No giggles here....

[Miss Shark]

The dreaded plastic bag. Amazing, okay well maybe not, how many countries are way ahead of us on this one.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

[Mr. Cleanface]

Damn.

For the record, Mrs. Cleanface and I use the reuseable cloth bags they sell at Kroger for our shopping. They are only like $1 a piece and cut way back on our plastic bag use.

This was your Mr. C Treehugger moment of the day.

:D

[maestro]

Go the cloth bag! quite a few stores in australia are now charging for plastic bags and some don't even supply them anymore, but unfortunately there are no laws in place just yet.

Peace and love from downunder.

[sauce.baby]

I use the giant bags from Costco. They're FHUGE and hold up to 70lbs. I can fit 10days worth of food for our family of 4 into one of the bags [it's heavy to carry, but I can do it lol]
A lot of the grocery stores around here are giving discounts for bringing in your own bags to use [usually only 6-12 cents, but better than nothing I guess?]

[jtq_99]

yes, get you some cloth bags and take them with you to the store. And, leave the car keys at home for a change and ride your bike!

[Miss Shark]

Don't mind me, it's been a stormy afternoon here. This is a great site!

http://earth911.org/

Earth 911 delivers actionable local information on recycling and product stewardship that empowers consumers to act locally, live responsibly and contribute to sustainability.

Both the Earth911.com site and 1-800-CLEANUP toll-free hotline are provided at no cost to the user or taxpayer. Earth 911 centralizes information and resources into a single user-friendly, neutral and non-governmental network.

[Miss Shark]

I bought one of these yesterdayhttp://www.onnotextiles.com/bamboo-clothing From their store here in town http://www.liveliberal.org/index.html

They make all of their own designs. Maybe I'll wear it today and take a pic. They have been getting some crap from the more conservative folks in town, particularly for some of their tee designs. Naturally I said well those re the shirts I want. The bamboo shirt really is as soft as they say, and it'll never shrink!

[Miss Shark]

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2008/2008-07-24-03.asp

"Big oil companies are pillaging Alberta's natural resources, robbing freshwater from the Athabasca River to make giant lakes of toxic sludge that are killing wildlife and poisoning local communities,"

After use, the water is so contaminated with toxic chemicals that it is stored in toxic tailings ponds so large that they can be seen from space.

Greenpeace says tar sands pollution also has been associated with embryonic deformity and death of fish in the Athabasca River.

The tar sands are taking their toll on the health of the area's human residents too, Greenpeace and indigenous leaders believe.

Elevated levels of rare cancers have been reported in the First Nation community of Fort Chipewyan, downstream of the tar sands production site. Elders in the community of some 1,200 people say residents fell ill after production started near their homes on the southwestern end of Lake Athabasca.

Tar sands production contributes to global warming, the activists believe. Greenpeace said today that greenhouse gases from the tar sands are roughly equal to the emissions of all the cars on the road in Canada.

Boreal forests, wetlands and wildlife are being wiped out by the tar sands, the campaigners warn. "An area the size of Vancouver Island has already been devastated for tar sands oil. If current runaway development is allowed to proceed unchecked, an area as big as the state of Florida could be destroyed," the group said today in a statement.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/11/fossilfuels.pollution

The tar sands industry could pump vast amounts of money into the local and national economies. Alberta is the fastest growing Canadian province, and more than 40,000 people have moved to the oilfields in the last five years.

Only 20 years ago Fort McMurray was a homely, tumbleweed-blown place with a population of 25,000 people. It is now at the epicentre of the rush and its newfound wealth is visible everywhere with its casino, upmarket bars and new hotels. It is expected to grow to a city of 250,000 people within 20 years.

"There are four-hour traffic jams and companies can't give away jobs. Kids out of school can earn $100,000 a year; people pay $400 a week to share a room; companies pay people $4,000 a month to lodge and $80,000 to just come here," said one estate agent in Fort McMurray. "There's money galore but the town can't cope."

The average price of a three-bedroom house, she says, is nearly $650,000 [£320,000] and rising.

"Sure, I am worried about the Alberta environment. We all are. Canada's image is all tied up with wilderness and clean living. Now we have to accept we depend on dirty industry. The oil sands are making us rethink who we are. But it's like no one can say no to oil," says John Davidson, a graduate mechanical engineer who moved to Fort McMurray to help build a new plant.

"But if you can pay your mortgage off in five years, then I have to say I can't resist either," he says.

Despicable I say.....

[sway2sway]

This is a shame on my country, a greedy blight.
These tar sands have sat for many years, not developed because the price of oil was low enough, that there was no profit in going to all the trouble required to extract it. But now with oil prices way up, it now makes enough of a profit, environment and people damned, to screw over the land.

It has been called the worst environmental disaster on the planet by some.

check this-

Environmental Defence has released a report calling the Alberta Oil Sands the most destructive project on Earth.

Few Canadians know that Canada is home to one of the world's largest dams and it is built to hold toxic waste from just one Tar Sands operation," Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence.

And according to the report this is just the beginning. Approvals have already been given that will double the size of existing operations and Canada's leaders have been talking with the US government to grow oil sands operations in a "short time span."

Even a former Premier of Alberta is concerned. Peter Lougheed who served as Premier from 1971 to 1985 was recently quoted on the oil sands as saying:

... it is just a moonscape. It is wrong in my judgment, a major wrong... So it is a major, major federal and provincial issue."

However, there is a silver lining in all this. A recent Canadian parliamentary committee recently stated that:

A business as usual approach to the development of the oil sands is not sustainable. The time has come to begin the transition to a clean energy future."

Here's a few facts about the Alberta Oil Sands:

- Oil sands mining is licensed to use twice the amount of fresh water that the entire city of Calgary uses in a year.

- At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing in them.

- Processing the oil sands uses enough natural gas in a day to heat 3 million homes in Canada.

- The toxic tailing ponds are considered one of the largest human-made structures in the world. The ponds span 50 square kilometers and can be seen from space.

- Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.

- The oil sands operations are the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gas in Canada. By 2020 the oil sands will release twice the amount produced currently by all the cars and trucks in Canada.

A full copy of the Environmental Defence report is attached to the end of this post.

http://www.desmogblog.com/report-alberta-oil-sands-most-destructive-project-on-earth