, so here they are:

On Saturday 18 April, we had a fantastic day in Southern California and took to the beach in Huntington Beach for a bit of surfing and sun. Unfortunately we have no pics from the day, but we got to enjoy the ocean and even lend a hand in a beach cleanup.

On Sunday April 19 we were at the Earth Day Celebrations at the Rainbow Disposal Center (on Nichols St.) in Huntington Beach and at The Lab and The Camp (the anti-mall) in Costa Mesa (on Bristol). We had the chance to see some neat environmental products and enjoy bites from locally grown organic food stores. Below is a pic of some wall art at The Lab.

On Friday 24 April we helped at a beach clean up at Big Corona beach in Corona Del Mar. Once again finding lots of small plastic pieces, cigarette butts and polystyrene all over the beach.
Saturday 25 April we took to the trails in Laguna Canyon and enjoyed another great day in Southern California. The trails seemed to be busier than usual as many bikers and hikers celebrated Earth Day this weekend.

Finally on Sunday 26 April (today) we were at the Muth Interpretive Center in the Newport Beach back bay to enjoy an Earth Day celebration complete with tarantulas, large iguanas and birds of prey. Here is Dennis helping out at the Surfrider Foundation exhibit.

Have a great week and reduce your waste.

Carbon Credits - Is this really being "green"?

As businesses are being persuaded to go greener, one option available to some is to purchase carbon credits. By purchasing these credits, a business is not required to make significant changes to its processes in the immediate future, but rather, simply provides financial support either to businesses that exceed the government's environmental standards (and thus, have extra carbon credits they can sell), or to groups that promote conservation of the Earth's natural resources.

At first glance, it may seem that giving businesses the option to purchase credits is simply allowing them to put off ever making changes themselves. Should this option be considered a satisfactory way for them to meet the ever-increasing environmental requirements? The answer is - it's not too bad (at least for now). According to The Nature Conservatory, funding projects that prevent forest destruction is currently one of the most cost-effective ways to battle climate change. As discussed in one of our earlier blogs http://gogreenmug.blogspot.com/2009/02/deforestation-and-coffee-cups.html , deforestation accounts for a significant portion of the Earth's greenhouse gasses. And since the majority of deforestation occurs in other parts of the world, American businesses can get quite a "bang for their buck" when funding these preservation efforts.

So while businesses will ultimately need to make significant changes to their processes in order to have a neutral or positive effect on the planet, funding forest preservation and other environmental projects is a cost-effective way for them to handle the transition as cleaner technologies and processes are developed.

The Nature Conservatory is sponsoring conferences in Denver, Atlanta, and Nashville in the upcoming weeks, to discuss these options to businesses in more detail.

We welcome any comments; if you have any thoughts on this or any of our other topics, please feel free to post them or visit our site http://www.gogreenmug.com/ to see more about us and send a message. Thanks!

Earth Day Activities: Surf, Hike and Reduce Waste

April 22 is Earth Day. Earth Day was originally conceived to celebrate life on our planet and to encourage us to enjoy this life. The first Earth Day celebration was held back in 1970. Unfortunately since then we have not treated earth very well, as we have continued to waste and overuse the planets resources. In 2009 the day has taken on a much more important and urgent message. This message is for everyone on planet earth and hopefully will encourage us to do more to reduce our waste not just on April the 22nd but for the rest of our lives.

GoGreenMug.com will be involved with a number of activities celebrating Earth Day over the next 2 weeks. We are committing our time and resources to raise awareness, promote environmental causes and reduce waste. Here are some of the events that we will be taking part in over the next 2 weeks:

• We have signed petitions against offshore drilling and asking congress to take strong action to reduce global warming.
• April 18 from 8:00 AM until we are tired, we will be enjoying the beach and surf in Southern California. Exactly where will depend on conditions on the day. If you would like to join us send us an email at support@gogreenmug.com or leave a comment on this blog.
• April 19 from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM, we will be helping Surfrider Newport Beach at a beach clean up. The beach cleanup is held at the most southerly end of Huntington State Beach. There is also an Earth Day Celebration at the Rainbow Disposal Center (on Nichols St.) in Huntington Beach, where people can bring their e-waste, tour a Materials Recovery Facility, and view fuel-efficient vehicles and energy conservation displays.
• April 23 from 9:30 Am until 11:00 AM, we will be at another beach clean up once again organized by Surfrider Newport Beach. This time at the Newport Beach Bilboa Pier.
• April 25 in the afternoon, we will be hiking the canyons around Laguna Beach/ Crystal Cove in Southern California. Once again send us a message at support@gogreenmug.com if you would like to come along. Distance and exact location will be determine by participants.
• April 26, we will be at Newport Bay’s Earth Day 2009 - “Learning From Nature” celebration.
• From now until Earth Day April 22, visit http://www.gogreenmug.com and get yourself a personalized reusable travel mug for 20% off with coupon code: svplntmg

You probably realized that many of these events are in Southern California, but we know there are numerous events taking place all around the world. So please visit http://ww2.earthday.net/ to find out what activities are available in your area and get involved or simply get out and enjoy the planet - take a walk, swim or surf in the ocean, climb a mountain, but enjoy Earth and think about what you can do to reduce your waste.

Earth Day is about awareness and action and there are many events happening not just on the day itself but for the days before and after. However one day or even 2 weeks will not be enough to reduce CO2 emissions or our use of single use plastic containers or even to clean all our beaches. We need to remain aware throughout our lifetimes and reduce and reuse every day.