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environment

Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix

June 19, 2010 · 12 comments

Artwork & Content Copyright © 2010 Jean Burman

Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only after the last river has been poisoned
Only then will we learn that money cannot be eaten
-Cree Indian Prophecy

If mankind lived by just one creed “Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix” the world would be in much better shape than it is right now… and the future of planet earth would be assured.

They’re only six little words. But those six words could make a world of difference.

Had these six words been considered before deep water drilling was undertaken in the Gulf of Mexico… the current disaster would have been averted.

We are now living on a planet burgeoning out of control with untested and untried systems and technologies.

Contrary to what we might think… 100% of [precisely nothing] is put impartially and comprehensively to the test before it is rushed out into the market place… placed into common use… or otherwise foisted upon an unsuspecting populace and planet.

Don’t believe me?

Well consider this.

Remember when it was safe to put:
DDT on food crops
Mercury in teeth
Nicotine in cigarettes
Asbestos in building materials
Thalidomide in tablets
[dare I say] fluoride in drinking water?

Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix.

Remember when it was safe to eat:
Margarine and polyunsaturates (oops… you didn’t know?)
Preservatives
Stablilizers
Emulsifiers
Thickeners
Flavour enhancers
Sweeteners
Glutamates
and a plethora of processing aids
all still used [incredibly] in packaged food?

Shelf life is king and the key to turning a profit. Your health is not a consideration to manufacturers or regulators [until either 1. something goes wrong  2. they are called out on it or 3. someone literally drops dead from it]

Slow death over a long period doesn’t count… and is too difficult to quantify anyway. No one goes there… despite cancer now being the number one killer [behind Death by Medicine].

Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix.

And who knows where the limits will be… or when… [or indeed how] the reversal will come on daliances such as:

Nuclear energy
Nanotechnology
GM crops
EMFs
Mobile Phones
Food Irradiation
Microwave technology
Genetic Engineering
[dare I say] IVF

the list goes on…

Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix.

Government and big business might argue to the contrary… insisting that there are checks and balances. Oh sure… there will always be [industry funded] trials and environmental and regulatory impact studies and the like. But when things go wrong… sometimes catastrophically… it’s the same old thing. Corporations dive for cover and Governments bring out the dustpan and brush.

The checks and balances are there alright… but they come amid a plethora of vested interests… adjusted facts and unexplained determinants. The product is withdrawn… the practice is stopped… or the process is reviewed. A short period of negative press may then follow before the whole darned thing is swept under the carpet and all but forgotten about in a mire of mind numbing ignorance complacency and wilful self-interest.

Greed drives everything.

To say the man woman and child in the street are confused would be an understatement. To say we have no control… is an undeniably fact.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not anti-progress.

I am pro ANTIDOTES!

And we should have them now… not later.

So that when things do go wrong… instead of playing the blame game… and sweeping the embarrassing fallout from our not insignificant failures under the carpet of negligence complacency and self interested greed… we will have real solutions [before] we need them.

It shouldn’t be all that hard. If we’re smart enough to develop the technology in the first place… we surely must be clever enough to come up with the appropriate solution?

And before the fact not after it.

As privileged temporary custodians of this incredible planet Earth [the creatures the earth the oceans and the atmosphere]… this must surely be our first most imperative priority… our [moral] obligation… and essential responsibility.

Don’t Do What You Can’t Fix.

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Just Breathe…

April 28, 2010 · 2 comments

burleigh track 1

Occasionally I need to escape the hard urban edges. That’s why the track was such a great find!  It winds ever upward through bushland… around the ocean headland to the top of the hill… and then back down again to the sea. The air is salty here.  And after the rain… the fresh smell of green… and the sounds of the bush. So earthy and cool.

It’s only a single path and early in the morning there are very few people on it. Those who are… seem to share some sort of unspoken common purpose.

It occurred to me the other day that the track is a lot like life.

The uphill climb… the people we pass… the obstacles in the way… the small footbridges that take us across… the huge moss covered boulders [pooling water] upon which to rest… and then finally… breathless and spent… the awe inspiring view from the top.

burleigh track 2

From there the downhill run is invigorating. People pass by on their way up. Some say good morning. Others simply nod then avert their eyes. Others still… plugged into i-pods… push by oblivious. I find myself wondering who would want to miss hearing the sound of this beautiful place with it’s whip bird calls… the flurry of leaves in the wind… and the magnificent ocean’s roar as they pass. I let the thought go.

on the track

I could stand by the sea and watch it endlessly… like a child who has never seen waves before. From the rocks the ocean’s incessant power thrills and inspires me. The ocean takes orders from no-one. It is relentless in it’s quest for the shore and all-powerful in the face of obstacles.

I want to be just a little like that!

A couple of surfers wait by the rocks for the perfect wave. It occurs to me how charmed their life must be. I watch the relentless pursuit of ‘that which is sometimes unattainable’. I admire their willingness to pit their strength against a formidable ocean. And the patient waiting!

Maybe [in life] we should all learn to surf?

Or failing that… even if only just once in a while… go for a walk in the natural world!

Last week the world celebrated Earth Day.

I put together some images from the Track… my image library… and art archives.

So come for a walk with me.   Let’s talk about the things that matter!

Tribute to Earth Day from Jean Burman on Vimeo.

With thanks to Lucy – my gorgeous niece

[who recently had a 'whale' of a time at SeaWorld on the Gold Coast]

and my own two girls for adding a beautiful human dimension to the clip!

Music – Earthsong – Michael Jackson


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PROOF – Blog Action Day 2009 – Climate Change

October 15, 2009 · 6 comments

Climate Change Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″x12″

Copyright 2009 Jean Burman

“For those who believe… no proof is necessary

For those who don’t believe… no proof is possible”

- Eyes of the Beholder

So where does this leave us in the Climate Change Debate?

Precisely nowhere.

But that’s okay because… either way… I still have a couple of outstanding questions.

Things like:

1.  Why is the sea level rising in Kirribati and the Maldives but nowhere else?

2.  Why are we changing light globes from incandescent to [mercury containing] compact fluorescent globes when the environmental consequences of doing so have not been fully investigated… and there are no established guidelines for their safe handling and subsequent disposal?

3.  Why are we legislating that new roofs in the tropics must now be [a heat absorbing] dark brown or green (ironically to blend with nature) when sound common sense dictates that a lighter [white or silver] roof would not only keep the home cooler in summer but also reduce the amount of energy required to cool it?

4.  Why are we introducing an Emissions Trading Scheme which could potentially disadvantage many sectors of the economy without first establishing [without a doubt] that the carbon we are attempting to reduce is in fact the true culprit in climate change?

5.  And is climate change the real issue anyway?

There has been so much time-wasting debate that were it the real issue… it is now becoming all too late.  And if it is not the real issue… then there has been a heck of a lot of greenhouse gas expended in talking about it for no particularly good reason why! [Grin]

So would it not be wiser to address the broader issue of environment instead of climate change?

Would it not be smarter all round for us to focus on the indisputable evidence already to hand of the adverse impact that humankind is having on the planet overall?  If this were the case… the hystrionics of the whole climate change debate would cease to exist… and in it’s place would be calm rational bipartisan discussion about “what is good for us” [or not] and what we can reasonably do about it.

I do not know of a single person who would dispute the fact that humankind is having a hugely detrimental impact on the environment… the world at large… and the planet in general. Climate Change however may continue to be debated until the cows come home… [with way too much methane going down by then]

Cleaning up our act and changing our attitude toward the environment in which we live is within the realms of possibility for each and every individual on the planet. It can happen today.

Becoming environmentally aware is the responsibility of all those who draw breath from the scant six kilometres of oxygen in the atmosphere above our heads before there is… absolutely… precisely… nothing.  Just that one single thought should be enough to start people thinking about selling their Hummers and carpooling to work.

The big picture is a mighty one.  And there is nothing to suggest that it’s not a daunting task.

But it’s the only honest way to go.

Climate Change in and of itself is only one small factor in the greater global catastrophe which may befall the planet if we fail to make immediate changes to the way we live… do business… and co-exist with the natural world.

We must act now… as though our life depended on it.

Because it does.

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What’s up with the Environment?

April 24, 2008 · 36 comments

 

earthday.jpg

Cartoon Copyright Jean Burman 2008

 

Earth Day came and went here with narry a squeak in my part of the world. In fact… ashamed to say… I didn’t even know it was Earth Day (April 22 for those like me living under a rock ~grin~)

I still would have been none the wiser except for the conversation (in the last topic) straying… as oft it does… to Al Gore. (Okay not always to Al Gore… but conversations there DO stray! LOL) So I googled me old mate Al… to see what he’s been up to recently… and discovered…

Voila… Earth Day!

In my cyber investigations… I stumbled upon an interesting article in the Washington Post detailing measures put in place by various green organisations… and tabling people’s individual and cumulative efforts to bring awareness and conscious change to our problems with the environment.

To date… much of the burden of responsibility for change has been lumped at the feet of the man/woman in the street. And this article was no different.

This has always puzzled me greatly… as it is the man/woman in the street who has the least control over anything… leave alone the ability to make the vast leaps in acknowledgement and acceptance… not to mention faith... that will be required to make any REAL kind of difference… to well… pretty much anything! ~grin~

In fact… in what might prove to be a classic case of one step forward two steps back…the man/woman in the street is being urged (read: coerced) into sacrifices that may or may not make any difference at all in the long run.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’m all for making sacrifices… but first let’s take a closer look… and make sure that the changes we are making will be for the better… and will not contribute further to the demise of our beautiful planet earth!

Some of the changes currently being mooted may even be detrimental to the environment in the long run. Like compact fluorescent light bulbs for instance. These little monsters are yet to prove what a menace they will eventually become in landfills across the planet… not to mention our health!

If you do nothing else… for heaven’s sake… please promise me you will read the above linked report from the EPA regarding the health hazards of CFL’s… what to do about breakages and the protocol for their cleanup. If one of these bulbs breaks it is not just a matter of vacuuming it up! (SCROLL OVER “little monsters” & “our health” above)

No one talks about it. Least of all the lighting companies who know full well the potential for harm these bulbs present… yet stand to make substantial profits from sales of the more expensive bulb. So they’re not saying anything.

When I asked my local lighting shop what I should do to responsibly dispose of the spent bulb… they blithely told me to put it into the household rubbish!

OH… MY… GOD…(!)

Compact fluorescents contain MERCURY.

Inorganic mercury compounds are highly toxic and persistent in the environment. The World Health Organisation has been advising of this for years… and recently put limits upon levels of mercury waste that can be emitted by the health sector into the environment via sewage (and incineration)

As an aside… one would have to wonder why this is so… when it seems to have been perfectly okay for decades.. (and remains perfectly okay to this day)… to place mercury amalgam fillings into our teeth! (SCROLL over for link)

Why weren’t we warned?

Is the environment more important than us?

And surely… if mercury amalgam were to be removed from teeth and replaced with a safer more inert substance… there would be less mercury showing up in the environment via sewage anyway?

WHO here… isn’t connecting the dots?

teen-girl-teeth-smile-400a061807.jpg

 

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