While were at it, check out this little gem from Fairbanks AK. Frozen Gore
Showing posts with label Global Warming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global Warming. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
West Coast Salmon run all but gone...
Being tied closely to the ocean, I see macro and micro changes in our eco system all the time. Both good and bad.
Fortunately here in North County San Diego the kelp beds have made a comeback! They were all but gone a few years ago and then an agressive kelp reforestation program brought it back. Not only does the kelp offer a home to many species of oceanic life but it also creates some nice glassy surfing conditions inside the kelp when the wind is blowing on the outside.
What does kelp in North County San Diego and Salmon have to do with each other. Well, much like the kelp forests a few years ago the west coast salmon have now all but disappeared. As recently as 2002, 750,000 adult salmon were counted in the run up the Sacramento river. It is estimated that less than 90,000 Chinook ran last fall and that number is projected to plummet to as little as 58,000 this fall. Less than 10% of the salmon that ran in 2002 an over 90% decrease!!
While certainly I feel that some of this can be attributed to climate change and perhaps cyclical nature, there is no doubt in my mind that most of the decline in the west coast salmon run is attributed to man. More runoff / pollution / sediment build up in the Sacramento river basin from increased building, farming, and pretty much people not caring about our impact on our eco system.
There are solutions to these problems, I always talk about the easy ones such as recycling. It's not that hard to put your plastics, papers, bottles and cans in a separate container for the garbage man to pick up. Remember the North pacific gyre and the blob of plastic the size of Texas floating in the ocean...?
Eating organic foods that don't use synthetic pesticides which runoff into the river and oceans creating algae / plankton blooms and sucking the oxygen out of the water.
Conserving energy and turning off lights or electronics when you are not in the room.
When are we as an entire society going to start seeing the impacts firsthand and change the way we live to help mother earth heal from all this damage? It appears that we are willing to pay $4 for a gallon of gas and looks like we will be paying $30+ for a pound of wild Salmon in the near future. At some point society has to take a stands and say enough is enough look at what we are doing to our environment. I think that time is nearing.
Act locally and think globally. I know that's kind of a played out saying but it's true and we can each make a difference together if we take a stand and do what is right.
Fortunately here in North County San Diego the kelp beds have made a comeback! They were all but gone a few years ago and then an agressive kelp reforestation program brought it back. Not only does the kelp offer a home to many species of oceanic life but it also creates some nice glassy surfing conditions inside the kelp when the wind is blowing on the outside.
What does kelp in North County San Diego and Salmon have to do with each other. Well, much like the kelp forests a few years ago the west coast salmon have now all but disappeared. As recently as 2002, 750,000 adult salmon were counted in the run up the Sacramento river. It is estimated that less than 90,000 Chinook ran last fall and that number is projected to plummet to as little as 58,000 this fall. Less than 10% of the salmon that ran in 2002 an over 90% decrease!!
While certainly I feel that some of this can be attributed to climate change and perhaps cyclical nature, there is no doubt in my mind that most of the decline in the west coast salmon run is attributed to man. More runoff / pollution / sediment build up in the Sacramento river basin from increased building, farming, and pretty much people not caring about our impact on our eco system.
There are solutions to these problems, I always talk about the easy ones such as recycling. It's not that hard to put your plastics, papers, bottles and cans in a separate container for the garbage man to pick up. Remember the North pacific gyre and the blob of plastic the size of Texas floating in the ocean...?
Eating organic foods that don't use synthetic pesticides which runoff into the river and oceans creating algae / plankton blooms and sucking the oxygen out of the water.
Conserving energy and turning off lights or electronics when you are not in the room.
When are we as an entire society going to start seeing the impacts firsthand and change the way we live to help mother earth heal from all this damage? It appears that we are willing to pay $4 for a gallon of gas and looks like we will be paying $30+ for a pound of wild Salmon in the near future. At some point society has to take a stands and say enough is enough look at what we are doing to our environment. I think that time is nearing.
Act locally and think globally. I know that's kind of a played out saying but it's true and we can each make a difference together if we take a stand and do what is right.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Earth Hour 2008!
Join Maku furniture, hundreds of companies and millions of people in taking a stand against global warming and participate in Earth Hour 2008 this Saturday @ 8pm.
On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.
Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.
What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.
Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.
One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Top "5" Green Living Facts
Sorry for the lack of updates. As spring is quickly approaching Maku Furniture continues to gain more and more momentum in the marketplace and there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day, which is good of course...!
So while reading the Sunday paper yesterday morning while chilling on the Maku sectional in my backyard, I came across this little gem of info in the North County Times real estate section. The Article is titled "It's easy living green, eco friendly homes reduce carbon footprint"
The story goes on to talk about a new development called Del Sur in Black Mountain Ranch (as if San Diego needs more development..!). But the good news is this 1800 acre development will feature eco friendly building tactics such as Tankless water heaters, Solar Power, weather based irrigation systems. It's good to see that despite the rampant over development of what once used to be a Wonderfully small city by the beach is in some cases taking a green approach.
A big HIGH5 to the Black Mountain Ranch LLC development group for taking some initiative in green home building!
Now back to the original intention of this post. The top 5 "Green" Living facts as brought to you by the ever progressive North County Times.
So while reading the Sunday paper yesterday morning while chilling on the Maku sectional in my backyard, I came across this little gem of info in the North County Times real estate section. The Article is titled "It's easy living green, eco friendly homes reduce carbon footprint"
The story goes on to talk about a new development called Del Sur in Black Mountain Ranch (as if San Diego needs more development..!). But the good news is this 1800 acre development will feature eco friendly building tactics such as Tankless water heaters, Solar Power, weather based irrigation systems. It's good to see that despite the rampant over development of what once used to be a Wonderfully small city by the beach is in some cases taking a green approach.
A big HIGH5 to the Black Mountain Ranch LLC development group for taking some initiative in green home building!
Now back to the original intention of this post. The top 5 "Green" Living facts as brought to you by the ever progressive North County Times.
- The U.S. Residential sector is only 2nd to Chinese heavy industry in terms of INeffecient energy use ((McKinsey Global institute)
- If every home replaced the 5 most used bulbs in the house with efficient compact fluorescent bulbs over 1 trillion lbs of greenhouse gases would be kept out of the air over the course of the bulbs life. (of course it can be debated that the process for manufacturing fluorescent bulbs outweighs the benefits...)
- Green Building, design, and construction drastically eliminate the V.O.C. that we are all potentially exposed to over time.
- Landscape irrigation accounts for nearly 1/3 of all residential water use. If these were replaced with Weather based systems over 24 billion gallons of water annually could be saved according to the EPA.
- An average 2000 sq ft home generates an estimated 4 tons of construction waste. With a little planning and prep it is possible for 90% of that waste to be recycled! (Hello, Any home builders listening...?) Think of the financial savings...
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Mission Accomplished!
Last night about 11:15 pm the CCC voted overwhelmingly 8-2 against the 241 Toll road! There were some great comments during the hearing yesterday including the following from Ralph Faust, retired Coastal Commission counsel in response to the TCA's attempts to sway the vote by bribing ooops I mean "offering" 100 million dollars in subsidies to parks throughout California.
"I can't say this more clearly, offers of money can't buy compliance with the Coastal Act."
Although by the end of the night there were only a few hundred supporters remaining the excitement and energy from what the Surfrider foundation as well as all the thousands of supporters that attended earlier in the day will be felt for long time!
Congratulations all, job well done!!!
Here is some video of the final vote.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Do you feel lucky punk? Well do ya...?
Dirty Harry aka Clint Eastwood weighs in on Trestles. Check it.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Happy Holidays from Maku! (don't forget to recycle)
it is estimated that between Thanksgiving and the New Year an extra million tons of waste are generated nationwide each week. In fact, 38,000 miles of ribbon alone is thrown out each year--enough to tie a bow around the Earth!
As we all prepare form xmas day here are a few tips to lower your impact on the earth
As we all prepare form xmas day here are a few tips to lower your impact on the earth
- Use old newspaper to wrap gifts. Not only is it a unique look, you can recycle it!
- Switch over to rechargeable batteries for all those new toys. Here is some great info on rechargeable batteries. (from the state of CA no less!)
- According to the National Christmas Tree Association's website, "There are approximately 30-35 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year." The website also notes that real trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. Try and replant or better yet recycle your tree for mulch that reduces the need to water all the time, it's a double winner!
- If you are lucky enough to get a cool new 46" Plasma flat screen from Santa this year but aren't sure what to do with your old TV, PDA, IPOD, or computer check out these guys Erecycle.org
Monday, December 17, 2007
Trash Blob 2X's the size of Texas
So I talked about this trash blob in the December Newsletter to our awesome retail partners and to update everybody on what's new with Maku.
While eating breakfast this morning, I happened to flip past the "Fair and Balanced" news channel as they were doing a story on this issue which you can check out here. It's good to see the mainstream media starting to take notice to things like this!! And here is a report that the ever progressive (insert sarcasm here) CBS news did on this issue almost 4 years ago. You can also check out up to date info on this by clicking on Capitan Charles Moore's website The Algalita Foundation
Long story short, there is this blob of viscous trash floating in the North Pacific gyre where all the currents meet and the trash collects. It's twice the size of Texas and floating just beneath the surface. Made mostly of decaying plastics, it's pretty knarly. The thing is plastic does not Bio-degrade, it Photo Degrades meaning it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces yet never totally diminishes. Despite this area being a veritable oceanic desert the few Fish, sharks, birds, whales, and dolphins basically all parts of the food chain in this area of the North Pacific have been affected by this mess. Birds mistaking the small pieces of plastic as bait fish, bigger fish eating smaller fish, sharks eating bigger fish you get the picture and it's ugly! How long until this affects the dinner that end up on your table? Truth be told it probably already is...
The solution to keep this blob from growing is simple RECYCLE. The solution of how to clean up this blob is not so simple.
For more ideas on easy eco living check out our buddy Josh Dorfman's book "The Lazy Environmentalist" and his website Vivavi.com for some excellent sustainable products including Maku!
While eating breakfast this morning, I happened to flip past the "Fair and Balanced" news channel as they were doing a story on this issue which you can check out here. It's good to see the mainstream media starting to take notice to things like this!! And here is a report that the ever progressive (insert sarcasm here) CBS news did on this issue almost 4 years ago. You can also check out up to date info on this by clicking on Capitan Charles Moore's website The Algalita Foundation
Long story short, there is this blob of viscous trash floating in the North Pacific gyre where all the currents meet and the trash collects. It's twice the size of Texas and floating just beneath the surface. Made mostly of decaying plastics, it's pretty knarly. The thing is plastic does not Bio-degrade, it Photo Degrades meaning it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces yet never totally diminishes. Despite this area being a veritable oceanic desert the few Fish, sharks, birds, whales, and dolphins basically all parts of the food chain in this area of the North Pacific have been affected by this mess. Birds mistaking the small pieces of plastic as bait fish, bigger fish eating smaller fish, sharks eating bigger fish you get the picture and it's ugly! How long until this affects the dinner that end up on your table? Truth be told it probably already is...
The solution to keep this blob from growing is simple RECYCLE. The solution of how to clean up this blob is not so simple.
For more ideas on easy eco living check out our buddy Josh Dorfman's book "The Lazy Environmentalist" and his website Vivavi.com for some excellent sustainable products including Maku!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Politicians making it happen!
While I usually try and steer clear of politically charged issues and discussions, I can't help but congratulate the House of Representatives on passing a new energy bill (H.R. 6) that could have a significant positive impact on our environment - Of course this seems like a no brainer to me but then that's probably why I am not a politician... :)
- Raising fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- the first such increase in more than 30 years.
- Requiring 15 percent of our country's electricity to come from clean, renewable, homegrown sources such as the wind and solar by 2020.
- Will dramatically increase production of biofuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Now it's up to the Senate to pass the same bill and put it into law. To contact your local Senators and let them know this issue is important to you click here
- Raising fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- the first such increase in more than 30 years.
- Requiring 15 percent of our country's electricity to come from clean, renewable, homegrown sources such as the wind and solar by 2020.
- Will dramatically increase production of biofuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Now it's up to the Senate to pass the same bill and put it into law. To contact your local Senators and let them know this issue is important to you click here
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Early Xmas from Mother Nature!
The biggest swell of the year is currently making it's way down the coast from the Pacific NW and the waves are going to be macking in the morning! Yet another Big Wednesday here in So.Cal. The last time we had waves this size was Dec 21st, 2005. By the way, those "little specks" in that video are guys surfing....
I've got my 6'10" Rounded Pintail waxed up and ready to go but I might be undergunned on this swell. Anybody have a 7'6" gun they want to loan me...?
Here are some of the latest buoy and forecasts. For up to date info click here.
I've got my 6'10" Rounded Pintail waxed up and ready to go but I might be undergunned on this swell. Anybody have a 7'6" gun they want to loan me...?
Here are some of the latest buoy and forecasts. For up to date info click here.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Do something good for yourself and the environment this holiday season!
Check it out, our good friends at 1% for the Planet are having an online auction featuring all kinds of cool stuff from a Maku Limited Edition Lounge Chair to Surfing with Eco Warrior and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and a bitchen bike from one of my favorite breweries New Belgium and the home of Fat Tire!
You can take a look and bid on all the items here
Make somebody's xmas that more special by taking a vested interest in our environment!!!
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful...
What a day here in Carlsbad. Our little piece of paradise is amidst the worst wildfires we have ever seen... Yet at the same time the combination of 2 solid swells and the Santana Winds (more commonly referred to as Santa Ana winds) blowing off shore are making the waves the best we have had in years! Mother Nature sure is a fickle and torturous entity...
Not a lot of work getting done at Maku HQ today as we are currently under a voluntary evacuation and packing up valuables, etc. right now just in case the fires continue to move west towards the beach... My thoughts are with those that have lost their homes today and many thanks to the brave firefighters out there trying to control the beast...
Here are a few pics from today:
The Good -
My local Spot Going Off, Had a great 2 hour session this morning with only 8 guys out!
The Bad:
Early Morning Smoke moving in from the east
Looking East from the Beach
Looking South Down the PCH Mid Morning....
The Beautiful:
The Smoke made for some great lighting
Not a lot of work getting done at Maku HQ today as we are currently under a voluntary evacuation and packing up valuables, etc. right now just in case the fires continue to move west towards the beach... My thoughts are with those that have lost their homes today and many thanks to the brave firefighters out there trying to control the beast...
Here are a few pics from today:
The Good -
My local Spot Going Off, Had a great 2 hour session this morning with only 8 guys out!
The Bad:
Early Morning Smoke moving in from the east
Looking East from the Beach
Looking South Down the PCH Mid Morning....
The Beautiful:
The Smoke made for some great lighting
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Global Warming, hot or not?
At the risk of taking a minor political departure from the melding of passionate lifestyle enthusiasm and contemporary furniture I submit 2 articles for your review.
The First article is from NASA saying they have overstated the rate at which the earth is warming. Click Here
The Second article I found while perusing the BBC news website talking about the alarming rate in which Arctic Sea Ice is shrinking. Click Here
It's no secret that I have long been a fan of taking care of our environment. From growing up in the mountains and joining the Sierra Club at the age of 14 on through moving to the beach and being a longtime supporter of The Surfrider Foundation (and more recently 1%FTP) I have seen firsthand the effects we as humans can have on our environment and the blatant disregard that many people take towards their surroundings.
Mind you I am not an overzealous "eco-nazi" or anything but it's not that hard to do little things like recycle or turn off a light in an empty room. If you get a chance, grab a copy of "The Lazy Environmentalist" written by the ever passionate all around nice guy Josh Dorfman.
To see "Green Products" continue to infiltrate mainstream life and media is great and only good things can come from added awareness.
My take, we are seeing a pattern of global warming that modern society has never experienced. Has this pattern taken place in the past before meteorological records were kept or are we going down a path that Mother Earth has never seen, we will never know...?
But one thing is for sure - Each and every day people across this planet take a new interest in our environment and what they can do to make a difference and thats a good thing!
The First article is from NASA saying they have overstated the rate at which the earth is warming. Click Here
The Second article I found while perusing the BBC news website talking about the alarming rate in which Arctic Sea Ice is shrinking. Click Here
It's no secret that I have long been a fan of taking care of our environment. From growing up in the mountains and joining the Sierra Club at the age of 14 on through moving to the beach and being a longtime supporter of The Surfrider Foundation (and more recently 1%FTP) I have seen firsthand the effects we as humans can have on our environment and the blatant disregard that many people take towards their surroundings.
Mind you I am not an overzealous "eco-nazi" or anything but it's not that hard to do little things like recycle or turn off a light in an empty room. If you get a chance, grab a copy of "The Lazy Environmentalist" written by the ever passionate all around nice guy Josh Dorfman.
To see "Green Products" continue to infiltrate mainstream life and media is great and only good things can come from added awareness.
My take, we are seeing a pattern of global warming that modern society has never experienced. Has this pattern taken place in the past before meteorological records were kept or are we going down a path that Mother Earth has never seen, we will never know...?
But one thing is for sure - Each and every day people across this planet take a new interest in our environment and what they can do to make a difference and thats a good thing!
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