AlternativesMagazine

It’s called the Inner Harbor Water Wheel, and though it moves slow, it has the capability to collect 50,000 pounds of trash per day.   The timing for John Kellett’s solar-powered creation is crucial—hands and crab nets simply can’t keep up with the growing amount of wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles and other debris carried from storm drains into the harbor. Water Wheel: Harnessing the power of nature to help keep the Baltimore Harbor clean The Inner Harbor Water Wheel uses a combination of old and new technology to harness the power of water and sunlight to pick up litter and debris flowing down the Jones Falls River. The current of the river provides power to turn the water wheel, which lifts trash and debris from the water and deposits it in a dumpster barge.  A solar panel array provides additional power to keep the machine running even when there is not enough water current.  When the dumpster is full, it is towed away by boat and a new dumpster is put in place. READ

The beautiful Athabasca river runs through the Alberta tar pit (in the background) and is at risk of becoming a dead river. THIS WAS POSTED BACK IN 2014, BUT IT'S STILL RELEVANT TODAY One of the most important facts that is missing in the national debate surrounding the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is this – Keystone XL will not bring any more oil into the United States.   The idea that Keystone XL will improve U.S. oil supply is a documented scam being played on the American people by Big Oil, its friends in Washington DC., and especially the Koch Brothers, who will benefit the most by it's approval, own oil leases to 1.5 million acres of the Canadian tar sands.  Keystone pipeline: Obama bashes project while in Myanmar Speaking at a press conference while in Myanmar, Obama offered perhaps his harshest assessment to date of the controversial pipeline. “Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it th

It wasn't a good day for the environment last Tuesday.   Many of the clean air, clean water, food and many other common sense health and environmental issues will no doubt be rolled back, tabled or eliminated completely. But, as they say, the people have spoken. Right? One of the more famous quotes of the late comedian George Carlin could apply to last weeks midterm elections : "Ignorant citizens, elect ignorant leaders."   This applies to all of us, regardless of party line BS, because a recent survey revealed nearly 75% (I think it's even higher) of the people who voted last week do not know the issues, or who they are voting for, or even care. They just check boxes. Name recognition is about as deep as most of us get. Understanding the issues in plain simple everyday language that everyone can understand ranks up there with the buying of politicians. Until this happens twisted elections and the corruption will continue to be part of the game. Her

by Samantha Leach Our healthcare system is out of control. It’s more like “sick care”. Our system medicates people instead of getting to the root of what’s causing the inflammation, the imbalance, the disease.  Most people don’t think about their health until something goes wrong. At home, medicine cabinets are stocked with things like aspirin, ibuprofen, sinus relief, antacids, cold remedies, cough syrup, lozenges, and wound care ointment. What if these drugs are contributing to the problem? They have side effects. They create imbalance. Antibiotics deplete vitamins and are killing our digestive systems. We don’t think twice about putting these chemicals in our bodies. Somehow we were led to believe the answer to all our health issues could be solved with a pill. I want to show you the holistic way to health for you and your family Known as nature’s medicine, plant-based essential oils were civilization’s first medicine and date back thousands of years B.C. They are powerful remedies

  "If you thought they hurt us with the banks, wait 'til you see what they are doing to our health care." – Jeff Hays The new documentary Bought dives deeply into the inner workings of the industries at the core of our food and healthcare system, exploring the truth about how vaccines and drugs are developed and rushed to market and the ongoing secrecy behind the genetic engineering of our food supply. Like the banks, the food and drug industries have grown more powerful and less transparent over time, and profit has become the primary motive. Hays may be best known for his 2012 documentary "Doctored," which exposes how the medical and drug industry conspire to control the health care system. See full article and documentary preview  HERE

The movie tells the story of small, family farmers providing safe, healthy foods to their communities who were forced to stop, often through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies.  The movie succinctly poses and addresses the question “why is this happening in 21 st  century America?” “Many of you have seen Food Inc. and Fresh. Now it’s time for the next level: Farmageddon . Everyone should see this documentary because it takes up where previous documentaries have ended by answering the question: “Why is local food pricey and hard to find?”  You deserve an answer, and this hard hitting video delivers. I can’t recommend it heartily enough. Who owns your body? What kind of terror do America’s food police inflict on heritage food providers? This is strong language, but we live in disturbing times. You owe it to your children to empower yourself with the truth about food safety and food choice. Look at the dates and please go see this movie. Tell them J

SolaRoad has been in the works since 2009, and is the brainchild of Dutch research institute TNO. The power-generating pavers are created by embedding crystalline silicon solar cells in 8.2 x 11.5 ft concrete slabs, before covering them in a one-centimeter layer of tempered glass. Then, reports the Guardian, a “non-adhesive finish and a slight tilt are [added] to help the rain wash off dirt and thus keep the surface clean, guaranteeing maximum exposure to sunlight.” RELATED: Dutch City Boasts Three Times as Many Bikes as Cars   These extra steps are pretty important—the flat surface required for transit isn’t exactly ideal for capturing sunlight for power generation. In bike path form the cells are 30 percent less efficient than they would be placed within a standard solar installation. As a result, when this first test strip is extended to its full 100 meters (328 feet) in 2016, it will provide about enough electricity to power three households. But it does make practical use

Source: Breast Cancer Fund Modern food-production methods have opened major avenues of exposure to environmental carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Pesticides sprayed on crops, antibiotics used on poultry, and hormones given to cattle expose consumers involuntarily to contaminants that become part of our bodies. Some of these exposures may increase breast cancer risk. In some ways, our ancestors had it easy. Because they didn't have chemically treated food and chemically enhanced kitchenware, their diets and cooking practices exposed them to fewer toxic hazards. Following are some of the harmful chemicals commonly found in our food and food containers, along with descriptions of what they are, where they're found and why they're bad. And check out our Tips for Prevention section to learn how to avoid them. Food Packaging Today, it's not just the food itself that you have to watch, but the containers they're stored in, which can leach toxic chem

The best that money can buy By Ben Adler: Grist The Democrats got wrecked on Tuesday, and now Republicans are taking over the Senate. Some of the new Republican senators are outright climate deniers. Those who admit that climate change is happening often hide from the issue with nonsensical yammering about how global warming might be due to natural causes.  Regardless of their views on the science, they are unanimous in their opposition to actually doing anything about it, and in their enthusiasm for exploiting America’s land and water for the benefit of the fossil fuel industries. Check 'em out .

If you have been exposed to any form of radiation, either for medical diagnostic purposes (fluoroscopy / mammography / other medical x-ray exams) or in the course of radiotherapy treatment, or if you are otherwise concerned by excessive radiation exposure, overload or poisoning (such as living near a nuclear reactor facility, working with diagnostic radiological equipment / in the nuclear processing industries / uranium mining / uranium or plutonium processing),  or if you have been exposed to radioactive particles or higher ionizing radiation doses stemming from other sources such as depleted uranium (DU), testing of atomic weapons, frequent flights in higher altitudes, a nuclear disaster (radiation fallout from the Japan nuclear power plants) etc.,  here are a number of tips and suggested remedies how to naturally help your body excrete damaging radioactive elements (e.g. strontium and radioactive iodine) or detoxify their noxious byproducts such as free radicals as well as deal w

On Oct. 14, FRONTLINE’s " The Trouble With Antibiotics " examines the widespread use of antibiotics in food animals and whether it’s fueling the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance in humans. Sharp Increase Seen in Sales of Antibiotics for Use in Farm Animals Think organic this Thanksgiving. Or go meatless New data from the Food and Drug Administration shows that the sale of antibiotics for farm animals is on the rise, amid concerns that their use is contributing to increasing drug-resistant infections in humans. The FDA reported that sales of antibiotics for agriculture climbed 16 percent in the United States between 2009 and 2012. More than 32 million pounds of antibiotics intended for use on American farms were sold in 2012 alone — a nearly 8 percent rise over the previous year. The new data comes at a time when the FDA is trying to reduce antibiotic use in food animals. In December 2013, the agency began a voluntary three-year phase out of the practice of us

Here’s some good news for your tar-sands blues: Grassroots activism makes a difference! $17.1 billion of difference, in fact. According to a new report produced by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Oil Change International, oil companies and investors looking to gain from Alberta’s tar sands lost a whopping $30.9 billion between 2010 and 2013. WHY? People are becoming aware what's been happening out there and a lot more aware of these issues now than in the past. There has been more pressure on the government to address the environmental concerns, the health issues and indigenous rights violations. Just three years ago most people had never heard of the Alberta Tar Sands, and those that did, didn't really know what it was, what type of oil it produced, or how it was refined. Here are 10 top facts about the Alberta Oil Sands .  You decide if this is in your best interest, or another buck or two for big oil and the Koch-Sucker Brothers. O