Environmental Citizenship

Over the past six months or so I've started to really be bothered by the news story I heard about the whale who was starving because the 80 plastic bags he consumed were preventing him from eating and processing the food.  We created this mess and somehow it ended up in the ocean.  I was further bothered by the story about a similar "raft" of plastic in Lake Michigan.  There has to be a better way.  I stopped getting plastic bags when I go to the grocery store.  I'm also trying to find ways to purchase food and goods that are not pre-packaged.  I need to look into it further and give myself some peace of mind.

In the meantime . . . recycled a few things at home

This is a ladder, some metal posts and some chicken wire.  Repurposed as a trellis for Morning Glory flowers to grow on.  Going to look beautiful when fall comes.  Behind it is a pile of leaves we compost to use in our garden.

This was a gazebo.  We used to sit in it until a storm decided to flip it and rip all the fabric.  It has lived as a growing place and climbing place for our plants for about seven years.

Used to be a grill.  Now it's a planter.  Maybe I just have a junkyard . . . 

Last one:

This is the garden.  Nothing spectacular about it except under the mulch is newspaper and cardboard to keep the weeds down and the moisture up.  The mulch is from my yard.  We collect branches and deadfall throughout the year and then mulch it and use it in the garden and flower beds.

As far as environmental citizenship, what can I do to promote this among others?  I'm not filling the landfills (we make 1 bag of garbage every two weeks for a family of 4) excessively but we (as a species) consume great amounts of resources.  Why?  What has changed?

Possible topics I could investigate:

• Policies in place to enforce recycling and conservation
• Stewardship of our lands and natural resources
• Public access to resources and land
• Land ownership - who says we have a right to own any of it?
• Natural, harvested, wild foods.  We started as hunter gatherers, why did we stop and is it any good for us?
• Alternate energy sources or reduced consumption.

This Stinks!

Didn't really warrant its own post, but after Canada I ran into a rather stinky situation.

July 24  3:30AM  Eagle River

As she sometimes does, Bailey the dog decided that she needed to go outside REALLY bad REALLY early.  Bleary eyed and a little annoyed, I stumbled through the house and let her into the back yard.  I didn't think too much about it until Bailey tore off across the yard  barking like mad.

Deer outside the fence?  Chasing it off probably.  Nope.

Another dog barking somewhere in the darkness?  Nope.

Hissing.

Hissing?!

I rushed to the door and flipped on the light.  Tail up?  Stripe?

Then the smell.

I was able to spend 5 hours bathing a dog and figuring out how I could get my house to stop smelling like skunk.  A little more than 24 hours later the dog still has some odor and has received 3 baths.

Thoughts:

• What's the deal with a skunk anyway?  Seems like they are only in the Americas.
• How can I prevent this from happening again?
• Defense mechanisms in animals.

UPDATE 8-6-18

Went kayaking out on Laura Lake in Conover.  Lots of great things to see and thinks to think.  Came across a very disappointing image in an otherwise very clear and beautiful lake:

Beer can on the bottom of the lake - quite faded so it's been there a while.

Think to think:  What's our role?  Should I have picked it up?